Image of BlueBay Villas Doradas Resort

BlueBay Villas Doradas Resort

8 of 13 hotels in Puerto Plata

4 out of 5 from 10 reviews
3 stars
Complejo Playa Dorada, Calle principal, 538, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

10 Reviews

Traveller Rating

  • Excellent
    3
  • Very Good
    3
  • Good
    4
  • Average
    0
  • Poor
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Review Overview

  • Cleanliness
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Service
  • Location
Milliemeg
Very clean and tidy, but security was an issue
11 years 2 months ago
After checking in we(2 couples) were taken to our rooms, they were clean enough but round the back overlooking a few trees and a rubbish area. We asked at reception to be moved and they said we could move next morning so stayed in original rooms for one night.
The following morning new rooms had not been arranged so we had a word with the rep and in no time at all she had arranged for us to be moved to rooms that fitted all of our original requests i.e. not ground floor, with a balcony and 2 rooms near each other. We were given rooms overlooking the main pool, which at times could be noisy, but at least we always had something/someone to look at!!

Again in the evenings it could be a bit noisy, but the entertainment finishes at 11pm so not really a problem. We thought the food in the buffet was good, but were not impressed with the grill restaurant. The Chinese was also very good and the waiters were quite entertaining. I wish I could say the same for the fish restaurant.
After our main course the waiter almost threw the menus at us, asked us what we wanted, took the menus away and then started moving tables and chairs around to make larger tables. He saw us looking at him and he came over and snapped WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU WANTED? At that point we said no thanks; you are being very rude to us and others so forget it!

However, the next morning he came and found us at breakfast and apologised and agreed it was not polite to re arrange tables while people were eating and asked us to book again and he would make it special. We did not take him up on his offer.

On the security front, at 4.15am one morning I was woken by our room door being opened. I shouted out and the door closed with a man calling out sorry, sorry. I pulled open the door and we confronted the man who again apologised (it was not his fault) who said he had just arrived and the desk had given him our room number and coded his entry card accordingly. Reported the incident at reception straight away and spoke to management later in the morning. We were told that their security was 100% safe, OBVIOUSLY NOT!!

Although we would not return to this hotel, the hotel is clean, the staff are friendly and meals on the whole were good.
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Jackie, Dave And Elaine
14 years 5 months ago
After a long flight we arrived at the Blue Bay greeted with a Cold Drink and a Ice Cold Towel(nice Touch) We were allocated our room, but on inspection we found this to be to small, we returned to the reception area who allocated us another room with no hassel. The rooms are very basic but comfortable and clean. Plenty of Clean White towels, changed twice a day every day. Coffee maker only in the room. Iron and Ironing board, Safe (cost $40 for our 2 weeks stay, which is non refundable)hairdryer(another nice touch) mini fridge that contained Water, 2 bottles of soda and 2 bottles of beer, once used you could have your fridge topped up for $10. Water cooler are situated around the complex.

There are 3 pools which are all kept very clean, pleanty of sunbeds and umbrellas. The pool by the spa is very quiet and in our opions is wasted, as no one was ever around there, its the only area on the complex that smoking is not allowed, which does not seem to make sense.

The food was very good, plenty of choice, the staff are excellent, nothing to much trouble.

The beach is very clean, the guy who drags your sunbeds is really pleasant, gets to know you very quickly. The sellers on the beach can be annoying, but a polite no thank-you sends them on their way for 10 minutes. The sea can be a bit rough, depending on the time of day. Beware of the guys in the white shirts and beige trousers, these are timeshare, but again a firm no thank-you, sends them on their way too.

Entertainment crew are a credit to the hotel, work very long hours, put on some really good shows, which can be very funny.

Overall a really good holiday, great that there's no kids, seems a little strange at first, but soon got used to the peace and quiet. Would most defo recommend this hotel for a relaxing, peaceful holiday.
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Travel operator: Thomas Cook

Recommended
Brighe
14 years 6 months ago
I have just spent 2 of the best weeks at this hotel!

The cleanliness of the hotel is second to none, the maids check on your room regularly and ensure you always have clean towels and your bed is made.

There is always a good selection of food in the buffet restaurant, something for everyone!

The best part of this hotel is definitely the staff. The animation crew, Rambo, Robert, Teddy, James Bond, Lorenzo, Tino and Luis, DJ Michael Jackson! Sadly Tino and Luis left before the end of the holiday - bring them back blue bay!!!! The crew were so friendly and bent over backwards to ensure you were having a good time. Not too much in your face though, if you didn't want to participate, they were fine, The restaurant staff were also excellent. Never an empty water glass to be had!!!!! Special mention to Ramon, Antony and Bernardo - such lovely guys that ensured you had everything you needed.

Hipolito the rep was also one of the best ever. Always on hand should you need him, and always ready for a chat!

I don't have a bad word to say about this hotel, and in fact am already trying to book up to go back next year!!!!

Thanks to all the guys there for making it an excellent holiday!!!
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Travel operator: Thomas Cook

Recommended
JaimeC
14 years 8 months ago
Blue Bay Villas Dorada, Playa Dorada 4th
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Travel operator: Direct Holidays

Recommended
15 years 4 months ago
Ok so where do i start......... first of all what a fantastic time had, my boyfriend booked this for my 30th and we both agree it was the best choice so here is what i thought....
CHECK IN- Was fab!! they took us to one side and sat us all down with a nice hot towel and a cold drink, and explained what was in our welcome pack, i.e room, pools, bars, entertainment, towels, maid service, restaurants and buffet times etc (which i will explain later!)
We were then shown a map at the back of our welcome map to indicate where our room would be, our was 4212, it had a balcony but the view wasn't the best to be honest, think it looked onto the back of another hotel next door.
ROOMS-The rooms were very spacious with a double wardrobe although i do agree with others that it could be doing with more shelves or drawers! apart from thet they were very big!
rooms big enough for two, nice bathroom, alothough no seating area except for the bed, but that was never aproblem as we were hardly ever there!
POOLS- there are 3 pools, there is the spa pool althoiugh we weere never there except from the day it was raining and we thought we would try it out.......very nice, although a bit small.
The other pools are brill, one of which has a swim up bar, not very deep so dont jump in, the other is also used for sports like volleyball, its a bit deeper but not too much (prob due yo the fact it is all inclusive ha ha)
SUNLOUNGERS- can be a bit of a pain to find most people had put towels on very early on in the morning, we found it impossible to get a bed, so unfortunatly we had to do the same, sorry!!!! also the same with the beach but there are a load of loungers they can bring out, so if you dont see a free one just go up to the VIP are were the beds are and ask one of the guys there, we never had any trouble getting one there, just trying to get one under the shade was a bit of a problem.
BARS-service was farly quick and at busy times there are extra staff on to help never had to wait long to get served at the pool/beach bar, although i am pretty sure the drinks are lot stronger at the beach bar, especially the cocktails!!!! there was a few staff milling abvout when the entertainment was on at night, and are always asking if you would like another drink-even though the bar is not far at all!
ENTERTAINMENT-this is were a did get a little repetitive, and were i personally thought it could be a bit better, they gave out certificates every night to the people who got involved in the games etc, after being there for 14 nights it can be a little boring, i did mention this when i filled in the form about our stay that the entertainment should be geared towards adults such as a comedy show etc...however the animation team do work very hard and are always last to bed and first to get up they are great!! some of the shows were okay like the magic show.
TOWELS-our towels were changed every day although the maid sometimes forgot to leave two bigger towels, so we had to get them from the reception, Beach towels will be changed in your room at night if you leave them on the bed, although there were a few nights we forgot but that wasn't a problem as you could do it the hut at the bridge no problems at all!
MAID SERVICE-they really done a good job, rooms cleaned every day, and even folded my clothes that were lying about!!! needless to say we left them a little something before we went!
RESTAURANTS-there are 3 restauarants, grill, seafood and oriental, we got 6 card for our duration (2week stay) we first tried the oriental, wasn't my favourite, partly to do with a rude couple who were celebrating a birthday and turned up wearing shorts and vests (strict dress code for the restaurants) they were not very nice to the staff and in the end they had to give them a pair of trousers as he refused to go back and a pair on.....what a disgrace!!! anyway, went to the grill for my birthday boyfriend organised a cake, champagne, chocolates, very nice had the chateaubriand for two people.............amazing but far too much food....then the seafood, we loved it there, smoked salmon starter was the best!!!
The buffet restaurants were good especially the cakes................amazing we had dessert every night!!!!!! themed nights, italian, dominican, tastes of the worls, tex mex (which was by far the best!!) all the usual stuff you can get for breakfast lunch and dinner
just one more tip...... if you plan to buy cigarettes i.e packs of the 200 british variety superkings etc) leave that till you are comming home as the plaza were asking for 1650 pesos and at the airport we got the same ones for 950!!!!!!!!!!!
And just one more thing you are not allowed to bring ANY liquids in your hand luggage comming home!!! not even if it is in the small bags under 100ml!!!!!
I hope i have answered everyones questions, i dare say i have probably missed out some stuff, but am sure you will read more on other reports!
Want to say a hello to all the friends we met and made, Gillian and Mark, Chris, Sue, Steve, Kim, Fred and Myra, Grumpy (ha ha ) and Marlene, Don, Dana and Bobby!!!! and anyone else we met!!
If you have any questions feel free to email me!!!
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Travel operator: Thomas cook

Recommended
Kate And Andy
15 years 10 months ago
We booked our first trip to Bluebay as a last min deal and paid around
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Travel operator: Thomas Cook

Recommended
Martyn Taylor
16 years 2 months ago
We found the hotel clean and often got two towel changes a day, which was'nt needed as you are supplied with beach towels.

The food was basic but you could always find something to eat, but you had to be quick to beat the flies, and the birds flying through taking food from unattended plates.

The hotel was in the middle of a scenic well kept golf course near to a small shopping plazza, the staff couldn't have been more helpful and friendly than they were, the entertainment was poor, for a hotel not catering for children it was at best juvenile.

When it rained, and it often did, there was nowhere to go unless you had managed to get a sun shade, the main bar was not covered so a lot of people went back to their rooms which I refused to do when on holiday, the other option was to seek shelter at the spa bar if you could get in.

My husband is a diver and he said the visibility was poor he saw more diving in Britain the week before.
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Travel operator: caribbean warehouse

Jane Miller
16 years 4 months ago
The hotel complex is well laid out, the standard of hygiene was excellent, however the food in the so called a'la carte restaurants was diabolical, limited choice, and poorly presented, rather like school dinners!.The hotel was a minutes walk from the beach, and was near the golf course if you are golfers. The hotel has an "animacion" team,who entertained us throughout the holiday if it had not have been for them i think we would have gone mad with boredom, the hotel entertainment consisted of salsa style band, and a water ballet - truly appalling, the "animacion team" therefore are expected to keep all the hotel guests amused and entertained, a tall order, considering they have limited costumes and equipment.
The resort virtually closes at 10.30pm, no nightlife to speak of, if you want to entertain yourselves after 10.30 you have to go in search of other venues.
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Travel operator: First Choice

18 years 7 months ago
Villas Doradas is a great hotel, the rooms are pretty small but you dont really spent much time in there because the hotel has so much to do.

On one of the days we had asked for our towels to be changed and when we came back the maid had placed the towels in a heart shape which was really pretty. If you have a big family/ party you can have a connecting room aswell.

The pools were great, the pool with the swim up bar is cooler but shallower, the other pool is like stepping into a bath!! The entertainment team were amazing so a huge shout out to Sofia, Mosquito, Rambo, Cookaborough and the other one who I cant remember his name!! :-)

We met two other families out there and one time all 13 of us went to the Chinese which was wonderful, I had read that it wasn't like home and as im a fussy eater I was worried but I found it better than home.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it! The buffet restaraunt does serve good food and it is yummy but after two weeks its very boring. Every night it was either chicken or beef in a different sauce but tasted the same. Most mornings I opted for an omlette cooked infront of you by Domingo, who is a wicked cook!!!

There are 2 pools tables which kept me and the other teens I met occupied for hours although at 40 pescos a go Istarted to burn a hole in my parents pockets.

They do some great trips to many places, we went to Ocean World where we did the dolphin encounter, which I reccomend!!!! It was AMAZING!

Would I go back to this hotel?? Darn right I would its amazing!!!!
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Travel operator: my travel

Recommended
Carys And Lucy
18 years 7 months ago
The hotel was lovely with 2 large pools and one little pool for kids. There's a swim up bar which comes in handy although they could have cleaned it more as it started to smell during the late afternoon.

The rooms were basic but it was nice to have air conditioning. The maids came every day and were friendly.
the rooms also had safety deposit boxes which cost us $20.

The food was ok, they have different theme nights to suit everyone.

Location was very good. Right on a gorgeous beach with free sunbeds. The plaza shopping mall was only a 2 minute walk away.

The hotel staff were friendly enough. Entertainment was excellent. Although be warned, they are at the hotel 15 hours a day! They can get annoying when they pester you to join in the activites but just smile and say no thanks and they were okay. A big hello to the entertainment team Sugar Belly, Sofia, Rambo, Angelo, and especially to Mosquito and Cukoorullo.!!

Be warned girls...Mosquito likes to bite! Hope to see you guys next year!
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Travel operator: my travel

Recommended

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