Paradisus Punta Cana

All the hotels along this strip are huge, and this is no exception. I was visiting on business but it felt like a holiday - everyone seemed so happy. It might have had something to do this the free all inclusive drinks! There are better hotels - the sister hotel Palma Real is better, but I would recommend this place to anyone looking in this price bracket.

Family Concierge (FC) package was $1,700 more than simple room. While waiting for our room I asked FC for recommendations. Not one word of advice. When I asked about tipping policy, the 2 women giggled uncontrollably.
Room was nice but no requested king sized bed. Balcony was tiny.
1 FC spoke english, 1 not so much. FC made reservations to two restaurants that required them. Otherwise useless. FC has guy who dispenses towels. This is needed as they run out of beach towels at this hotel daily! Main towel stand would NOT dispense towels to me if they knew I was an FC customer!
On bright side, the beach was magnificent. They had great chairs and beds. Lots of shielding from the sun. The pool was fun for kids but too chlorinated. Many hotel staff were friendly and helpful. Food was surprisingly good. The French restaurant was amazing. I had luck with lobster dishes at Chinese and Italian restaurants. Isolated incidents of food taking way too long. Red wine was good -but white wine sucked, mixed drinks were weak.
Ultimately, it was a very relaxing vacation. Had we not done FC I would rate it a 4 or 5 for value. However, I might not come back simply because of the "hustling" and my gut feeling that the hotel is exploiting their employees (not giving tips from inclusive rates).

The wife and I went here for our honey moon from September 26, 2007 - October 2, 2007. We had the Royal Service, and definately recommend it. The grounds are absolutely spectacular. We went in the off season, so only half the restaruants were open at a time (i.e. the rotated each day which were open). The food was OK, dependending on where you were eating. The Japanese restaurant not so good, the French restaurant GREAT, the Italian ok, the chinese ok, the steakhouse ok. Not amazing (except for the French restaurant). Since it was the dead season, the beach wasn't crowded at all. The service was ok-good. Since we had the Royal Service anytime we needed anything they were pretty good about it. There was a language barrier, but you can get by with highschool spanish. 24 hour room service was also quite convenient. I would definately go here again, and am planning on doing it. Pure paradise.