PART 1 (No photos)

Wow, they told me I would like Punta Cana better than Puerto Plata...they where right..
I worked in hotel business for 15 years and I allways critique hotels to the smallest of details. this place, has all the tools to be a incredible hotel, however they where not being used.

Rooms..... old, run down, need renovations, but nicely clean the boose cupboard was stupid, the mini fridge was smart. .
Hallways....very clean, well maintained.
Lobby.....Poor, broken floor tiles, old plastic flowers, again run down and in need of a renovation, but allways very clean..
Elevators.....european elevators, really tight and painfully slow, no venting. Not much the hotel can do.
Restaurants......very clean, great service, good food, fish station is better than meat station, the breads, dairy, cheeses, salads, etc..all very fresh and well stocked up, many options for everyone's taste.
Pool...... ......the best in the entire complex of five hotels, big spacious and very clean.
grounds, very clean, beutifull lucious vegetations, nice paths, lots of garbage cans.
NO DIRECT ACESS TO BEACH, BE AWARE OF THIS WHEN YOU BOOK AT THIS HOTEL. There is a path and road that lead to it but it goes thru a shopping area, very pleasent, clean and entertaining but you have to walk five minutes, if that bothers you stay at the Riu Taino. I didin't mind that, I tought it was fun.
Beach.........hooommmyyygod......I tought I was in heaven, clean fine, huge, beutilful play sand like beaches, sun, sun, sun...I loved it, I have seen hundreds of beaches in my life but this one beats it all..lot's of loungers, showers, palm trees, no algae, they bring you drinks with out even asking, wow i loved it...
WATCH OUT FOR THE SUN IS VERY STRONG, YOU WILL BURN BADDLY IN MINUTES..
Entertainment.........very telented, nice and a fun bunch, the night shows are fun and very entertaining, if smoke bothers you will have a hard time because almost everyone smokes at this resort (lots of European Guests) they love to smoke.
The drinks are awsome, ask for Ricardo the bartender and Yovanny the waiter at the buffet restaurant. Exceptional staff.
There is hookers on the bar by the pool soliciting business, very disceet but they are allways there.

Ola!

My wife and I stayed here Mar 16-23, 2008. We loved it. The food was great. Restaurant reservations were not always easy to get, get up early to have a good chance, like 6:00am. Italian was okay but Steakhouse was awesome! In the end the buffet had more than enough to choose from, so don't worry if you miss the a la cartes. Was very windy for most of our stay, likely to do with the full moon, still warm even though, waves were great to play in, some undertoe as well, be careful, watch your kids please. I never needed long sleeves, so there you go, it's nice.

As you know you have access to RIU Taino and Bambu as well, just have to go to your own buffet at night. You can also walk around the others not included, no one kicked us out. We ended up living at the Bambu a lot, but slept at Naiboa of course. Bambu is just a little more compact and things are closer together. The beach there had more shade, smaller palm trees to sit under, etc. The rest of the beach had taller palms, nice, just not as shady, and not as much of a beach stretch to the water, near Bambu you have a treed beach area, the open beach, then the water, that's ideal, perfect and nice!

We wished we had of booked the Bambu in the first place, but the walk each day to and from was good, though we didn't want to (our own laziness), helped with all the food we ate!! You'll be sure to put on about 5 lbs at this place in one week. Kid you not!
All in all, our room was fine, had a problem with the shower, but they fixed it quickly, and gave us some rum for the trouble and a souvenier. So they really tried to go the extra mile here we thought. Also, if your water jug runs out in the fridge, just get more at the front desk, we did. No probs, or they will be by with it later. If you ever meet the guy in the hall filling the fridges, he'll hand over as much stuff as you want!! No probs.

We did the Bavaro Splash excursion, but was so windy the water kept getting in my eyes, and the salt really stings, so I did not enjoy the speed boat I got to drive. On a nice day, this would have been a great excursion, just think twice if it's not going to be a calmer day on the water. Or, bring a mask, or goggles to keep water out, that would be okay then. My eyes were really red from all the salt, the way home, the salt was drying on my face, and my shirt was stiff with it, not kidding.

Overall, nice place. Staff are great, and so thankful we tipped them sometimes. They work hard and are thankful to have work. If we stopped going to the DR, they have no work, so think about it the next time you are frustrated over something on your trip. If your spanish is bad, just learn some. They try hard to speak english, so we should give a little as well.

Some reviews on here, wow, some people are spoiled and should be ashamed of the things they comment on and say about these resorts and hard working people. The world does not center around you/me as individuals, look beyond yourself (me too), and enjoy a new culture, and love the people you are so very blessed to meet there.

The worst part of my trip was witnessing the vacationers who seemed to have an attitude, wanting everything just so...they are plain and simply very spoiled and really should just stay home and hire a butler to dance for them. It makes no sense for the rich to go to the DR and complain about it. And yes, there is garbage on the side of the road outside the resort, I expected that. Think deeper and outside of yourself for a minute, maybe there's a reason for the way life is there? If you were born in the DR, chances are you'd live the way most of them do. Our gov't here is far from perfect, their's I am sure is the same, with less money to go around for services, etc. Be willing to understand that everyone in the world is not like you, book the Naiboa, enjoy the locals who work there, the food, the sun. Leave a smile or two behind, make a difference in someone's world for a change, tip a few bucks here and there. And relax, some people were so uptight, I need time off just from watching them fuss and butt into line all the time. It must be okay to be rude in some countries? Not in Canada eh!

This trip has opened my eyes to appreciate other people in the world who God loves. He truly loves all people and I am so thankful for the honor to visit the DR.

The other bad part of the trip was all the second hand smoke, nothing against smokers, but I didn't deserve someone else's habit in my face all week. I didn't spit in anyone's face, why should they get to smoke in mine? I love the new Canadian laws. The closed in areas were sometimes really bad, made the shows unenjoyable, so we left and walked along the beach under the moon, no biggy.

We plan to go back, just maybe the Bambu this time since we lived there so much and liked it, maybe with less walking I can gain 10 lbs!!

And do catch the Michael Jackson show, it was pretty cool! He had the moves down pretty well. Very fun to watch.

Just go, the negative reviews show up even in the 5 stars places on here, so ignore them as they are hardly worth your time read.

Cheers to the Naiboa! Thank you to everyone who worked hard to make my stay a fun one! See you soon Punta Cana.

We stayed at this hotel six years ago and absolutely loved it. Although I still really like the Riu property, they clearly haven't touched the hotel in the six years since we have been there. The hotel lobby as well as the rooms looked shabby- though let's face it you don't spend much time in the room anyway. What was more disappointing was the lack of a kids program. Six years ago before I had kids- they had a wonderful program- although they still advertise that they have a kids program-they don't and when I asked about it- I felt like I was bothering the hotel employees- I guess that they got tried of my asking because one day they did take my daughter and two other children for an hour and half- when my daughter returned she had a piece of paper that the staff had drawn a flower on and my daugher had colored in- it also seemed that the activity staff was more interested (particularly the female staff) in flirting with other staff then anything else-- I would go back because I do like property but I will definitely have lower expectations next time.

My husband and I went to the RIU Naiboa for our first real vacation without our children.....we were treated wonderfully by the Naiboa staff and would definitely recommend this to anyone travelling on a budget.

The food was excellent....buffet meals three times a day with a huge variety of foods to suit everyones tastes. My favourite was the fresh pineapple....ate it at every meal!!
The drinks were great too....the best one for me was the Copa Cobana....even my husband said this was the best drink...besides his beer and dark rum.

Friends of ours stayed next door at the Palace Macao....this was beautiful. I think if we go back we will stay here as well. They were getting married so they wanted to stay in a 5 star hotel. We spent a lot os time with them in their room, and most of our time was spent on the beach.

Ah....the beach......gorgeous white sand, warm water, palm trees, the breeze off the the ocean......probably one of my favourite memories ever!! It was so relaxing...very clean...friendly people. Don't worry if you only speak english..we do and were able to get by no problem, though we did learn some spanish before we went, which was very helpful in understanding others.

Make sure to take and wear lots of sunscreen. We went through 3 bottles in a week...only got a little bit of a burn. Also, take a swim suit and change of clothes in your carry-on. This saved us a lot of heart ache when our luggage did not arrive until the following evening due to the huge snow storm in Montreal.

If you are considering travelling here, go for it!! For those of you uesd to the 5 star quality, try next door at the Macao.

Sunny Mommy