just returned on the 30 june 2008 wow what a holiday the hotel resort was beautiful. mind while being transferred from the airport to the hotel i was thinking where are we going, the outside town was not well developed but when we reached the resort to cocktail drinks and a beautiful reception i had peace of mind. mind you the only fault i had with the whole holiday was the rep. we went through thompsons the rep said she would be there every day but saturday the only day we actually seen here was the monday for the welcome meeting not that we needed her cos the hotel staff were great the local language was spanish but they could speak english. the food was excellent the buffet changed every day there was something for everyone there is a snack bar during the day and one from 11pm till 6am with a 24 hour beach bar for the late drinkers. the rooms were really clean and spacious if you were all inclusive the fridge was daily stocked with water and soft drinks. the pools were amazing there was one for children one for those who could swim a little that was'nt too deep and a adult themed one with inset pool bar and plenty of activities going on. the beach was fantastic plenty of sunbeds with shades that you did'nt have to reserve at 6 am. lots of water sports going on but space to paddle or swim. the whole holiday was fab we spent 2 weeks there wish we had booked for three. met some really good friends hope to return next year for longer .

I would like to say that this hotel was fantastic. Don't know where the bad reviews have come from - these people must have been really unlucky.
-Thomson flights there and back were the smoothest flights I have ever experienced! No turbulance, no trouble, plenty to do, even the food was good! Transfer to hotel took about 40 mins but was hilarious!! Very bumpy but interesting aswell.
-Check in was quick, easy and smooth, The guys on the desk all speak great english and are warm and friendly. YOU MUST get a safe - we heard from some people who did have their things taken, but they went against the advice of the reps and didnt get one.
They are only 24USD (about £12) and are worth it for the peace of mind.
-Room was lovely and clean on the ground floor, I was concerned after reading some of them aren't great, but the only problem with ours was a slight musty smell, which we didnt even notice after a couple of days. Was cleaned well every day and the maid left lots of flowers for us. Check out the bathroom in the pics! AirCon worked too well! The room was sometimes freezing, but not really a complaint after you had been outside. Bed very comfy, yes the pillows are a bit lumpy but nothing that bothered us. We did pack 2 of our own tho! TV has lots of american stations so no problems there. Shower lovely.
-Weather was GORGEOUS! So hot. And when it rains, it RAINS! But for about 3 mins then its gone for the day.
-Three pools were lovely. Clean, warm, plenty of loungers and plenty of shades. Very pretty.
-Food was great. Always something open. The buffet was great and for a free all you can eat buffet to have things like sushi, fresh oysters, whole salmon, spit roasted pork, steak and mountains of fresh tropical fruit like mango passion fruit and pineapple is almost unheard of. There was also pasta, a salad bar, lots of different meats, chips, pizzas handmade in front of you and anything else you can think of. Breakfast had pancakes, waffles, crossiants, milkshakes, omeletts, bacon etc etc! The crepe place is great, especially the ham and cheese (or jam and cheese as the menu calls it) and banana ones. All washed down with a lovely milkshake. Didnt actually go to any of the restaurants as the buffet was more then enough but heard the mexican was lovely. They all look very pretty though.
-Beach is stunning just like everyone else has said. Not really anything to add! Except the Italian songs get pretty annoying and when Take That came on we got unnecessarily excited. Also plenty of shades all day. The free beach towels are also really nice and fluffy.
-We did one trip - The Speed Venture. Thoroughly recommend it. Was great fun and at £35 good value for money. You are really near the site as well so the transfer is only 20 mins compared with the 1 hour 30mins some people had travelled. You drive your own speedboat out to a floating pontoon and then snorkel off it for about 1 hour. Fish are lovely, i would say on a par with Ras Mohammed in Egypt which i never thought id say. Guides know their stuff and are friendly and funny. Snorkel and drinks are included but it is only for about 3 hours so food not really needed. Take a waterproof camera and sunglasses as the spray from the boats will sting your eyes! We also kayakked and boogie boarded at the beach at the hotel. Its free! and great fun.

We did both get sick, but it is nothing to do with the food as most people think. The heat was very surprising. After staying in both Egypt and Greece in the middle of heat waves with no problems i thought id be well prepared but i totally underestimated it and sat out all day in it, even though i was covered in sunblock and drank lots of water. Then got sick for 2 days with vomiting, diarrhea and headaches clearly caused by sunstroke! Take it easy for the first couple of days. However the shop is well stocked, and not that expensive. We bought a bottle of Nivea factor 60 (!) for $22 (about £11) and migraine tablets for $1 (ask for Wibasol!). Prices are in DOMINCAN PESOES even though the price labels are marked with the dollar sign. Gave us a heart attack when we saw that the sun lotion lable said $370! Divide that price by about 36 to get the american dollar price.
The hotel grounds are lovely, full of wildlife, always being maintained. Mini golf is a little tired but still fun. This review has been much longer then i anticpated so ill stop now but contact me if you want to know anything else! Ooh and the cocktails are free! And delicious! Have a princess light with or without rum.

The Good...

Amazing beaches, warm clean water and soft sand at your feet.
Large rooms with great air con
Very friendly Dom Rep people, hotel staff & locals
Monster Trucks excersions - great fun and really interesting to get out of the resort and see some real Dominican life
Helpful Thompson Rep

The Bad...

Beds are unbelievably uncomfortable - like sleeping on bricks for 2 weeks
The food was bland, boring and monotonous, which some may expect from an all inclusive, but i have had much better!
Absolutely nothing to do in the evenings unless you like watching shows in Italian or Spanish!
The Saona Beach trip is highly over-rated and very expensive for what it is. The island itself could be very beautiful if it wasn't for the fact that thay pack as many tourists onto the beach who then make the beach dirty and untidy - big disappointment!
Both my husband and myself suffered with a stomach upset and bad cramps for about the first 10 days of our holiday - and from what we heard from the few other English we managed to speak to - so did they! Take lots of imodium its £10 a pack at the resort!
Warning - if you do excersions take a sick bag on the coach, we had a number of people who were sick on our excersions as the roads are so bumpy

The Ugly......

This resort is not catered for English clients, on the whole we felt completely alienated the whole time we were there as the Peurto Ricons/Italians/Germans took over the whole resort. This got really annoying and we wish we could have come home after the 1st week of our 2 week holiday

My husband and I just came back from a two week stay at the Tropical Princess and I am really suprised that this resort got bad reviews before.

It is a 10 minute walk from the reception to the hotel rooms during which you walk through protected mangroves which are inhabited by ducks, peacocks, swans and other birds. We had a beautiful, clean hotel room with a view of the mini golf place. If you don't want to walk you can just use the internal transport. Our room was cleaned, the minibar was restocked with fresh water and soft drinks and our towels got changed everyday without any problems.

There were three swimming pools, a main one with a swim up pool bar which was aimed for the fun loving people. All activities were held at this pool by the fanastic animation team. There is also a family pool and a more quieter pool. The hotel grounds were cleaned every day and we never found any trash lying around as there are cleaners walking around and picking up the trash after you. The hotel beach was fantastic too - nice clean beach and lots of sun chairs with a beach bar nearby.

The food was absolutely amazing too!!! As a Vegan I didn't expect to be able to eat a lot during my stay but I was really amazed by the variety and choices of food that was offered at the buffett every day. There was a different theme for every night and we were able to eat something different every day. The food that was available during the day was good and varied too. My husband had an upset stomach once but this was probably due to the spicy food he tried and he wasn't used too and not due to anything else as I ate the same thing and I was fine.

One thing to mention is the friendliness of the hotel staff and especially the animation team. They are very enthusiastic and make sure that you really enjoy your stay and don't get bored. There was also a different show on every night at the serenada theater. The shows were really good and entertaining (especially the Lion King Show!!!).

We were locked out of our room one evening and it only took 10 minutes for a hotel staff to come around and give us new keys.

If you are an animal lover the ducks and swans and especially the big blind duck at the pond before the main buffet will appreciate some bread ;)

If you are a scuba diver there is a a dive shop right at the beach (where you also get your free non-motorised water sports equipment) which offers different dives to wrecks, diving excursions and corals. Speak to Nadine as she is very helpfull.

My sister and her boyfriend stayed at the Caribe Club Princess which is on the same grounds as the Tropical Princess. The only difference they had was they were able to use all 5 a la carte restaurants and we were only able to use two. Apart from that their hotel room was pretty much the same as ours except theirs was in one big building whereas the Tropical Princess rooms are distributed in blocks of bungalows.

All in all a fantastic hotel and holiday which we would highly recommend.