My experience at the Casa Marina Beach Resort was a pretty good one as it was our first time outside North America have travelled Canada and US.The grounds are beautiful and well kept,the staff was wonderful especially Victor and Rita Maria thanks for the smiles and sincere friendliness.The rooms are pretty plain and no frills at all...but we never spent that much time in there.AC did not work but it cooled enough at night to sleep comfortably,we had small buggies on our vanity in the bathroom and on bureau and nightable but the beds were clean and when I sprayed them with insect repelent they stayed away for awhile until I sprayed them again the next time I saw them (days between) You have to remember where you are and it is a 3 star...the pluses will way outnumber the drawbacks.Let yourself enjoy it all.I travelled with my husband, my adult son and his girlfriend.Their room was in another part of the resort and was a garden view, they experienced none of the AC problems or buggies. We had an ocenaview with the best view of the ocean and grounds as well as one of the three pools.We never really complained so I am not sure how the situation would have been remed ied if we had. I did have trouble with sickness from something I ate but it was the last day so I slept alot on the way home. Only my husband and myself were affected several other people we became friends with did not suffer the same ailments that we did. I was glad no one else got sick and I know I was not very good company the last few days but it helped. to know so many were concerned including staff as well as new friends. Be careful with what you eat ...I should have even when it tastes sooooooooo.... good. Mels tours across the street gave us the best bang for the buck with excursions ...say hola to Elvis he is awesome...the town of Sosua was good to us my son and his girlfirend had alot of fun shopping and bartering with the local merchants,,the sights were sometimes hilarious when driving to and from excursions...alot of laughs...do not recommend going off resort at night but everyone felt safe in the day.The disco was not a palce to be comfortable as the behavior was not appropriate and we did notice teens that were way too young to be there...being served alcohol and seeing behavior extremely disgusting.I think the parents should be more responsible when dealing with young people.Some of them are more interested in adult time not asking where the young people drifted off to.The shows were fantastic and we especiaaly enjoyed the Pirates and Zodiac shows even though the karioke show brought us alot of enjoyment.My son spent his 22nd birthday at this resort and the staff at the Italien restaurant could not have been nicer, they sang happy birthday to him, banged pots and had balloons and cake and candles for him to blow out. We did tip for that lovely treatment but were not required to do so, there was no extra charge for their kindnesses...a memory my son will always remember.We also had the great fortune to meet what we will hope will be lifelong friends...we travelled together from Halifax and hit it off right away.HOLA.. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Air Canada was fantastic both there and back even got bumped to executive class. The cool jacuzzis are something else and should be enjoyed as well as the activities at the reef pool.. animation team was great.I really enjoyed the quiet time with my better half as that time is few and far between at home.We also appreciated the time with our son and his girlfriend as that time will to be limited soon.ALL in all a great time with some problems but its all what you make it and I realize how beautiful the resort was in so many aspects much more to offer than not. Glad we went should have done it a long time ago.Gracias Casa Marina Beach and Reef resort......

Myself and 2 friends decided to take a last minute vacation to the SUN. As the winter here was dragging on. When we arrived, our room was not ready, so we dressed for the beach, and locked up our luggage, and off we go. At 3pm our room was ready. The rooms were great, very clean, big, bathroom very clean, balcony, etc. Word of advice makesure you lock up everything especially MONEY, the maids love to make themselves at home to your belongings. We found that out the hard way!!! As for the buffett, well, not so good. Very Dominican: I ate alot of rice and pasta, and chicken, I'm glad they had that there. Breakfast was great!. The snack bar was fabulous. Chicken wings, french frise, hamburgers, etc. The one thing that really wasn't right was the bar closed at 11pm. That was a BIG surprise to me, and my friends.....After 11pm, the resort would open a Cash Bar. That would mean you would have to pay for your drinks!!!!! I have been on 5 different all inclusives, and paid less, and never ever had to pay for drinks??? This was a dissappointment. With all the staff that worked there, there were very few with a whole lot of personality. And this seemed very unusual for th Dominican. The people from there are always very friendly. The security, and the guys on the beach were lots of fun, and the beach bartenders were AWESOME!!!!!. One good thing about this resort was, that you could walk to the town of Sasoua, in just seconds, and shop. This was a great feature......
Overall, the Resort itself is beautiful---the beach is AWESOME, with whicked waves, and the pools are great as well.
I don't think that I would return again in the near future.....I would rather a Resort that has alot more to offer....alot more of "ALL INCLUSIVE"

My husband and spent a week at the Casa Marina Beach resort from April 30th to May 7th. We flew Air Canada and couldn't have asked for a better airline. Great flight up and great back. Best thing about booking through Air Canada is that they pay your departure tax. It's included in your package.
We landed and got through customs very quickly and found our bags and right out to the bus. The drive to the hotel was about 10 minutes or so give or take the traffic.
We had a great time at this resort and will gladly go back again. Of course no hotel is perfect and this hotel does have a few downsides that should be mentioned so that people going will know about them and not be blindsided like we were.
Make sure you ask upon checkin for a safe key. It is 15 per week to rent. That is a must.
-the rooms are a little older and dated and need some upgrades but unless you are that picky it shouldn't bother you at all. The worst part about the rooms are that you need your key to your room to run your electricity and air conditioner. So after being out of your room all day in the hot sunshine you come back to a hot room that took a bit to cool down.
-the age for the disco is 18 but it isn't enforced. We saw 15 and 16 year old British kids down there drinking and dropping bottles and not even telling anyone that the bottles smashed on the dance floor.
-I am Canadian and was quite appalled by some behaviour of a group of Canadian kids from Ajax Ontario. It was lewd and vulgar and bordered on soft porn in dance form. We left when we saw that and didn't return our whole stay.
-The Dominican people come to the hotel for the long weekends. I don't know if it is every weekend but on long weekends they come by the bus load and are everywhere and loud. They have a right to stay and pay as well but when we pay the price we do we shouldn't have to fight to get room in the two buffets or the three pools. Finding a moment of peace and quiet was all but impossible during this time.
-if you don't like people bothering you and harrassing you to come into their shops then either stay inside the resort or head to Playa Dorada or somewhere else. You are right in town and the minute you leave the gates someone is there trying to sell you something.
-vendors come in three times a week to see and they are quite pushy as well but there are lots of ways to avoid them.
Over all like I said we had a good time. Three pools, two beaches, two buffets, three ala cartes that are snack places in the afternoon, three cold tubs. We were quite happy.
Makes sure though that you take good shoes to wear because it is all stone and it is a lot of walking through the resort. If you want to take a tour I suggest Mel Tour's located just outside the gate. Best prices and best time of your life. We took two tours with them and loved every minute of it. If you manage to get Elvis as a tour guide you won't be dissapointed at all.

Just returned from the Dominican Republic staying at the Casa Marina Beach/Reef resort till the 30/04/08.
We can recommend this resort it was perfect. The staff are so helpfull & friendly, the buffet food was very good a good selection every night. The entertainment was on-going if you wanted to join in, all swimming pools were clean & plenty of sun lounger's about. As much drink as you can manage non of this 1 glass only
a lot of guests were buying the 1ltr thermo jugs & they would fill these.The only downside was the waves on the beach were pretty big making going into the sea dangerous, but the beach was great, if you walked to the main beach at Sosua that was great for swimming, the water is so clear & warm. The 2 trips we went on were good value for money. The price of stuff though is the same price as the UK it's not cheap you have to look around to find bargains. Walking into town was no trouble very friendly natives. long flight bum numb, but worth it.