Family of four: 2 girls, 11 and 7 travelled from Toronto during April 25 2008 through May 2 2008. We travelled from Toronto to La Romana on Sunwing Vacations. I booked this holiday from a travel agent and did not realize that we were flying to La Romana (LRM) instead of direct to Punta Cana (PUJ). Too late to change so we were stuck with the 1:45 small bus trip. It would have taken 45 minutes if the roads in DR were actually straight instead of 1001 curves. The bus crew was nice and we did see the countryside. Never again though! Arrived at Sunscape at about 13:30 so had to wait until about 14:45 for the room. Room in building 7 was tired looking, crooked beds but surprisingly comfortable and the pillows were really good. TV reception was bad and mostly Spanish channels. No fridge, glass bathroom door and half shower door. I read the reviews here and took the suggestion to bring a Walmart shower curtain and dollarstore suction cup hooks. Worked great! Don't shower before dinner, there is no hot water left at that time. Air conditioning was great. Hotel was quite empty so noise was not a problem.

We're used to DR/Cuba food so we didn't expect much but found the food in the main buffet to be limited in selection and questionable in quality. There was no bacon for breakfast for 5 days! C'mon now ... I'm on vacation ... I want meat! Kids loved the waffles. Lunch and dinner at the main buffet were also disappointing but there was something at each sitting to make do with. The American Roadhouse by the pool was really good for dinner and the Italian restaurant by the lobby was the most authentic themed restaurant. The place is so dimly lit, you'll need a lighter or cell phone to read the menu! Most lunches we ate from the bbq on the beach ... really good. I did get sick (V) for one full painful day after eating either the runny yogurt for breakfast or the onion soup at the Roadhouse for dinner. It wiped me out! After that I stuck with fruit and food that was identifiable as fresh and stayed away from dairy.

The pool was really nice but the painted concrete surround and paths are slippery in bare feet and certain shoes ... BE CAREFUL! The music they played around the pool was worst selection I've ever heard! It was a mish mash of 50's country twang, 60's B-sides and 70's AM radio dribble. They must have found some old 8-tracks in the ditch and looped the same garbage after about 2 hours everyday! They'll sell you pirated music CDs but they can't seem to be willing to download something more current or generally appealling to play by the pool.

The beach was nice ... lots of space and palms and loungers in good repair. For a nice walk to some really pristine beach and water head to left (North-West) along the beach past the jungle area. Don't be afraid of those guys trying to sell stuff on the beach, we stopped and talked to all of them, they're just regular folk trying to get by too!

The shows were OK, a few song and dance productions were really good, the comedy theme shows were stupid and be warned that the Domincans are not as "politically correct or sensitive" as your typical guilt-ridden Canadian so expect anything. They embarrassed my wife to the point of tears one night ... at least they gave her a bottle of rum for her misery!

The games they play during the day are fun when the remember to do them: darts, volleyball, ping pong, frisbee, aerobics and dancing. The kids tried the kids club but hated it. This late in the season and when most North American kids are in school, we pulled our kids out for holidays so there weren't many English speaking kids. The kids club crew spoke Spanish to the kids since most of the kids there were Dominicans. Oh well!

We did the Caribean Festival excursion afternoon boat ride, snorkel and swim with sharks. It was a good value and lots of fun.

Service was good overall and exceptional from a few people. We like to seek out the "go-getters" and tip them well early on, then they'll be loyal to you whenever you walk in. We had waiters arrange reservations for us and even squeeze us in ahead of others with reservations ... in the DR ... money talks!

The travelling flea market on Saturdays and Wednesdays is about twice the price of what you can get outside the hotel or even at duty free on the way home. They sold carton of smokes for $40 and they were $24 at the duty free. They don't negotiate because they work for the Dominican Donald Trump who organizes the show and watches every transaction. Spend your money with people who deserve it outside the hotel.

Overall good vacation, we've had better and worse. Probably would not return to this particular area but more likely further North-west to Bavaro area: newer and more action.

Good luck with your travels!

arrived 14th apr 08 booked into grand oasis punta cana (or so we thought) told oasis was overbooked - a regular occurance apparently- and we were moved to sunscape hotel virtually next door to grand oasis against our wishes, told that sunscape was a 5 star hotel but was actually a 3.5 star property! not happy at all as you can imagine as paid for 5* . after endless arguments with the grand oasis staff who were condesending to say the least , not to mention had a bad attitude and no social skills we eventually settled into the sunscape after demanding a beach view room as compensation for our downgrade!! went back to g.oasis next day and told no possibility of a transfer there as no rooms would be vacated until the sat 19th... another british couple on a 2 wk holiday also told that they would have to spend 1st week at sunscape but could transfer to grand oasis for 2nd week. (we were only there for 1 week so didnt apply to me and my friend-we were 2 girls sharing)HOWEVER WE WERE ALLOWED TO USE BOTH HOTEL FACILITIES which sounded ok but the oasis used a wristband identity for guests and they wouldnt give us wristbands. this caused a problem trying to get onto resort when security guards asked us to prove we were guests. after several attempts to speak to a manager at the oasis but never achieving it due to the staff at reception being extremly unhelpful and rude we monitored the guests leaving on coaches going to the airport on a daily basis and concluded that staff had lied about rooms being unavailable during our stay ...so as the week went on we started to appreciate what the sunscape had to offer and realised quite quickly that the service at sunscape was in fact far better than at the 5*grand oasis. the staff we much friendlier and better manered than oasis staff..the service at the restaurants and quality of food was superior than the supposidly 5*HOTEL in fact we were begining to think that it was a good thing that we were sent to sunscape after all,and we were not the only ones.speaking with guests at sunscape who had been put there instead of oasis it seemed that people had noticed that the oasis looked a lovely place but had no atmosphere about it...it was rather clinical and in fact boring,wheras the sunscape was friendly and fun and full of good atmosphere and you could feel it when you walked into the place. it felt good. in fact the british couple who were supposed to go to the grand oasis for the 2nd week of their holiday refused to go and stayed at sunscape instead as they were having a good time there. we went to the beach party on the fri nite at sunscape and it was amazing...the organisation put into it was incredible in fact it was a fantastic night and the staff were brilliant. we danced all night and suffered the hangover next day but definately worth it!!! this holiday was getting better and better and when we ventured onto the oasis complex from time to time we didnt regret being moved to the sunscape at all. so we would like to say thanks to the grand oasis for moving us away from your boring hotel and giving us a far better experience with nicer people than yourselves and if we do decide to come back next year it will be at the sunscape hotel we will be staying rather than yours! thankyou to everyone at sunscape. (from the 2 scottish girls with the scottish knickers showing the flag!)

My boyfriend and I, both in our early 20s, just came back from having spent a week at Sunscape Punta Cana. While the location is very convenient, only 20 minutes away from the airport, the rooms could use a lot of improvement!!! Our air conditioner worked fine, however the room was humid at all times and mould was definitely “in the air”. Luckily we’re both healthy; however for someone with respiratory problems or allergies I think it would be pretty unbearable to stay in one of those rooms. Having washed all our clothes upon our return, we can still smell the mould. Aside from that, everything else in the room could use some upgrading.

The main buffet was OK for breakfast however we did not eat lunch there and we only had dinner there once. We had lunch on the beach every day, there was a restaurant right on the beach and in addition they had somebody barbequing outside the restaurant daily. Dinner at the main buffet consisted of mostly fried foods: chicken, fish, even the zucchini was fried. On the other hand, the specialty restaurants (there are 4) were all excellent for dinner the only thing is you have to get there around the time they open otherwise they fill up quickly (they do not take reservations in advance).

When you call the front desk to request anything (fresh towels, soap, toilet paper etc) be prepared to wait for some time, or if you want something right away you are better off looking for a maid in the hallway and getting it yourself. On our last day we checked out at 12 and we were told that at 3:20pm we could have a room to shower before getting on the bus and heading to the airport at 4pm. When we went to pick up the key we showed up 10 minutes early and ended up getting the room key at 3:25, before leaving the front desk I asked the front desk agent if there would be towels, soap and shampoo in the room and sure enough we got there and there was nothing, not even toilet paper! We called for stuff but 20 minutes later I was still waiting; my boyfriend had walked over to the desk in the meantime but they insisted that they would send the stuff to the room. I was finally able to take a shower and while my boyfriend was in the shower I was getting dressed and somebody, who was scheduled to use the room after us, walked in the room. I wasn’t too impressed, but didn’t have any time to say anything to the front desk agent because our bus was there.

The highlight of our stay was probably the Wednesday night dinner. They set up the food stations outside and the tables by the pool. Lots of good food and a great atmosphere, we really enjoyed it. The bartenders and the waiters/waitresses were all very nice, at least to us, some people said that they felt some staff was expecting tips in exchange for good service. We always tipped anyway and you could tell that they were very appreciative.

Overall we had a good stay, but that’s because we refused to let certain things get in the way of enjoying ourselves.

We just returned from the Sunscape, Punta Cana,on April 20, 2008. Our week vacation was quite enjoyable. The Lobby, Grounds, Pool and Beach are spotless. The staff were friendly and accommodating. We found the specality restaurants to be excellent, the no reservation rule was confusing as there were empty tables but you were put on a waiting list. The entertainment staff were a hoot and great dancers. My biggest complaint would be the rooms. Although the hallways are clean, the rooms are in need of a facelift. The TV barely brought in a reception, the curtains and bedspreads are antique in style, and the walls are paper thin as you could hear every conversation between rooms. Good thing you don't spend a lot of time in them.
On the whole, we had put in the worst winter in years and were happy to be in the heat and sunshine and the Sunscape did the trick.
We were told at check-out that the hotel was to be re-modelled within the next two years and will be under the Dreams name.
Brenda & Ron
Ottawa