We came back from our week’s stay at the Ambar last Friday. Had a great relaxing time, a first for me on holiday as I usually go for action packed holidays. Anyway, let’s start the review.

Check in – Our check in was quite uneventful since our rep had never been to the hotel and didn’t know where to let us off the coach. We were first driven to the Punta Cana reception, then to the Bavaro and then back again to the Punta Cana. No welcome dance or drinks for us, but then we were 2 hours late due to the delay back at London Gatwick.

Room - We were upgraded to the Ambar, originally booked Bavaro. Not sure if this was due the our email a week earlier stating we were repeat customers or that all Thomson customers got upgraded? Anyway, we were in Villa 68 which is the 2nd building closest to the beach and next to the jungle. We were in room 68309, one of the extra large corner rooms with extra large balcony on the top floor and one of the best views (jungle and sea view)! The four poster bed is probably the most comfortable we have slept on away from home! Everything in the room was clean but there were some inevitable peeling and cracking of paint due to the DR climate.

Food - We found the food in the Palmyra buffet was of very high quality. There is a different theme at the buffet every night. During our stay Caribbean night was lobster night which seemed to have been enjoyed by all. The most disappointing night was Asian night. We ate at the 3 pre-booked a la cartes within Ambar. For service we liked the Portifino the best, for food El Olivo (great rib eye!!), our least favourite was the La Gourmet. All 3 Ambar a la cartes had lobster on their menus. We stumbled in the main buffet in the Punta Cana twice being misinformed by our Thomson rep that it was ok to do so, on Gala night they had a very impressive carvery spread! And men wearing shorts are not allowed in any Ambar restaurants, but you can wear whatever on your feet.

Staff – All friendly and relatively helpful. I guess we like to go with the flow when we’re on holiday so we never really tested the staff’s level of English. Actually, having read the reviews here I expected a lot worse and was pleasantly surprised. Our maid Sidia came to clean our room and provide turn down service at different times everyday and although this did not bother us what did slightly was the towel game we played with her! Each day it would be a different number of bath towels in the bathroom. Some days there would be 4, some days 1!

Grounds/ Pool/ Beach – Everywhere you looked maintenance people would be doing something to make the place more perfect. The trolleys to the Bavaro were not very frequent and some drivers, for some unknown reason, would fail to stop at the bus stops to pick up passengers. It is easier to walk the extra 2 minutes to get on the main trolley route. The Ambar pool was never overcrowded and being Adults Only, it was never noisy. Beach always clean as there were several rubbish cleaners in the Ambar section of the beach alone! Plenty of palapas available at all time on the beach, of course not so at the pool. Wonderful clear turquoise water. We had 2 days of cloudy skies and even a morning of heavy rain but 5 days of unbroken sunshine to enjoy the beach.

Activities – For me, this was the only area with room for improvement. Being slightly intolerant to the sun, I have always tried to stay out of it. But at the Ambar, if you stayed out of the sun you might as well go back to your room and sleep! All activities are based around the beach and pool area apart from the ill-equipped sports area, which was just too far from the Ambar. But if you’re into your water sports, there is plenty to do. Parasailing, kayaking, pedaloes, catamaran, banana rides etc. Unfortunately for me, I can’t swim and barely managed 5 minutes of white knuckles on a kayak… It was yellow flags for all 8 days we were there and the water really is rather choppy, we did see a capsized catamaran really far out and water sports staff had to go to their rescue.

Palm Real Shopping Mall – We didn’t go for any excursions as most were water-related so we took advantage of the free shuttle to escape from the hotel for a couple of hours. The shuttles pick up from BP Punta Cana and Bavaro from 10am – 4pm every 2 hours. It’s only 20-30 mins ride and the shopping mall is nothing to write home about, but it’s worth it just for the ride on the shuttle where you get to see how the locals live as well as some of the other hotels along the way. Anyway, the shopping mall is a real disappointment and you will be stranded there for 1 hour until the next shuttle takes you back to your hotel.

Punta Cana Airport – We were very surprised at how relaxed security was. Not once did they look at our passports and I even managed (unintentionally) to take a 160ml bottle of cough syrup with me in my hand luggage. There are 2 terminals, terminal 1 is the open-air side and terminal 2 is the air-conditioned side. Not much to do to pass the time in this small airport, a few shops, a pizza place, a Wendy’s and 2 bars, but terminal 2 is slightly more pleasant while waiting to board your plane.

Conclusion – We really enjoyed ourselves, and although we will not be returning to this hotel, Punta Cana or even the DR (there are too many places we have yet to visit), we would definitely recommend people to go at least once.

We were bumped from the Majestic April 26th to the resort for 2 nights. We loved this resort. It was so nice.

The beach is beautiful (A bit more crowded feeling than the Majestic’s beach) but still very nice.

The room was wonderful. It has a large shower and a whirlpool tub for two that really helped after a long flight! The room also had a flat screen T.V. (which isn’t a big thing – we never watched it, but it was a nice touch)

The mini bar was stocked well, we never needed for anything. They supplied plenty of water and beer and soda.

We had a ground floor unit very close to the beach and were fairly close to the buffet restaurants and a few of the other restaurants.

We were only allowed to eat off the buffet for the two nights we were there due to being bumped from another resort, but that was fine. The buffet restaurant inside the Amber (or the one that is very close – I’m not sure if it was inside or not the properties sort of run in together) was outstanding. My husband found some ham that was sliced very thin (he told me what kind it was but I don’t remember) that was so good he had to have it at every meal. They have a wonderful selection of cheeses too and Mangos all the time. We did not get sick once while in Punta Cana, and we both even messed up a few mornings and brushed our teeth with tap water.

The best thing I think about this resort is the quality of people that they hire. Every single person was full of smiles and everyone spoke to you. We did tip of course, but I don’t think it made a difference.

One thing I really liked was that everything on the buffet was labeled and they had drink menu’s at the bar (If you have a sweet tooth try the Coco Russo)

I’m sure they have an animation team at this resort (They all have one) but we didn’t see them, and for us it was a blessing. We were on our honeymoon so we were sort of dreading all the social games and things – and we never had to worry about it at the Amber. The feel of the resort is very laid back and it was exactly what we needed for those first two days.

The only bad things we experienced were from some of the other guests. There seemed to be a lot of snobbery going around and ordering around of the staff. I witnessed a few men scolding the poor waitresses and making complete spectacles of themselves.

Also, we never found a beach bar that served alcoholic beverages. We found one that served juice. Maybe we just over looked it.

Another thing that we really didn’t like was how confusing and large the whole complex was. They do offer little transportation shuttle type things that will get you from place to place but we like to walk so we really didn’t take advantage of them that much. But it can get confusing on where you are or where you should go (I’m sure the rum helped with that).

The Amber was so awesome that if we ever get to take another vacation without our children we will stay a full week at the Amber.

Don’t get me wrong the Majestic is nice too and if we had the kids it would be a great place for our whole family – but if it’s just the two of us again……we are going to the Amber!

best holiday yet . skipper and maryann ,april10 to 24 we were booked to to go to the bahia punta cana gold , and we were upgraded to the ambar due to overbooking. this turned out to be a lucky break for us,the ambar was the nicest place we have been to in the dominican. we stayed at bahia punta cana gold last year and this was much better. the rooms and the service were excellent our maid cristina was the best,very friendly and great service, we stayed in building 69. t he food was very good in the buffet with one exception they had a big problem keeping the food warm, they have ceramic serving trays and they take a while to heat up, they need to pre-heat the trays the food and service in the al acart restaurants was excellent especialy the don pablo gormet . the pool and beach were fantastic,the pool was not crowded and they have good drink service,the pool is sparkeling clean and the beach is to die for ,not to crowded. the people that work there are super,even the gardeners, all of them are friendly . i must learn more spanish for next time after all it is their country. for sure we will go back to the ambar next year. we hope that the ambar does not get as big as the grand bahia which is steadly expanding and is out growing itself , i am greatfull to all the people at the bahia for making our holiday a wonderful experience.

My husband and I stayed at Ambar April 26 - May 2. We were traveling with another couple. Everything was wonderful. We arrived early (11:00 a.m.). Check-in was a breeze and we were able to get into our rooms immediately and were by the pool by noon! The beach was beautiful, food delish, service top notch. From our experience, all I can say is take negative reviews with a grain of salt. I was a little nervous about our vacation after reading some of the reviews. There are obviously people out there you can never please.