Date Of Stay : May 4th to May 11th, 2008.

I love this area of the Dominican Republic. I have stayed at Sunscape Casa Del Mar almost 2 years ago.

I got a great deal on this property and from the pictures I had seen on this website, I wanted to stay here.

Short & Sweet :

I could not find anything I hated about this property. The Beach, Pool, Grounds, Food, Entertainment, Bar, and Service were all perfect. This place was probably the best all inclusive food I have ever had. They had it everywhere and you could get it all the time. The pool was huge and beautiful, great pool bar service. Great drinks, and you do not have to wait at any bar for service. They are on top of things. The beach was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The hotel room was average, I stayed in building 3, I think, it was close to the pool & beach. Great view of the pool and my AC always worked. Bathroom was nice with a big tub and shower. Room was always spotless and they have turndown service each night. They also have 6 pink flamingos that roam the property, that was very cool. The gift shops on the resort were very reasonable, they had reasonable prices compared to any other resort I have been to (I think this was my 7th resort I have been to). I can't think of anything else I can share.

I know that this was a very nice resort, one of the best I have been to. Iberostar has it going on with the resorts. If I go to Mexico in the future, I will be staying at an Iberostar.

FYI to the American Travelers, this resort and part of the country caters to the European Clients. There are very few Americans that go to this resort. I noticed that all the clients/guests were very nice, there is just the language barrier. It was nice speaking with fellow Americans, and my friends from Canada & the UK.

I would like to say hello to my friends from Iowa & Boston & New York.

Would I return to this resort......YES.

P.S., I would have posted pictures but some other hotel guests stole my camera from me in the lobby. I hope that you needed my digital camera more than I did. Thanks for ruining my photo memories from the resort. If you don't mind, just mail me my SD card, you can keep the camera.

If anybody has any questions, please ask me. Thanks.

We have recently returned home from a fabulous two weeks holiday at the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus in the Dominican Republic. What a fantastic hotel!!!! We have travelled to a few of the Caribbean Islands and must say that this is the best hotel that we have stayed at.

It certainly warrants the five stars. As soon as you arrive at the hotel the service is second to none. On arrival at the airport we were given packs which already contained our room details, door cards etc. We were asked to complete a registration form on the coach which enabled us to go straight to our rooms rather than queue at the Reception to register. What a great service!! Our luggage was delivered to our rooms almost immediately. The rooms were just as the brochures describe, nice size rooms, ours had an extra large king size bed, wardrobe with hanging and shelves, dressing table with additional cupboard, drawers and fridge/mini bar, television, sofa, chair and bed side tables. There was also a safe in the wardrobe which was available at a small charge. Our bathroom was also spacious with a bath and shower. The rooms were extremely clean and were kept this way for the complete 2 weeks, thank you to our maid Maria. It was a pleasure to return to our lovely room at the end of each day.The brochures advise that the mini bars will be replenished every other day, however we found that water was replenished every day.

The rest of the hotal was absolutely gorgeous, in some places just like a palace. The decor was amazing, and everywhere was so clean.

The main swimming pool is huge and has a great pool bar with extremely friendly staff. There is also another lovely pool suitable for adults, due to the depth.

The choice of restaurants is great, there is the main buffet restaurant, breakfast, lunch and dinner are available. Then you can also make reservations at the other 4 restaurants in the evening (fish, Japanese, Mexican and Steak House). The steak house also serves buffet lunches every day, this was our favourite, they serve a wide selection of salad, steak, fish, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, ice cream, fruit, the list goes on and on!!

This hotel is situated on a beach and what a beach, there are plenty of sun beds and umbrellas (which are highly recommended). The beach bar is great, looks like a lighthouse!

We went on three trips during our two weeks, Saona Island, Discovery Trucks and Katalina Island. We thought that all the trips were reasonably priced considering that they were all early morning pickups, included lunch and drinks and return to hotel at approx. 5pm. We enjoyed all three trips, however our favourite one being Katalina Island, this should not be missed.

The entertainment at the hotel is extremely good, there is an animation team which arranges competitions, games etc. during the day. It is up to you if you want to join in. Each night the same team presents a different show, these are not to be missed!! So much thought and preparation is put into these shows by all the team.

Well as you can probably tell we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday at this fantastic hotel, and can't thank the staff enough for the excellent service provided throughout the two weeks.

The only negative thing to advise is the mosquitoes .... do not forget to take repellent with you.

I visited Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus with a group of friends and stayed for a week. It is a great place to go if you just want to kick back, eat and drink. We usually spent mornings on the beach, moved to the pool in the afternoon, and after dinner went to the show. In early April, by afternoon it got a bit hot for the beach. It is sort of like what I imagine being on a cruise ship would be, except of course not on a boat. My room was spacious and had a lovely balcony.
The service was exceptional. Iberostar seems to pick good people and train them well. I always had at least one "towel sculpture" on returning to my room.
The crowd is probably 90 percent European, which I enjoyed. The food, I thought, was geared toward European tastes - not that you can't get a burger and fries, but you will likely find some unfamiliar items on the buffet. We dined at both the Mexican and Japanese restaurants, and enjoyed them.
The crowd is also almost all couples and families. It is not difficult to meet people at the lobby bar but it is definitely not a singles scene.
There is a casino just down the road that offers some diversion. We spent one afternoon outside the resort, which was very interesting.
At $1,200 for a week including air fare, this was an incredible value.

We have been to many hotels in the caribbean and elsewhere. Overall this was a really great hotel, probably the most beautiful hotel we have visited when you consider the overall combination of the tasteful, beautiful gardens with ducks, swans, flamingos etc, large attractive, spacious pools, lovely beach and spectacular turquoise sea. We could not get used to how lovely the hotel grounds were, they really made our holiday!

Service - Staff were superb, always positive and friendly despite obviously working incredibly hard for very long hours. We were very disappointed how few guests gave any tips at all despite the great treatment, the obvious poverty of the country, and the genuine gratitude when something is given. All the time we were there we only saw one other guest giving a tip during a 14 day stay - people are so selfish!! A few dollars means so little to you and so much to them! It says a lot for the locals that giving a tip made no difference to the level of service given. The people were not money grabbing and showed no signs of looking for tips and seemed (sadly) genuinely surprised when they received one. English is limited so try to learn a few basic words of spanish if you can.

Food - Certainly not gourmet, and a bit repetitive, especially in the beach restaurant, but then that is always the case with buffet restaurants. Despite this small reservation the food was very enjoyable and there was always something new to try in the buffets as well as the regular dishes. We found our favourite dishes and then tried one or two new things each day. We enjoyed the a la carte restaurants, especially the colonial though they did not come close to the restaurants in, for example the Karisma chain in Mexico (El Dorado Royale etc.) but then the price is much lower here and the hotel and beach much more beautiful. We ate loads of lovely tropical fruit and despite initial reservations given what we had heard about food poisoning in the Dominican Republic and the fact that we are a bit sensitive in this respect, we ate absolutely everything and had no tummy problems whatsoever

Rooms - We thought they were lovely and cannot understand why they are sometimes criticised on this site. They were kept amazingly clean and the bathrooms were great and showers powerful and always hot. Lots of purified water is left in the rooms for teeth cleaning etc and the fridges are filled daily with softs drinks, water and beer. The air conditioning was great ( not freezing U.S. style) and we thought it completely appropriate in these times of global warming, that the air conditioning goes off when the patio door is open or the room is not in use (often criticised on this site). We loved the way each of the seven buildings had its own individually designed Quadrangle garden in the centre of the building and beautiful illuminated vases all over the place, in niches, really nice! We left a $2 tip in the room each day which was much appreciated (and we got the towel art etc.)

Beach and Pool - When we were there, and with 100% occupancy in the second of our weeks, there was no need at all to reserve places early by the pool and there was always shade and beds, except for afternoons, by which time most were reserved or in use. The beach was a bit more competitive and the best shades, at the front, are reserved by about seven, though there were generally shady places a bit further back on the beach and places without shade, at the front, at all times. The pool does have a problem with the mosaic tiles falling off and it is a bit dangerous for cutting feet when getting in and out, so it needs a little care. The sea is very safe and is spectacularly beautiful. The beach is really very nice with a very useful (lighthouse) beach bar and drinks brought round as well - you will struggle to find better anywhere!!! The beach restaurant is close by with food almost all day.

We strongly recommend this hotel.