Senator Puerto Plata Sublime Collection

“Family vacation”

We just had a 10 day trip with 3 generations. The resort is beautiful and inviting. The check in was easy. Our room were dated but clean. I found the pillows stunk after a week so I am not sure they were washed. We did have extras so I used a different one. The food in the buffet was very good bu... more

We just had a 10 day trip with 3 generations. The resort is beautiful and inviting. The check in was easy. Our room were dated but clean. I found the pillows stunk after a week so I am not sure they were washed. We did have extras so I used a different one. The food in the buffet was very good but there could be long lines at certain times. The food was also good at the sports bar and the snack bar by the pool. I tried to book the a la cartes the 2cnd day and was told I could only do 2. I thought that was strange for a 10 day stay. The entertainment team is very good as well as the 2 Fitness guys who did the aerobics everyday. The bathrooms by the pool and lobby were spotless. They have great women who keep the clean. We all enjoyed the pools and beach. Watching the cruise ships come in was nice. My main complaints are the lack of shade and the lounge chairs. They could easily add lots more umbrellas and chairs. I was there in January and had to be out to get shade by 7:00. This trip I was out by 6:00 and most of the chairs were already taken. I understand why people did this because of lack of shade. Our group was 37-84 and did not want to burn. This was unbelievable. Unfortunately I have been reading reviews since November and my own experience in January that the management say they will take care of it but haven't we will not come back. If you are okay with sun all day you will be fine. This is a very nice resort with the potential to be a great one if they would only take care of this big issue.

less

“3 Stars at Best”

Just finished a 4 night trip at the Senator, it was overall a bit disappointing. I’ll start with the good. The pools and scenery are great, lots of palm trees around and great views. The food and experience at all 3 restaurants were great. The gym was one of the better facilities I’ve seen at... more

Just finished a 4 night trip at the Senator, it was overall a bit disappointing. I’ll start with the good. The pools and scenery are great, lots of palm trees around and great views. The food and experience at all 3 restaurants were great. The gym was one of the better facilities I’ve seen at an all inclusive resort (but no mirrors which was odd) The sports bar was ok, and the bar/pub food was actually pretty good. The little strip of shops was a cool touch. The gelato and pizza spots were great and the gift stores had some cool stuff. Now here’s the bad… Most if not all of the rooms are outdated and a bit trashy. The wifi sucked and the shower was terrible. Poor water pressure and a tiny space in a tub. Also your view from your balcony is likely directly in front of someone else’s balcony. The drinks were absolutely garbage. There was no consistency and the quality of the alcohol was really poor. Tried ordering a vodka soda and they just gave me plain water instead of soda, apparently they had none. Any type of blended slush drink was liquidy and gross. The only proper tasting drink was a beer. And they only had one kind, the local presidente brand which luckily is pretty good. The most disappointing thing was learning about their “house wine” which came from an unlabelled clear empty juice jug and smelled like vinegar, it had probably gone bad or was getting close. I ended up spending almost 100$ US just to have a few bottles of real wine through out the week. Do not come here if you enjoy drinking wine. The buffet was pure chaos, seemed like a thousand people inside, such long lines, and pretty terrible quality food. The evenings were pretty lame, the only place to go is the 24/7 sports bar which ends up being packed and hard to get a drink and I almost saw a few fights. I counted 23 TVs inside, and only the one large TV was turned on the entire trip. My biggest pet peeve of this place is how they didn’t even play any of the major games that were happening. There were a lot of hockey fans expecting to watch the NHL playoffs and they didn’t even have the game playing. I even saw some people that were at the resort streaming the Leaf/Bruins playoff game from their own personal data. So many Canadians visit, it seems so obvious to just have a proper sports package to be able to watch big games. Overall thank god the weather was perfect during our trip, because it would have been a long week here with bad weather. There are probably better options out there. 3 stars at best

less

“Two Star Experience Upgraded to Three After Free Room Upgrade”

Check-in: We arrived earlier (9am) and left our baggage, then go off for an adventure (7 waterfalls, highly recommend it!). They confirmed our room would be ready when we return at 1pm. We return at 1:30pm and wait in the check-in line for over an hour. We were then told our room is not ready and... more

Check-in: We arrived earlier (9am) and left our baggage, then go off for an adventure (7 waterfalls, highly recommend it!). They confirmed our room would be ready when we return at 1pm. We return at 1:30pm and wait in the check-in line for over an hour. We were then told our room is not ready and to wait another hour. Buffet: The food is fine, but nothing special. Try ordering a diet pepsi /diet coke they say they don't have it. 1 guy found it for me, and other times they say yes, but it's a regular pepsi (beware diabetics!) If you go early at lunch you will see leftover breakfast options recycled placed out again for lunch... but holding the same shape as the container it was stored in between the two meals. Rooms: My room was fine. A cockroach in the tub one night which I sprayed down the drain and put the rubber drain stopper in to make sure he didn't crawl back up. The wind at this resort keeps the mosquito level low so that ensures we only had 1 or 2 mosquitos a night to chase down and kill before bed. We had working AC (building 12), and a minibar that's included as part of your all-inclusive. Never tried the TV, and the WiFi never worked for us in the room. Beach: Very low waves relative to the other place we stayed (Perla Marina) making for great swimming. A random guy told us he paid $400USD to get a sea urchin removed from his foot, and another he spoke with paid over $1,000USD the same day all by walking along the beach without water shoes on. Finding a beach chair that wasn't "reserved" with a towel wasn't too bad for our stay in April. Keep in mind you aren't to reserve chairs here so if you struggle to find a spot, just find a chair that's not used in 20mins then fold up the towel, set it aside and take over the chair. Resort people gotta stop being so territorial. Wind off the water is nice and there's plenty of shade to figure out a spot to avoid peak sunlight hours. Stores/Plaza: Cafe is the same dull pastries from the buffet just put in a new location. The machine for coffee/latte options at the buffet is the same at the cafe. Pizza place has a terrible dough but the toppings and sauce are great. Ice cream place is nice but they give you a portion that would be fine for a 3yo. Bars: Buffet for supper opens at 6:30pm so I go to the sports bar at 5:50pm and I order a burger. I have not received my burger by 6:30pm so I go to the buffet and assemble a burger and some pasta, eat it, then return to my group at the sports bar around 6:45pm expecting the burger to be waiting... they still hadn't received their food or my burger yet. if you like daiquiris or pina coladas, then the ready-made slushy mixes at the different bars make it real quick and easy to get the drink you want with a healthy bit of rum tossed in. Bartenders are always in a great mood which is nice since no one seems to be tipping? (more to come) Pool: Didn't use it. People pee in it and openly share this info. The pool surrounding area has a ton of chairs which is nice... but wow! the heat here in April (humidex 40C) made staying here more than 30 mins unbearable. Lots of white surfaces reflecting that heat back up at you. Service: Table service for drinks at the buffet and bar service is all great. I recommend getting 25 peso coins and tipping 1 per drink. Then when getting 2 or more use a 50 peso bill. It's appreciated and it's very low cost to you. We had issues with getting service for our room (tried 4x to get minibar stocked, still took 30hrs, no WiFi, and key card reader issues, and the cockroach) we were prepared to give 2 stars for this resort. I spoke with front desk asking if we could get an upgrade for our last night at no charge, I had to retell the story 2 more times to people 'til we got the luxury upgrade. It was a newer room (building 3), very fancy shower and came with slippers, but it's not worth the $45USD more. Their willingness to absorb blame and offer the no charge upgrade has me upgrade the rating to 3 stars.

less