Marien Puerto Plata - All Inclusive

The beach was disgusting. After big storms, mountain runoff left so much garbage there, and I'm pretty sure there was raw sewage too. Nobody cleans it up, which is heartbreaking. We didn't know about this when we booked, and thank goodness the pool was amazing. If you're a beach person, don't go here. The resort itself was very clean, and the food was pretty good. The Mediterranean was one of the à la carte restaurants we tried, and we went to the Mexican twice because it was absolutely delicious. The buffet had tons of options, no complaints there. The snack bar had great fried snacks, nachos and salsa, plus burgers, hotdogs, and other buffet style snacks. Our room was a bit dated, but in an excellent location. Housekeeping was excellent, and the water pressure was great with hot water all the time. The stunning pool had three connected areas with different moods: a fun, loud section with volleyball and a quieter area by the pool bar. There's no swim up bar, but the pool bar was easy to get to.

The setting is lovely, with well-kept grounds, a beautiful pool, and a beautiful beach. The rooms, though, were old, run down, and smelled of mold. I was so disappointed. We arrived to find only two towels for four people, and with the room phone broken my husband had to walk to the front desk. It took about two hours to get more, so we ended up sharing while the kids were getting hungry. The air conditioner leaked from our first day, even after someone came to fix it. We had to put towels down to avoid slipping. On our last day, my parents' room got so flooded from their leaking air conditioning that my mother had to go to the front desk and make a scene before anyone looked into it. The supervisor brushed her off. The buffet was limited and repetitive, and you had to flag down wait staff for drinks. I'd read some bad reviews before we came and hoped they were wrong. They weren't. If you can stay somewhere else, do.

I stayed for two weeks and loved every minute. The staff kept busy all over the property, cleaning, gardening, painting faded spots, sweeping up after rain, treating the pool, and deep-cleaning the bar tools. They worked hard to make the stay enjoyable. It was easy to walk to playa dorada beach or the market when I wanted a change of scenery. My housekeeper Leonardo kept my room looking fresh and clean, and topped up anything that was running low. The best drinks were at the sports bar.

The pools are huge, the rooms were clean, and the staff were pleasant and attentive, as you'd expect at most resorts. We stayed 28 days and had two cockroaches in the room, which you might expect in the tropics. When rain caused power problems, they handled them quickly and effectively. The buffet was good for us, although plenty of other guests complained. The beach is rough underfoot and covered in garbage. They do clean it, but there is so much that it seems impossible to clear it all. There were also so many smokers that it was hard to find a spot without overwhelming smoke. If you have strong cat allergies, be aware of the cats. For a beach vacation, I might look elsewhere.