Sunscape Casa Del Mar

June 24- July 1, 2007

Preface: I am blessed to travel 3-4 times a year to the Caribbean and in the last 5 years have made a point of visiting an AMResorts at least once annually. I have visited Secrets Punta Cana, Secrets Capri, and Sunscape The Beach. Reviews and photos of each trip can be found here: www.chris-n-cheryl.com  I have also traveled to well over a dozen All-Inclusive resorts scattered throughout the region (some pricing much higher than Sunscape Casa del Mar and others in the same price-range). Reviews beginning in 2002 can also be found at the above link.

I traveled with my mother. This was our 21^st annual mother/daughter Caribbean get away. My mother would agree that overall, Sunscape Casa Del Mar falls into the category of one of our least favorite vacation destination.

Value for the Dollar:
This was my 3rd trip to the Caribbean in the last 4 months, so I was looking for a very inexpensive trip. We got a last minute deal to Sunscape Casa del Mar for $799.00 per person including direct air, so in all fairness, I do believe that we received a fair value for our vacation dollar.

I honestly can not report that I received a HIGH value when compared to other similarly priced resorts. What I received was a good value (once apple straightens out some pricing issues), but I can't go so far as to say that I received a HIGH value at Sunscape Casa del Mar (again, only my opinion, everyone looks for something slightly different in a resort experience).

This is the point I am struggling with as I write my review. At what point is spending an additional $50.00-$100.00 cost-effective in terms of value for the dollar? From my personal experience with other resorts priced in the same ball-park, I believe that overall they may provide a higher value for the dollar (again, only my opinion).

We paid $799.00 per person for 7 days with direct air. At the time of booking, I was debating between 3 resorts ranging in price from $799-$899. The first, pricing identical to Sunscape Casa Del mar, was the Riu Playacar (review of the sister property Riu Tequila found on my main page www.chris-n-cheryl.com). Having been to the Rius in Playa, I can say for certain that amenities were similar to Casa Del Mar (although CDM does win in terms of friendly staff), but the FOOD far exceeded CDM. A word of caution, I was VERY displeased with the food and beverage choices at CDM however food is HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE so take everything I write about the food with a grain of salt (and pepper J).

The second was a new resort in Playa Del Carmen that I have yet to visit called Grand Sirenis Riveria Beach. This resort priced at $849.00. For an additional $50.00 per person, we would have received much more comprehensive amenity package (Jacuzzi in the room, room service, robes/slippers, etc…) I can not comment if the food would have been better as I have not visited this resort, however I will say that the food at CDM was my LEAST favorite of all of the trips I have EVER made (even when compared to resorts pricing similarly). Never have I visited a resort with what I would consider bad food, however in my opinion, the food at CDM was below the industry standard. Typically I like food in the Dominican Republic less than I like food in other Caribbean destinations (in fact, it’s my least favorite); however in four previous trips to the DR I was always able to find something I really enjoyed. This was not the case at CDM.  So, couple the food issues (again, food is very subjective) with lack of amenities, I firmly believe that a Jacuzzi, room service, etc… may very well have made the $50.00 more to visit Grand Sirenis money well spent.

The third resort I was considering (Barcelo Tropical) priced at $899.00 (only $100.00 more than CDM) and I can say without any hesitation that the food, beach, and amenities at Barcelo all exceeded what we experienced at Casa Del Mar. My full review of Barcelo can be found here: www.chris-n-cheryl.com  The major drawback to Barcelo is the service. In this aspect, CDM FAR exceeds the Barcelo experience. For $100.00 more you will receive a FANTASTIC BEACH (the beach at CDM is extremely nice, but not even in the same league as the beach at Barcelo which is easily 4 times the size with fantastic snorkeling from shore). Also, the pools at Barcelo are much nicer, as was the room and amenities offered. Of course, Barcelo Tropical is a very new resort with all the bells and whistles, so one should expect to have nicer room accommodations and amenities. My hesitation to recommend Barcelo falls into the category of service (they were grossly understaffed). If you’re looking for a truly fantastic beach, better pools (although there is nothing wrong with the infinity pool at CDM), and much more variety in food (lobster included in price, Japanese cooking station, etc..), and you can overlook understaffing issues during peak season, Barcelo is well worth the additional $100.00 per person (in my humble opinion).

I will do my very best not to compare Sunscape Casa del Mar to Secrets or Sunscape the Beach. Quite frankly, these resorts aren't even in the same league in terms of detailed service, food quality, or amenities. It would be completely unfair to compare these resorts to one another because Sunscape Casa del Mar cost significantly less than Secrets or Sunscape The Beach. I would easily recommend Sunscape the Beach or Capri to anyone from my forum. However, at this time, I am sad to report that I can not honestly recommend Sunscape Casa Del Mar. I believe there are other resorts pricing just as cheap that offer a higher quality vacation. I’m not talking about Sandals or Secrets, I’m comparing my experience at CDM with other resorts pricing in the same range.
 
I am still a devoted AMResort fan and will certainly travel to an AMResort property again. Perhaps I just hit Sunscape Casa del Mar on a bad week? Again, this is all just my opinion.

I'm going to repeat this part once again so that I don't scare anyone soon to visit Sunscape Casa del Mar...... there is absolutely nothing about this resort that would prevent you from having a wonderful time!!! It’s just that the resort, for me, was lacking in quality and amenities I have grown accustom to at other resorts (even those similarly priced).

I offer this background so that you may understand that while I may write critically, my review is based on comparisons to multiple other resorts. Some of which cost significantly more money and are therefore unfair to compare directly, but many other resorts that I have visited are in the same price range as Sunscape Casa del Mar. I will do my VERY BEST not to compare CDM with resorts costing significantly more money. While I am normally a very devoted AMresort fan, it saddens me to report that, in my humble opinion, dollar for dollar, there are better choices in resorts for travel consumers.

Special Thanks to Kerry Consentino I would like to begin by expressing my sincerest thanks and appreciation to Kerry Consentino. Our room requests were matched perfectly. As a 5 time AMResort past visitor, we were granted an upgrade to an ocean view room. First Floor. Two double beds. 50 Steps away from the infinity pool in building 2. Perfect location! This was the highlight of our trip. Special thanks to Kerry for sending a fruit basket and bottle of Champaign also. Kerry is certainly a valuable employee at AMResorts and deserves public recognition for her efforts to make our stay enjoyable. Applauso-Applauso!

Food: My biggest disappointment with CDM was the quality of food offered in both the buffet and restaurants. However; I want to be perfectly clear: FOOD IS SUBJECTIVE~! Just because I didn’t like the food here, doesn’t mean others don’t completely enjoy it.

As mentioned, I’m not a rookie to all inclusive travel. I typically find food in the Dominican Republic to be my least favorite of any Caribbean destination, however I could always rate the food as good (even in the DR at similarly priced Riu’s). Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case at CDM. I found things I enjoyed, but nothing I would rank as excellent. Normally, I enjoy lobster in the Caribbean, and in all of my trips (even those to cheap resorts), lobster has been included in the price. Unfortunately, there is a $30.00 surcharge for lobster at CDM. I must have traveled to Sunscape the Beach prior to the lobster surcharge. I certainly hope that AMResorts reviews this policy before enacting surcharges at other properties. I knew about the surcharge prior to booking so I’m not complaining, but wanted to publicly state my disappointment with this policy.

Breakfast: We ate breakfast at the buffet daily. I found these meals to be the best. There is ample selection. The toast is heavenly! You make it yourself with a thick type of Dominican bread and I must say that this was the one thing that I totally enjoyed daily. OH…… also the orange juice! It was fantastic!

Unfortunately, the omelet station undercooked my omelet the first two days so I switched to eggs made at the station over-medium. These were fine. The bacon was tasteless, and the sausage undercooked. However, with that being said….. two eggs and toast were plenty to enjoy a nice breakfast. They did serve the traditional donuts/muffins/pastries and although I didn’t indulge, they looked heavenly.

Lunch: The first day we ate lunch at the buffet (travel day). My first hamburger was grossly undercooked so I switched to salad and pasta which was good. The next three days we ate lunch at Seaside Grill. A lovely setting with great service. However, on day one I ordered Chicken Fajitas and received a Chicken Sandwich (no biggie, it was decent). We loved the onion rings! On day two and day three they were out of the onion rings L. We got chicken from the grilling station on day two and it was good. On day three we ordered fish and chips. The fish was not only raw in the middle, but it was still partially frozen. Could I have asked for more fish? Absolutely! Would they have been more than happy to serve me again? Absolutely!! Should I have had to? Nope. That was our last lunch at Seaside. We decided to skip lunches from there on out.

Oceana: First night we ate at oceana. I had the coconut fish which was actually very tasty. My mom ordered surf and turf and we both just laughed when it came. It was served on a kabob. Two small pieces of meat and two shrimp which were medium sized (at best). Desert station was good, but the salad bar here was lacking. I ended up figuring out how to make myself olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing and eat that with a roll. This ended up being my filler for the entire vacation. Roberto, our waiter was just great!

Demarios: Ate the second evening here. 40 minute wait (no big deal, we went at 7:30 and should have known better). Our busboy here was fantastic (he kept refilling my oil/vinegar mixture lol). However, our waiter here was mean. No smile, he was clearly aggravated with how busy it was in the restaurant (note: this was the ONLY employee we found who wasn’t absolutely fantastic!). I ordered penne pasta (they were out) so they substituted a swirly noodle. My dish was decent. Mom had lasagna. She hated it. Watery, not layered, simply lasagna noodles, sauce, with a top layer of cheese. Did we starve? Heck no! And our busboy was truly delightful.

Himitzu: This was our favorite restaurant. Service was fantastic. They bring fried carrot and fried shrimp (little ones) as appetizer with soy sauce and sweet-n-sour sauce. Both were good. I had the coconut shrimp appetizer. Mom had sweet-n-sour chicken and I had a Thai shrimp. We both enjoyed this meal. Again, not what I would call fantastic, but we certainly ate it and enjoyed. I would like to say that I think AMResorts missed the ball with this one. This restaurant is certainly big enough to have accommodated several Japanese Grilling Stations. This was always our favorite meal at other resorts. I highly recommend they consider adding a few tables here. You can see from other reviews of resorts with Japanese Grilling Stations that this is always a highlight of the vacation dining experience. It would be a very simple addition that would go a long way.

Beach Party: The beach party was very similar to the indoor buffet in terms of choices. I started with a rib-eye steak. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t cut (even with a knife). I traded it in for BBQ chicken which was very good. Service at the tables was very good.

Seaside: We ate at seaside on Friday. The serve nacho chips with salsa as appetizer and those were tasty. I ordered nachos for appetizer and they were yucky. It was served on a plate of water so the chips were soggy. There was no cheese, just salsa, sour cream, and lettuce. I ordered the cowboy platter. The sausage was undercooked but the chicken and pork chop were burnt. This was my least favorite meal, and the only one that I walked away hungry. My mother had the beef tenderloin here and it was her favorite meal! Actually, her steak was surprisingly good considering my escapade with the rib eye at the beach buffet.

Buffet Dinner: We opted for the buffet dinner twice because Mom found that she enjoyed the pasta station. This station was lacking choices when compared to other resorts, but it was Moms second favorite. I was always able to find something I liked at the buffet. Nothing I absolutely loved, but I didn’t go hungry and there was always my bread with oil/vinegar J.

Desserts: Normally I do not care for desserts in the Caribbean, but the desserts at CDM were surprisingly good. I did indulge in chocolate cake, cheese cake, etc.. nightly and typically I found something I really liked if I sampled enough. Even with having French fries, pasta, dessert every night, and toasted bread every morning (a carbohydrate feast I normally avoid at home) I still managed to loose weight on this trip. Again, a first. Not complaining about that though LOL.

Food Summary: Of course you should expect food to taste different in a foreign country. But having traveled to the DR several times before, we strongly believe that the food quality fell below that which you can expect from other similarly priced resorts in the DR, and certainly fell well shy of all-inclusive food I have experienced in other destinations. In fact, I would state that overall the food offered at CDM was my least favorite of any resort I have visited. With that being said, we didn’t go hungry and believe that most people will find the food at the very least ‘average’. Please remember, FOOD IS SUBJECTIVE TO PERSONAL PREFERENCE!

ILLNESS: Here’s the part of my review that always causes some controversy. It is my absolute firm belief that as a tourist, you are more likely to become sick in the Dominican Republic than you are traveling to other islands. Can sickness happen anywhere? Absolutely! I’ve fell ill at some very nice restaurants here in the states. What I’m referring to is the LIKLIHOOD that you may become ill in the Dominican Republic when compared to other Caribbean destinations. For me, it’s a matter of simple statistics.

Several years ago I did an informal study based on 100’s of trip reports from resorts scattered throughout the Caribbean. I compared identical chains of resorts (Riu’s, Iberostars, etc…). I did a simple text search for the work ‘sick’ and tracked the number of tourists reporting sickness in trip reviews. While admittedly this study doesn’t hold up to the rigors of scientific research, what I did find supported my personal experiences. Approximately 15% of people traveling to the Dominican Republic reported some type of gastro-intestinal problems compared to 4% in Mexico. This figure dropped to below 1% in islands with potable water (Aruba, Jamaica, etc…).

A simple google search will result in 100’s of documents supporting the association between gastro-intestinal illness and travel to the Dominican Republic. Just today I found a formal study from the Canadian Center for Disease Control titled “Risk of Enteric Illness associated with travel” which showed that travelers to the Dominican Republic were three times as likely to experience sickness as those traveling to Mexico.

Again, I do not argue that sickness can’t happen anywhere. It can, and does. However; I do believe that the odds of becoming sick are increased when choosing the Dominican Republic over islands with potable water, and this was once again confirmed by my experience at CDM.

Thankfully, I did not become ill. Like our previous trip to Secrets Excellence, my mom came down with a slight case of the revenge (this has never happened at ANY other destination, but has happened both times she has visited the DR). I can assure you that mom does not over-indulge J.

We spoke with many people who were sick at CDM. One honeymoon couple where the bride was stuck in bed for two days (Hi Michelle and Jason if you are reading this J). Of the 11 people traveling on our bus back to PUJ airport, 7 were sick. 6 were minor cases, but one lady was extremely ill (vomiting, fever, etc…).

Again, please remember, I’m speaking odds here. Does everyone become sick? HECK NO! In fact, far more people have absolutely no problems than those who do experience illness. The odds are in your favor. But, do more people get sick in the DR than in other Caribbean Destinations (especially those with potable water)? It is my firm belief that they do.

It is also my belief that until the department of tourism for the Dominican Republic places very strong guidelines on food preparation in the DR, this lovely island will never command the tourist dollar it rightfully deserves. Let’s face it folks, the DR is a cheap destination. It’s certainly not because it lacks physical beauty or a warm and loving population.

Beach: Ok, I feel like it’s time to share something positive about CDM. The beach here is the best of any AMResort I have visited. In fact, overall it was one of my favorite beaches at any resort I have visited! The snorkeling off shore was surprisingly good. We’re not talking the same type of beach at Barcelo Maya (which is 4 times as large and where the snorkeling from shore yielded sightings of sea turtles, manta rays, barracuda, etc…) but the snorkeling from shore here is better than most resorts. I’d rank it a very solid 8 (with Sunscape the Beach being a 5, Secrets a 6, and Barcelo a perfect 10).

Also, the shade availability at the beach was one of the most abundant I have encountered. Because La Romana has been spared recent hurricanes, you will find the palm trees much more developed here than in other destinations. The beach was really really LUSH and finding a spot in the sun or shade was never a problem. You simply won’t find this type of tropical lushness in the hurricane ravaged Playa Del Carmen area for quite a few years.

The ocean is hard packed in front of the resort which makes swimming in the ocean very enjoyable. I did water aerobics daily which were quite fun. The young man who conducted aqua aerobics was a lot of fun and more people participated at CDM than ANY resort I have ever visited. This was truly one of the highlights of my day.

Room: As mentioned above, the room location we received from Kerry was FABULOUS! We were in room 2150. Steps away from the infinity pool with a beautiful view of the ocean behind. I will be forever grateful to Ms. Consentino for granting our exact request! Since mother and I like to spend every afternoon on our patio playing cards prior to dinner, it was exceptionally nice having a beautiful view. The room was cleaned daily, we had plenty of hot water, and there is ample storage in the closet.

Unfortunately, although this room in building 2 was considered to be recently remodeled, it is still need of more attention. Here are some of the ‘issues’ with the room (all minor):

1)   Leaky sink that was never fixed. Towel under the sink stopped the floor from flooding.

2)   No coffee maker upon arrival. Maid did lift a coffee maker from a neighboring room, but that meant that there wasn’t a coffee maker in that room.

3)   Full container body gel and shampoo, but ¾ container of body lotion? Request for more body lotion was eventually granted, but this time it arrived ½ full. I’m not about waste and all for conservation, and I suppose I don’t have a problem with resorts reusing room amenities (although it seems a little unsanitary), but I suggest that staff at least fill the bottles so they don’t look used.

4)   No patio table. This was really really strange for me. There were patio tables for every room in buildings one and three (new buildings) but I saw none in building two (and scattered ones in building 4). Again, I’ve never experienced this before.

5)   Little things: broken luggage rack, iron didn’t work, broken tile, missing molding, mildew on drapes, etc…

Room Summary: Are these huge issues? Absolutely not!! None of the ‘issues’ I address with the room are enough to ruin a vacation! I just want travelers to be aware that things may not function properly in their room. Roll with the punches. CDM is an older resort and even the 'remodeled' rooms look tired and worn when compared to other resort choices. As mentioned, our room was clean, the beds were extremely comfy (not always the case at other resorts), and our location was perfect!

Check In: Check in was extremely friendly (unlike the similarly priced Barcelo Maya). We arrived at 11:00 a.m. Room wasn’t ready (didn’t expect it to be) but surprisingly Fernando told me to come back at 1:00. So, we went and ate and came back and the room was ready for check in.

Fernando forgot to give me a key to the room safe (perhaps you need to ask?). No biggie, I went back to the front desk and asked. I was told there was a $3.00 a day charge. I mentioned apple and the fee was immediately waived.

The room safe here operated on the old type of lock and key. At least the room safe I had in building two did. The newer 'club' rooms may have digital keys. I recommend digital safes for all rooms. Not only is it impossible to loose the key, but both roommates can access the safe at any time. Once, my mom went to access the safe, only to realize that I had the key and I was in the spa. Again, very minor inconvenience, but digital safes are something that the similarly priced competitors offer.

Charging for a room safe is one of my pet peeves. There are a few resorts which charge (Bahia Principe for example), but the vast majority of resorts (even those similarly priced) provide a free safe.  Also, I’d highly recommend that simple amenities like robes/slippers and a patio table be made available to all guests. In my opinion, it is simply ridiculous to have to pay additional for club amenities (which all come standard in the most resort choices, even those priced as low as CDM). In fact, if you do the math.... a club room costs approximately $300.00 more than a standard room. Adding $600.00 to the cost of your trip would put you the price range of numerous other resorts with MUCH better amenities overall.

Believe me, Sunscape Casa Del Mar isn't the only resort to charge for upgraded amenities. This is one of my largest issues with Sandals properties. It is my opinion that certain things (fully stocked mini-bar, robes/slippers/, coffee maker, etc...) should come standard in ALL Caribbean resorts. Do they come standard in all resorts? Nope, but they come standard in the majority of resorts and I know that I look for these things when deciding upon my destination. This is another suggestion I would make to management: include the safe, include the robes and slippers, make bottled beer available in the mini fridge so your guests don't have to get it from beach vendors. Please don’t start nickel and dimeing your guests, in my opinion the inclusions are what make AMResorts so appealing.

POOLS: Beautiful. Infinity pool is gorgeous. Main pool is in need of some attention. Loved the fact that they built the infinity pool at 4’7” deep (unlike the 3’ STB pool). Swim up bar was large and the staff here friendly (although a tip did help, and at times was necessary to receive prompt service).  

SPA: I had 3 massages: hand foot reflexology, head and shoulder massage, and aromatherapy. I elected to receive my massages in the actual metamorphic spa area. The eco gardens were REALLY lovely, but the picture floating around the internet of the tarantula on the massage table was enough to make my walk through the eco spa quite enough. The Tanio spa tables on the sea were not available the week we were there, but there were massage tables on the beach in various spots. I have learned not to take a beach massage unless it’s in a really secluded area because of the noise (nothing like listening to bingo or meringue lessons while you’re getting massaged lol). Dang, I forget the name of the man who preformed my massage (Ernesto perhaps?) but he was wonderful. The spa area is really lovely and the staff here wonderful.

STAFF: In my opinion, The staff is the absolute shining star and saving grace of Sunscape Casa Del Mar!! There is nothing to say other than the staff here is wonderful! Much better than other similar priced resorts and on par with some REALLY EXPENSIVE choices! Here is where CDM clearly outshines it’s competition. The people in the Dominican Republic are absolutely some of my favorite people in the entire Caribbean Region. Don’t get me wrong, people are generally wonderful all over, but there is something about the people of the Dominican Republic that are truly special and I would say that the people I met at CDM are what made the resort experience! While other similarly priced resorts may provide more amenities (and, in my opinion, better food) I have yet to find any other similarly priced resorts that can even compete with the staff at CDM (and like I said, CDM staff can compete head on with the much more expensive Secrets and Sandals).

Misc Topics:

I can't quite place my finger on why Casa Del Mar fell shy in my opinion. It was a series of minor events, that when looked at cumulatively, added up to a resort that appeared as though it was  'cutting corners'.  In addition to the lack of food quality, here are some of the events that occurred during my trip which have lead me to believe that CDM may be attempting to save cost:

1) I was asked to get food and drink by resort employees. This is the first time I can recall this happening. I refuse to mention the resort employees specifically as I don't want to get them in trouble. One lovely young lady went above and beyond helping me with this little 'thing' I wanted to do for my mother, and when she was done she asked me to go get her pizza so she could eat. I was shocked and asked if the resort offered her food. She said that they were not offering 'buffet' to resort employees like in the past. This young lady was lovely and really did go above and beyond to help me, so I did go get her pizza (I hope I didn't do the wrong thing). Another young man asked me to go get him a pina colada with mucho rum LOL.

2) No more horse and carriage ride available. I didn't really push this issue and it might have been a communication error due to language barrier; but I requested about the horse and carriage ride with Anna at guest services. She sent me to the excursion desk next to the towel huts. He told me that the only horse option available was the horse riding excursion.

3) SunDials are no longer delivered to the rooms; instead they are posted around the resort. This is fine with me as it saves a great deal of paper, BUT, I strongly recommend that Sunscape Casa del Mar makes the Sundials available at both ends of the buildings and at both of the pools. It was slightly inconvenient to run to the front of the buildings or to the buffet to figure out which restaurants were open or what activities were taking place. Another thing that would be helpful is if they posted the information BEHIND the bars because people would take the only sundial posted at each of the buildings daily, and that meant that by the end of the day it was nearly impossible to find the daily events unless you went to where they were posted in the lobby or at the buffet. Again, nothing terribly awful and absolutely good for the environment, this new policy just needs a little tweaking to make the information more readily available.

4) General lack of amenities I have grown accustom to. Some of which I knew full well going in, but I guess I didn't realize just how different this experience would be when they all added up (my issue). No robes or slippers unless you 'upgrade' to the club section. No room service (even with a nominal charge). No beer in the mini-fridge, or bottled beer anywhere on the resort.. The amenities we received in the room were previously used (and no SPF 8 sunscreen). When I inquired about more body lotion for my mother I was told only once weekly. The maid did bring more lotion, again, that bottle was only half full. Again, nothing that made it 'bad' but these amenities are offered at other similarly priced resorts.

5) General Maintenance. Little things like the paint in the main pool is in desperate need of being redone. Broken tile in the room. The main pool was also dirty with sand on the bottom and floating debris in the pool. The debris was picked up daily, but not the sand. There was a broken mirror in one of the public rest rooms. Toilet paper holder hanging on by one screw in the beach rest room. No paper towel in one rest room. No soap in another. The luggage rack in our room was broken. There was a thick layer of mildew on our privacy blind.  No patio table, The iron didn't work.

6) Necessity to tip. I normally enjoy tipping and certainly feel that all resort employees at Sunscape Casa del Mar deserve additional gratitude for their hard work; however this was the first resort that I felt that tipping made a difference in the service I received. One example, mini bar. I normally tip $5.00 the first day and $5.00 the last day for mini fridge service. On the first day I left $5.00 with a note asking for 3 Coco-cola lights and water. I received both. Second day, no tip just a note... I received only water. Third day, $3.00 tip asking for three Coco-Cola Lights and water. Received both. Fourth day, note but no tip... no coco-cola light. Fifth day, $2.00 tip requesting three Coco-Lights and water. REceived 2 Coke lights. No big deal, but I got the hint that if I wanted 3 Coke Lights I should leave $3.00. Maybe I was being cheap? I'm not sure, but this is the first time that tipping yielded better service. Similar experience with room cleaning and drinks at the swim-up bar. Tipping certainly yielded better service.

7) Running out of food and drink options. Not to say that there isn't ALWAYS something available, but the resort continuously ran out of things on the menu. No onion rings available at Seaside at lunch, no penne pasta selection available at DeMarios dinner, no bottled water available in the bar (go to front desk), no tequila at the swim-up bar one day, etc....

All of these things are VERY MINOR in the grand scheme of things; and at some level ALL RESORTS have these type of issues. But again. when you compile all of the 'minor events'   (apples to apples).. it is my opinion that there are better choices in the same price-range..

In summary: I can’t help but come back to the dollar for dollar comparison. I have done my very best not to compare my experience at CDM with other more expensive properties. That is simply unfair. I have also avoided comparing CDM to similarly priced vacations that I have taken years ago (because, quite frankly, I forget details).

But, for the dollar for dollar comparison sake, I’d like to take a moment to compare CDM with a recent trip I made to Barcelo Maya. Again, these resorts are priced nearly identical (Barcelo being $100.00 more per person at the time of booking). For us, Barcelo had a much better beach, larger (and cleaner) pools, more room amenities (robes/slippers/coffee makers/full shampoo, patio table, etc…), room service for a nominal charge, more top shelf liquor choices included in price, fully stocked mini fridge (bottled beer, chocolates, nuts, etc..) and much higher quality in food with more choices (lobster, Japenese cooking station, etc…), this resort is very new so the general maintenance issues you may find at CDM were absent. However; Sunscape Casa Del Mar has a nicer spa (although BArcelo has since built a brand new state of the art spa), more lush and developed landscaping, and HANDS DOWN better service.

It saddens me to report that even with the fantastic service, I would have to recommend Barcelo over CDM (and this is coming from a VERY loyal AMResort fan). In fact, I’d also suggest that members look at the new Grand Sirenis Riveria Beach which was priced only $50.00 more per person but came with a Jacuzzi in the room along with room service and much more inclusive room amenities (although the décor is a bit strange). There are also several other brand new resorts in the Dominican Republic that are pricing similar to CDM which offer more comprehensive amenities and are worthy of investigation.

Dollar for Dollar, CDM is not a BAD choice, but I do believe that there are other similarly priced resorts that offer more bang for your buck.

Special Thanks: I’d like to give special thanks to the many people on the Sunscape Forum who tirelessly provide information about CDM. As the owner and operator of my own travel forum, I know that this is a labor of love and want you to know that your information is greatly appreciated. Members like Baltobabe, Kaki, and so many others truly love CDM and it is my belief that they want nothing but to share their genuine love for this resort. Their advice is certainly not malice, and I hope that people understand that my intent in writing this report equally as pure.

Final Thoughts: We had a wonderful vacation (truly we did). I sincerely hope I don’t come across as a spoiled brat (perhaps I am?). There is NOTHING about CDM which would prevent someone from truly enjoying a relaxing vacation. All of the issues I address are minor (with the exception of food, which is subjective).

For me, It comes down to Quality/Price/Ratio, and unfortunately I think that although I have yet to find one resort that is my personal utopia, dollar for dollar, better choices for your travel dollar exist.

Admittedly, I write from a critical perspective, but I am not trying to ‘scare’ anyone, or to write untrue or malice things about CDM. My motives are really quite simple; to try to help the general travel consumer make an accurate comparative choice.  I fully acknowledge that everything I have written is only the opinion of one person and urge people to always conduct extensive travel research from a multitude of different sources.

I wish I should share the same type of glowing experiences from my trip at CDM as the vast majority of people who travel here can, but please know that my intent in providing this report is not at all malice. There is nothing about CDM which would prevent you from having a wonderful vacation. I do not regret my decision to visit CDM, but will not be returning to this particular AMResort; nor can I give it an honest recommendation as a truly high value for the dollar.

Over time, I am quite certain that I will forget the minor issues that I have addressed in this report (and admittedly, in the grand scheme of things, they are all minor). However; I will forever have pleasant memories of the playing cards on the patio of room 2150 with my mother; the beautiful infinity pool and Caribbean sea as a backdrop, and the warm smile and ‘hola’ from each and every passing employee.