asturgeon
Registered: September 2006
Posts: 19
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Review Date: Fri October 6, 2006
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Would you recommend this Riu Resort? Yes |
Price paid per week?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Everything at Naiboa is a pro
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Cons:
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The only con is we had to come home
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For all who are planning a trip to the Naiboa do not hesitate just get on the plane!. My wife and I stayed at the Naiboa and thought we had died and gone to heaven it was so fantastic. The staff, the food, the beach, the pool, the shows, all number one excellent. The weather was excellent one shower the night before we came home lasted about twenty minutes and it was over. If anyone has any questions please just leave me a message on Rusty's and I will get it and reply asap.
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bianca18
Registered: November 2006
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Sun December 31, 2006
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Would you recommend this Riu Resort? Yes |
Price paid per week?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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every thing about naiboa is a pro
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Cons:
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the only con is we had to come home
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if u are planning on going to riu naiboa u should go. me and my family went to riu naiboa and i thought it was the best place i have ever been to it was fantastic. the have some SEXY STAFF!!! like johnny bravo,maximo,eddie murphy but ya the staff was excellent and the food was very good the shows were good, the clubs were sick, the beach and the pool were beatiful. i had the best time ever there and i cant wait to go back in july it going to be so much fun
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smithaam
Registered: December 2005
Posts: 16
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Review Date: Fri April 13, 2007
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Would you recommend this Riu Resort? Yes |
Price paid per week?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Everything (people, rooms, entertainment)
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Cons:
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None
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I've been to the RIU Naiboa three times and am about to leave for my fourth. Everyone is friendly at the resort and goes out of their way to make you as comfortable as possible during your visit. The staff is amazing. I would recommend this hotel to ANYONE who is thinking of visiting the Dominican Republic and wants to stay at an all-inclusive. You get an unbelievable vacation for the small amount of money that you pay.
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tlp2005
Registered: August 2006
Posts: 1197
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Review Date: Tue October 30, 2007
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Would you recommend this Riu Resort? Yes |
Price paid per week?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Price & the pool
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Cons:
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This was my first visit to the Naiboa. I will say that I booked it mainly for the price and it fit for what I needed.
Check in was very smooth and we were given a nice refreshing drink. The surprise came when I got to the room. We were given a suite! The extra space and having a double bed was great. The room could use some updating and I wasn't thrilled with the smell of the room. But it was nothing a few scented candles couldn't cure. I mainly noticed it when I would just walk into the room.
I had no trouble with low water pressure from being on the 4th floor, in fact I loved the shower I had.
One minor issue was the plug in's. Yes they are 110 volt, but they are set in to where I was not able to use my blow dryer or charge my camera battery. I was able to get an adapter that I could use for my camera battery, but not my blow dryer. The front desk have several blow dryer's to loan out for an hour at a time if needed. So that is what I did and it worked out fine. In fact Caesar at the front desk was impressed that I had it back with in 15 minutes and told me I would get a free stay. haha.
On the first day I requested a blanket and some extra pillows and received them right away. The front desk employee's were very helpful with any request and always called to confirm they were completed. Tumb's up to the front desk crew!
I found the food the first couple of days great and thought it was the best in offering the true Dominican rice and beans meal. One evening for dinner they served roasted turkey with a passion fruit sauce that was very good! But by the end of the week I grew tried of it. What I ate was good, but I found it to be the same everyday. My favorite was the Rum Raisin & Passion Fruit ice cream and the flan.
The beach....well I hate to admit it but the Naiboa's pool made me not want to go the beach. It is just a short walk, but I found that I loved the pool there. There is no swim up bar, but I like that better.
Word of caution!!! When the resort states they are not responsible and to carry your safe key at all times, DO IT! I left my backpack with my safe key just for a few minutes to check to see if Jose was back from a briefing. I came back to my room and the maid was in there cleaning. She was right by the safe. I didn't think anything of it until later that day I opened my closet door and the key was in the safe. I opened it to check everything and saw that she had gone through my wallet that had my debit card and other things but no cash. I think I walked in on her just in time before she opened my other wallet with the cash. Nothing was taken, but I did not tip all week because of that.
I am not one to get into the animation crew. I did play bingo one evening, but never made it to a show. We were to busy watching the Red Sox in the world series....
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have...
Tracy
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bryanb
Registered: July 2007
Posts: 161
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Review Date: Mon February 18, 2008
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Would you recommend this Riu Resort? Yes |
Price paid per week?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Loved it all!
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Cons:
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This is the third year we have been a group travelling and my fifth trip to the Dominican Republic, but my first visit to Punta Cana. I travel with the understanding that I’m not staying at the Ritz or someplace like that and don’t expect the resort to provide that service. I go to have fun and regardless of any little quirks we always do.
Check In
After the 30 minute bus ride to the resort we arrived at the resort. Check in was very good. There were 10 people on the bus to the resort, 7 which were part of our group. I had emailed about a week before asking for a pool view room upgrade and was pleasantly surprised to have gotten it.
When we walked into the lobby we naturally headed for the Reception desk but were called over to a small table, given the registration form and our room keys and brought into a meeting room with a cocktail drink so we could be given some general info on the hotel by the hotel (not the tour operator – that was the next day). The keys to the safe are included with your package and were given out at this session.
Room
As mentioned I asked for a pool view room based on reviews I’ve read. Our group was mainly together in 3 rooms next to each other (only 1 person was away from the group due to a room issue). We were in Rooms 2116, 2117 and 2118.
There was 1 double bed and 1 single bed in each of our rooms. I was under the impression that the Naiboa only had 1 type of room but it turns out they have rooms with Queen/Double mixes – next time we’d try for that type of room.
We had no problems with the water pressure or hot water supply. The power also went out a couple times for a minute or so. Once for about 30 minutes in the afternoon – never long enough to be a hassle.
As others have mentioned the Air Conditioning at this hotel tends to be weak to non-existent in some rooms, ours was one of them. The rooms each have a ceiling fan which keeps the room comfortable so after asking 4 times about the A/C we gave up.
I was prepared for solid beds and found that they weren’t nearly as hard as I had expected. From what I understand from the rest of the group, our beds were softer than what they had. All that said no one had problems sleeping on them. After a day in the sun and a few drinks it’s easy to sleep on almost anything!
The only point of concern was the room keys. As mentioned we were in room 2116, however our key also opened 2117, 2118 and 2119. As we knew everyone in these rooms it was handy at times, but a big security risk. The key we had was engraved for room 2170 so I’m not sure if would work in that door or not. I should point out that the keys for 2117, 2118 and 2119 did not open our door, but they were able to open a couple others besides their own.
Food
I think that this hotel offered the widest selection of breakfast items of any resort I’ve been to. Granted it was always the same selection, there was so much of it, there never was a problem getting your morning started. I think the best thing was the French-toast style Croissants – yummy! We had our breakfast out on the terrace each morning which was a nice touch.
Lunch was normally eaten at the beach at either the Pizzeria or Beach Bar and was Burgers, Pizza, Fries, Pasta, Hot Dogs, etc. They had this roasted Chicken which is almost as good as Swiss Chalet! I didn’t try the main buffet for lunch so I don’t know the selection.
Supper was always a different theme each night at the buffet so that was good. We also did the Italian a la carte 3 times, Steak House once and the Caribbean Restaurant once. To book the a-la cartes, you need to talk to the Buffet manager the night before and pick up your reservation slip at Breakfast the next day.
Snacks – There was never a time when we couldn’t find something to eat. Between the Pool Bar, Beach Bar and Pizzeria food was served until at least 2 AM. We never managed to find the 24 hour food at the Bamboo (it was always – 5 more minutes before it’s here, which never seemed to end).
NOTE: Supper at the Buffet: There are 2 seating’s. On the day you arrive go to the Buffet Manager and book your seating for your stay. You are assigned a specific table for your stay. Men must wear pants and a shirt with sleeves to be admitted – I saw a few people turned away.
Bars
There are several bars to visit should you wish to. There is the Pool bar, the Beach bar, Lobby Bar (at night), Pizzeria Bar, Bamboo Bar, the Swim Up bar at the Taino and Bamboo, plus many more we didn’t get to. Each bar we went to made good drinks.
The Beach
Being this our first time to Punta Cana we were pleased to see the sand was basically white. The beach was as clean as you can expect. You need to watch where you walk as smokers seemed to be just putting their butts out in the sand where ever they chose. Perhaps some ashtrays would help with this habit.
We spent all but 1 day at the beach. While you may have to move some chairs to where you want to sit, we never had a problem finding available ones to use until the second week when it became quite crowded, so we paid one of the beach workers to reserve us a group of 8 loungers - it was easy to find a couple but trying to find 8 was heard.
A note for those with Children, I saw more topless sunbathing at this resort than I’ve seen at any other one. Didn’t bother us but if you have young children you may need to have a talk with them before going.
Pool
We made us of the Naiboa pool and never got into any of the other ones we had access too as we were happy on the beach. The Naiboa’s pool is very nice and wasn’t too bad for chairs in the morning. If you spend the day at the Beach and want to move to the pool in the late afternoon you may have a hard time getting chairs as it was quite full by then.
Entertainment
We only made it to 2 shows. One was an audience participation one to get the “Ideal Couple” – funny but cheesy. The other one was the Michael Jackson show – Foot work was awesome!! The song selection could be better but the movement was like watch the real deal.
Each Thursday night is the Caraval Riu along Caribbean Street. They have bars set up along the street and have vendors in as well. The highlight is a quick parade up the street – gets the guests involved.
Activities
The Animation team had activities going on throughout the day and would even come down the to the beach to spot hotel guests and remind them of some of the events (such as the pool party). I didn’t partake in any but I did see them hold Stretching sessions, water volleyball, aqua-fitness and water polo to name a few.
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