Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio

After 16 hrs and staying for 24 hrs i.e., 40 hrs I had no shower, because no water in the flat. Repeated reports nothing done. Phone not working either. Safe locker locked by previous occupants. No attempt was made by the reception staff to open it.

wow so much to write but in a short description love it Omar, Zoraida , Ana Celia , waiters andEmmanuel, Rosaura y Luis animation, wowww Wha!!! a wonderful service and besidesthepersonality and the love that theygive beautiful and you can feel the love and respect tours other's, For sure I will come back and with my family too to emotions by hodelpa Juan Dolio.

I came here solo for 9 nights. The staff are definitely 5 of 5 - reception, guest services, waiters, bartenders, cleaners, animation team etc everyone are amazing! Honestly the best service I’ve had anywhere in DR and Mexico so far. The hotel itself 3 of 5 so my overall rating is 4 but let’s put it into context. The first room I stayed in (I arrived around 6.30pm) the aircon was so weak you couldn’t even feel it, the shower drain wasn’t working so the bathroom almost flooded, the hair dryer was coming apart, the safe was so old I couldn’t figure out how to use it and I was wondering if I had made a big mistake coming. The next morning before 7am (hello jet lag) I went to reception to ask if they had any other rooms available and if I could view them before switching. This is how I ended up with a room with pool (yes, I paid extra and had almost no regrets). The new room (which was in block 5 as well) was much more modern, including a better aircon unit, modern safety box etc. Definitely better! On the Monday I noticed there was construction noise while I was chilling at my pool and that continued for the weekdays which frankly, was a bit annoying as I had paid for an upgrade and not been told about the ongoing work. The room feels dirty when you look around but what looks like dirt on the floor and skirting boards isn’t (I checked the good old finger test) so it doesn’t feel very put together. The phone line is also down for some reason and some of the plug sockets are barely hanging on to the wall. The pool was cleaned a few times but still had some bugs floating around so I didn’t really swim in it if I’m honest but it was nice to have a place to escape to when everywhere else was super loud. And it was always loud music playing, plus a foam party at the adult area one day for a few hours which also killed the ambience for my own pool. Plus a kid staying upstairs kept throwing things down in the pool (rocks, food etc) and whilst that’s not the hotels fault it affected my experience. The location looks pretty, the pool area is nice and the swing is a nice touch, so is the pond. The beach has a lot of sunloungers and shaded areas. No complaints there (other than the sunlounger doesn’t go all the way down so laying on your stomach is no good). It wasn’t too busy either (only on the weekend) during my stay and there aren’t too many beach vendors to hassle you. Watch out for the coconut guy who tried to charge $15 for one coconut. Ridiculous! The food is a massive let down and the buffet room decor is terrible. The best food I got was in the themed restaurants you book at 9am and I don’t know if it was actually good or if I was just so desperate I thought it was somewhat gourmet. The themed restaurants are also nicely decorated though. The buffet is candidly trash most of the time if you’re European at least. Outside of breakfast (omelettes, eggs and toast / pancakes plus fruit) I wasn’t excited about lunch and if I didn’t have a booking for the evening I knew dinner would be a let down too. The outside area to eat was also closed off a lot and the inside area with the peach coloured walls is pretty dreary so that didn’t help the overall ambience eating experience. I walked 10 mins along the beach to the supermarket at Hemingway beach to stock up on Oreo cookies, Coke Zero and m&m’s as there’s no snacks in your room and the shop in the resort had very little. I don’t drink alcohol so I can’t comment on what was on offer. I suspect I’ve lost weight on this holiday as I was so active with the gym, running etc. and didn’t eat enough. So maybe they should rebrand as a weightless camp…hahaha. On to some more of the good bits. The gym is well equipped, I was there pretty much every day. The massage I had at the spa was also good. Small wins to make the stay better. I wouldn’t rush back because as much as I enjoyed the smaller style resort and it had its charms plus a good gym and amazing staff, I don’t want to have to worry about going hungry and surviving on sugary snacks between meals. Definitely some room for improvement here for European guests at least. I think there were a lot of South Americans and they may have a different experience with food as their cuisine will be similar.

Rooms were dirty and stain. Power went out. Ran out of coconut rum. Water didn’t work. Poor service. No welcome drink.

We had an amazing stay at Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio! The hotel is beautiful, the food was great, and the atmosphere was always fun and welcoming. What really made our holiday unforgettable was the incredible entertainment team. A huge thank you to Lois, Junior, Ramon, and Yissel — they are truly fantastic! They were always kind, energetic, and entertaining, and they made every activity so enjoyable. Their talent, professionalism, and positive energy created such a fun vibe around the resort every day. Whether it was games, dancing, shows, or just making guests smile, they were outstanding at what they do. They work so hard to make everyone feel included and happy, and it really shows. Thanks to them, our experience was even more special. We would definitely return and highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a fun and relaxing vacation in the Dominican Republic!