Sunscape Dominicus La Romana

My travelling companion and I spent a week at the Sunscape Dominicus La Romana at the end of February to early March. General impressions Overall, the resort is beautiful and the grounds are well-maintained. We had some issues with housekeeping and the food quality was much less than we expected compared to other resorts. The staff were all kind and helpful. The weather was exceptional (sunny and around 26-29 degrees Celsius) and it only rained once but that was at night. While we enjoyed the week, I think we would only return if there's noticeable improvement in the food, both at the restaurants and buffets. Arriving We flew from Toronto via WestJet, arriving at the Punta Cana airport on-time in mid-afternoon. Getting through immigration was fairly quick but there was a long wait for luggage. We had to get help finding the Nexus transport bus because the bus parking lot is extremely chaotic. All in, it took about three hours from landing to get to the resort. Check-in Check-in at the Sun Club desk was very efficient. They don't use wristbands for the Sun Club which means you're frequently providing your room number. I think wristbands would make it much simpler to identify those who have paid for the Sun Club. Rooms We were assigned two rooms in Building 15 at the far end of the resort near the pool and beach. The resort is large so there was a considerable walk between the lobby and our building. We had one room on the ground floor with a walk-out to a mini-pool (I think there are only five of these rooms) and one room on the third floor (no elevator). Both rooms were modern and well-maintained. Each had a tub/jacuzzi but we didn't use them. On the balcony, the ground floor room had two lounges and two chairs, while the upper room had only two chairs. It was too hot to sit on the lounges during the day as they're in direct sunlight. An umbrella would have been a great addition. The rooms also had a safe and mini-bar. The bar contained water, pop and juice - no wine or liquor. We had some housekeeping issues at the beginning when one of the rooms was missed. It seems like the housekeeping staff don't have a list of tasks because the room state (e.g. number of towels, toiletries) varied from day to day. One downside to Building 15 is that it's next to an off-resort parking lot behind some shops along the beach. It seems to be a gathering place for locals and we were "serenaded" to an hour of EXTREMELY loud music at 3:30 am on the Friday night. Pool Areas, Beach and Towels There is one large pool, two smaller shallow pools and a pool exclusively for Sun Club. All of the pools were very clean. The beach is also clean and the water didn't seem too rough though we didn't go in the sea. If you go to the shops along the beach next door, wear shoes as there are a lot of rocks. Towels are available from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm at the main towel boot. Just give your room number and request the number of towels you want. The Sun Club pool has its own towel booth but it never seemed to open until around 8:00 a.m. There were lots of activities by the pools and occasionally music but it was never overbearing. Bring lots of sunscreen because in the three small shops, it sells for as high as $50 USD for one spray can. Lounges Of all the Southern resorts I've been to, this was by far the best for getting a lounge chair. There’s a “no reservation policy” although there were some who put their towels and possessions on chairs before 7:00 am and didn't show up until hours later. Generally, it was easy to get a lounge up to around mid-morning when they started to fill up. There were many lounges and umbrellas both at the pools and on the beach. Security didn't really enforce the no reservation policy but if you saw an occupied lounge with no activity for more than one hour, they would free up the lounge on request. They did that for us after two lounges were not used for more than five hours. Bars There are several bars around the pools (including a swim-up bar) and one that was supposed to be for Sun Club but no one ever checked room numbers. The lines got long at times because the bars all seemed to be understaffed. There's a main bar in the lobby, and a Sun Club lounge (access is by room key) which is open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm though it was open later most nights. Strangely, the bar in the theatre was never open. There was a wide range of drinks but only one kind of draught beer - Presidente and I think it was the Light version. The bar in the Sun Club lounge had a limited variety of liquor available - mostly rum and no brandy/cognac. On the Sunday night, the entire resort ran out of white wine. Entertainment There was a show in the theatre every night except Tuesday when instead there's a beach party. The shows are typical fare seen at most resorts. Most of the 30-minute shows were 95% dancing to pre-recorded music. There were also a variety of performers in the central lobby bar prior to the theatre show. Shopping Shopping within the resort is minimal with only a few shops selling the usual pool and beach wear; some higher-end clothing and jewelery; and vastly overpriced toiletries, sunscreen and medicine. Tours There are a lot of tour options at fairly reasonable prices. We only did the La Romana half-day tour which went to a VERY small chocolate factory (with a gift shop), and a cigar "factory" (with a gift shop), then to a place called Casa de Campo where celebrities hang out...an odd choice for a tour stop given that few could afford to stay there and there was really nothing Dominican about it. After that, we went to a church and the town square for about 10 minutes, and then sat in traffic for half an hour to get to a souvenir shop. That was followed by another 40 minutes in traffic (including the bus getting in an accident) to go to - oddly - the Jumbo supermarket. The tour seemed to be less about learning about Dominican culture than visiting the guide's friends' stores. Traffic in La Romana was without question the worst I've ever seen as the guide said that no one obeys the traffic rules. Buffets and Restaurants The food was the most disappointing aspect of the trip. Two positive features are that only a few of the restaurants require reservations and men can wear dress shorts OR long pants in any restaurant. There are two main buffets - “Windows” (although there are none) and the much smaller “Kaleidoscope" - both by the pool. They seemed to have pretty much the same food but varying hours. You typically seat yourself but finding a table was challenging as the tables didn't get cleared or reset very often. As usual with buffets, the food is mostly cold unless you get something right off the grill. During busy times, there were often plate and cutlery shortages. The desserts got a bit repetitive but the local birds seem to enjoy picking at them. Breakfast was the best meal in the buffet because some of it - like omelettes - was cooked to order. At night, the Kaleidoscope buffet turns into an Italian restaurant - Da Mario. We ordered from the menu and the food arrived ice cold. The Tiki Taco Mexican restaurant requires reservations (made the day prior through the hotel app) and the food was at least mildly warm. Chopsticks also needs a reservation for the Teppanyaki tables but they have some open seating. We went for the open seating and had to wait about 15 minutes although many of the tables were empty. It was only when we started to leave that we got seated. The food was actually pretty good. The Tierra restaurant is for Sun Club exclusively at breakfast and lunch (both were quite good) but anyone can go for dinner. We went there on our final night and wish we hadn't as the food was inedible. The Bluewater Grill on the beach is open for dinner but don't order the steak as you won't be able to cut it with the knives they provide. Reservations have to be made the same day in the Windows buffet. While we were eating, we saw lots of people get turned away as we did the first time we tried to go there because no one ever mentioned the need for reservations or how to make them. Restaurant La Cala is out on a pier but is an extra cost. We didn’t try that or any of the snack shops, 24-hour dessert/coffee shop. or pizza shop. Leaving Leaving from Punta Cana airport is a nightmare. There had to be several hundred people waiting at the Westjet counters and getting checked in was a very slow process. Once your bag is checked (prepare to have it searched after it's checked in - ours was a mess when we unpacked it), you have to line up to go through passport control, then again to go through screening. The waiting area for many of the gates is small and crowded and the one washroom for hundreds of people had mostly non-functioning toilets. Our flight was delayed for two hours because the pilot waited for one passenger who didn't show up on time, causing many people on the plane to miss their connections. However, the flight attendants on our plane were outstanding.

Very good service ; staff is always smiling and ready to serve you .

We spent 2 weeks at the Sunscape Dominicus La Romada in February-March 2026. Although this is an older hotel, we found everything very clean. Our concierge, Daniela was extra attentive to all of our needs. She replied to our texts promptly and efficiently. We could not have asked for a better person to look after us as she is friendly and gracious. All of the hotel personnel were very friendly and most helpful. We upgraded our room and were steps from the pool in the Club area which provided a beautiful view. I would suggest that a sun parasol be permanently place on those terraces since the sun is always shining on those rooms. The food was delicious and the many restaurants provided an excellent selection. The shows although amateurish provided fun entertainment. All in all a great vacation.

We stayed for 10 days. Reception when we arrived was best I've ever had at a resort, very informative. Gentleman that escorted us to our room took the time to point out the restaurants etc. It went downhill from there. Rooms are dated (I dont care about that) We were in block 14 which is great central location, however our bathroom, shower, tub need a very good cleaning and toilet seat and bracket for shower head was broken. First 2 days we either didnt have hot water or had no water, the rest of the trip it was fine. Beach is beautiful. We upgraded to SunClub. We are to have our own area of beach, own pool and pool bar. They do not regulate this at all. There are no wristbands and no way to check the people using these are sunclub. Sunclub pool bar usually had only 1 bartender and usually had long line ups. Room numbers were checked at our towel room and at Sun Club Lounge. We enjoyed the Lounge daily and appreciated the premium liquors. We enjoyed the Mexican and Italian restaurants. We did not like La Tierra. Food at buffets was the same every day with very little variation. We also found that it was not kept warm enough and quite often found it cold. Only alcohol at buffets and restaurants was wine or beer. I drink vodka. We ordered room service one night, it wasn't great and it was cold. We used their WiFi to watch Netflix one night and came home to find our account had been hacked. (I dont blame the resort for this, its just a warning). We paid $5400 Canadian and do not feel it was worth the cost. Overall I can't reccomend this resort and will not return.

Thanks Anna and Somalia to enable us to retrieve our lost passports we lost at the airport when we arrived at Punta Cana ! The amenities are first class, people are very helpful and the resort in general was flawless. Nice beach and tasty restaurants. Definitely a must to consider if you are going to stay in La Romana. Speaking only english we were able to have the concierges talk to agencies and the airport security to get our passports back