SYNOPSIS: It just keeps getting better and better. It's a nice place, plain and not fancy. We had no complaints about the food. It (the food) is pretty good, simple and not gourmet. I gained 15 lbs! OUCH! The staff is friendly and obliging. They remembered us from previous visits. Management seems to care. The entire "team" seems stable from year to year. Most staff have been around for years. It's a 3.5 star hotel, there are a few "rough edges". We are looking forward to our next visit.

THAT COVERS MOST OF IT, BUT IF YOU WANT THE LONG STORY, THEN READ ON: We just returned from our fifth trip to Fun Royale / Fun Tropicale in the Playa Dorada complex in Puerto Plata. Obviously, the place suits our needs. The previous trip was almost exactly 12 months ago in January 2004. Since that review is still on this site, there is a risk that something may be repeated.

The flight down was on Skyservice. This is not part of the hotel, but it is part of the package. Service was good, and we left on time, almost! We had to de-ice, so that added a 10 minute delay. When we arrived at POP and came out of the clouds, we were very low and about 500 ft to the left of the runway. The pilot wisely decided that this was not good and put the boots to it and went around for another attempt. Some of the first time fliers freaked! The second pass was very low and uneventful.

The return trip was not as good. The flight was escheduled to leave 3 hours later, so we got an extra three hours at the hotel. That was the good part! The bad part is that the flight back was re-routed through Punta Cana with an incredible 4 hr 17 minute estimated flight time from PUJ to Toronto.

OK, on to the hotel. The hotel is Dominican owned. The executive manager is Italian. There are a surprising number of women (about 50%) on the executive staff. Bravo! The executive staff is quite stable; there has been only one new executive change in the last year. The total staff numbers about 300 and most of them have been around for years too.

It's still 'only' a 3 and a half star hotel and yes, the rooms are a little plain, but functional. We were in B wing and we had the same room as last year, by our request. It had been recently repainted and decorated (new curtains, bedding and electrics). It was clean and there was lots of hot water. We were at the far end of the wing and it was a 'little' distance to the hot water tank, so it took a while. The room was comfortable and everything worked. We found three minor problems with the room and two were corrected the same day we reported them. The third problem was an intermittent compact fluorescent bulb, which of course worked every time they checked it, but managed to quit again in the middle of the night. Just like trying to show that 'strange noise' in your car to the mechanic!

We even got wash cloths; a rarity in the DR (but getting them might have been due to our repeater status). My advice would be to take your own just in case. The bathroom was equipped with a hair dryer and had a wicker basket with shampoos, conditioners and a sewing kit. The mattress on the bed was very thick and very comfortable. The linens were of good quality and changed often. The towels were changed daily, but some days there was a short period between having the old towels removed and the replacements arriving.

They have spent a lot of money into new facilities this year. The kitchen has been redone and a new BBQ station has been added to the main buffet. One of the biggest improvements was the restoration of the chicken BBQ at the beach club. The chicken cooked there was excellent. There were some nice offerings off of the new BBQ at the buffet too, but as usual, although the beef was delicious, it was quite chewy. Surprisingly, we also got some chewy pork products. Usually the pork in the DR is better.

We also enjoyed the two specialty dining rooms (Brazilian and Mediterranean). The food and service were excellent. The only problem is that they are small and fill up rapidly. If you haven't made a reservation by 7:15 am, it's probably best to forget it.

We were fortunate to have our trip dates correspond with Norm Feig (pen name Snowbird on the bulletin board, www.DebbiesDominicanTravel.com) and his lovely wife April. Norm is a strong supporter of Fundacion Patria, and since the hotel manager is one of the directors of FP, we spent an evening in the Mediterranean restaurant discussing FP business with the manager. He suggested that we dispense with the menus and have the chef prepare something special. Delicious!

We were also supposed to meet with the head of Fundacion Patria, but unfortunately he got delayed at another meeting and we had to cancel our meeting. I left our suitcase full of school supplies with the manager and they were passed on to FP later in the week.

On the plus side, the hotel has gone 24 hour all-inclusive this year. Just to prove the point, I dragged myself out of bed at 4:25am which I considered a pretty representative time. I went down half expecting to see a sleeping bartender and nothing else. Instead, there was a very wide awake bartender, a cook, hot food on the grill, and 7 patrons. Two more guests showed up while I was there. So this is obviously a success!

On the down side, the buffet seemed to be a peg lower than last year, but still very good. The selection appeared to be a little smaller than in previous years. In the mornings, bacon was served only about twice per week, and ran out about 8:30 am. When a fresh tray showed up, it was like the vultures showed up; it emptied quickly! Sausages were available every day. The best part about breakfast was the omelet and fried egg station. Hector (the omelet guy) is no longer there, but his replacement serves up a mean omelet too. In the mornings, the new BBQ station doubles as a second egg station, so the lineups were usually very short.

The house wine was improved this year, but it was still not as good as the wine served the first two times we visited the hotel. Last year the wine was terrible, so this improvement was very welcome. It was still somewhat watery, the red was too cool and it sometimes had a head from the CO2 dispenser pump. We were not expecting extraordinary wine, just a reasonable table wine. Interestingly enough, the wine served from the pool bar and in the specialty restaurants seemed a lot better.

CHECK-IN: Check in was fast, reasonably efficient and friendly. Our room wasn't ready, but this was no surprise as it was only noon and check in time is 3 pm. So we changed into bathing suits in the washroom and then had lunch and a "few" beers. By then, the room was ready, so we moved in.

GENERAL: It's a three and a half star resort, so we were not expecting anything fancy. The Royale section consists of hotel rooms arranged in 4 blocks (labelled A through D) while the Tropicale section consists of multi-unit villas. There are no marble floors or walls, but "standard" Caribbean construction (stuccoed concrete block, terra cotta tile floors, and very plain ceramic tile in the bathroom).

THE ROOMS: The hotel rooms are basic, but serviceable. Most rooms, say 60 per cent, have balconies or terraces while the rest don't. If it's an issue for you, yes you 'can' get a balcony, but you have to be persistent. On a previous trip to another 4 star hotel, we noted that all the rooms had balconies; they were rarely used. In our case, we like the balcony and we like being out in the fresh air, so .....

Our room had two queen size beds, a bedside table between them, a phone, a large balcony, a bureau with large drawers, satellite TV and a large closet. The bed mattress was nearly brand new, firm and very comfortable. There was bottled water in the room. You DON'T drink the tap water; for that matter, you don't even use the tap water to brush your teeth. Some people even advocate keeping your mouth tightly closed while showering. This is also a solution to the noise pollution problem; no singing in the shower! :-)

The room had recently been repainted, say within the last two months or so and was very clean. The outside of the balcony was painted while we were in residence. The paint doesn't get any fresher than that.

Since it was somewhat cooler than normal this year, we never turned on the air-conditioning except to verify that it worked. As usual, we opened all the windows since the AC really wasn't necessary. The room remained very comfortable over the entire two week period.

As I said, it was clean. The maid service was excellent; the room was cleaned and the towels were changed daily. The bed linens were changed several times per week. Both were of high quality.

When closed up for a while, the room seemed a little musty, especially in the dead air space by the closed door, but this cleared within minutes when the patio door wase opened. Remember, this is the tropics, so the humidity is a little high. I didn't spot any mildew, and I looked.

They have added energy efficiency controls this year. You had to insert a coded card into a slot in the wall to enable the room power. The slot was illuminated so that it was easy to find in the dark. There was also an interlock on the patio door that inhibitted operation of the air conditing if the door was open. Considering the price of power in the DR, this is a reasonable solution.

THE GROUNDS: Fun Royale / Fun Tropicale is a very nice and well maintained resort. There are three swimming pools. These are the activity pool (read NOISY, but not as noisy as last year), the quiet 'adult only' pool and one reserved for children. They appeared clean and well maintained. There was some chipped paint in the shallow end, but repairing this would require the pool to be drained, so I can't see that happening soon. There is a small army of grounds-keepers that are constantly raking, pruning and cleaning.

This year, topless sunbathing was not very common at the pools or the beach. Perhaps this was because it was cool, because it's certainly VERY common in Punta Cana and on the south coast. Speaking of the beach, it's nice, but not spectacular. There's a "bit of coral" in the sea in front of the beach club, so some caution is required. A short walk in either direction leads to hazard free swimming. You don't have to swim in the hotel's area since the entire beach is public. However, if you go too far, it's a long walk back to the bar!

It's an easy 6 minute walk to the beach from the hotel (I timed it) and if you didn't want to walk, there is a frequent shuttle service. Something like a Caribbean hay ride. We took it a few times just for the fun of it.

The activities at the pool are terrific with a great activity staff. They have a new sound system and it sounded much improved. This year, with the exception of the beach party/bonfire, there didn't seem to be any organized beach activities. Beach volleyball was a pickup, do it yourself operation. At the activity pool, there's usually something going on from 10 am to 5 pm, lots of fun every day. Other activities with the all-inclusive package include free horseback riding, mini golf (seven holes ???), shuffleboard, ping pong, Spanish lessons, darts, pool basketball, water polo, water aerobics, bingo, etc etc etc. The kids club was also very active while we were there and there appeared to be lots of supervision provided.

Speaking of the beach parties, these were somewhat of a disappointment. The party appears to consist of relocating the "audience participation" show from the stage to the beach. Even the people doing the dance lessons looked bored! The open bar and the bonfire on the beach part was nice. But, I would have preferred just having that and BBQ'ing some chicken or hotdogs. Add some music, some space to dance and an area to socialize and that should do it!

The hotel also arranged casino trips, disco trips and inexpensive tours to Puerto Plata. Depending on the venue, this sometimes included drinks and transportation both ways. For the casinos and discos, transportation was one way and you found your own way back when you were ready to come home. I guess if the casino was nice to you, you took a cab; otherwise you walked :) Our friend was lucky the first night; she parlayed $20 CDN into $110 US. The casino got most of it back the next trip!

There is entertainment each night (outdoor stage, weather dependant) which varies between dance shows and some audience participation. The shows mostly consist of dancing and lip sync to recorded music, which some people would consider cheesy, but the dancers are pretty good and put a lot of effort into it. The shows were pretty much the same as last year, so we usually found something else to do. From what we saw, most of the audience seemed to enjoy the performances. Personally, I would like to see some more local entertainment. A full band would probably be too expensive, but even a two person ensemble with a band box would be nice. This could easily be set up in an unused (at night) area in the main buffet and near the 24 hour all-inclusive. The lobby would be nice but it's too small and too close to the guest rooms.

The food, facilities and public areas were all good. The main dining room (buffet) is very attractive. It gives you a choice of three eating areas. The first area is inside, but open to the air on three sides, The second area is also covered in with a translucent ceiling, and the third is outside with tables under umbrellas. These overlook the golf course and one of the ponds. The tables are candlelit at night. Very attractive. We didn't even see this feature at the 4 and 5 star hotels we have stayed at.

The hostess "Ana" was still there this year. She is very friendly and outgoing, and invariably greeted you with a large smile. The food and beverage manager "Francisco" was also very friendly. He is the kind required. If the waiters got hung-up or behind, he was right there helping out to make sure everything went smoothly. The entire operation seemed to be a well oiled, low stress, happy working environment for the staff. Most times, we found an empty table with the correct place settings; on the rare occasion that it wasn't, it turned out that someone at a nearby table had dropped a utensil or two, and "liberated" some replacement(s). After distributing the proper lubricant, we found we were treated very well.

FOOD: The Italian and Brazilian restaurants were very good. The buffet was off a touch, but still quite good. The food was excellent, plain but not fancy. They did a pretty good job of avoiding repetition. During our stay, we had various kinds of fish, roast pork, pork chops, chicken, ham, roast beef and various types of stews. With the addition of the BBQ station, the carvery was not used as much as in previous years. I didn't see any whole carved turkey this year, but may have missed it since we ate at the specialty restaurants 4 times and off the resort twice. My wife especially enjoyed the cooked-to-order pasta dishes.

This year the chef was the same. He won the award as the Puerto Plata chef of the year (2004). We frequently saw him inspecting the buffet serving area.

Wine is available by the glass. Each night at dinner there are two casks (red and white) and you simply help yourself to what you want. The wine was different this year, and as I noted, it was better than last year, but not as good as the original.

Personally, we liked the food better here than at some of the four star resorts we have stayed at on other trips to the DR.

BEACH CLUB: This can best be described as rustic. It's very much like a summer cottage. The beach club serves lunch daily. There is fish, burgers, hot dogs and chicken every day. Plus each day they also have a selection of one or two of shish-ka-bobs, steak, pork chops or something else off the grill. This is served with salads, fresh fruit, french fries. Worthy of note is that the food serving area was COMPLETELY scrubbed down daily. Presidente beer is still served at all the bars. It's the primo local beer.

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: The two specialty dining restaurants (reservations required, no extra charge) consist of an Mediterranean (Italian) and a Brazilian restaurant. The Italian one is inside, closed off and air-conditioned. It was excellent this year. As usual, the Brazilian restaurant was a meat eater's delight. Everything was cooked over a genuine charcoal broiler. You get a little of everything (chicken, sausage, pork chop, roast pork, ham, liver, roast beef, and yes BBQ pineapple) all carved off of a sword onto your plate. It adds up to a LOT of meat. Go there hungry! Vegetarians, go somewhere else! We went there twice during the two week period. The second time was much better than the first.

Oh yes, in case you get 'hungry' during the afternoon, there is a pizza place that serves quite good pizza. It's different from what you get at home, but good. Note that you don't get to order what you want; they make pretty much what they want and you take whatever slice(s) look appetizing to you. And, there was also a late night 'disco' snack (burgers, hot dogs, salad, fruit, grilled meat). The disco snack has been extended into the wee hours of the morning so you can always get something to eat, no matter what the hour.

MISC: (in no particular order):

This year, there was quite a mix of nationalities. We ran into mostly Canadians, Quebecois, British, plus a few Germans, and a few Americans. It's amazing how the nationality mix and age group changes from week to week.

The hotel was quite full this year. There were 800 guests in residence while we were there. This put a little pressure on supplies (glasses, plates, loungers at the beach). They ran out sometimes.

There had been a lot of rain in the weeks before our arrival. That meant there were a LOT of bugs around. Now I know what it's like to be at the bottom of the food chain. My wife usually comes home with all sorts of welts. This year, I was a good match.

The hotel won a Thomas Cook award for service excellence in 2004. This award is proudly displayed in the lobby.

It's still a very friendly hotel. There are a lot of 'Holas' from the staff. We had no real language problems with the front desk, waiters or bartenders. In fact, we got the distinct impression that they were trying to practice their English. The grounds keepers and maids didn't speak much English, but we had no real problems communicating with them either. In a pinch, sign language works well!

The currency exchange on site is run by a real bank. The exchange rates were as good as you could get in town. $US seemed preferable to $CDN (29 peso to the $US, 16.5 pesos to the $CDN - you do the math!).

For Canadians, don't tip in loonies or toonies. The banks won't take 'noisy' money. So, they're stuck with it until they can exchange for bills. We obliged by trading some and as a result, carried home a fair amount of the heavy stuff (again, this is becomming a habit)!

At breakfast, for the most part, the fruit juice wasn't pure juice. But if you went back to the juice/fruit bar, there was usually at least one dispenser of real juice.

The mini golf and shuffleboard equipment has been replaced. The shuffleboard quoits seemed to be an indoor type; they were far too light. Considerable effort was required just to reach the end of the court. The golf clubs were also in much better shape than last year.

The recent hurricanes reshaped the entire Playa Dorada beach a bit. I barely recognized some stretches of it.

I can't believe the number of people that treat the buffet like a cafeteria. They get their food, then run around looking for a table. Then they complain that the food isn't hot. Geez, get a table, then go get the food!

OK, sometimes the food was lukewarm. The cooling trays for the stuff that was supposed to be cold sometimes worked too well and the food was frozen to the serving dish. The heating trays were not quite as efficient.

WHAT WE LIKED: Virtually everything. Wee have no real complaints. It's a nice place and good value for the money, unless you are really fussy. The food is pretty good. It's nothing gourmet, but there's lots of choices. The ice cream is better than we get at home! All the bars are still serving Presidente beer. The beach party / bonfire was a lot of fun (every Monday), but I would prefer a real party, not the audience partipipation games ..... The BBQ chicken at the beach bar is to die for!

WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE: The house wine could still be improved. There was not as much bacon at breakfast as in prior years, but the sausage was good. The Dominicans usually do a pretty good job on pork products. Their beef is a little chewy, but with good flavour. This year, we got served chewy pork on a few occasions too.

Would we go back? In a word, YES!. We are already planning our next trip.

QUESTIONS: email robertdungan2002x@yahoo.ca (anti-spam remove the X)