Beautifully kept, lush green well manicured gardens which were kept immaculately clean. The complex consists of 3 Riu hotels, Mambo, Merangue and Bachata, and you can use the facilities of all three, although evening buffet meals are taken in your own hotel.

Check in

Fast and very efficient, bags were delivered to our room withn minutes.

Rooms We were in block 15 on the first floor which was a about a 5 minute walk to beach and lobby. The rooms were nice, 2 three quarter beds and small bathroom with bath tub. A standard clean but not spectacular garden view room. Mini fridge did not work but was promptly repaired upon request, two days later we tried to use the phone to find no dial tone, it also was repaired pronto. Television reception was sporadic on and off, a problem which I repaired myself by reconnecting the coax cable properly. Contrary to beliefs and other posts, you will need an adapter for the electrical plugs, while the voltage is the same 110V our polarized(North American) prongs will not fit the plugs, luckily I always carry one. There are no hair dryers or irons available in the room, bring your own.

Food Buffet restaurant had a huge range of food intended to suit everyone, and a lot of the cooking is done on the grill at cooking stations. The quality was certainly not upto my expectations and not near the Riu standards I have seen in other resorts. Just about everything you could think of was there - mussels, calamari, roasted meats, grilled beef and pork, fish, pasta etc. but to our surprised very oily tasting and generally not hot. Breakfast was actually the best meal as you could be sure your eggs were cooked and hot. Two a la Carte restaurants were also available but we only did the steakhouse, the steaks were tougher than your belt. You have to reserve these at breakfast for the evening meal, and they do get booked up quickly, this did not bother me as the food really was not much better at the a la carte. Two a la Carte restaurants were also available but we only did the steakhouse, the steaks were tougher than your belt. You have to reserve these at breakfast for the evening meal, and they do get booked up quickly. Many people who I discussed this with also had the same opinion about the food. Being a Riu class member I am certainly going to let them know my feelings about the quality of the fare at this Riu complex, a definite disappontment.

Beach This was approximately a half mile long and brown soft sand, you could walk along the shore then leave the beach due to cliffs and coral to climb up to the gazebo on the cliff top at the Bachata for spectacular views of Bahia Maimon and the Atlantic Ocean, The Bahia Maimon portion had a smaller beach where the watersport centre is. There seemed to be less seaweed at the Bachata end of the beach, although the staff clean the beach every day. Seaweed was a very minimal problem and one should not even be concerned about it, water clarity this week was the best I have ever seen on the north shore. Plenty of lounges available in the sun or shade at any time of day. A beach bar was available at the Mambo, but not the Merengue, and I did not hit the beach at the Bachata except for the walk by and through the resort.

Pool Lots of loungers, although these do get taken during the mornings. This is where most of the entertainments took place, water polo, aerobics, dancing etc, we stayed at the beach because it was much hotter and noisier at the poolside. The entertainment staff worked hard and were full of energy - take part if you want, but if you rather just relax then no problem. There are lots of trees around the pool, so plenty of shade was available there but the breeze was minimal.

Drinks Bars offered a long list of cocktails, draft Presidente beer but no international brands were available. The beach bar provided a smaller selection than those at the pool area.

Entertainment Every evenings there was a kids disco after dinner, followed by a short dancing time and then a show. While the animation team worked hard on their performances, they became very annoying with the MC who was ever so intent on "applauso and clappy clappy". They really must learn that international audiences will applaud when necessary for work well done. Some of the shows although not Vegas style performances were interesting.

Summary

I took the time to speak with many guests of many nationalities about the resort and got a general consensus that it was a very nice well designed resort and complex with everything within a short walking distance. Many first timers thought the resort was paradise while many seasoned travellers thought of it as a standard Riu resort. Would I return, I must say that not likely due to our feelings about the food, but to each his own. There are many more resorts in the Dominican Republic that I want to see.