Emotions by Hodelpa - Juan Dolio

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5213 reviews

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  Meh

  For context, I stayed one week at this resort, as a solo female traveller from Canada, the very last week of April. Pros: - Overall, the whole staff is very welcoming and helpful. The breakfast crew in particular was super nice, Juan is the waiter I interacted with the most and from the first day he remembered how I liked my coffee and that I liked to start with a big glass of cold water, which he always made sure to bring to me every subsequent day. The animation staff was very nice too, special mention to Yuleidi and Susan for the stretching and aerobic sessions on the beach. - My room was always very clean and the bed was extremely comfortable. - I had booked an upgraded Essentia Swim Up room, which means that my room was in building number 1, the only building close to the beach, which was really nice and convenient (and also away from the noise of the main area). This also gave me access to a members only pool and jacuzzi decked area very close to the beach, with better quality chairs and big sunbeds. That spot was very nice and I spent a lot of time there, enjoying being at the same time very close to the ocean but not directly on the beach. - The gym is good, it has a whole lot of different machines, the only thing missing for me was a squat rack and a couple of barbells, but all in all, it has pretty much everything you need to train cardio and strength. - During my whole stay the resort was at least half empty. There were a bit more people on the Saturday and Sunday but even then, you couldn't say it was much of a crowd. Given that I was taking this vacation to disconnect and relax, I really enjoyed that. Neutral: - The beach itself is ok but not mindblowing. The swimming area is pretty small, there's a lot of seaweed and all around the resort there's construction or half abandonned spaces, so although I took many walks along the shore, I can't say the scenery was great. - The "Elite" salespeople will jump on you the minute you arrive and try to corner you into attending their presentation to sell you their scam timeshare. Since I had already gone through that at a previous DR resort, I knew what it was so I started by politely declining and when they became more insisting, I had to be a little bit firmer and tell them I knew the salespitch and I had no intention of wasting 3 hours of my time listening to it since I had no intention of buying anything. After that they pretty much ignored me for the rest of the week. - Rooms are a bit worn down and in need of some renovation - The coffee shop is nice and has good coffee based drinks but most of their pastries are horribly stale (exception being the mini muffins and the cookies). Cons: - The food. Honestly, this is not worthy of a 4 star resort. Not that it was terrible, but it wasn't good either. The breakfast buffet was ok, mostly because of the on-demand omelet station, but most of the food on the buffet was barely warm, the bread and pastries felt stale, choice of cereal was super limited and for several days it seemed impossible to get simple plain yogurt. On top of that, except for the Saturday and Sunday, the outside dining area was cordonned off and everyone was forced to eat inside, even though the outside tables were all set. The a la carte restaurants were ok-ish, food quality was a bit better, especially at the Dominican and Mexican restaurants, but food portions were pretty small and as many reviews point out, out of the 4 a la carte restaurants, only one or two are open each night and you have to fight with the damn app to get a reservation the day before. The beach snack bar was probably the most disappointing of all, basically just burgers, hot dogs and nachos, not a single healthy-ish option, not even fruits. Also, as someone who didn't plan to just get hammered by drinking alcohol all day, I would have appreciated having some nicer options for non alcoholic drinks. - As I mentioned, I had booked an Essentia Swim Up room, which meant I had a semi-private pool just outside my room (shared only with the other rooms on my floor, so maybe 8 or 10 I'd say). The problem is that pool is in the shade pretty much all day, so the water is cold and you can't even enjoy the privacy and calm to suntan, because there is no sun there. As much I as I feel the upgrade to Essentia was worth the money, the additional Swim Up option clearly wasn't. - The person in charge of selling extra tour/activity packages (I can't remember his name) was extremely rude, pushy and scammed me on the exchange rate (all the prices are shown in USD, but I had converted CADs to Dominican Pesos before travelling and was paying everything in the local currency). - The hotel is an hour and a half away from the Punta Cana airport by car. I think it's much closer to the La Romana airport, but if you're arriving in Punta Cana, be prepared for a long trip in and out. - Finally, as a woman travelling on her own, it was really uncomfortable being constantly hit on by some of the male staff. I never felt threatened or unsafe, but it was really tiring having the conversation over and over again about how "yes, I have a husband (which I don't, but it was the easiest way to get out of it) and yes I am faithful to him and no I'm not interested in doing anything with you". All in all, I did have a mostly pleasant stay, but the overall quality of the resort is clearly not on par with a 4 stars hotel. If I come back to the DR, I don't think I'll come back to this specific hotel.

  May 03, 2025
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  Good experience

  Yuleidi nos ayudó mucho jugó con los niños nos hizo el ambiente. OMG very good experience with her. I love her because is the first time somebody plays with the kids and she expend time in the beach with them. She is very good in her job. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 and Susan she is good too.

  May 02, 2025
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  Todo muy bien

  I like the moments that we had here we come back again thank's for everething i like the food the discotec the people that you have here working they are confortable the meke our vacation like home and i feel good playing with yuleidi and manuel y enmanuel

  Apr 23, 2025
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  Nice for a weekend

  Overall a nice hotel, not much variety to eat but nice for a weekend, I wouldn’t stay for longer because there’s not much to do, the staff has a good customer service, drinks are good as well, nice and spacious rooms but they don’t have a vanity shelf the same soap for body, hands and hair

  Apr 17, 2025
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  Intimate Resort with attention to service

  Overall a great vacation spot. A small resort so easy to get to all the main places. Beautiful beach with plenty of huts and sunbeds. No need to wake up early and save a space. 3 pools with a bar nearby and snacks throughout the day. We were first assigned to Building 5 , however, the air conditioner , minifridge and safe did not work. Upon requesting a new room, we were reassigned a renovated room in Building 10 within 30 minutes of requesting with no questions asked. The buffet was surprisingly good. Again, on the small size, it offered a variety of cold and hot foods, desert, fresh salads all with delicious flavors. Some may say it wasn't great, but in my opinion I was presently surprised. "The Blue shirts" we were warned of were rampid upon arrival and located in the busy areas trying to sell excursions and of course their members packages. If you stay strong and just say 'No" they will leave you alone for the rest of your trip. The Beach vendors were ramipid as well. They are continuously moving around selling goods. Although I understand this is their business, it gets very annoying quickly. Especially after saying "NO" time after time. They also linger around and at times even getting too close to your personal space. Unfortunately this made my decision to use the pool more often then the beach. It is a public beach, however, security never moved the vendors along. One item to note when booking, their a-la-cart restaurant system is absolutely inconvenient for guests. Guests need to stand in a long line to book their restaurants only one day before starting at 8pm. Not only do you have to get into line around 7:15pm , getting a restaurant isn't guaranteed. We only had the chance to get into 2 restaurants the entire week. On some days there was only 1 out of the 4 restaurants open for a la cart. Which only accommodates 80 people max. One suggestion for the General Manager is to re evaluate that system, as many, many guest walk away from wasting vacation time without getting a chance to eat at the a la carts. Be aware that the transfer from the Punta Cana resort is about 1.5 hrs to the resort. Its not too bad as you get to see the city by bus. Overall, I would recommend this resort for the attentive service, comfortable, intimate resort. Personally, I would try another resort next time in Punta Cana just to experience other areas

  Apr 16, 2025