Booked 10 days in Sunscape Casa Del Mar April 19-29th through Apple Vacations. 14 of us went (9 adults 40-50 y.o. and 5 teens 15-17 y.o.). We have been in Punta Cana, Puerto Plata resorts in DR, overall this was our 6th trip to all inclusive resorts in DR and Mexico, so you can trust our judgment.

This is great resort for the first time Caribbean travelers. Great beach, pool, beautiful grounds with good weather is going to make your trip. But if you have been in DR and Mexico before and looking for better resort few things you have to consider.
BEACH: Gorgeous, sandy beach with a lot of shade from palm trees and huge oversized palapas. Blue calm water. We spent most of our times there. If you want to stay under palapas you have to reserve a chair at 6:30-7:00 a.m.

GROUNDS: Beautiful well maintained grounds with bird house, flamingoes, exotic flowers and trees. Spa is the best place to be. If you order massage, you can make half a day out of it, enjoying Jacuzzi with iced tea bar, grounds, hammocks and benches in quiet secluded areas. They call it Ecology Spa.

POOLS: Two big pools. Main pool with and “Infiniti Pool” with swim up bar. Clean, well maintained.

FOOD/DRINKS: Good quality but same selection every day. They had “International Food Day”. The only “International” was flags in a lobby. Food was same as usual. We booked Italian and Asian restaurants…not worth it. First there were nothing special, second, after one hour waiting to be served we decided to stick to main buffet.
Drinks suck. They all made from local brands and pretty much watered. Lobby bar has some top shelf brands…Beer was our best drink.

ROOM: Big spacious room with balcony, bathroom, safe, iron and fan. Everything was in working condition. Some people had rooms that need renovation. Ugly old white furniture, broken chairs and shower doors with mice running around all night. Have to mention that there are a lot of rats in this resort. You will see them at nights crossing sidewalks.

MANAGEMENT: Poor, typical for most of DR resorts may be except for Iberostar chain. Don’t be surprised if they forget to fill up your fridge, don’t give you enough towels. One day mate fixed one bed and disappeared….We had to call on front desk to bring us towels and finish clean up. Main buffet was constantly short on dishes. Imagine the trays full of food but all people staying in the middle waiting for the dishes. Same thing in the morning with glasses for fresh fruit cocktails and in lobby bar at night. I never saw lobby bar serving drinks in plastic caps.
This is a first all inclusive resort I ever seen that doesn’t use color coded wrist bands. If you have teens 15-17 years old, they can get alcohol drinks very easy since nobody is going to bother to ask them for ID. Be aware of it.

TIPS:
1) Bldgs #2, 3 and 4 are most convenient. Located between main restaurant and beach. We e-mailed request for bldg #3 few days before departure. Worked.
2) Bring your own snorkeling set
3) If you smoke cigars be aware that all vendors and small stores sell counterfeit cigars. The only place to buy real cigars is Duty Free shops in Airport.
4) Be aware of pinkish purple jelly fish. Few people were seriously hurt
5) Book your snorkeling trips through water sport booth on a beach. Apple Vacation’s trips have much higher prices.
6) Bargain hard on Jewelry from local vendors. We bought few pieces for $25.00. Starting price was $130.00
7) If you have some cloth or shoes that you not going to use or towels, give it to locals during your trip. They appreciate it. They are very poor.

ok here is the story. we arrived and recieved a room fairly quick. I had requested a ground floor due to the fact that i had two little kids with me and thought it would be more conviniet. when we came into the room it was all discusting and old. I expected a lot more from a 4.5 star hotel/resort. The room was tiny, no closet space and barely any space to move around. It looked like the last time there was anything done to make it look nice was pre ww2. we keapt the room only because it was the ground floor otherwise it was the 3rd floor. the bathroom in the room was discusting and old with old tubs and shower curtains with mold on it. the drain system didnt work. the maids were just horrible. they dont understand a world of english and i keapt asking them to clean early cause i have a baby will go down for a nap and they didnt do it. we stayed ten days and sometimes our room was not cleaned for two days in a row. i never had this at any resort we stayed at. they clean all day long and people cant even go rest in the room . if they do they will not be cleaned. we stayed in building number 4.they said if we want an upgrade it was a 40 dollar charge per person , perday for a club room. the choice of food was just horrible. it was the same thing everyday. rice , rice and rice with everything. they had a barbecue one day at the beach and then u had the left overs from the beef leg as a stew the following day for lunch. there was no viriety. i cant recommend anyone with kids to go there cause there is nothing for them to eat. i had both of my boys on cereal and yogurt all day long. so to finish this long story. the resort is old , the rooms are nasty and the food is bad.

My husband and I just returned from a week in Paradise! There were over 40 of us that went down for our friends' wedding. Having read mixed reviews prior to going down, I feel compelled to share our experience. We were in Building 1 which I understand has been renovated. The room itself was large and well appointed with an equally large bathroom. We had lots of room for our clothes, the safety deposit box was also large. The mini fridge was always restocked with lots of water and soft drinks.

We tried every restaurant except for the Japanese, and the food was fantastic. Some of the a la carte options were smaller quantities, but it just meant some of the men ordered more than one appetizer, entree, etc. The wait staff were good (sometimes forgetful when it was really busy), but we wanted for nothing!

The bartenders at the swimup bar (specifically Wilkin and Wandy) were always smiling and having fun! We were easily recognizable by the go-cups that the bride and groom had provided for our group (plus we tipped well for good service!) so we never waited for drinks!

The beach is absolutely beautiful, the ocean was like bath water and the snorkeling just from the beach was amazing! We also took a full day catamaran tour and did other snorkeling around the area which I highly recommend.

Overall, our entire group had the best time ever, and we all want to return for the 1st anniversary!!!

Would totally recommend Sunscape Casa del Mar to anyone. Tropical paradise with its good and not so good sides, all depends what you are looking for and who you are traveling with. We had a big company of friends so every day was fulfilled with joy and happiness. Food: If you are not spoiled with things like caviar for breakfast or Blanquette de Veau for lunch you can find pretty much everything there to satisfy your taste buds. And yes, langusts at the beach at sunset can be ordered at any time at US$30 a portion (compare to $80-$130 at New York's restaurant). Weekly party at the beach is a food paradise, don't miss it. Varieties of tropical fruits like mango, coconut, passion fruit, pineapple, watermelon, papaya are available at the beach every day. Italian restaurant was great too with wide varieties of Italian food and wines. Wouldn't recommend to go to Chinese restaurant Masuka though, food was not as good, poor presented and the worst took almost 2 hours for dish to arrive, service extremely slow and uncomfortable. Rooms: We stayed at building #3 so rooms were rather nice and clean, however I heard people complaining that in buildings 4 and up rooms were rather bad and people were trying to upgrade them if they could. Beds in the room are quite rocky and squeaky would move and squeak with every turn of yours which wakes you couple of times during the night. Mattresses are extremely hard and pillows are super uncomfortable ( I hear you sayin' oh, such a princess on a pea you are...), I'll say no more, you'll see it yourself once you get there, then you'll understand. Beach: NICE, lots of beach chairs enough for everyone no matter what time you decide to come to the beach, there are always few available. Nice sandy bottom with few coral rocks here and there. Great place for snorkeling who's into it. Ton of fishes and other marine life but watch for purple jelly fish. If you see it run for your life, it can put you in painful shock coma for few hours. Service: Good enough if you don't expect your water to say by you at all times. Drinks: ROCKing... they put enough booze to knock you socks off after a few. Spa: AMAZING!!!!.... go there, have massage with Vanessa, you'll see what I'm talking about when I said "AMAZING!". Lack of towels and glasses though (have to ask for it sometimes), but aromatic oil massage and sauna totally compensate it. Surrounding: GORGEOUS.... take a walk around your are first day there, you won't be disappointed. Everything is reachable with only few minutes of walk, every little place is a gem. Don't be afraid to waist your time and just take a walk around, you'll discover something you may not expect and going be in love with. Like small chilling pool right on the beach aside from everything else among trees and rocking waives. Breathtaking... Shows: OK. Visited few but wasn't shocked. It's nice I guess who's into it. I proffered to chill at lobby with friends, few drinks and a nice cigar. Overall: TOTALLY great get away place. Would love to come back.