We stayed in Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus in Bayahibe for 14 days.

Hotel
Hotel is all in all amazing and worth staying there! Service is at the highest level. All the staff speaks several languages, perhaps not perfectly, but more than enough for an intelligent person to find his way around. If problems occur, they are solved instantly. Staff is smiling and being cheerful the whole time and this makes your day.

Rooms
Rooms are indeed a bit outdated, but still very comfortable and nicely done. For those writing about problems with air conditioning, important notice: As is the whole hotel, it is environmentally friendly! It stops working when you stop moving, so just move your limbs around and it will work again. AC is not produced to cool down the whole DR, so do not be surprised if it stops working when you open the patio doors. Otherwise, when you need it, it cools down the room in 2mins.

Food
Food is good, not perfect. But everyday you can find several delicious dishes which will please you completely.

Cleanliness
Just perfect! Not only rooms, but the hotel and its surroundings as well.

Animation
Unbelievably dedicated staff! The whole day you will be offered to do things and consequently meet new people. If you do not want it, they will not push it through. Lots of sport activities, enough to please anyone. We did not see the shows, however, we heard lots of good reviews about them.

Activities
We did not buy any trips. However, we did take trips with the Dressel Divers and would strongly recommend them. They are interesting for non divers as well – you can do snorkelling if you want where people saw sharks, lots of colourful fish and big sea stars…and had lots of fun! And comparing to our agency, the same trips are cheaper with Dressel Divers.

Pool
Being at the Caribbean Sea we did not feel the need to try the pool at all. However, it looked rather nice to us. Some tiles could be fixed indeed.

Beach
The beach is very beautiful and clean. They are cleaning it all day long, taking away the sea grass, leaves and picking up the empty glasses. The beach bar is very useful, you even get a cold drink served while lying on the beach. Not one day we had problems with finding a shade and non-occupied deck-chair.

Other services
We needed to see the doctor in the hotel (because of the food on MartinAir). It is terribly expensive (and our Belgian health system is not the cheapest one!), not to mention that the doctors professionalism was a bit questionable, especially for that price.

My girlfriend and I just returned from a two week stay at this resort. We had stayed at the iberostar in puerto plata last year so we were familiar with the chain. We booked online though the Iberostar website and then arranged for our own flight to la romana - we saved a few hundred dollars doing it this way and will probably do this again in the future. ( I would only suggest doing this with a well known chain like Iberostar.)

First thoughts on arriving - this area of the dominican is much cleaner and better maintained roads than in puerto plata. The airport is fantastic by carribean standards.

The resort is beautiful - very large, almost too large as it is a long walk from the bach at the farhest end to the front lobby on the other. A nice pond with ducks, flamingos, swans, etc. (Dont worry - it really isnt that far, but feels like a long time when you need to skip away from the beach to book your restuarants, etc.)

The food here is amazing - the best i have had on an all inclusive. The a la carts restuarants were as good, or better, than what you would find here in canada - especially the japanese grill.

The buildings were clean and modern. If you are looking for luxury this wouldnt be your place - but value for money you couldnt ask for more - they are super clean, and are cleaned every day with fresh sheets and towels. Mini bar is stocked daily.

The staff at this resort cannot do enough to make you happy. That was probably the most noticeable thing - they are so friendly and eager to assist in any way. Special mention to augustin the bartender in the lobby and waiter at the restuarant - jose luis. Look these guys up an introduce yourself to them - they will make your stay quite pleasant.

The diving shop is very clean, safe and affordable. My girlfriend had serious concerns about diving as a first timer - they were patient and allievated all of her concerns.

As for excusrions - do NOT book the horseback ride to the cave - we did it and ended up asking to be taken back to our resort - very very very unsafe and not at all what was promised. It was dangerous and included a ride through a construction site.

On the ther hand - i think everyone should take a half day and travel to 'altos de chavon' - it is a recreated 17th century italian villa about a half an hour from the hotel and wow. (Many movies were filmed there and it is breathtaking.) I would suggest not doing the VIP tour because you only got to spend a half hour there and then had to leave to do other things while wishing you could just spend the day at the village - so see if you can just take a cab there and spend a few hours.

All in all i would give this resort a 9 / 10 and would suggest it to anyone - even the most picky traveller.

Cleanliness- wow. Every place was so clean. The seaweed that washed up on the beach overnight was raked and taken away. The leaves and any trash was picked up all day long. Our room was very clean . A+ in this category.
Room- was nice and well decorated. We were on the third floor and enjoyed sitting on the deck in the evening. The bed was comfortable. The air conditioning did not cool off the room every evening, but the ceiling fan helped to keep it comfortable
Grounds-- very good, Well groomed. There were orchids growing and many nice flowers. The paths were kept clean.

The beach-- aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh. Beautiful white sand, warm water. It even had some sunken bells(?) where you could snorkel and look at the fish. Plenty of chairs,but you had to play the towel game and go down early ( 6 ish ) to reserve your spot.
Star friends on the beach directed some activites such as exercise in the water, games on the beach and dancing. My husband liked them , I found them too loud. Later in the week we sat further down on the beach and that section was quieter.

Vendors in huts/ where not on the beach, but at the edge of the property. Funny to watch them and we did purchase some necklaces. Be sure to not pay the asking price.

Food-- not impressive, but I wasn't hungry. AT every meal lots of fresh fruit that was delicious. Loved the breakfast buffet. The Mexican a la carte was nice. The steak here is not like the steak we would get in the US. Not enough variety at the buffets. However, I need to say I am a picky eater. My husband is not and he agreed that there was not enough variety in the evening buffet.

Value-- hard to say. Atter talking to other people I think we paid more than others, but the particular week we traveled is always more expensive when you come from the northeast.
pool-- don't really know because we spent most of our time at the beach

Excursions - we took one to Santo Domingo which we booked through Apple. It was interesting . On the 1 and 1/2 hour drive in we were able to see parts of the country. the museums and Columbus's house were informative. However, the shopping at a unique street was too rushed.

We also took a tour to Sanoa Island with Dressel Divers. I really loved the snorkeling with an incredible guide that knew what to point out. We saw many fish, eels and 3 large stingrays.

However, I wish there had been a central location that gave info on the area. We had wanted to do other excursions and finding out the info was difficult.
We wanted to do a helicopter flight, but that was available only in Punta Cana on the week we were in the DR.

Would I go back? You bet!

This was our second year at the Hacienda Dominicus.It was even better than last time.Its a very elegant hotel without being stuffy.Its very easy going and appeals to any class . We found the food was very good and the staff very friendly. The grounds were very well maintained and the staff went out of their way to find fresh coconuts if you wanted one.The pool is lovely, although it is missing a few tiles. The beach is great .The sand is so white and fine,and the sea is so safe.
We love it so much we are taking our son and daughter in law and grandchildren next year. Cant wait.