I visited Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus with a group of friends and stayed for a week. It is a great place to go if you just want to kick back, eat and drink. We usually spent mornings on the beach, moved to the pool in the afternoon, and after dinner went to the show. In early April, by afternoon it got a bit hot for the beach. It is sort of like what I imagine being on a cruise ship would be, except of course not on a boat. My room was spacious and had a lovely balcony.
The service was exceptional. Iberostar seems to pick good people and train them well. I always had at least one "towel sculpture" on returning to my room.
The crowd is probably 90 percent European, which I enjoyed. The food, I thought, was geared toward European tastes - not that you can't get a burger and fries, but you will likely find some unfamiliar items on the buffet. We dined at both the Mexican and Japanese restaurants, and enjoyed them.
The crowd is also almost all couples and families. It is not difficult to meet people at the lobby bar but it is definitely not a singles scene.
There is a casino just down the road that offers some diversion. We spent one afternoon outside the resort, which was very interesting.
At $1,200 for a week including air fare, this was an incredible value.

We have been to many hotels in the caribbean and elsewhere. Overall this was a really great hotel, probably the most beautiful hotel we have visited when you consider the overall combination of the tasteful, beautiful gardens with ducks, swans, flamingos etc, large attractive, spacious pools, lovely beach and spectacular turquoise sea. We could not get used to how lovely the hotel grounds were, they really made our holiday!

Service - Staff were superb, always positive and friendly despite obviously working incredibly hard for very long hours. We were very disappointed how few guests gave any tips at all despite the great treatment, the obvious poverty of the country, and the genuine gratitude when something is given. All the time we were there we only saw one other guest giving a tip during a 14 day stay - people are so selfish!! A few dollars means so little to you and so much to them! It says a lot for the locals that giving a tip made no difference to the level of service given. The people were not money grabbing and showed no signs of looking for tips and seemed (sadly) genuinely surprised when they received one. English is limited so try to learn a few basic words of spanish if you can.

Food - Certainly not gourmet, and a bit repetitive, especially in the beach restaurant, but then that is always the case with buffet restaurants. Despite this small reservation the food was very enjoyable and there was always something new to try in the buffets as well as the regular dishes. We found our favourite dishes and then tried one or two new things each day. We enjoyed the a la carte restaurants, especially the colonial though they did not come close to the restaurants in, for example the Karisma chain in Mexico (El Dorado Royale etc.) but then the price is much lower here and the hotel and beach much more beautiful. We ate loads of lovely tropical fruit and despite initial reservations given what we had heard about food poisoning in the Dominican Republic and the fact that we are a bit sensitive in this respect, we ate absolutely everything and had no tummy problems whatsoever

Rooms - We thought they were lovely and cannot understand why they are sometimes criticised on this site. They were kept amazingly clean and the bathrooms were great and showers powerful and always hot. Lots of purified water is left in the rooms for teeth cleaning etc and the fridges are filled daily with softs drinks, water and beer. The air conditioning was great ( not freezing U.S. style) and we thought it completely appropriate in these times of global warming, that the air conditioning goes off when the patio door is open or the room is not in use (often criticised on this site). We loved the way each of the seven buildings had its own individually designed Quadrangle garden in the centre of the building and beautiful illuminated vases all over the place, in niches, really nice! We left a $2 tip in the room each day which was much appreciated (and we got the towel art etc.)

Beach and Pool - When we were there, and with 100% occupancy in the second of our weeks, there was no need at all to reserve places early by the pool and there was always shade and beds, except for afternoons, by which time most were reserved or in use. The beach was a bit more competitive and the best shades, at the front, are reserved by about seven, though there were generally shady places a bit further back on the beach and places without shade, at the front, at all times. The pool does have a problem with the mosaic tiles falling off and it is a bit dangerous for cutting feet when getting in and out, so it needs a little care. The sea is very safe and is spectacularly beautiful. The beach is really very nice with a very useful (lighthouse) beach bar and drinks brought round as well - you will struggle to find better anywhere!!! The beach restaurant is close by with food almost all day.

We strongly recommend this hotel.

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.