Gavin Maxwell
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**Overall: 3.5/5**
The rating isn’t higher primarily due to the language barrier and travel experience. However, if someone spoke fluent Spanish and could fly directly into La Romana airport, I’d rate it 4/5 or even 4.5/5.
**The Good**
The resort boasts a sprawling campus with excellent restaurants and a beautifully maintained complex of villas, organized into over a dozen themed areas. For example, tennis or padel enthusiasts can stay near Las Canas or the Tennis Villa area, while beach lovers can opt for Las Minitas. The variety works well. Many of the restaurants truly stand out with fantastic food. Aesthetically, Altos de Chavón, in particular, impressed me as a remarkable architectural recreation that avoids feeling overly artificial, like Disneyland.
**The Bad:**
Our travel experience involved flying into Santo Domingo, which I’d dock half a point for. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive to the resort, and the airport itself lacks charm or convenience. Additionally, if you don’t speak Spanish, you’ll likely encounter challenges. Perhaps naively—given that most guests seem to be from the U.S.—I expected English to be more widely understood, especially by staff in guest-facing roles. Within the resort, there’s a genuine spirit of hospitality, but outside of it, interactions can feel strained at times.
**The Ugly:**
It’s impossible to ignore the stark poverty in the Dominican Republic. Waste management struggles are evident, with litter scattered throughout the island. Inside the resort, golf carts are the primary mode of transport, which adds a fun element—though most are gas-powered, noisy, and emit fumes that are particularly noticeable if you’re seated in the back. Given the sprawling layout, you might spend about an hour a day on a cart. Sharing the paths with cars—many of them service vehicles—can feel chaotic. For instance, heading to the beach with family loses its charm when you’re trailing a septic truck or dodging fast-moving landscaper vans. It disrupts the otherwise enchanting atmosphere. Also worth noting: tipping culture is very prominent here.
**Final Thoughts:**
Don’t misunderstand me—this is a special place. Practical improvements could elevate the experience: electrifying the golf cart fleet, enhancing staff training in language and hospitality skills, and streamlining the journey from airport to resort. One idea might be a daysail activity, or fast ferry option, from near Santo Domingo to the campus—a slightly longer trip, perhaps, but far more enjoyable.
Bee Charintorn
This is an amazing property and has all kinds of activities for all ages! From the beach, several pools, skeet shooting, horseback riding, walking on trail, or golf! You can choose fine dining, casual dining, food truck, beach dining, and bars 😁.
Each room comes with one golf cart to get around this huge resort. I truly recommend using the spa service at the resort! It is an amazing experience and a nice way to relax and unwind from a busy life!
Elina Muceniece
Really a great experience. I would give it maybe 4.5 stars if I could mostly because it is best to rent a villa rather than stay in a hotel room. The place is set up for private accommodation and the hotel rooms are not really the main focus.
The grounds are perfect and dining as far as I can tell is best in Caribbean. Staff are helpful, kind and “switched on”. Common areas and restaurants are beautiful. Lots to do although distances to cover are large because of the size of resort.
Downside is that there’s quite a bit of regular/bus/truck traffic on main roads and you will breathe fumes while driving your golf cart.
I wouldn’t stay in the hotel rooms (we had a casita) again. To spare the details sound isolation was very poor in the rooms and we really couldn’t figure out how to make the AC less cold.
But I’d definitely come back to the resort in a larger group and rent a private accommodation close to the main points of interest.
Andrew Joyner
Our family, along with another family, rented one of the Exclusive Viilas, expecting a high-end family vacation. Below is a list of what we experienced:
1. Unacceptable Wait Times at Check In and Poor Service Experience - waited in line for 45 minutes - the Villas line was longer than the hotel check in. No staff check ins or apologies. Very negative first impression.
2. Room Not Available at Check In Time - We waited 1.5 hours after the 4 PM check in time, which wasn’t great with 5 kids after a long day of travel.
3. No Hot Water in Villa for 48 Hours - couldn’t shower for two days. For the price point, not reasonable that we had to shower in the “ocean or pool”.
4. Toilets Not Working - Villa toilets didn’t flush for 48 hours after arrival. Crazy.
5. Food Was Hit or Miss - Was hoping for fresh fish, however was often overcooked (lobby restaurant) so tasted like chicken. In other instances, restaurants had run out of food by 7 PM (SBG). The time between ordering food and receiving main dishes often topped 1 hour and 15 minutes. Again, not great with young children.
6. Drinks Menu Compromised - We couldn’t order items such as Mohitos because the bars ran out of mint.
7. Phone lines down across the property so could not make dinner reservations / food pick up for the kids - on a few occasions we tried to call the restaurant to pick up food to eat back at our villa. We actually had to go all the way to the restaurants place orders wait for 30 to 45 minutes and then go back because something is basic as telephone lines were not working. The hotel concierge confirmed this.
We were very surprised by this experience as we had heard good things about Casa De Campo from families who had been coming here for years. We chose to come here because of what we had heard, but can not in good faith recommend Casa do Campo to others.
Ethan Goldblum
Great family vacation. they gave us golf carts to ride around in. The rooms were nice and the beds were comfortable. They give you plenty of water to last for a week to even a month. The location is great. Great views from the golf course and the racquet center was awesome. The service and the staff were great. There were several pools. Would Recommend! (:
4.4
