Viva Dominicus Palace by Wyndham - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8841 reviews

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  FIRST TIME HERE.....NOT THE LAST

  Spent a week here Jan 17, 2026. Read alotttt of reviews, some negative, some positive. We decided to book anyway, mainly because of the beach. So this review is an HONEST review; I do not sugarcoat. I have travelled for 10 yrs to Cuba, so I was used to Cuban food, Cuba accomodations and Cuba beaches. There will be lots of comparisons to Cuba in this review. If you are used to Cuba vacations, then you will love this hotel. You have to download the VIVA app. All the info you need is on there. Make restaurant reservations, ask for housekeeping, etc... Check-in went smoothly, there were 4 people at the desk, 3 out of the 4 were nice and friendly, while the 4th was rude...I ignored her and spoke to the others. The resort itself is beautiful, with lots of palm trees and lots of greenery on the walkways. Not many stray cats like in Cuba. The cats here are well fed; they were all plump and very chill. There were no dogs either. Lots of beautiful swans and geese walking or lying about. Didnt seen ANY reptiles. There are no carts to drive you around, so you have to walk. Once you know your way around, you get to find shortcuts to the beach or to your room. Took me about a day to do that. We had a ground floor gardenview. There were always 3-4 swans "chilling" outside our room. Rooms Very, very basic...Cuba rooms, as I called them. Very outdated. Leaky toilet (last day leaked all over the floor), shower and sink were not very clean, toilet paper holder broke on day 1. The bed was NOT comfortable, very springy. The TV was not clear; the image was snowy. But personally, I do not spend that much time in my room, so all this did not bother me. It might be for some people, which is why I am mentioning it. There is NO ROOM SERVICE I asked someone at the reception if there was, and they laughed.... Food: Buffet was good, BUT get there when it opens, when it's all nice and fresh. They had beautiful lettuce, great salads, roasted chicken, fried fish, whole pig, roasted turkey, etc.... They had different themes every night at the buffet. It was really very good. They also give you 4 reservations at the restaurants. STAY AWAY FROM THE ASIAN (BAMBU) was not very good. We walked out midway through our dinner. The chicken was tough and dry, hard to chew. They give you 1 dumpling as an appetiser with yellow broccoli and brown cauliflower (they called this steamed veggies), and the rice paper rolls contain only shredded carrots. Anyway, enough about that..... The Italian Restaurant IL PACO was AMAZING. VIVA CAFE was also great, with a location directly on the beach. (Book your reservations around 6:15 so you can see the sunset......GORGEOUS). The pizzeria was so good. Oven Pizza made on the spot. Couldn't go wrong with that. There were other restaurants, but the buffet had so much variety that we ate there the rest of the week. BEACH: CUBA beach....clear, clear, clear!!! I went to Dreams resort in Mexico at the end of Nov 2025, and the beach was like being in Cape Cod or Plattsburgh beach. Couldn't see your feet at all. The La Romana area is known for the beach. It was beautiful. The only thing is that walking on the sand is like walking in quicksand; you sink deep with every step, which makes it hard to go walking. Also, when you go in the water, there is a big dip, so you have to be careful going in. There were some waves from the boats, so you gotta watch your step going in and out of the water. There were LOTS, I mean, LOTS of Beautiful palm trees on the beach, (no palapas) just huge palm trees to give you plenty of shade when you wanna get out of the sun. No jellyfish, just little silver fishies. And about 3 brown pelicans that fly around our beach and dive in front of you to eat the fish....so cool There was a TIKI bar for slushies, the creperie if you wanted a sweet or savoury crepe, a snack bar, and an outdoor BBQ. This was the FIRST hotel I ever been to where there were hardly any people at the pool. They were all on the beach!!! Also, the hotel was full of EUROPEANS!!!!! What a delight!!! Lots of Italians, Argentinians, Romanians, and Germans, which is another thing I wasnt used to, but so happy I got to experience it. Oh, there’s a beach towel hut that you go get towels, and the reception gives you 2 cards upon check in...that you give to the towel people and then when you bring back your towels, they give you back your cards, so you need those cards to get beach towels. DRINKS: Drinks are very sweet, depending on what you drink. Wine and beer are very good. Another thing I noticed was that hardly anyone tipped!!!! I asked the waiters and even the housekeepers, and they both stated that tipping is very rare. I think because there are a lot of self-service drink stations like beer on tap, wine on ice and soda machines. But the waiters still clean the plates and ask if you want anything to drink, etc. Find one waiter, tip him well and ask if he’s there all week, and he will treat you like royalty. They have filtered water dispensers that are all around the hotel. They were on every corner on every floor. I thought this was very cool cause you fill your own water bottle and they provide you with a big glass bottle in the room as well. Entertainment is a hit or miss. We only heard the singers in the lobby haven’t been to a show, but there’s an app telling you what the show is for that evening. (wasnt really interested in a magic show...) One thing: THIS IS NOT A PARTY HOTEL....there were 50+ or 20 and under....very chill and relaxed atmosphere. All in all, I would come back to La Romana area, maybe check out other hotels, but I would definitely come back to this one. 4/5 stars!!!

  Jan 26, 2026
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  Not great

  Room was changed after first night and the second room was lovely very peaceful and cleaned daily unfortunately the hotel is let down by the food same every night and barely warm staff in restaurants are not interested have to call out Ashley in the coffee shop and the lovely staff at the pool bar who have all been fantastic I come to the Dominican a couple of times a year and won’t be coming back here which is a shame as the resort has some real potential with the right management team looking at the experience from a customer perspective

  Jan 22, 2026
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  Amazing Holiday

  Amazing experience. Staff friendly and helpful. Food good quality for an all inclusive resort. Beach clean and well kept for kids. Our room 5910 was always clean by Margherita. Room was old dated but comfortable for our needs. Entertainment at night was good with lots of shows by Viva- bravo animation. A big shout for Jose Mota the security guy at the Beach Hotel entrance, he was always happy to help us and very kind. Perfect holiday, thank you to everyone

  Jan 21, 2026
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  Great staff in the coffee shop

  Recommend visiting the coffee shop in the resort. Ashley and Isamer are always smiling and friendly. No wonder we were there 3x a day! Lots of love ❤️

  Jan 20, 2026
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  Resort very good , service in buffet areas poor

  The buffet breakfast at both venues is poor , lack of cutlery , napkins , plates not removed , had to put on empty tables , no English breakfast tea bags . Male staff better than female with the exception of of Angelica on the cafe in reception area she is excellent always a smile and very welcoming . Room not cleaned properly , hair in drain in shower when arrived still there when we left , floor not hoovered , sand everyday ,

  Jan 20, 2026