VIK Arena Blanca & Cayena Beach Club - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4399 reviews

• 

  Not a great experience at Vik Hotel D.R.

  Location is 1/2 hour from airport,Atmosphere is poor,music around pool is not catered to everyone just Spanish speaking clients, most hotels have a nice mix.Most staff don't speak English and being in the industry all staff should at least speak Spanish and English.Had to change rooms as the assigned a room with no AC or hot water.Room was also poorly cleaned.Front desk gave me three rooms to choose from,one was occupied! That's not very safe as if it was mine I wouldn't want anyone to have a key right? Beach no longer exists! What is there is dirty and walking out in water is difficult as you cannot see anything. I tripped over a palm tree in the dirty water about 10 feet out. Sand fleas ate me alive and for 2 nights I could barely sleep even taking meds for bites.I decided, unfortunately this will be a pool only vacation. Pools are beautiful but unfortunately very very unsafe.Marble tile with nothing to stop you from falling when it's wet! Glad I don't drink in daytime.Why don't they add non slip strips for safety like on some of the ramps at the washrooms?🤔🤔🤔 One gentleman fell broke a shoulder,took flight home and had to have surgery,will be off work for several month's.THIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN IF THERE WERE NON SKID STRIPS!😡😡😡 I was truly on edge each time I got out of the pool,and that's all pools.Very stressful indeed. I found broken plastic glasses in pool everyday. One lovely senior had the wrong suitcase from airport and front desk would not call lost and found at airport for him.He didn't speak Spanish!!!! 3 days later he got his suitcase after having to taxi there and back and sleep there till it opened! Sorry but that is HORRIBLE customer service! Vik Hotel should be ashamed! BTW I was here before several years ago. As for all the damages on the beach,benches hanging,dirty broken chairs and stairs not fixed in at least the two weeks I was there...really!! These things could have been dealth with within a few days...probably still not fixed. Animation staff are ok but the head guy,all he does is scream! Most bartenders are ok once you get to know them and tip them!🙂 Pizza ,snack bar,burgers were often under cook so I threw it back on the grill myself 2 x. Pizza was always good and so was chicken! Wine was great in all restaurants except the Buffet.Why have wine on tap when it tastes terrible? Thank you to the Patron for getting me a nice bottle of wine from Italian restaurant for my bday! You made my day! Gracias. Ok rooms,the peep hole is over 6ft high,I couldn't see who woke me up knocking at 2 a.m.😡 T.v didn't work even though repair man came after 3 days requesting help,( never fixed it) phone didn't work and neither did blow dryer but that's ok I just did without😅🤣. People say you get what you pay for but I paid the same in Cuba and had ZERO issues! I dealt with everything as I worked in hospitality too but the worst was the pool safety issue! I BEG VIK TO PUT SAFETY STRIPS AT THE POOL!!! I have been to Puerto Plata,Santo Domingo,Punta Cana..would I return,regretfully not. BTW I didn't use the Spa or Doctor but did spend time with both,lovely people,go check out the spa!!! Oh and BTW that 2 to 3 tons of sagassum that is sitting near dive shop needs to be removed!!!😡😡 It's a health hazard. I

  Nov 07, 2026
• 

  Not to repeat ever

  VIK Arena Blanca Transat 1. Dangerous 90 minute bus ride to the hotel. 2. Long delay to check in. 3. Safe is extra, 2us per day. 4. No hot water, very low water pressure, shower equipment is mostly defective. 5. No AC, or full blast like a plane jet engine, so noisy you must decide between sleeping or dying of heat. 6. Mold in room, everywhere you look you see small patches of dark molds. 7. Fire detector filled with mold and probably never verified. 8. Beach is the worst, lots of erosion and storm damages, water and beach are dirty, filled with weeds, they pick up the weeds but instead of removing it, they pile it to create a sticking rotting mount that attracts pests and mosquitoes , water is not clear, rare shaded transat, because beach is public, none stop pressure sellers, security is a joke, lots of boats passing close to the swimmers, no life guard, snorkelling is not allowed, they have no delimited area for swimming. 9. Interesting enough, the neighbours hotels don’t have these problems. 10. One à la carte restaurant, and it’s not even offering full service, it’s like an hybrid between à la carte and buffet, the others restaurant are buffet or snack bar, food is ok at the most, good food and wines are always extras $$$. 1. No wifi in the room, limited none secured wifi in the hot humid and crowded lobby. 11. Offered free activities are laughable, forcing you to buy extra excursions, it’s a trap. On the beach, scammers are pressure selling and it’s even encouraged by the hotel. 12. Lots of noise until midnight. 13. The hotel buildings and services are in very bad shape, lots are closed or in repair, bad smell, rotten material and mold everywhere. 14. Hotel direction and Transat representative are working together in giving bad services and insulting excuses. There are line ups of complaining residents every day. 15. After my 2nd day, I was willing to go back home on the next flight without asking for remboursement, but Transat asked me to pay extra for flying me back. 16. Overall it’s at best a 2-1/2 star and the crown it attracts is at level, I strongly recommend NOT to go there.

  Oct 18, 2026
• 

  Very average

  Arrived at the hotel early having done an early flight. I said to the receptionist if there is a chance of early check in that would be great and she said ok. She then said come back at 3pm which is the usual check in time. She didn’t say where anything was or where I could get changed so I went out and had an explore but would have thought she could have given me an idea as to where I could go. Got to the bar asked for a beer and got a very unwelcoming look and response I then pointed to the beer tap and was given a bad beer. They use the plastic cups which once your done you put into these plastic bins around the hotel and since seeing that I’ve asked for glasses. The staff are quite unfriendly, don’t smile much and do not speak much English so if your not able to speak Spanish your struggling. Food is ok but not great. Entertainment wise the day co-ordinations are quite annoying coming up to you loudly and rudely when your trying to relax and seem to like to go to the women. They also have by the pool on some days people selling stuff in the complex who don’t take no for an answer and are very very pushy. Really off putting that this happens. Hot water and water pressure is a real issue, I have had different issues everyday and I have heard others complaining. Beach area is small but pleasant and lots of activities which can be signed up to. The shops on site are a rip off charging ridiculous amounts for basic items. I would go to the local supermarket instead or a uber. I played golf at a nearby hotel and the service received was incomparable. I won’t be staying here again and would grade this as a 2 star. The hotel needs modernising, needs investment in the gym and tennis courts as they are terrible and unusable. The staff are not friendly. The value is really good but il give it a miss next time.

  Oct 14, 2026
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  I've just returned from my 20th visit . . .and won't be going back

  I'm one of those people who read reviews but take them with a grain of salt. I rarely write reviews, but after reading all the reviews on this hotel, I decided it is time for a 100% honest review based on my history of going to this hotel. I have been going to this hotel for about 20 years. In fact, so long that it used to be called the LTI. I've been going because it is clean, in a good location with excellent staff. I was taught years ago that you can give a child a cardboard box to play with and they'll love it as long as it is presented in the correct fashion. Well, this hotel was that cardboard box. Here is what is going on today (September 2026). The grounds are clean, very clean. The pool is beautiful and well maintained. The staff is still excellent, but that is where it stops. People say that you get what you pay for, don't go with high expectations. It's not true. There are 10-15 other hotels in the same price range as the Arena Blanca and several of them are far superior and offer a lot more, including the Ocean Blue and Sand right next door. People complain about the beach. It's the same beach as the other hotels. They all suffer from sargassum (seaweed) and every hotel tries to keep it clean. They all have the same issue with people saving beach chairs at 6:00AM. It is no different here. What is different is how this hotel has continued to decline in quality due to little or no maintenance and/or updates. So much could be done with limited amount of money such as paint. Everything needs paint, walkways, buildings, walls, etc. The furniture in the hotel lobby has never been changed in the last 20 years and it's older than that. The chairs in the bar area are falling apart. The tables and chairs in the buffet restaurant are antique and in need of replacement. We were upgraded to a suite in what we were told was the best room available because we were repeat customers. While the room was clean, the night table was missing the drawer, the handle was falling off the bathroom door and the recently painted bathroom needed to be gutted. They painted over dark wood with one coat of white paint and it looks terrible. The food? While some hotels have 5,6 or even 10 specialty restaurants this hotel has 2. The buffet was good some nights, but others very poor. We also noticed that the 'better' items at the buffet do not get refilled too often forcing you to eat what is left. Nightly entertainment did not exist some nights and others was nothing more than a projector screen showing videos. Wifi is not existent once you wander too far from the lobby. I can go on and on with every little detail, but I've already wasted enough time writing this review. No, I did not expect a $600.00 /night hotel. Like I said I've been here 20 times, but you can definitely get more for your money somewhere else. So, in summary, it's a smaller hotel in a good location. Clean, nice staff, but in serious need of some updating. Until that happens I for one will not be going back.

  Sep 23, 2026
• 

  Avoid this hotel at all cost

  This hotel is advertised as a 4 star hotel on Expedia, Westjet and others with expansive beaches. This resort is barely a 2 star at best. The beach scenes shown on their advertisements are misleading and false advertising. The beach was destroyed and eroded 4 years ago and yet they still advertise the previous beaches that are no longer there. The rooms are in poor shape and we have been shuffled between several rooms and in each one the air conditioning barely or does not work. The room we were moved to, the air conditioning did not work and the door to the room did not close and latch. For three day we notified the front desk and escalated to Vik Group Management and nobody did anything. So we were left with a room that did not close, leaving our belongings open to theft and our personal safety at risk. We were constantly lied to be front desk staff that people were on their way to fix it and they never did. Now the water does not work in our room, which was only a small downgrade given that hot water was very rare. So do not believe the pictures as they are all false. The staff are not overly friendly and management have no concern for their guests. The General Manager, Mr. Santos even told me "What do you want, it is a cheap hotel." We met another guest who was moved out of room due to the air conditioning not working and we were moved right in after. Avoid this hotel at all cost.

  Sep 23, 2026