We stayed at the Sirenis Tropical Hotel from May 11-18. (FYI: The ONLY difference between the Tropical and the Cocotal side is that the Tropical side has bigger 1-bedroom style rooms).
This resort is absolutely amazing! I will give you some details that will be helpful.

Arrival: We flew Air Transat (very uncomfortable flight, luckily its inly 4 hours). The ride from the airport is really not as rough as eveyone makes it to be. Yes its bumpy and long (an hour drive at least) but you get to see the life, the animals, the streets and it keeps your mind occupied long enough until you get there.
We had no problems checking in, our room was ready when we arrived and we were given a map with directions to our room (Tropical side - bulding M - right beside the main pool). Our luggage was brought to us within minutes and we were settled in with no issues. The safe costs $3 per day with a $50 deposit which you get back when you check out.

Rooms: Our room was extremely clean, the maid did a great job everyday and we left her little tips and goodies every morning. We had no problems with bugs in our rooms even though we were on ground level. The bed was a king size bed, not 2 beds pushed together. It was definetely a hard matress, but you get so tired that it doesnt matter where you sleep. The room didnt have any kind of bad smell, and everything worked just fine. Just be patient with the shower as it takes a couple minutes for the water to get hot.

Grounds: Are absolutely incredible. There are gardens and flowers everywhere and people are there constantly cleaning everything up. There are flamingoes and ducks in the front just waiting for you to come and visit. The hotel really is gorgeous. Its the best one I ever stayed at and this was my 6th time in Dominican.

Beach/Pool: Pool is always being cleaned, very refreshing to swim in, especially in the mornings when its quiet. Beach is really calm in the morning but the wind really picks up in the afternoon which makes it uncomfortable to lie there. Just a tip for you: Be careful with your towels - mine got taken on the first day. Which costs you $20 USD but we ended up going out at night and searching the pool area and were lucky enough to find a towel that was left behind which we switched for a clean one in the morning. People were complaining of their chairs getting taken after they were saved. It is now considered off season and the resort was still pretty busy. I was out by 7:00am everyday to get a palapa, by about 8am there was not much left so I cant imagine what its like in high season.

Food: There are 2 buffets but only one was open while we were there. There is a large selection everyday for all meals. We only ate there during breakfast and some dinners. Lunch can be eaten in the large snack bar at the pool which has the well known soft-serve ice cream machine which always has a line up and also a crepe kiosk (delicious). There is also a BBQ Grill Hut right on the beach that serves chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries. A la Carte Restaurants: They tell you that you are limited to only 2 reservations per week, but what you can actually do is go to all 6 restaurants if you want. All you do is come up the front around 9:30/10:00am and book a reservation as long as its for the same day. You cant go to a restaurant twice but you can probably do each one. We did Japanese: ABSOLUTELY A MUST! The food is fantastic and the show is entertaining as well. Mexican: Just okay. Seafood/Mediteranean: Good if you like seafood. Italian: Fantastic! Its beautiful inside and the service is fantastic. These people serve you much better there than in Canada where you are required to leave a tip. So we left at least $2 in each restaurant, depending on the service.

Excursions: There are a few available. We did the swimming with Sharks and Stingrays. Its a half day trip (go in the morning, much cooler, and the fish are more active). The ride there is 1.5 hours and the same thing back so its tough. You get taken out on a large catamaran with an entertainment team. There is music and drinks and snacks. First you stop at a coral reef and jump out and see some fish and then swim with the group into a caged area where the sharks and stingrays are. They literally are right underneath you. Wonderful experience! Then you get taken to a natural pool where they give you drinks right in the water. The trip costs $89USD so its a little expensive for half day but worth the experience.

Entertainment: The staff are always alive there, never a dull moment. Look for Macaroni - he will always make you laugh! The show starts at 9:00pm everynight with an ice breaker and at 9:30 with the main show. After that, is the karaeoke or live band. The casino is also open during all this as well. The disco starts up at 12:00am if you still want to party. Overall, lots to do at night.

Bugs: There ARE mosquitoes on the property, even though they fumigate the place everyday. So bring bug spray.

I would definetely recommend this hotel to everyone. Go, enjoy, relax and have a great time! I hope this review helped!

We have just returned from the Dominican from staying in the Sirenis Tropical Resort - 11th May till 18th May 2008.
The Sirenis is a great relaxed and organised hotel, beautifully kept gounds in the most magnificant location. The hotel possesses a beautiful lobby area and enterance. The rooms were fine, clean and furnished well, maid service was good with a fully stocked mini bar everyday for free !
The grounds of the hotel are very well kept and look great. The pool area was clean and well kept - there was always sunbeds freely available around the pool. If you like activities like me - this hotel is great. it has a decently equipt gym, a great spa with ice tub, hot tube and steam room. Tennis court, ping pong, archery and a few other things. The entertainment staff are great, always about organising activities, water polo, beach football etc....also if your there on a weekend you can verse the locals in arm wrestling ! The food is great, loads to choose from and 6 different resturants to book - all inculded in your package ! I would recomend the Italian and the Japanese ! The night entertainment is ok, with a different show each night.....the karoke is a laugh too ! The casino is small but also good !
The hotel staff were all very friendly ! The beach is amazing, with a selection of water sports included in your package !
This was a great holiday for me and my fiance and were thinking of going back in november.

May 5th - May 19th
We 've just got back from staying at the Sirenis Tropical Suites, I'll start with the bad points first. If you like quiet weekends sat in the pool at the swim up bar then think again ! It's full of locals that come over for long weekends, mainly students ! they are very rude, loud, and many people had things go missing while they were there. You've got no chance of getting to the bar as they all congregate around it and they will not move when asked ! They're very noisy and intimidating. They get very drunk, spill all their drinks n the pool and one of them was even sick ! after they've gone the pools very scummy ! Security was rubbish and when we told the rep he told us to move around the other side of the pool, which would've been fine but the other swim up bar was shut as they were re-doing the steak house bar, which meant that most of us had to get out of the pool when wanting a drink.

Now the good points !
Monday to Thursday this hotel was lovely, quiet, relaxing, nice friendly people enjoying their holiday. The Japenese rest was our favourite, lovely food and great the way it's cooked in front of you. Mexican was very nice too. All the staff were very friendly and the animation staff put on some great shows in the evenings, very proffesional. The gardens and grounds were kept immaculate.

Just somethng to remember take plenty of mosquito spray as people were being eaten alive !

Also take plenty of sun creams as it's very expensive in the local shops.

It's a shame about the weekends because apart from that the place was fantastic, this would be the only thing that would stop us returning.

we stayed here from april 24th-8th may.HOTEL-absolutely amazing hotel.it has huge grounds.the rooms are simple but very clean and very big.POOL-it is huge and has great for all the familly.our 21 mth old loved it.it was as warm as bath water!!!swim up bars were great.try the lumumba cocktail!!!we never had any trouble finding loungers with shades and we weren't up at 6am.BEACH-amazing.can be a little rough,but if you walk 10 mins either way the sea is much calmer and there is not as much coral.SHOPS-expensive but had most essensials in them.there was a well stocked chemist.24hr doctors.we had to use them on holiday.they are lovely.they speak really good english.reasurring when you have kids.TRIPS-saona island-amazing.a must see.the roads are much better that you use to go on this trip.hopefully your guide is bruce cos he is a lovely man.he took care of us all for the day.it cost $180 for 2 adults.bargain!we also went on trip swimming with sharks and stingrays.brilliant!you can go snorkelling 1st in coral.beautiful.don't worry about taking children,we took our son.there were clowns etc on the catamaran.really lovely people.a good party atmosphere.this trip was about £70 for 2 adults and child was free. BAD POINTS-on the bank holiday the hotel was over run with locals.farm animals springs to mind!!they were rude,noisy and dirty. mosquitos-as they sprayed around the perimeter of the grounds it drove them into the hotel.they did start spraying bushes etc around rooms etc the day we were leaving so hopefully they won't be so bad!OVERALL-excellent holiday,lovely location,would return.worth every penny.