Hi, I just returned (3rd of March) from a week vacation at this resort and stayed in the junior suite as a golden member. The 90 minute bus ride was most pleasant as it turned out to be a tour like ride. Beware though, no toilet on board! Same bad comments I've read about or noticed kept coming back: lack of face cloth, lack of chairs on the beach, entertainment starting too late (22:30hrs), confusion as to where night entertainment taking place, toaster placement clogging up circulation in buffet area. Very minor details for me. The people working on the resort were very polite and friendly. Staff employees were constantly working at improving or cleaning the site. One front desk attendant even took time to replace the missing screw of my pair of glasses. I felt very secure on the resort as armed officers were discreetly seen from time to time walking the beach. Employees were checked in and out at the front gate of the resort for theft prevention. Only items left on the bed pillow could be taken from the room by the cleaning staff ex money tips. A short note confirming your gift should accompany your item. Women’s make up is much appreciated considering that their monthly income is approximately 250 dollars. On more then one occasion, expensive items had been left in the open by mistake. Nothing ever went on missing. If you feel the 31 dollar fee for the safe is too expensive, you can always lock your items inside your luggage. I will surely go again.

Our experience at this hotel was very positive., and we found the comments in other complimentary reviews fairly accurate. Rather than repeat them I'll simply add a few observations either not covered, or not as we found things. Firstly walking shorts for men are acceptable at the buffet; long pants are required for the a la carte.

The beach is fabulous but off the beach not so good.

Sailing: you're allowed to take a catamaran alone if you pass the test. However, you have to find and wind your way between the coral heads. There are 2 marks, both white flags the same colour as the breaking waves. It is a Beam Reach out and back which helps, but it is very, very windy, and when you get beyond the reef its a wild ride. Straight out and back is best so that you can find the mark to get back. In 2 weeks we only sailed 3 times.

Snorkeling: not good!. There's lots of coral and it is all dead, located in mostly shallow water. We saw very few fish, no shoals. We did swim out to the edge of the reef about 500 m. and found some interesting canyons in deeper water, but no fish.

Swimming: not good. A long swim is our regular daily habit and that's pretty difficult here. You have to zig zag between the coral heads. As I like to do back crawl I was mostly unsuccessful with painful results and swim suit damage. There's also numerous sand banks covered in sea grass at a depth of less than a foot.

Wonderful hotel. good food and friendly, efficient staff, but poor for swimming etc! We also enjoyed the bathroom with bags of hot water and a shower that worked well, the firm, comfortable king size bed and the almost nightly barbecue on the patio. Saturday was lobster, Sunday steak. We alo found the resort very quiet especially as the bar closed at 11:00 PM - great idea!

We stayed at the resort from feb 4 to the 18th 2008.
Transportation to the resort was 1 hour and 45 min by bus without facilities.
Check in took 1 hour even though there were only 8 couples.
The privilege of using the safe costs a whopping $31 USD a week even with having paid extra for the gold club.
The room was junior suite as per the Gold club specs very nice room, however, the block of rooms was not even on the resort map and the balcony looked out on the back of three other blocks of rooms very disappointing.
The bar fridge was not stocked, the TV did not work, there was a missing light bulb, and broken light socket not a great start, and the bar fridge got stocked when and if someone felt like it, and apparently it was my responsibility to find out why, and I would gladly have done that if I was fluent in Spanish.
The staff is more likely to speak French or German as most of the guests speak these languages.
The pool is way undersized for the number of guests they have managed to squeeze on to the property.
There are not enough umbrellas for shade, if you should require shade the only available lounges are in the sun and all others are reserved with towels and other items of ownership.
The beach is stunning and you can walk forever, however, if you want to sit at the beach you better get there early, as the lounges are surrounded and captured by 8AM.
The food was a hit and a miss .
The buffet is a bad layout as there was a lot of congestion and jockeying for position.
We were entitled to 4 a La carte restaurant reservations a week, but after 2 we gave up. I ordered one thing in each that was not available,
in the second one we ordered fish and got pork.
The beach restaurant was quieter and the view was beautiful but the selection was limited.
The animation group was OK, but they spent a lot of time entertaining each other.
The bar was good, there was a lively staff, 2 or 3 of them spoke some english and one of them sang a lot of Spanish songs which was a treat as it was in short supply.
The grounds were well kept and except for the occasional wafting aroma of raw sewage were enjoyable .
The two Transat Reps could be found in their office in order to sell tours.......apparently their main focus.
This resort is billed as a four and a half star. I would rate it as a three to three and a half on a good day.
As this was our first trip to the Dominican Republic We have no desire to return.

Pat and Cathy from Toronto

It was my wish to return to the El Portillo because I was really impressed with the resort last year and wanted to eperience it again before the area becomes too well known/commercial. We love that "off the beaten path" type of place. Hotel strips are not our favorite. I will list some of my comparisons/observations about this resort which are all very subjective. When talking to people on vacations about their experiences there are always such opposing feelings and feed back. Some love, some hate and some are indifferent. This along with the fact that as we become more seasoned travellers we also become so much more critical and picky. Wouldn't it be nice if we could sit back and enjoy what this particular place in time has to offer, because before we know it, our vacation will be over.

Anyway, another reason that I wanted to return is because I thought the animation was on it's way to becoming extremely good. Last year only a few months after the resort had opened there was so much effort and spirit in the animation program. It created fun and interaction for everyone, those who participated as well as those who who just wanted to sit back and have a good chuckle. The manager of Animacion talked about his plans to create some great shows and activities. Well the shows have not improved at all. The Cher / Frank Sinatra show was excrutiating. But, I must give credit to the Beach Party. That was fun!! Great Fire Show, Dancing and later Fire Works. Apart from the Beach Party, both the Daytime and Nighttime animation were hit and miss.

The food was still very good. Again, very subjective. I never ate pizza or pasta and always tried the Dominican corner in the buffet. Had this amazing Dominican Cod Fish dish one night, very lightly floured, sauteed and done in a light tomato sauce with capers along with Yucca/Cassava a tropical root vegetable, very starchy, soooo delicious. Dominican Rabbit Stew done casador style another night. Try new and different things otherwise it's impossilble not to get bored. Never had cake or the traditional desserts. I had fried plantain in a vanilla/brown sugar and rum syrup with a dollop of coconut ice cream one night and I thought I died and went to heaven.There was always a compote of the local tropical roots or squash prepared in this style. You've got to try it! Oh, and people what's the rush in the buffet. I kind of looked around and lingered before I made choices and people got very impatient and gave me dirty looks, rushing aroud like there was no tomorrow. Relax, smile, we're on vacation. My issue was not the courtesy of the Dominicans but, more that of fellow travellers- Wow!

Also found the a la cartes very good, nice choices and presentation. Thought the Italian was good too and I'm Italian. Gnocchi in a Gorgonzola Sauce, OMG! I will make it at home too after we've shed these extra lbs. Liked the beach grill better last year when food was served as opposed to buffet style. Eventhough the menu was limited, I enjoyed looking at the ocean in a more relaxed ambience as opposed to the hustle buslte that a buffet creates.

Why are excursions so darned expensive on these vacations? Only did whale watching, saw the whales! Kids were thrilled. Me, a little sea sick, oh well!

Thank you to the Sky Divers from all over the world. It was a thrill to watch them land on our beach for three days in a row. They were very friendly and were happy to talk to us about their thrill seeking sport.

Beach was wonderful again, seems to go on forever. Don't wear jewellery off hotel premises. Two people said they were robbed. That will ruin your vacation. This is why you must sign a waiver as you enter the unguarded area.

We loved the spaciousness of our Junior siute and the maids were amazing once again. This resort still maintains an extremely high standard for cleanliness. Show them as well as other workers some appreciation. We always show courtesy to workers and fellow travellers alike and this has always been a sure bet to a great vacation.

Another great vacation. So happy to meet interesting and lovely people from all over the world, fellow Canadians from Quebec and other parts of Canada. The absolute best part of the trip was another opportunity to share quality time with my honey and our kids and to be fortunate enough have this privilege so that we could create wonderful memeories!