I am absolutely thrilled to see the recent reviews written about this enchanting resort. Like most I was horrified by some of the earlier reviews and had a great amount of anxt over my selection prior to arrival. Well, thank God I went with an open mind.

As many have said, it's great to have a nice building, but its the people that make your vacation. When we arrived, we found we had a room with one queen size bed (my husband, my son and I). We went to the front desk and within half an hour a bed (not a cot) was brought up and all was well. On the day of our departure check out was at 1:00 p.m. and we were to be picked-up at 8:35 p.m. There was no question as to whether we needed to leave our luggage in a locker or whatever. If your room is not booked, you keep your room. Ours was, and we were immediately given another room to put our luggage, valuables and take a shower before leaving. That's just the front desk staff.

While we were there our son celebrated his 16th birthday. Christine, the food and beverage manager, arranged for a large table to be assembled so our fellow travellers we had made friends with could join us, had the mariachi band sing happy birthday, and had a cake made which was brought out by the animation team.

The animation team works 14 hour days and never - I repeat never complain. They are genuinely happy people who want nothing more than to make your holiday better. They were nothing short of being a joy.

The serving staff are diligent, happy hard working people. They engage you in conversation simply to make their days brighter doing their work, not because they are looking for anything from you.

The beach is cleaned every single day without exception. In fact, near as we could determine, the picture on line depicting all the debris was taken a mile or so down the beach where it is undeveloped. Shame on them.

The rooms are spotless. No they aren't fancy, but considering you fall into bed at the end of the day, you don't really see much of it anyway.

The cleaning staff completely trustworthy. I can't say I have stayed anywhere where I had less worry about my personal belongings. You can't buy that peace of mind.

The food is well cooked. I would say probably above average for the DR. Lots of variety (they sure can cook pollo - chicken) The Thai restaurant is to die for.

Now about the paradise part. It is so well manicured and the palm trees and vegetation give it a surreal feeling. We spent mornings on the beach and afternoons by the pool for the most part and both venues are beautiful.

We made many friendships while we were there, mostly because it is a smaller resort, which gives you opportunity to actually meet people.

We are so happy we chose Paraiso Tropical. The price was more than right and the experience was of so much greater value.

Andre and Liz Gagnon, Ottawa, Canada

we have just returned from the paraiso tropical,and we loved it .some of the reviews i read before i left were very worrying, o.k. we settled in our room after looking at 3 and it was holiday started. We had room 920 in reception , a little noisy at night ,but it had a high roof so it echoes, no problem.often had cold showers ,so take a deep breath your body is hot and it cools down a little faster.
Food: there was enough to choose from and something for everyone (so there wasn't chips/fries every night you'll survive).at breakfast you had a toaster that worked ,a chef who did omlettes or fried to your choice, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, juice or smoothies all fresh. lunch many choices too (didn't go but what i saw and heard were no complaints) afternoon snacks:burgers or hot dogs and sometimes .................chips/fries.
Beach: plenty of beds (more and more appeared each day) yes we had beach sellers but they get used to you too and either leave you alone or just come over to talk.
Went to Cabarete 1st time by taxi, 2nd we walked,takes about 1 hour to walk each way( but keep an eye on the water can be a bit rough in places) and you have to go to JOSE O'SHAYS in Cabarete its an Irish bar cheap too.
Overall the hotel was great staff magical and very hard working.
Make sure you take a good sunscreen and use it or burn,the wind cools you but you need it,sea can be rough but watch the kite-surfers fly!
I hope this is a help to any future travellers
BEV. BRISTOL ENGLAND feb/march 2008.

Cabarete: Paraiso Tropical
March 8, 2008.
We have just arrived from our 2 week vacation at the Paraiso Tropical and I just wanted to tell everyone that I was shocked by the comments and complaints that I have read on this hotel. Most of the people who complain are those who have spent only one week there and wasted their time taking offensive pictures and complain about not having enough hot water for a shower. The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country and the people are poor, this is not Canada or Europe and they don't have the commodities that we take for granted. If only tourists would take the time to look around and see the "People" they are amazing. For the most part they work 12 to 14 hours a day and that is 6 days a week and earn for two weeks what most of us earn in one day and they don't save for a trip or a new car, they help their families with the essentials like food and a bit of clothing. So stop complaining and remember that yes like most of us we go on holiday for the sun, the heat, the beach but only the "people" make all the difference. I took the time to talk to most of the people on this resort and they all greet you with a smile and want to make sure you are confortable. I want the Celuisma hotel to know that most people really appreciate what their employees do to make our stay enjoyable. I want to name the people that I spoke to while we were there: the management team Richar, Christina and Kenny, at the Reception desk Christopher does everything to make sure you are satisfied with your accomadations and his team also Orlando, Louisa and Rafael at the bar the girls there are sweethearts Chriss and Maria then every day and every night the animation team assure that everyone is having a good time and the co-ordinator of the shows "John" is amazing and him and his team put on a fantastic show every night a special mention for the fabulous Johanny. Every morning we were also greeted by the maid always with a smile and a good morning wish in our building Manserra and Mirian. To end my review I can only say that we have been travelling for the past 20 years and no place as ever made us feel as welcome as the Paraiso Tropical in Cabarete and I promise that we will be back in 2009 for sure. Another very important thing...the food was great and there was always something to please every nationality.
Thank you to everyone for making our holiday a memorable one.
Marilyn from Quebec Canada better known as "Maria"

My wife and I returned from this resort with nothing but wonderful memories. We read this site and went with low expectations. Yes our room was not a 5 star, but we spent most of our time at the beach, pool etc.

The beach was beautiful, the only complaint is the amount of people who smoke and leave their butts in the sand and the drink cups that people leave beside their chairs.

The staff was extremely friendly and the food, atmosphere, and dinner shows were great.

I am surprised the satff stay so positive with the amount of rude tourists.

Its a 2.5/3 star hotel that works as well as a 4 star. The entire staff works tireless.