We wanted a cheap last minute get away so went onto Teletext and found 10 days all inclusive at the Sosua Bay Hotel for only £549 which is a bargain so I booked upimmediately. After I looked at Trip Advisor and read all these terrible reviews I freaked out and called the travel agent back to change. I was unable to change but they said for $200us I could upgrade to the Victorian House Hotel which from its website looked gorgeous........clever camera work!

When we first arrived our first impressions were this place is an absolute DUMP and this was also confirmed to us by other guests (mainly Americans). As the week wore on I grew quite fond of the place, you have to remember this is a semi decent budget hotel and not a Sandals Resort in Barbados and you do get what you pay for.

Our room was nice and the view over the sea was stunning, we had a superior room so no jacuzzi but as we were informed by many that had them they are dirty and most don't work so don't waste money on a junior suite. The restaurants they claim there are 5 restaurants, for our first 3 days we only had the buffet which was quite like school dinners, bland and boring. You sat down for dinner and it was all over within 20minutes! The other restaurants then opened so first of all we tried the Mexican which in fairness was good but don't get over excited, the next night we tried the chinese again I had the same opinion. Then we tried the Italian, which menu in my opinion did not consitutute them calling it Italian, for instance for a starter they had smoked salmon and scrambbled eggs? The annoying things about these restaurants is that you have to book 24 hours in advance and also they state no t-shirts and flip flops and when your on a caribbean holiday these items make up most of your wardrobe.

Then we have the bars, there are ONLY 2. One is in the lobby and only serves tea and coffee, surely this is a coffee shop and not a bar? Then there is the pool bar, drinks here are only served in plastic cups so ou feel like your at a childrens party. The spirits here are horrible so if your a vodka or gin drinker bad luck and the wine ughhhhhhhh tastes like sherry!

The pool area is fine, but the beach again ughhh. Our first impression of this was a stray dog with udders having a pooh right on the sand yuck! The sea is also full of litter.

Now you may think me negative about it all, which my boyfriend did complain at me for, but as we said you get what you pay for and this is just my opinion some people we met there (English) loved it.

I would recommend getting a taxi and going to Cabarete Beach its stunning. It has kite surfing/wind surfing and a load of excellent bars and restaurants. Sosua is a bit of a dump, avoid Club 59 full of prostitutes and dirty old white men, good restaurants outside the resort is Baileys and La Roca and a good bar is Rubys. I would also definitely recommend going to Cabarete beach (Casanova Restaurant is awesome) at night it has sooooo much more going on and its a bit more classy than Sosua.

Pay for things in Peso you don't get ripped off as much as when you in us$. Also half the price of everything that locals try to sell you and also taxis, just walk away and they will come after you. It is obviously a very poor country which is sad but everyone wants money off you all the time, i.e you will accosted on the beach for hair braiding, jewellery, cigars, fruit all day long and then there are kids begging I could not help but give them money when I saw them rubbing there bellies. Tipping is expected for everyting so you just feel like a mobile bank at times.

We only went on one trip sadly which was ocean world which is FANTASTIC, a must go, you can swim with the dolphins here.

Anyway I hope this helps, its not a perfect hotel but its great if all you want is a cheap holiday. If you can though, l would recommend staying in Cabarete than sosua. One last thing be careful of pick pocketers we had no poblems but we heard its common there. Enjoy!

Well, the vacation started off on a bad foot. When we arrived, we were told the Victorian House had "overbooked" and therefore they put us in their hotel, Sosua Bay, which is on the same property. If we would not have complained, we would have been in the hotel the entire week. Instead, we were told our suite would be ready on Sunday by noon.

The hotel was horrible. We got two double beds, a night stand, dresser and a bathroom. The dresser was missing three or four handles, so those drawers were unusable. Also, they failed to mention that you had to keep one of your room keys in a slot by the door to run your electricity. So we returned to a hot room because our A/C was not running.

We were moved on Sunday but not by noon as promised, more like 6 p.m. They did upgrade us to a 2 bedroom instead of a 1 bedroom. The decor was a lot nicer than the hotel but this room was not without its problems. Our room leaked in 3 or 4 spots, one over the toilet and in the bedrooms. We had standing water in the bedroom at one point. The A/C in the main bedroom did not work. We also had a jacuzzi tub, which was a nice touch until we learned the jets did not work.

We also did not have hot water the entire week we were there, at the hotel or Victorian House. At times, the water was not even luke warm - just down right freezing.

The property advertises as having 5 restaurants. 4 are only open for dinner and are by reservation only. Those 4 also have dress codes - no t-shirts, shorts or sandles. We went to the Caribbean, all we packed were shorts and sandles. We tried the Asian, Italian and Mexican. My husband got sick after the Italian and Mexican meals. My meal at the Italian restuarant was good. The Asian and Mexican places were not. The buffett restaurant was only edible in my opinion. This place says it is all inclusive but no restuarant was open between 10 and noon or 3 to 7. So if you were hungry at those times, there was no food to be found. They also claim to have 5 bars. In reality, they had 1. One of the bars was in the Italian restuarant, which was only open for dinner. Another was down by the beach but had been washed away a couple weeks before and they decided not to reopen. Another was a coffee and tea bar in the main lobby. We did not want to drink hot coffee in the middle of the afternoon when it was 85 degress outside. The only alcoholic bar was by the pool. The swim-up bar was connected to the bar by the pool and therefore they did not have a separate bar tender. The drinks were small, so order 2 or 3 at a time.

Be ware of the VIP World reps on property - they tricked us. We were asked if we were satisfied with our accomidations. Since we were not, we agreed to talk to Donnie from VIP. He explained they are in the process of buying the property and are hoping to fix it up. We were shown their property in Puerta Plata and told that we could look at it in person and if we liked, they would switch us for free. We asked several times and were repeatedly told there would not be any extra charge. So we took an hour taxi ride to their other property. It then turned into the classic timeshare sale pitch. Their property was beautiful!! But, after several hours of the sales pitch, we were told we would have to buy a VIP membership in order to be moved. So after a total of six hours, including driving time, we were back to where we started.

I must say it rained, down-pour, for hours every day we were there. I'm sure if the weather would have been nicer, we would have been able to over look some of the little things. We were told we had the worst weather they had seen in 31 years.

They claim to have a private beach - not so much. It was literally 35 feet long and 25 feet wide. It was connected to the public beach but you would get hassled by the locals to buy something from them or go fishing once you "crossed the line." Also with no bar near the beach or drink service, you had to walk all the way back to the hotel pool for a drink.

We met several couples that were so miserable, they left mid-week. We did not eat at the French restuarant because it costs an extra $25 per person and our friends got food poisoning the night before.

All in all, our trip was the worst we have ever had. We will not be returning to this resort or that area of the DR. If we return to the DR, we will try Punta Cana, as we heard that was much better.

We visited Sosua Bay Hotel on 14th July 06. There was nineteen of us altogether, as I was getting married there.
Upon our arrival the staff were very helpful rushing to help us with our cases and serving us cold iced tea and a cold face cloth, this was appriciated by all as it was so hot and the flight had taken 8hrs.
A porter showed us too our room which was in the Victorian House, wow the room was lovely and the view was of the beautiful ocean. I have read some reviews where they complained about everything. I write this review to asure travellers that are going to this hoiel not too worry they will love it.
Yes there is small power cuts but what do people expect Dom Rep is a third world country. The staff were great very helpful and willing to do anything too make your stay pleasent.
The wedding was brilliantly organised and very romantic thanks too Vicki our wedding co-ordinator also Annie in Victoria House.
Angelo our rep was a star nothing was too much trouble.
The food was execellent with a wide variety to choose from. Recommend you visit the other resturants while you are there.
The entertainment staff work very hard and put on some good shows.
The rooms not in Victoria House are more basic but they are clean and the maids work hard too make sure you have everything you need. Saying this who stays in there room that much.
All in all we had a great time and I recommend this hotel to everyone and especially anyone who is getting married.

Sam (England)

The Victorian House is a great place to stay. We have been there 2 times already (2005 & 2006) and have already booked for 2007.

A member in our family got married there in February 2006 and we cannot say enough good things about how the staff at the Victorian House helped plan the wedding. A special thanks to Annie (who has become our friend), Karolina, and especially Neuly and Manfred (our friends now also). The wedding was just beautiful and everything went like clockwork. If there is a young couple thinking of getting married in the Carribean, I would highly recommend getting married at the Victorian House.

We have never had problems with the food and the service from maintenance to maid service has been excellent. We always make sure that we bring gifts for the employees as they work hard and deserve what we can bring them.

We also go to the Voodoo Lounge, a great place off the resort for getting together with friends and having a few drinks.

What more can I say, except, that please, do not believe all the bad reviews, as we have been there at the same time other people have been there, that have wrote reviews that were not complimentary of this resort, and none of situations listed happened to us.

You do have to remember that you are in a 3rd world country and enjoy it for it's beauty, the friendly and helpful people and a chance to relax and just enjoy what this place has to offer.