Iberostar Selection Hacienda Dominicus

“Great family vacation!”

I just returned from a great vacation with my family. We stayed here from March 9th -14th. I truly loved this resort and would say it's one of the best I've been to of the 7 resorts we stayed at throughout the Dominican Republic. By far the best part of this resort is the beach. There were no rock… more

I just returned from a great vacation with my family. We stayed here from March 9th -14th. I truly loved this resort and would say it's one of the best I've been to of the 7 resorts we stayed at throughout the Dominican Republic. By far the best part of this resort is the beach. There were no rocks or seaweed just white sand . The water is fairly shallow with some gentle waves making it perfect for the whole family especially the kids. This is where we spent most of our time. The lush green grounds and water features made the resort very picturesque and even made the air feel cooler on the hot days. The wildlife including the peacocks and ducks made the surroundings more exotic and interesting. I liked that this resort was fairly quiet overall however if you wanted to participate in activities you could. Most of the exercise classes etc. and activities were near the beach. I would say the service was consistently good at restaurants and with any issues we had during our stay. At one point our tv did not work and staff came right away to fix the problem. We also had a leak with the air conditioner and again they responded right away and fixed the issue. The resort is older but they do make an effort to maintain it to a high standard. Overall, the resort appeared well managed and very clean. I wanted to point out when we were there most of the guests spoke spanish and staff were mostly interacting with them. It did prompt me to brush up on my Spanish and French. However, it would have still been nice to be able to interact more with other English speaking guests. We appreciated the refillable purified water stations within the resort which was very convenient and environmentally sustainable. The only other negative thing about my trip was that my stomach got upset the second day there. I couldn't pinpoint what it was but the rest of my family was fine. I thought it could be from food sitting out too long at buffet/ snack bar, accidentally ingesting tap water or sea water or just not washing my hands enough? It could have been anything to be honest. In any case, for the rest of my trip I was okay but also became more careful not to eat anything that didn't look safe. Apart from my mild illness, my family and I truly enjoyed our time at this resort and would still recommend it to others.

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“Our honest review of Iberostar Hacienda”

We stayed here March 3-12 and here is my honest review. The resort is beautiful and there is a lot of walking to get from one place to another. This doesn’t bother us but might bother older folks. (We are in our 60s). You will see peacocks, ducks and other birds walking around. We were in room 2119… more

We stayed here March 3-12 and here is my honest review. The resort is beautiful and there is a lot of walking to get from one place to another. This doesn’t bother us but might bother older folks. (We are in our 60s). You will see peacocks, ducks and other birds walking around. We were in room 2119 and were happy with it. The pool was big and there were always chairs available. This resort does things somewhat different than other all inclusives we have been to. Most of the entertainment things are done at the beach instead of the pool. Games, yoga, exercise, etc. For us, this was a negative. We don’t like the music blaring and thumping all morning long, we want to hear the ocean waves. Luckily it was mostly over by the afternoon. Everything was said in Spanish, no English. Get a palapa to the left of the lighthouse, it’s a bit quieter. The lighthouse bar is great and we loved how they put out big buckets with ice and beer at the end of the bar so you can just go up and grab one. Shout out to Angelino who brought drinks to the palapas…always a smile on his face and spoke the most English! We were able to get palapas every day. The pool chairs were never full and neither was the pool bar. The snack bar on the beach was great for lunch or snacks…went there every day. The coffee shop was great too! My husband loved it. We thought the buffet was very good and had many choices. The Japanese restaurant was also very good. The Greek restaurant on the sand, not so good. The Tropical was so-so. Drinks at the lobby bar were always good. We never saw any of the night time shows because they don’t start till 10 pm! Now the sickness that is mentioned in many reviews….luckily it did not affect us, but it did get the others we were traveling with. Not sure if it’s the food (we thought the food was very good) or the water but 6 out of the 8 of us were affected. My poor sister-in-law got sick on the plane ride home!!!! And what ever it is comes on quickly! Hopefully the Iberostar will look into this and get it taken care of. The resort was very nice, the ocean water was clear with gentle waves, no seaweed and you can walk out quite a ways and still touch bottom. The beach was not a good walking beach, very slanted. Would we come back? Yes. Despite the illness in our group, we all liked this resort.

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“What I wish I'd have known before I booked”

Excellent family resort with some room for improvement We recently stayed at this hotel and had a mostly enjoyable experience. The grounds are beautiful, very clean, and well-maintained. The large pool offers plenty of space and loungers, perfect for relaxing. The beach is stunning, with crystal-cl… more

Excellent family resort with some room for improvement We recently stayed at this hotel and had a mostly enjoyable experience. The grounds are beautiful, very clean, and well-maintained. The large pool offers plenty of space and loungers, perfect for relaxing. The beach is stunning, with crystal-clear, calm waters that are very shallow in some areas—ideal for families with kids. Although beach wasn’t great for walks as very difficult on the soft sand that sloped into the sea. We walked a few hundred meters past the hotel one morning and was stopped by security manning another hotel advising us we couldn’t go any further and the beach was private. So we were confined to the beach in front of our hotel. Our modern and comfortable rooms added to the overall positive experience. The facilities are fantastic: tennis and paddleboard courts, along with a well-equipped gym that opens early at 6am—great for early risers. The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming, with a special shoutout to the night shift worker at the café who served us amazing coffee 24/7. However, there are some aspects that could be improved. The beach loungers are often crowded and reserved very early—sometimes as early as 5:30am—with rows of empty beds remaining unused most of the morning. We saw a couple reserve seven loungers for their baby, in both sun and shade, without any staff monitoring or enforcing rules. This was quite frustrating. Food was a mixed bag. Unfortunately, it mirrored the common issues seen in many top resorts in the Dominican Republic—meat often appeared dried out and sat out for hours, sometimes served lukewarm or cold. There were limited vegetables, and what was available was overcooked or difficult to cut. Salt on the tables, but was unable to use due to the moisture and humidity. Shandy drinks could be much colder and refreshing as they serve in other hot countries like Greece, would be a big improvement. The pool table also needs some attention—chalk was missing, and the slanted tables caused the balls to roll into the same corner, making gameplay frustrating. Lastly, as an English couple, we noticed that most guests spoke Spanish, and the resort seems primarily geared towards Spanish and Latin American visitors. Whilst this is not a criticism at all, It would have been nice to meet more English guests for some banter. Overall, this is not a honeymoon hotel but a fantastic family-friendly resort with plenty of entertainment and fun for kids. With a few tweaks and improvements to the food, it could be even better! Tip: Get your own transfers. We went via Tui and will never use their shared transfer again. After landing, we waited over 1 hour in the mini bus for the rest of the guests to clear customs and on our return pick up was five hours prior to our flight time so had nearly 4 hours at the airport

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“Near perfect stay - just avoid the App!”

Amazing place - exquisite grounds, impeccably kept rooms, spotless restaurants with well-above-average food. A standout amongst beach resorts. Should have gotten five star because of the great staff especially: Yenifer and Landroat Spiaggia, Arturo at the Colonial, Benjamin at the concierge desk, M… more

Amazing place - exquisite grounds, impeccably kept rooms, spotless restaurants with well-above-average food. A standout amongst beach resorts. Should have gotten five star because of the great staff especially: Yenifer and Landroat Spiaggia, Arturo at the Colonial, Benjamin at the concierge desk, Maria at breakfast, and Santiago at the dive shop. Holding back one star for Iberostar’s hideous App. It added layers of frustration to almost everything we tried to do with it. Each issue was successfully resolved after we spoke with an employee, so if you stay, work with staff for all your meal and activity planning.

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