Lifestyle Crown Residence Suites - All Inclusive

“We Liked It!”

We liked it! We stayed for two weeks and it was a very enjoyable vacation. Lots of differing opinions when reading the other reviews. Our advice: manage your expectations, go in with an open mind, be understanding, and BE NICE. Treat the staff with kindness and respect and they’ll go out of t... more

We liked it! We stayed for two weeks and it was a very enjoyable vacation. Lots of differing opinions when reading the other reviews. Our advice: manage your expectations, go in with an open mind, be understanding, and BE NICE. Treat the staff with kindness and respect and they’ll go out of their way to ensure you’re happy. By the way, that’s great advice for anywhere in the world. That said, this is a comparatively affordable vacation, at a very large and nice resort, with a huge staff as well as lots of options for pools, bars, food, and even beaches. If you want to be treated like Royalty then pay more…lots more…here or someplace else. Want to have a good time at a safe, friendly, and massive resort on a beautiful Caribbean island with a friendly staff? Book it! Yes, you will be approached regarding memberships with LHVCs. Yes, you will be approached about booking spa services. Yes, it can be annoying. Give ‘em break, folks, they’re doing their jobs. Don’t want a massage? My advice, book one anyway. They’re great and it gives you access to a very private pool area for your entire stay. Still don’t want to pay $100+ for an excellent 1-hour massage and private pool area? Don’t. Tell the salespeople around the resort (they are everywhere) you aren’t interested and they’ll eventually leave you alone. The membership pitch is a bit tougher to avoid. We’re okay giving up an hour or two of our vacation to let these hardworking salespeople check a box. You typically get a gift of some sort and an education. In the end, if you don’t like what they’re selling then politely say so and you’ll be done. Note: these salespeople have access to golf carts and they will happily whisk you around the property for a $1 or $2 once you’ve made friends with them. Totally worth it! RE: TIPPING - According to a JAN 2024 Google search; the most typical salary per year in the DR is around $7,000. Keep that mind, tip generously, and you’ll likely have an incredible stay. YES, I get it, “this is an all-inclusive resort so I shouldn’t have to tip.” That’s true. You do NOT have to tip. If that’s your opinion, my suggestion is to pay more for a stay at a Sandals Resort where employees aren’t allowed to accept tips. When we travel, especially in the Caribbean, we have found that a couple of dollars goes a long way. Don’t want to tip every time you get a drink? Give a bartender or two $10-$20 when you arrive. I assure you, they will remember your name, family member names, and favorite drink orders. At the buffets, take care of the greeter, grill/omelet cook, and servers and you’ll likely have a more note-worthy experience. RE: RCI – Excellent! Onsite rep/concierge, Julissa Santana, is very friendly, accommodating, and helpful. Yes, with RCI you are vip…but not VIP. There are many levels of membership at LHVC which is confusing. As RCI members, we are the lowest level of VIP. Here a few tips. 1. YES, LHVC will arrange transport from/to POP airport for RCI member exchanges. We missed this and paid for our own transport. 2. RCI members have access to only two of six available beaches: VIP Beach and Cofresi Beach. There are seven beaches onsite but Serenity Beach was closed during our stay. 3. Restaurants and bars; this is very confusing. Ask the concierge to spell it out for you when they supply the resort map. “Available for All Guests,” yup, that’s RCI. Available for “All Members and Special Guests” does not include RCI as we were not “members” of LHVC.

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“In dire need of renovation”

Let me start by saying that this resort isn't all bad but I would not recommend it until such point as they corrected the many things that need to be changed or repaired. There were several very nice things about this resort. We were in a 2 bedroom, 3 bath suite in the Presidential Suites portio... more

Let me start by saying that this resort isn't all bad but I would not recommend it until such point as they corrected the many things that need to be changed or repaired. There were several very nice things about this resort. We were in a 2 bedroom, 3 bath suite in the Presidential Suites portion of the resort. The room was very large and spacious and the furniture was clean and up to date. Unfortunately, the power went out several times each day, especially at night and then a loud beep would go off when it came back on. We also had a day where the water stopped working for several hours and at that time, our AC also stopped working. The AC was not repaired for the remainder of our stay, despite many calls for maintenance. The employees that we dealt with were incredibly nice and were as helpful as they could be. The restaurants were also nice. We didn't eat breakfast or lunch iat the resort but the dinners we had were good. The wine on the other hand was terrible and so we ended up buying our own wine outside the resort and brought it with us to the restaurants. We also used the spa and the people working there were excellent. Unfortunately, for us, the bad outweighed the good. The resort itself, the common areas, the pools, the beach, even the walkways that you must use to go from place to place within the resort, all need maintenance and/or replacement. The majority of the pool bottoms are chipped and look unsightly, the beach is not cleaned and there is seaweed everywhere. There is also a sewage smell in many areas of the resort. The lounge chairs throughout the resort are old and stained, Some of the retaining walls and columns by the beach are broken and crumbling.. There are activities such as mini-golf, a basketball and tennis court, paintball, but we never saw anyone using them. The worst part of the resort is the aggressive sales people who try to get you to guy into the Lifestyle program. We agreed to go on a tour only because we were told by one of the staff members that it would help him. Unfortunately, the sales person that took us around the resort, would not take no for an answer and despite our asking him several times to stop the golf cart and let us off, he refused to do so and kept taking us to other areas of the resort. In the end, my husband had to yell at him to make him stop. It was not a good situation. We should have reported him to the company but we just wanted to make the most of what was left of the day and so we did not.

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“Never again.”

Once was enough. Unit was beautiful. Pool water was cold. I don't need 90 degrees, but in the low 80's would be nice. The food on the whole was average. Some of it was great (the Brazilian Rodizio) and others not so great. The all-inclusive includes beer in the fridge every day. It was supplied e... more

Once was enough. Unit was beautiful. Pool water was cold. I don't need 90 degrees, but in the low 80's would be nice. The food on the whole was average. Some of it was great (the Brazilian Rodizio) and others not so great. The all-inclusive includes beer in the fridge every day. It was supplied every day, but we were supplied with only 3 cans for 4 adults. And the only beer on property was the local Dominican, (Presidente) brand. None of the alcohol at the bars is top shelf. The casino is small with only slots and roulette (at one table) with room for only 10 people. As the title of my review says, never again.

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