The Sun Village Beach Resort is a beautiful new property located along the shores of Playa Cofresi, about five kilometers west of Puerto Plata. Most guests here book all-inclusive packages, where you get three meals a day and beverages while sporting a colorful wristband. Being the travelling renegade, I booked a room-only reservation.
When checking in, I was handed a folder containing a site map, activities program calendar, and cards for the door access and towel rental. A bellhop led me to my room, a bewildering downhill journey past pools, canopies, buildings, paths. I saw an older gentleman being led about by his two struggling family members; someone with so little mobility should not be booked in one of the "lower" rooms.
My standard Garden Court room had colorful rattan furniture featuring a queen size bed, sofa, chairs, cable TV, mini-fridge, balcony. There is very cold air conditioning and a ceiling fan. The small bathroom had a sink and shower stall, and the toilet's water pressure tended to be low.
My favorite activity was strolling along the mile-long Cofresi Beach. Every morning, locals sweep up debris washed ashore from the Atlantic Ocean or deposited from the coconut trees overhead. The official line at the resort bans topless sunbathing. There are several pools on-property, including one geared for kids with a waterfall and water slide. Sporting activities include volleyball, water polo, pool table, nature walks, etc.
There are several restaurants on-site, with more to come in the near future. The Sun Village Theater, with a faux Roman style, is a nightly gathering point for guests. One night there was karaoke, while one night there was a surprisingly decent five-piece band playing danceable merengue and salsa music. The hotel staff is enormously friendly, and that rubs off on the guests. Since the resort is rather isolated, the staff does recommend a taxi if you go off-property. I walked along a local dirt road near the beach and was honked at by every passing vehicle.
Here are the minor quibbles that should be ironed out in due time. The front desk seems a little slow in bill discrepancies and the process of checking in and out. I was erroneously charged for the shuttle bus from the airport to the resort, and then I could not reserve a shuttle to the airport so I had to pay a few extra dollars for a taxi. One poor chap insisted that he did not make a call from his room (the cost was around a dollar), and he had to haggle vehemently to have it waived. A resort that strives to attain a certain stature in the tourism community tends to wash these tiny costs away with no problem whatsoever. One night there was a five-minute power outage. This probably tends to happen several times a week, as I recall returning to my room one day to see that the time on my room's digital clock was incorrect.