Bayahibe, La Romana Sunscape Casa del Mar

I stayed at the Sunscape hotel with my fianc e for two weeks all inclusive. The hotel itself was very impressive and also very clean. The shop in the hotel is a bit on the pricey side but no worse than you would get anywhere else in the world. It sells some clothing, souvenirs, snacks, cigarettes and a limited amount of medicines

Next door to the shop is a Cigar shop, I am told that this is expensive for the Caribbean but found the prices cheap compared to the UK. They sell Cuban as well as Dominican Cigars. You can also watch the guy preparing the cigars on certain days. There is a jewelry shop in the hotel as well although we didn't look in there.

Other facilities in the hotel are a cash machine/ATM. Internet Cafe ($1 per 10 minutes online whilst I was there). There is also a cashier where you can change currency. On the currency front I took both Dominican Pesos and Dollars. If I went again I would only take Dollars as the Pesos are largely redundant in the resort itself.

The restaurants in the hotel are good, the Asian restaurant menu is not great but the restaurant itself was very nicely put together. The buffet was much as you would expect, food was on the whole very good though and there was quite a variety there. The Italian restaurant was excellent, the food was very good and there was a good choice available on the menu. The staff at all of the restaurants were very friendly and helpful (despite some of the guests we saw being incredibly rude).

The bars are also very good and stock all of the usual alcohol although it is all local brands. Some of the bars I thought also watered the drinks although the amount they tip into the glasses negates the effect of watering it. Which brings me on to tipping, you don't have to tip and we only tipped when the service was good as you would in England. If you find a bar you like though it is well worth tipping the barman. It guarantees excellent service and they will then make sure you get great cocktails! Likewise it is good to tip the maid, we tipped once a week rather than everyday just to make it easier for us.

In so far as the rest of the staff go the ladies at the spa were excellent, being a bloke I have never really gone in for all that kind of stuff but decided to go with the other half and have a gentlemans day. This was fantastic, although I was surprised when I was told to lose the shorts for the massage. On the downside the staff at the water sports centre ranged from indifferent to rude.

Neither my fianc e nor I had any problems on the stomach front although on the last day I was a bit unwell. I put this mainly down to the malaria tablets and 2 weeks of over indulgence in the rum though.

Ladies - There is no topless sunbathing allowed at the pool although this is allowed on the beach.

Gentlemen - whilst I was there the number of thong bikinis on display was fantastic!

We booked this holiday through Thompson which I probably would not do again. We paid extra to upgrade to premium class and all I can say is Thomson could learn a lot from British Airways when it comes to how you treat your premium customers. Having said that I am glad we upgraded as Easyjet springs to mind when looking at standard class! Also don't forget when you pay your $20 per person departure tax they do not give change so make sure you have exact money. While we were there we didn't have any call to contact the reps so I honestly cannot comment on them.

One final thing I would say is that on the last day the hotel is very keen to get you out of the room. After a phone call and a guy coming to get our bags and looking shocked when we didn't follow him to reception we decided we must have missed something but on checkout realized they are just trying to clear the rooms. Another time I would hang around until the last minute before checking out.

This was a great holiday and I would certainly go back to the Casa Del Mar again (although probably not with Thompson).

In 2004 this was the perfect resort.TheLa Romana Sunscape hotel now has ongoing work to the massive "Bayahibe" Restaurant and was closed for our holiday(11 OCT 05). The hotel currently has over 500 guests and is trying to supply 1500 meals a day through the Seaside Grill. Way beyond its capacity. Tables and chairs have been put in the theatre area with some on the stage. Just like school dinners. The range of food has gone from beyond your wildest dreams to a nightmare. Staff are working hard to supply enough meals but watching them you soon see that basic food hygiene has disappeared. Raw chicken and cooked meats on the same cutting board. Staff putting bare hands into the food. Not a gloved hand in sight. Undercooked pork. Cold food. After 6 days over 30 Thomsons guests fell ill within 12 hours of each other. Not the usual holiday tummy we all know but an agonising pain to your guts and an uncontroled release. Big strong men brought to their knees in corridors. We were informed only Thomson guests had this problem and was therefore not the hotels fault and must be something we had brought with us. The American guests were told a similar story-so too the German people. We observed the restaurant staff using the guest toilets(a sackable offence)- in a bit of a hurry- and returning to service with no attempt to wash their hands. A few days before leaving new guests were falling ill with exactly the same symptoms. Many guests survived with no ill effects but not everyone had the roast pork- or was it the Lasagne...?