I will warn you ahead of time this review is probably going to be long, but I encourage you to stick with it. I am not some neurotic freak who looks for stuff wrong when I travel.I believe in giving an honest assessment. There are positives and negatives to be told.

I traveled to Sirenis Tropical Suites booked through Apple Vacations from July 16-23, 2008 with my husband and three kids ages 13, 11, and 7. I usually plan my trips a least a year in advance, but this one I planned about 4 months in advance. As far as the price I found the Sirenis to be a good value especially for a family of 5. It can be hard to find a place to accomodate 5 in one suite. For that I give them credit. I will try to break down my experience. There are some perks you get by being an Apple vacationer, like a free safe, etc.

RESORT AND GROUNDS
Beautiful. It truly is gorgeous and well groomed. The smell of the flowers are amazing. The resort is rather large so be prepared to walk. There is so much to see at the resort. We stayed in L building on the Tropical side. We were in the middle of the resort and we still had to trek all over the place, but not a real problem

BEACH
The beach is lovely. It is a wide expanse which is awesome. I did find the beach did have trash such as cigarette butts, plates and cups left out..... Now my feeling on that is a 50 / 50 responsibility. I do believe nasty guests should take their trash and cigarettes butts and dispose if them properly. But I feel the resort should have more trash receptacles around and if people still want to be pigs then the resort has an obligation to the guests and the environment to make sure it gets taken care of. It was disheartening to see water bottles on the beach at 6 am and still not cleaned up later in the day.Smoking is also allowed at the reort which I personally find gross.

I cannot leave this section without talking about the people we call " THE PALAPA PESTS . " Yes........they do exist. Yes.......they will be there at the Sirenis. I didn't find it to be a huge problem. I always got up early to watch the sunrise and saw them cradling their towels focused on the task of palapa possession. I chuckled to myself. I could and did get a palapa twice. I only have a problem with people that get a shady spot and then don't come down til late morning or early afternoon. We were at our palapa by 8 am. I also chose the ones at the left side of the beach close to the shops and parasailing. I liked it since it was quiter and a little less busy. If you like the action and noise then you should try to get one in the center of the beach. Still there were plenty of charirs to go around.

The water is pretty, but very choppy and it has a strong current due to the fact that you are in the Atlantic Ocean and not the Carribean Ocean I believe. Be cautious please.

POOL
Big, beautiful, and clean. You will find the occassional straw floating around because of the pool bar, but it went with the territory. I saw the employees trying very hard to keep it all clean. No problem getting served at the bar. I did not tip at the pool bar as I didn't exactly have a place for dollar bills. Still the bartenders were pretty nice, attentive, and quick.

I will put out the warning since it was my first experience with it. The pool is large and wonderful, but VERY DEEP. It starts at a slight grade like a beach and gets deeper. When I say deep I mean it is 7 feet 8 inches deep at its greatest point. Not great when you have kids who don't swim or are strong swimmers. I am just making everyone aware because I did not read anything about it. I would rather be safe than sorry.

Also I brought along floaties for the pool. They were too big to blow up manually. I asked around and was directed to the watersports area to get them inflated. They wanted to charge me $ 5 for the air to blow up the pool toy. Just so you know. I did decline and decided not let it dampen my vacation.

KIDS CLUB
Not as great as I have seen like in Jamaica at Beaches last year. I also could find little info on it before we went. The girls who worked there seemed nice enough , but the hours sucked. They are open from 10 am to12 pm and close then re-open from 2-4pm. The girls that work at the kids club also work for the animation team. The hours made it hard to do actviites that were not suitable for smaller kids like the quad bikes. That tour last 2.5 hours and the club is only open 2 hours.

DISCO AND SPA
Did not go so I cannot comment.

FOOD
The specialty restauraunts that we went to were pretty good and beautifully decorated. We went to the Jade twice. The second time was better than the first. The sushi is mediocre at best though. I found that the British couple we met thought it was like the best food they ever had, but the also do not have Tepanyaki near where they live and never did it before the Sirenis. I have had better at home, but it was pretty good. The Steakhouse was good. The chicken wings were very small, but yummy. The Italian places food was good, but our waiter was a bit of a jerk. The Mexican restaurant was good as well. They brought us a cake and champagne to help us elebrate our 10th anniversary. Quite a nice touch. I loved it.

Now for the buffett...........I found it monotonous and limited. I have done all inclusive before so I know the buffets are not as fun as the specialty, but the Sirenis was particularly bad. It was the same food every day and I mean the same EVERYDAY. I was sick of it by day 2 of my week long vacation. There were days when there were bugs on the fruit. I declare I think I lived off of watermelon and french fries for breakfast and lunch each day. I could not wait for dinner just for some stinking variety. I now know food quality will rank very high for me when I travel in the future. There is no feeling worse than being in a foreign country and having no real food choices. You can't exactly leave the resort and take in the local cuisine if you are not familiar. Not to mention leaving the resort alone is not really smart.

A huge problem for us is we are not porkeaters and that's all there is as far as the eye can see, especially at breakfast. If you eat bacon, sausage, or any other pork product then you will be fine. Last year in Jamaica we told the resort of our dietary requirement of no pork and they were awesome enough to get us turkey bacon. Sirenis was unreceptive and I asked more than one person, including the buffet manager. I even asked if they had some kind if fish they could put out like alot of places in the Carribean do for breakfast. I got nothing for my troubles. I ate salad for breakfast more than once because I could not stomach that food there. Not that I go on vacation looking to gain weight, but you almost anticipate it a bit, but I actually lost weight.

The beach barbecue was not great either. Veal burgers, french fries, chicken, hot dogs ( most likely meat, with pork). Same stuff you can get all around the resort. I thought there would be more variety. It was a little disappointed.

ROADS
Bumpy, but tolerable. They are working on them. Do take something if you get carsick.

PUNTA CANA AIRPORT
Take plenty of snacks for coming and going. USA 3000 charges $ 7.00 for a picnic box of snacks. What a joke. It a sign of the times I guess, so prepare yourself. The Punta CAna airport has food that is outrageously expensive. $ 8.00 for a Wendy's chicken sandwich combo meal. Not cheap when you have to feed five. I am glad I bought snacks. Drink your beverage before getting on the plane. I saw people buy drinks after passing security and thought they could take it on the plane.You can't.

If you don't want to tip they guys at the curb as you are dropped off to the airport a few bucks to roll your bags 30 feet to the counter be ready to armwrestle to get you bags back. I did and I won. It was very annoying because I was tired, ready to go home and, made it clear " NO gracias" and he just kept trying to push my hand off of my suitcase and pull it away anyway. There is a reason I buy suitcases that roll.

DRIVING
Absolutely crazy !!!!! Got great pics of all of the near crashes.

LOCAL PEOPLE
Some were very aggressive in sales. Some seemed unfriendly, but I am guessing it was really a language barrier. There were people who worked at the front desk that knew limited English which is not helpful when you work at the front desk. ENOUGH SAID !!! Even if they initially spoke fluent English it quickly went away if you had a problem as I witnesssed and experienced first hand. I had a concern about something and the same woman who registered us just days before and spoke perfect English said she didn't understand me and English well. She told me to go to another line. Very frustrating!!.

MISC
Sirenis is the first place I felt uncomfortable because of the workers leering at me and my very developed 11 year old. I think the resort should do a bit more to address that issue. There were topless sunbathers and I never went topless but you were sure made to feel like you were. Oh yes.........there are some topless sunbathers just in case you have young kids who are not accustomed to that. I have a 13 year old boy and we forewarned him about girls going topless. As expected he did not find it the least bit of a problem. LOL

Two of my three kids got gastrointestinal issues.It put a damper on several days of our trip having our babies sick. Please be very careful and be sure your kids don't drink the water from the tap or use it to rinse their toothbrushes. They give you lots of bottles water to use for rinsing. Monitor what they eat . I steered my kids away from the lunch meat just to be safe. No one else got sick though.

If you are celebrating anything be sure to let guest services know. They had a cake and champagne brought to us at the place we ate dinner the night of our anniversary and a fruit basket and more champagne sent to our room. I thought that was great. They also honored my request for a second room floor. There were plenty of towel and washclothes. The hot water was plentiful and the water pressure was fine. Our room was kept clean daily with no problems. Juana always came early and did a great job. I left a tip for her daily as well as various gifts.

Take bug spray and sunscreen and make sure you have more than you expect to need. It is very expensive to buy there. The mamajuana , which is the local drink is pretty good. There seemed to always be some activities going on around the pool and beach. I saw people kayaking and using the catamarans, although I never did.

One of my least favorite things to do in the Carribean is souvenior shopping. The Dominicans are probably more aggressive than even the Jamaicans were last year. I recommend when you are ready that you buy from Willie who has a shop on the left side of the beach by the Ramon brothers quad bikes. Willie is very honorable and a nice young man as well. We did parasailing with the Ramon Brothers, but weren't able to do the quad bikes, although lots of folks did and seemed to love it. Be careful because lots of locals have a hustle going on. Make sure you don't buy stuff your first time out. Price things and shop around. Don't be afraid to say no thanks and walk out. They practice very high pressure sales and everyone will claim to have the best prices. Look first .........buy later. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated. It will save you some major dollars in the end. We bought a ton of stuff from Willie and it was extremely reasonable. I believe it was because he knew we would walk away as we had already. Please be aware also that all of them have the same things. No matter what they tell you. Just go into various stores and you will see that for yourself.

I went to Jamaica last year and loved it. The Sirenis had positives and negatives. I didn't go there expecting to find Jamaica and I didn't. They are different. There are definitely more Europeans vacationing there. The language barrier was not only a problem with the resort workers, but the guest. It was definitely an experience.

The Dominican is very beautiful....while you are at the resorts. It is not very different from most of the other carribean islands with the poverty and crazy driving that exist there. I would probably return , but am sure I will try another resort if i go with my kids. It may be okay if you are a couple. Sirenis is beautiful, the beach is lovely, the sunrises are to die for, but I don't feel it is really quite as family friendly as they would like you to believe. My kids tired of the food very quick and they will eat just about anything indefinitely. Even they could see the quality was different than what they had last year.

Sirenis is a good choice if you are looking for a cheap vacation in paradise, but be forewarned the coconuts in the trees may have to sustain you until you reach better food back home.

My plans are to return to my beloved Beaches. We are going to the Turks and Caicos next year. I know the difference now that all all-inclusives are not created equal.

I apologize for this being long and I am sure I have left things out, but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I am more than glad to answer them.

LOCATION - We booked Sirenis for part of our honeymoon after reading positive reviews in Lonely Planet. What we failed to realize is how FAR this resort is!!! If you are going with your family for a week and are not planning to leave the resort, then this place will be great for you (and was great for families staying there - lots of activities every hour). But for my husband & I, we were planning to stay there for 4 nights, then tour around the rest of the Dominican Republic. Because we were so far from any city (it was a 1.5 -2 hour ride from the airport), we had to hire drivers from the resort to take us to Santo Domingo, our next stop, for $200 USD. (just to put things in perspective, if we were closer to Punta Cana or even Bavaro, we could've taken a bus for $10 USD). Because you are in the middle of nowhere, you have little choice for things such as internet ($7 for 30 minutes!!!) or groceries.

FOOD - The buffet is pretty terrible, with all types of cuisines that would please kids (think fried foods, pasta, pizzas). There are around 8 small restaurants on the resort but they are impossible to get a reservation for! You can reserve 2 dinners per week, but good luck trying to actually get a reservation at one of them, and in that case, you eat the buffet, again. DO NOT PAY FOR THE LOBSTER DINNER! My husband and I couldn't get a dinner reservation and couldn't stomach another night of buffet, so we paid $30 each for their "lobster party" which happens every Wed. night. Terrible lobsters. They had the consistency of mashed potatoes. Avoid paying for any extra food at this resort.

HONEYMOON - On our last night there, we mentioned that it was our honeymoon - and this really changed our trip! They wanted to see our marriage certificate, which we didn't have, but be sure to bring it if you're on your honeymoon. They brought us fruit & champagne to our room, breakfast in bed & squeezed us into the Italian restaurant for dinner. This really changed my perception of the resort!

CONCLUSION - If I had children & wanted a relaxing break, I would go here for a week long stay. However, not that you will NOT get any "Dominican" perspective...it's really like a huge American resort transported into the Carribean. My husband & I actually had more fun going around the country & staying in small places and eating at local restaurants.

As a family we had a great time over our 3 weeks. The beach is wonderful, the kayaking was very good and accessible, the food was of a high standard. The advice to book at the begining of each week your al a carte restuarant was sound. You just need to be clear and insistent. The pool is huge and a challenege to swim it all in one go.

The beach volley ball was the best and made good friends. Eddie, Andy, Lee, Ahsley, team china, Amy, Steve and Bob to name but a few.

The animation team were very good, in particular spaghetti, Barney and Rico Chico. Eevening entertainment good if a bit dance focused. Kids club people ok but disorganised and not appealing enough for kids.

The room we had was fine, although fan and phone did not work when asked to be repaired done next day. They were also kept very well. The suite is good loads of moans about the other side with problems.

In terms of outings we did not do that much but enjoyed the quad bikes, are dangerous though but got our money back in full. That was a bonus.

The front desk is pretty useless unless you need an extra towel. If you have an issue complain to the management and you are more than likely to get gifts as well. (as long as complaint valid)

The bars were good and drinks excellent.

SO the not so good things. Mainly the weekends where for some strange reason we are visited by the citizens of the republic. This means no access to the pull bar, the pool itslef is quite horrible during this time, and the noise level is increased. If you can book a trip away from the resort. Also complain to the management they may get the point. It is not that DR people are not good folk it is just the sheer number. A high school were there for our final weekend.

The resort could be better managed, stuopid things annoy, kids club meeting y the pool when the activities are a fair distance by the dinning rooms. The towel problem with them being taken, means there is someone always searching for a towel left around to avoid a £20 fine. A more procactive presence listening to people rather than being reactive to p[roblems.

Anyway I had a great time, made good friends. Best night out has to be the Japanese restaurant, just a great atmoshere.

Cheers Martin

Just returned from Sirenis Tropical Suites. We stayed from July 20-July27. Had a fantastic time!
Before leaving, I read a few reviews, but, luckily, a few days before departing, a client of mine had stayed there already and said it was great!
We were on the suites side, rooms P102 & P103. We were 4 people aged 15, 28, 39 & 47.
I'll try to give a short review of everything.
CHECK-IN: Very fast & efficient. We did have to wait 1 hour for our room to be ready, so we went for lunch and then had a drink at the bar.
ROOMS: Upon entering, our room had no air conditioning(P103), called the reception, maintenance was there within 10 minutes-problem solved. (Actually, by day 3 we had to turn it down, we were freezing!)
They were very clean and spacious. The mini-fridge was restocked daily. Very big closet, no musty odors.
We had a sitting room with an adjoing balcony and bedrooms had 2 queen sized beds.
The washrooms were spacious and clean.
FOOD: We only ate at the buffet for breakfast and sometimes at lunch(ate there first night we arrived, pleasantly suprised). The beach buffet is great! We had a-la-carte each night. Upon arriving, we reserved right away for the following day. Each day we'd go to the guest services at 4pm and book for the following day. They say you can only have 2 reservations per week, but if there is place, they'll let you reserve. Olga is in charge of guest services, very friendly lady.
We actually met a couple that booked the whole week in advance, but we only found out on our last day there.
We had: Italian, Mexican, Vegitarian(twice* PIERRE* is your guy),
Japonaise and SteakHouse. ALL were delicious! but my personal favorite was Jade, the Japonaise. The waitors/waitresses are great! Pierre and Rover were our favorites!
BARS/CASINO/DISCO: We went to the Disco only once, loved the music, it's a mixture of top 40 & Dominican. We had fun.
We went to the Casino twice, it has a few tables and some slot machines. Again, we enjoyed ourselves.
Most evenings we stayed in the lobby area where La Pergola & La Piramide bars are. Both have fast and friendly staff. YOU MUST TRY A MAMAWAMA!!! (I'm sure it's spelled incorrectly! haha) FANTASTIC!!! Ladies, TRUST ME!!, get your hubbies to have a few!
BEACH/POOL: It's one HUGE pool, shaped like a mermaid, all seperated in different sections. There's a few areas for the young children, a little area where it's a bit more quite and the rest is where the adults and teens hang out. There are two swim up bars. Both have fast and friendly service.
The beach was beautiful. The sand is a golden brown. The water was warm and refreshing. As every other resort, it seems people get up at the crack of dawn to get under a hut, but there are plenty of trees that we were always able to find a bit of a shady spot.
The whole resort is very well maintained and clean. Staff is warm and friendly.
The washrooms throughout the resort were always clean.

We went to a 'mini mall', right outside the resort to do some shopping. It's a 5 min. drive by taxi (Approx. $5.00 US), but we decided to walk (approx. 20 min.). Of all the shops we preferred shop#2 (it's called Maria). We did some very good bargining! John is the name of the guy that works there. REMEMBER!!! If they ask you for $50.00, start bargining at $20.00, never pay more than half of what they start with! And, they ALL have a free gift for you (a postcard, or a bracelet or a necklace).
There are also little shops on the beach, we went to one, Ivan was his name. Very friendly and did not pressure us to buy.

PLEASE!!! Don't forget to tip!!
They make $5.00 US per day.
We were advised by our tour rep. on how to tip.
The Maid: leave $1.00 per day on your pillow. We were advised not to leave a large sum at the end of the week because they have rotating days off and perhaps when you leave it is her day off and her replacement will get it.
A-La-Cartes: $5.00 per 4 people.(At Jade, we gave an extra $5.00 to the chef)
Buffets: We always left $1.00 per meal.
Bars: After every 2 or 3 rounds, we'd give her $1.00.
If you leave the money on the table or on the bar, they will split the tips, but if you give it directly in their hands, they get to keep all of it.
We averaged about $10.00 per day.

We will definately be back!!!