Viva Wyndham Playa Dorada: Nice all-inclusive on the beach
by toontown
The Wyndham has 3 types of rooms: standard, superior, and junior suites. Half of the rooms are junior suites, which are the largest and best with a sitting area, sleeping area and spacious bathroom. There are 2 queen beds, tv, safe, good closet space and shelves (although no drawers to speak of), table and chairs, bench sofa, bath and shower and hairdryer in bathroom, ironing board and iron, and fridge with pop. Also balcony with table and chairs. Well-kept, clean rooms and comfortable beds. Standard rooms are said to be very small with little closet room, so make sure you book at least a superior and try to get upgraded to a junior suite.
Since the resort is all-inclusive there was the buffet restaurant for most meals plus two a la carte restaurants for dinners: one continental and one asian. The food at the buffet restaurant was fine but nothing special. I wasn't fond of their offerings for cooked breakfast but the croissants and cafe con leche were good and the lunch was good and plentiful with a wide enough variety, so I didn't really need much breakfast. Dinner offerings at the buffet were not much different from lunch but enough to choose from.
However, the food really shone at the a la carte restaurants. Having experienced a la carte restauarants at all-inclusives before, they can be disappointing quality, but these two restaurants were really good quality, service, and a good selection.
There were two bars: one at the beach and one by the pool. There were not many chairs at the pool bar, which was fine during good weather but posed a bit of a problem when it rained. The beach bar was better because it was also a cafe during the day, offering burgers, fries, pizza and pasta, so there were lots of tables and chairs. Both bars offered a wide variety of tropical drinks, as well as local beer and wine. Got better service if you tipped.
Check-in was a breeze. There didn't seem to be too many people staying while we were there so line-ups were not ever a problem.
Other hotel activities: bingo merengue lessons, darts, sand volleyball, kids club, disco.
There was a spa and gym. $35US for a nice 1-hour relaxation massage. Internet available for $4US for 30 minutes.
The pool was very pretty, with a waterfall cascading down over the bar into the pool. However, it was colder than the ocean and not used much except for suntanning. due to the presence of lots of chairs and comfortable mattresses and umbellas for shade. There was also a pleasant, fairly large hot tub above the bar area.
The beach allotted to the hotel was fairly small, well-kept, nice golden sand, warm water, waves perfect for swimming and relaxed boogie boarding. Wind-surfing, catamaran rides and kayaks also available on the beach. Never had a problem getting a chair, although it might have been a problem if the hotel had been more crowded. Because beach area was small people tended to be quite crowded together.
