Emotions by Hodelpa Juan Dolio - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5173 reviews

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  Wonderful Relaxing Experience at Juan Dolio - Emotions

  We stayed at Emotions in Puerto Plata in 2022 and really enjoyed it. My husband and I decided to try out this Emotions resort and we are glad we did! We went through Air Transt vacations and the trip was seamless! We flew into La Romana airport and about 45 min to the resort. This resort is smaller than the bigger chains and more intimate. Upon arrival, we got a cold beverage and got the information on the resort. We were early so we changed and off to the beach, which is across the street where the resturants and snack bar are located. There are a ton of Canadians here from SunWing, Air Transat and Bravo (Quebec). So I would rate this resort at 3.75 as here are a few things preventing it from becoming a 4 star resort. Good: - Resort service is amazing. Everyone is always smiling and friendly. Resturants are good (Italian, Mexican, Dominican and Asian) and worth a visit. The Dominican resturant was my favourite. The buffet resturant was also very good and lots of variation of dishes. - I booked a family room and it was huge with lots of space - Beach was amazing, fantastic swimming, and there were always a great selection of chairs and shady options. - Shows were fun and the staff did a great job of trying to keep the guests entertained. The beach party and Dominican show were especially fun - The resort is sprawling with multiple pools, tennis courts and a kids area. What Could be Improved: - The room we booked was huge but had no dressers. Two openings under the TV shelf. Even for the two of us, it was hard to take things out of the suitcase and store them. It would be great if they could add a dresser. There was no way to turn down or off the air conditioner. At night it was quite cold. - Line ups for resturant bookings. Very old school process where you have to physically line up for reservations. There is an app, but it doesn't work for the bookings. - There was a day when there was no water for several hours. The communication could have been better to let us know what was going on. The water did come back on, so it was all good. Overall the resort was good, expectations can't be to Canadian standards. We really enjoyed it and would visit again. I think with some improvements, it could be much better!

  Apr 12, 2025
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  the hotel is small, the rooms are located across the road, the beach is corals and a small section of the entrance to th

  the hotel is small, the rooms are located across the road, the beach is corals and a small section of the entrance to the sea, the food is normal but not varied, the room is clean, there is entertainment in the evenings.. The location of the hotel with a small beach was disappointing, there is no turquoise water on the beach. The location of the hotel is close to the private sector.

  Apr 07, 2025
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  Not a 4-star Dominican Resort

  I'm writing this so that travelers have a proper idea of what they are getting. This is not 4 star Dominican Resort. It is probably more like a 3 star. If you been to a 4 star Dominican Resort before, this doesn't come close unfortunately. Met another guest there and he said the hotel is not the same as it was 5 years ago (he's been there several times before but last time was 5 years ago) Travelled to Emotions La Romana from March 11th-18th. Travelled with my wife and 3 children ages 4, 3, 1. Price was really good given the March Break and online reviews looked promising. But, the hotel did not live up to the reviews. We arrived at the hotel at 1:30pm. We were told to come back at 3pm which is check in time and our room was not ready. UNREAL! We left our house at 3:30 am with 3 children under the age of 5, travelled all day, this was the last thing we wanted to hear. The guy behind the counter, very serious and rude (bigger guy, name tag was covered by his pocket) told us to go over the bridge to the buffet and then come back. If you know the hotel, these instructions were not helpful. We came back around 2:15 and they told us the room would not be ready until 3. We stayed in the lobby with 3 crying kids and within 5 mins another man, who was much more helpful, got us a room. The room: The safe was already locked, the phone did not work, TV did not work, and no hot water. Since I couldn't call front desk, I had to walk back and ask for these things to be fixed. Safe was fixed within 30 mins, TV was done later that day, phone 3 days later. The bathroom is extremely small, not private, with terrible lighting. On day 2 the AC unit wouldn't let me go up in temperature only down, so we had to turn it off at night as it was at 68 degrees. Next day I removed the batteries and turn the unit off, it reset to 74 degrees and we left it at that temperature and turn it off at night. The lock on the sliding door does not work, they made a makeshift one with a metal pin that goes through the 2 doors. There are no drawers or shelves to put clothing FYI. Wifi is pretty good. **The water problem (apparently building 9 only): Day 1: no hot water Day 2: no water from 7:30-2:00pm Day 3: no water from 7:30 - 2:00pm Day 4: off and on Day 5-7: water was on and hot Food/Restaurants: Ok/average. The 1 buffet is very limited and repetitive. 5 al a carte restaurants, but only 2 are open each night with 3 on Saturday: you have to log in on an app at 8pm to reserve a spot for the next day. The spots fill up within 5-10 mins. I would set an alarm to do this. The service/kitchen is very slow, each night took 1.5-2 hours. We were chasing ours kids around most of this time since they can't sit still for that long period of time. Food is ok. Beach/Pool Beach is nice, water is nice, very easy to get a beach chair in shade at any time of the day. You have to walk across a street to get to the beach. No one walks around to serve drinks. Food at the beach is repetitive and ok at best. The pools are not very clean especially later in the day. No swim up bar. Easy to get a chair. Kids Club: used it once as you can only leave children ages 4-12 there so I stayed with our kids while they played. Staff For the most part, very nice and welcoming (besides the original guy at the front desk when we arrived). Only 1 member went above and beyond for us: Juan Carlo in the beach area. The guys selling excursions were a bit overwhelming. Entertainment Was ok during the day. Unfortunately only got to see 1 night performance (cause of the kids): Michael Jackson and it was good. Shows don't start till 9:30pm Other: -There are different buildings: adult section with their own pool, Bavaro section (I think this was French), Elite section, and Essentia. For a smaller hotel it was weird. - lots of locals in the hotel from Friday night - Sunday. Makes the hotel seem much more busier/full. Saw a lot of government officials staying when we were there. Lots of renovations were going on: new roofs, fixing/installing front pool, building 8 was in full reno. Pros: small hotel, easy to walk around, no lines at the bar or restaurant, beach and pool chairs were easy to find (no need to wake up super early to get a spot). This helped with having 3 little ones. Felt very safe. Flying into La Romana 100x better than flying into Punta Cana. We were the only plane at the airport, no lines, went through customs in 10 mins and luggage was ready for us. 40 min bus ride to the hotel with no stops at other hotels. Leaving was just as easy, no lines. I hope this helps others in the future. Please lower expectations if you go there.

  Apr 07, 2025
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  Beach Volleyball game

  Yuleidi was so fun and welcoming. We played volleyball on the beach with some locals and had a blast. She stayed with us and motivated us to play for almost 1h 30min. We will definitely come back again just to play volleyball and enjoy the beach afterwards.

  Apr 06, 2025
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  Night are boring

  I think it is a litter be boring. Night in the disco nothing to do More things to do in the beach at night Animation team their are great in special Manuel, their make my vacation very happy. Food are great too And the manager is no a nice person, he go around the hotel and never said good morning

  Apr 03, 2025