Review of the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace in La Romana Dominican Republic

I did not get the vacation I had always dreamed of when I honeymooned at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Although the beach was gorgeous, the staff could barely communicate with us, our hotel room was just a step above Best Western, the food was less than delicious, and we went on a few bizarre and terrifying excursions. This is my warning to other honeymooners to do your research before booking an all inclusive resort at the Dominican Republic.

The Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace is located only 17 miles from the La Romana airport. Although the resort itself is pretty, the surroundings were pretty dilapidated. When we arrived, the staff spoke little to no English, so without explaining much, led us to our room.

Our room looked like your standard hotel room with two double beds and a TV. It smelled mildewy and it felt like there was constantly sand all over the tile floor. The room did, however, open up to the beautiful Dominican beach, which ended up being the saving grace on our vacation.

Unfortunately, the food at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace wasn't much better than the room. The resort is all inclusive, so at least it's free. For breakfast and lunch, you could eat at several of the open air buffets, which were big, but all of the food was blah. It felt like huge tubs of one dish after another that all tasted the same. There were also bugs swarming around the food, making it less appetizing. Dinner was a little better as there were about 6 different actual restaurants to choose from. The menu at each was very small, but you could at least sit inside and be free from bugs.

Since we had plenty of wedding money to spend, my husband and I decided to try and go on some excursions. We started at the activities desk. The gentleman there did not speak English, which I did not fault him for, it just made it really hard to figure out what to do. He pointed to some books that had pictures of the activities and some descriptions written out in English, which we used to choose out Dominican adventures. Some of these left me with stories that I will be telling for the rest of my life!

Our Caribbean fishing trip consisted of us and our guide on a tiny boat. About an hour in, our guide gestured for me to steer and proceeded to relieve himself off the back of the boat (and it wasn't a #1). He actually did this twice before the trip was over.

While horseback riding, our guide led us through some pretty frightening areas in La Romana on malnourished horses. At one point, my horse got spooked and veered off the path going what felt like 100 mph until the guide caught me. I've never been so scared in my life.

On our snorkeling trip, our guide did speak English. Unfortunately, he told me that my feet were so big that I didn't need flippers and then asked my husband if he was pregnant.

Needless to say, honeymooning at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace at the Dominican Republic was not what I had bargained for. I wouldn't recommend choosing this as your honeymoon destination, but if you do, here are a few tips:

• Brush up on your Spanish. Very few visitors there speak English, therefore, neither does the staff.
• Don't leave the Viva Wyndham resort. The resort is nice, but outside is pretty scary.
• Pack some snacks. I would have killed for a bag of Doritos.
• Enjoy the beach. The beach at La Romana was breathtaking.
• Keep an open mind. If nothing else, you'll have some interesting stories to tell!