We booked through Sunwing and stayed in the Viva Windham Palace. It allowed us to utilize all of the restaurants, and nummy Café, as well, we got to book the rooms that were right in front of the ocean and close to the beach. The hotel is primarily Spanish and Italian. Unfortunately, our Spanish is basic, which wasn't an issue when dealing with the friendly staff on the beach side of the resort or with the Italian guests. It only seemed to be a problem when dealing with the Palace side of the resort. We actually had staff get angry at us for not having better Spanish. There were also a lot of communication issues with the front desk. They kept telling us to come back to the reception to switch to a king bed for 3 days until we found out there were no kings. We asked why they kept telling us to come back to the desk and we didn’t really get an answer. We would have just written off the king bed on day one if we had known.
Overall, the resort is beautiful. And the reef is amazing for people who want to snorkel right outside the hotel. So many different types of fish. They also have scuba lessons which my friends tried out and enjoyed. The only negative comment I have about the beach and ocean was that there was so much garbage when we were scuba diving or snorkeling. Although the snorkeling was great, I felt like I had to bring a bag with me to scoop up all the plastic every time I went out.
We went through Sunwing, and our Sunwing Rep Mickey was very helpful. It was originally hard to find him, but that was because of the language barrier between us and his boss. He eventually found us and then he set up all of our excursions. Mickey was a sweetheart to deal with and made our trip that much better. His desk is on the Beach side of the resort.
We tried almost all of the restaurants which were good to very good. We appreciated the Café and authentic pizza place being open for long hours. (The Café has a 5-star Barista and coffee.) The buffets have so much to offer that you don't really even need to use the restaurants and because we booked in the Palace, we could use the Beach area buffet too, which we actually preferred. The staff there were so happy and friendly. The resort offers some on-site shopping as well as free watercraft sports, ping pong, foosball, and daily bocce ball tournaments. You can wander outside of the resort into the town of shops, condos, and restaurants, it’s safe. Shout out to my favorite in-town shop, the Caribe Minimarket on Cayuco Ave.
Some heads-up: 1, We booked a king-size bed with ocean view and learned after we got there that there's no such thing. It's an option when booking, but there are no king-size beds in any of the ocean-view rooms. They're all doubles with cement bases, so you cannot move them. Just so you're aware. The rooms were average. Our room had a dehumidifier which came in handy. Everything gets moist after 2 weeks. I liked the resort, but for those who want a romantic getaway, this place is more of a family resort.
2, We travel a lot and are used to crazy airports, but this one is crazier than most because it’s not organized at all. You may encounter many people who say that you're their driver but they're not wearing the Sunwing uniform. Those people will take you and charge you, but otherwise, keep looking until you find the guys wearing the Sunwing uniforms. It took us almost 1/2 an hour to find them and then another 10-15 minutes to be able to get their attention because they were so busy.
3, There is a money exchange at the reception area, but we could never break down any bills (language barrier) Bring some smaller DR Pecos or American bills with you if you can, for tipping. Most places took both USD and DR Pecos, but sometimes there was an exchange rate if paying USD.
And 4, There is a daily fee to use the room safe, in case you didn't notice.
The temperature in mid-February was 30°C to 32°C degrees each day which was mucho wonderful when coming from -20°C Canada.