Emotions by Hodelpa - Juan Dolio - All inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3893 reviews

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  Great Small Resort for all Ages

  Stayed Jan. 2 to 16, 2023 in the Superior Adults only section. Arrived on Sunwing from Canada to Punta Cana Airport. Both Arrival and Departure involved very long lines to go through the check in and departure process. Once you get through the arrival process you walk through a very long line of vendors until you get to the Sunwing desk where they will tell you which number bus you are to find for transport to the resort. It is approx. 1.5 hr trip on a 4-lane highway to get to Emotions Hotel. Check in is simple and efficient. Have the Bell boys show you to your room. This is when you will first encounter the Elite services (timeshare) people. One will latch unto you. If you are not interested in spending a portion of your day listening to a sales pitch, firmly tell them so. Do not fall for their free gift or massage offers, or guided tour of the resort. Tell them you know all about them because you have read the reviews about them. As many previous reviews have stated the staff are generally excellent and will go out of their way to help you. If you appreciate their services feel free to tip them. Tipping is not compulsory, but very much appreciated. If you speak English only you will find it a little more difficult to communicate your wishes at times. Because you are given very little information about the resort at check in, we will try to list some of the things we found helpful to know. The resort is compact and very well maintained. At average walking speed you can walk from the very back of the resort to the edge of the ocean in 5 to 6 minutes, with the main lobby about in the middle of that walk. There is a road that needs to be crossed to get to the beach that has a staff monitoring traffic at all times. THIS IS NOT a Problem at all. The US dollar is the currency of choice here. Bring small denomination US currency. Also, you need $20.00 US per person cash for a departure tax if you are a Sunwing customer. Do not bring Canadian dollars because they are hard to exchange. Activities are posted at the towel pickup stand and also available through a QR code found on a card in your room. The towel stand also is where you get sports equipment like tennis rachets, pool balls etc. They are open from 8 am to 6 pm. The tennis court is clay based with a light sand covering. OK for tennis but not at all good for pickleball. When it rains the court is useless for almost a day until it dry’s up. The court is locked at all times and you need to make a reservation to use it. All specialty restaurants need to be reserved and men need long pants. There is also a QR code for booking these restaurants or you can book in person in the room to the left of the main Lobby. Also, some of them have a menu that is accessed by QR code. The beach Buffet was the only one open while we were there. It has lots of seating but the food area itself is small and poorly laid out so it gets too crowded at peak times. The food was good both in the buffet and specialty restaurants. Salads and fresh fruit available at all meals. Ice Cream for lunch and dinner at buffet most days. When going from the lobby towards the beach you can turn left on the road and walk approx. 8 minutes to get to a small town with several very good restaurants and some shops. Going the other way on the road gets you to small shops and a bar. The beach vendors are there all the time. A simple no thankyou is accepted from them. Price negotiation is important here. An asking price of $35.00 can be negotiated down to $10.00. Be careful with your personal items while at the beach. We had a cap and sunglasses disappear while away from our loungers. Weekends do get crowded with local family’s and groups with day or weekend passes. This would be a good time to plan an excursion off the resort if possible. Plastic beach loungers are plentiful in both sunny and shaded areas on the beach. Evening shows start at 8:30 for the kids and 9:30 for the main show. They range from Excellent performances to poor audience participation only shows. OUR SUMMARY We booked in the Adults only section and found it to be just what we were hoping for. This section has a separate exclusive pool that was never overcrowded. It is close the main entertainment stage and bar. The noise level can get a little high during the afternoon and again during show times. Our room was clean and everything worked. The toilet sometimes had a problem with the water refilling the tank. A simple removal of the lid and a wiggling of the float solved the problem for several days, then the process needed to be repeated. We have been to many All Inclusive’s in DR, Cuba, Mexico, Panama etc. over the years and rate Emotions Juan Dolio as one of only a couple resorts that we would consider coming back as a repeat customer. Thank you to all Staff and Management for our great stay at your resort

  Jan 21, 2023
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  Beatiful resort and amazing staff

  We recently got back from Emotions, traveling as a group of 4 adults and one teen. It was everyone’s first time in the DR, and we all had a fantastic time! The heart of this resort really is its staff. When we arrived, we were greeted by our concierge, Elias, who told us all about the resort and then helped us throughout the week with whatever we needed. He made us feel like we were the most important people there, and we just loved him! We also met some wonderful servers and bartenders. A special shout out to Eddy, Erika, and Juan at the buffet, and Pablo and Adolphina at the beach bar. Their genuine warmth, humour, and helpfulness made our stay extra special! There was no one else checking in or out with us, and both went very smoothly (along with our transportation to and from the Punta Cana airport). The other couple we were traveling with had a standard room, and we had a deluxe family room. We were able to get a room on the 3rd floor of building 6, and the higher ceilings were really nice. The beds were on the hard side but comfy, and the room was kept nice and clean. Overall, we were happy, but there are a few areas where I think the room could be improved. The bathroom wasn’t completely enclosed (sinks open in the middle with shower and toilet enclosed on either side), which made it difficult to have privacy, especially when traveling with older kids. The toilet had an extremely slow flush, and the shower floor didn’t have a lip so water leaked out into the sink area. There wasn’t enough room on the bathroom counter to put our toiletries, but some shelving by the sinks would help with that. There also wasn’t enough space to put a family’s worth of clothes (there were only 3 small drawers, a small shelf, and like 10 hangers). There was a big open area where an armoire would fit, which would solve this issue. The buffet was small, but we all thought it was tasty. For breakfast, we enjoyed their omelette bar, selection of bread/rolls, oatmeal, and fresh fruit and for lunch and dinner, we enjoyed the vegetable and pasta salads, fresh meat and fish, pasta, and selection of desserts. We got some fries and croquettes from the snack bar which were also good. We tried the Italian and Dominican a la cartes and they were okay, but we all actually preferred the buffet. We are all beach people, so I can’t speak to the pool, but the beach was great! It wasn’t huge, but we never had an issue finding loungers. The sand was lovely and the water was clear and, for the most part, quite calm. My husband and son went out snorkeling right off the beach and saw some small fish, urchins, and a couple of sting rays. We went for some walks along the beach and were able to walk for a long way in either direction. There are vendors who walk back and forth along the resort’s piece of beach all day. A polite no thank you works fine, but several different people came by multiple times throughout the day which can get a little tedious after a while. The coffee shop served great cappuccinos and hot chocolate and had a nice atmosphere for playing cards in the evening or when it was rainy. The shows weren’t really our thing, but others seemed to enjoy them. We wanted to do a tour of Santo Domingo, and Elias introduced us to Phillip from the dive shop who we booked a half–day tour with. It ended up just being our group that day, so we went in a van with our driver Raphael and tour guide Sagundo, who was a funny, knowledgeable, and passionate guide. We learned a lot about the city and the Dominican’s history. Los Tres Ojos was breathtaking and I’d highly recommend taking the raft over to the 4th lake if you can… it was the most beautiful part. We also drove by the Columbus lighthouse and Presidential Palace, stopped at a shop to try some Mamajuana, spent some time touring the beautiful Colonial Zone, and ended with a stop at a large gift shop. I would highly recommend this tour (especially as a small group)! Overall, we had an excellent time and would be happy to return someday. Thanks again to the wonderful staff for making our stay so great!

  Jan 20, 2023
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  One one Coffee house

  Amazing ☕️ at the "one one" coffee house made by a Barista who really loves and knows his work. Additionally to the coffee Rafelin and his autentic vibe really made my day- love it - Thank you very much

  Jan 19, 2023
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  Our favorite bartender!

  I went to Emotions in Juan Dolio with my friend and his family. We were a group of 7. During our week there, we met many employees. We had a great time with the majority of them, but we definitely had the best time with the Opus bar’s bartender named José Frias. He was so welcoming and treated us like we knew him for years. We definitely made a friend there and we all hope we’ll see him again. ¡Salud José!

  Jan 15, 2023
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  Family

  The hotel is really nice. Friendly staff, interesting stay for adults and kids. Kids club does many activities for kids different ages. Every evening different country cousine. Crystal clear water with no waves. Thanks a lot for a nice experience with Sayrobi, Jennifer and Evelin

  Jan 14, 2023