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Reviewed 16 January 2009

My husband & I went here the last week of Nov/08. We had a faboulous time. Yes the rooms are a little old BUT they were spotless. We stayed in Block 5 which is at the adult pool, the pool was great. We ate at the restaurant for lunch at Block 6. They had great hamburgers, hotdogs, fries and of course some other items. My husban who is a picky eater never had a problem finding something he liked. You have to go to the Italien al a carte and try the cazones. Never tasted anything like it, it was so good. The bartenders, maids and everybody are so friendly and helpful. We enjoyed walking down to the ocean after breakie with our coffee sitting watching the dolphins jump. We seen stingrays too.
I'm hoping to go back in the fall but this time I want to go for two weeks. Just be careful at the airport. The time share people really try to disguise themselves as tour reps. Keep going don't stop your tour rep will be OUTSIDE the glass doors with their signs.

Date of stay: November 2008
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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5  Thank San22
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 15 January 2009

I went to the Royal Decameron for a wedding. It was my first time going to an all-inclusive resort and I left a little dissapointed.

I will start with the bad.

The buildings are old, and while maintenace is being continually performed, they show their age and are run down. A fresh coat of pastel paints can only go so far.

The rooms were equivalent to that of an old Super 8 Motel. The decor in the room was old, the 'king size' matress was just two beds pushed together with a thin foam mattress layed on top. The bathroom was dirty and small. There were no mini-fridges stocked with beer, water, and juice. Each room is alloted 1L of bottles water per day that you get your room cleaned. If you wanted to get more water, extra charge. If you wanted to use the room safe, extra charge. The AC in majority of the rooms is not fully operationally. Either it is fully ON or OFF. The temperature selection was disabled.

Now on to the food. The food was average at best. There were themed night in the buffet such as italian, mexican, french, etc. However the french themed night consisted of hamburgers, french fries, pizza, and rice. I don't recall France being the land of cold pizza. The buffets and snack bars were closed at odd time during the day. If you wanted to have a late breakfast or early lunch between around 10:45 and noon, you are out of luck. Everything is closed. Want a late after noon snack or have an early dinner? Too bad, everything is closed between about 3 until 6. Want to get food poisoning? Well you are in luck. It is easy to find old and cold dishes and unchilled salads. One interesting salad i saw was 'Raw pork Salad' and no, it was not even put on ice. I hate to think of what the sewer system saw that night. The clean water stations were few and far between, you could fill up empty water bottles at the buffets, but that is depending on whether or not they had the water machines out. they rarely did.

Next on the list is guest services. Do you need some help with a problem? Don't waste your time with the front desk. They are useless. They speak good english but refuse to help. My girlfriend was sick at 3:05 AM and we needed clean water to put in out empty water bottles. The late night snack place closed at 3 AM. The front desk said 'Sorry, snack bar closed 5 minutes ago' and almost sent me on my way. I had to beg for another bottle of water. After a few mins of talking on his radio, he reached into the cabinet and gave me his 'last water.' Remeber 'last water' for later. A bunch of us got very sick. We were bed ridden for anywhere from 1 full day to 3 full days. It got to the point where we finally complained about the quality of food and they were in denail. They claimed that we just drank too hard or got too much sun. NOT THE CASE. After being given the run-around for a good hour or so, we finally got in touch with the RESORT MANAGER. We went in his office right behind the front desk. He asked if we wanted anything, and i said i was a little thirsty, so he went to the front desk cabinet and pulled out several out of 2 or 3 dozen 1L bottles of water. So much for me getting the 'Last Water' the other night.

On top of this they nickel and dimed us to pieces. Every little thing that was wrong (missing towel card, 200 peso, a broken glass, 500 peso) they wanted to charge us. Nevermind that 42 of us were at the resort for just under $2000 a head for a 7 night stay. We pumped in almost $88,000 to this resort and they were worried about a towel that their house keeping staff had misplaced. They need to give their heads a shake. Are they in the bussiness of recovering damages, or of hospitality and entertainment??? Unfortunatly the way they acted, it was not the latter.

Now on to the good. The servers and bartenders were extremely nice. They knew english and were ever so grateful when you gave them a tip. Housekeeping was great, they made the rooms clean and theft was not an issue whatsoever at this resort. The beach was big and, depending on what you like, the waves were quite calm.

So in summation, if you can go to this place for $600 plus tax, do it. But if you pay $1600 plus tax ($1900) to be mistreated by grouchy staff, save your money, stay home, and treat yourself a 52' LCD TV for above the fireplace. Good day.

Date of stay: January 2009
  • Trip type: Travelled on business
    • Value
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5  Thank whiskmeaway
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 14 January 2009

Just got back from a week at this resort. We didn't get in until just before midnight because of the plane had been delayed. The person at the front desk was very pleasant and helpful. We were assigned a ground room in Block 1, which we were a little disappointed in. It was smaller than what we had expected, and unless you were standing up looking to the left, you could not see the ocean. We had paid extra for the room, and had we known, we would have requested a room on the 2nd or 3rd floor. But it more than made up in convenience. It was close to the buffets and the activities. Make sure you bring your own shampoo, tissue, and any lotion you may need, as they not provided by the hotel. Also, there was only a shower in our room, no tub, but this did not matter to us. Also, if you have young children, note that if you are toward the stage end of the building, you will be able to enjoy whatever they are doing that night from your room. It does get very loud. About the only downside for us was the base notes that you could hear from the music later at night.

As I walked around this resort I was impressed by how it was laid out. The front of your room faces a pool, the ocean, or a court yard. There's a hall running along the back of the rooms, providing access. This means that you won't end up with a view of the back parking lot or the scrub vegetation on the adjacent property. Too bad more resorts don't do it like this.

FOOD: You won't go hungry at this resort. The management was going around with their clipboards and sampling the juice, the various dishes, looking at the presentation, and I even saw one manager check the temperature of the chicken with a meat thermometer. They talked with various workers, and even the chef. It seems as if they are serious about the quality of what they serve.

The two dinner buffets have theme nights every night, and they are not the same at the two buffets. So you may want to check out one, and if you feel that it isn't quite what you want, check out the other one. On our last night there we had a choice of Oriental at the one buffet, and English at the other. Of all the other inclusive resorts we have stayed at, this one had more variety from night to night. We ate at two of the sit-down restaurants, both of which were good, but felt that we were missing out because of all of the choices on the buffet--imagine that! Usually we would make sure to book the a la carte restaurants to get away from the sameness of the buffet from night to night. Not here! (P.S. The cheese cake with strawberry sauce is "to die for"--what I wouldn't give for that recipe)

Be sure to try the fish. They cook it differently for lunch and dinner, and from day to day. The food is all labeled as to what it is (except for the desserts, which I would like to see labeled). Be sure to try out new foods, as you might find a new dish you like.

We liked finding the iguana on the grounds and taking pictures. The front desk can give you the location to go looking for them if you are interested.

They also have a place where you can buy pottery and paint it. One of the workers there draws a scene on a dish or bowl, or other item, When you are done, you turn it in and they will glaze it for you and return it the following day. It seemed to be popular with both adults and kids. There are also various animals that can be painted, and other items.

There are also many other activities offered---a shopping tour, a kayak tour, dancing lessons, etc., etc.

The employees here were all very nice. I was with my husband one night taking a picture of the sunset and one of the employees came over and offered to take a picture of us with the sunset in the background. It's the little touches like this that really make you feel good about the resort. The longer we stayed, the more we liked it. We hated to leave. And when we checked out, they wished us a safe trip back home. We'll be back.

Date of stay: January 2009
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
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2  Thank KamaNewYork
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 13 January 2009

I stayed at the Decameron for a week. By the second day I was crying over the toilet, wishing I was back home freezing in Canada.

Here are some facts about my stay:

The food quality was questionable. It not only tasted odd, but it was sometimes undercooked. Half the people in my group got sick in addition to the random people in the buffets overheard discussing the diarrhea explosions of the previous nights. The buffets all closed at the same time rather than staggering their close times. Hungry at 5? Everything's closed.

The personnel were rude and hesitant to help in every single instance. They refused to give my boyfriend a bottle of water in the middle of the night when he expressed that I was getting sick in our room. They didn't direct him to anywhere that would have potable water. My friend left a towel card in someone else's room. Personnel didn't give her the benefit of the doubt and she was forced to pay TWENTY BUCKS for a towel card that was in the possession of the resort. Another friend was told he was allowed to remove that plastic bracelet they make us wear, but was not told you need to turn it in at the end of the trip to get boarding pass for the bus. They were going to make him pay 60 bucks for the lost bracelet! He talked them down to 30. I paid 12$ for an extra bottle of water on the second day because: a) I needed it, and b) they had yet to deliver the complimentary one. One day a staff member approached me about some petty resort chattel that had been inadvertently damaged by someone who had already vacated the premises. They held me until I gave my room number. I guess they were set on making a guest pay. Twenty bucks... hope it was worth it

There were also problems with the building itself. Our luggage was left unsecured in the lobby for 10 hours after check-out because there was no secure place to keep it. There were no mini-fridges. The fixtures and hardware in the resort needed updating (including the rusty toilets).

On a sunnier note, the servers and the house-keepers were extremely nice and grateful to have your business. I tipped them everyday because they made my stay so much more pleasant. However, any of the administrative staff I dealt with seemed to have forgotten they were in the hospitality industry. They were more concerned about sucking the last penny from you, than making sure you left wanting to come back. It didn't help that I paid more than what my parents paid to go to a luxury resort in Cancun last year.

-Fifty pounds lighter

Date of stay: January 2009
  • Trip type: Travelled on business
    • Value
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2  Thank PurpleRegina
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 13 January 2009

We have just returned from a 2 week stay at the Decameron. It was a great holiday. The hotel was awsome, staff, food, beach, bar and shows. If you need to be pampered and waited on then go to the 5 star resorts, but in my opinion this is a 3.5 star that rates a 5. The rooms were CLEAN as well as the pool and grounds. the shows were very well done and funny thanks to Ramona. They got the crowd involved as well with the shows. The adult bld (5) was that a adult bld. The pool was quiet as well as the rooms. Newyears and Xmas were fantastic and they really went out of their way to make our holiday time special. The new year show was good as well as the fireworks they had. The bar tenders were as well great and the service in the buffets was awsome. The spa was great we went down every 2 days for a massage, very good. Also took part in a traditional sweat (steam) and was interesting. the town of Bucerias is a close walk and a nice place to shop and have lunch without the heatic crowds of PV. We spent a day and went to the Zoo in Mysmiola a 45min cab ride from Wal-Mart it was fantastic and a must see if you enjoy the zoo. We took a bus back to the resort as it was cheaper. Just walk down the hill to the hotel and wait for a bus. If you dont wish to leave the resort they have many vendors in the eveninig hours to buy things at a not bad price. I also enjoyed painting a ceramic cup one afternoon. I would recomend this resort to anyone, It was clean, fun, and the staff were great. we will be returning here again. It is one of the best resorts I have stayed in to date. 2 thumbs up to all the staff who really made our holiday special.

Date of stay: December 2008
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Check-in / front desk
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    • Cleanliness
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10  Thank JefeArdrossanAB
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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