Vik Hotel Arena Blanca

Cons: We had to switch rooms two times. The air conditioning didn't work in the first room (building #1). The second room was dank, the safe was broken and we had ants in the bed (building #4). The third and finally room was nice and had a beautiful pool view. The air conditioning was better but still not great. If we had started with the pool view room I would have given a 3 rating. The convenience store there was extremely expensive and we were charge $16 usd to use the safe. It was hard to get a place on the beach or pool with shade due to lack of shady spots. You had to be up before 6am to get a shady spot and even at that time the available spots were minimal. We were offered a free shuttle to a store in town to buy souvineers and it was really expensive. When we went to monkeyland they had the same souvineers for 1/2 the price. Pros: The grounds were very pretty. The staff were all very friendly. The food was pretty good. The beach was beautiful and very clean. Our trip rep was very helpful in planning our excursion to monkeyland and zipling. The transportation was good.

Very spacious resort, nice clean rooms. The beach is beautiful and clean. Tasty and diverse food. Only disapointment; guests leave belongings on beach chairs the night before to make sure they're already claimed by morning instead of a first come first serve system as it is everywhere else. Staff don't mind and it's very difficult to find a spot in the shade if you're not a little selfish yourself.

Yohan Was the best entertainer! He always kept the party going! Showed up everyday with lots of w Gerry and enthusiasm and a very welcoming smile! He totally made this trip! The report is small and beautiful! The food was incredible and all the staff were so kind!

I always start off by stating that when I purchase a resort which is one of the cheapest options available... You cannot have high expectations. You should start with zero expectations. If you want more.. pay a bit more. You get what you pay for. That said... I would say this resot has great food, great beach, 1/2 good pools. The food actually was the most surprising thing. I never got that odd oily taste and everything I tried from the buffet I pretty much ate clean off my plate and that's rare for a buffet! Vegetables tasted so garden fresh! One interesting thing was that the buffet was all self serve. Even drinks, with wine and beer and coffee all self serve. It was kind of nice but no waiter service. Mexican restaurants was delicious and we could have went many times! It is only open every other night. Cappuccino makers throughout the resort for a decent self serve espresso all day! The resort is old. Rooms are really dingy. Motel vibes. A/c works well, and clean towels daily. Hot water as long as you're not showering before dinner with everyone else. Shows are pretty budget quality. And some staff are grouchy. Very little English is spoken at this resort. It attracts a LOT of international guests from Europe and Central America so they have a lot of languages they try to speak. Chair problem is bad here. Drinks were also pretty poor. Bad quality alcohol (although they did have all types) and poor quality premixed bahama mamaa and Pina colada in the slushie machines. We walked about 1hr down the beach to get some off resort cocktails. Fresh large pina coladas and coco locos and they were fabulous and worth the high price tag. $15 Uber home. Would probably go for a resort closer in proximity to walkable places next time. In conclusion, I probably wouldn't return here, but I still enjoyed myself for paying the lowest price to have sunshine, a nice beach and good food!

If you lower your expectations you won’t be disappointed. It’s a small resort that desperately needs renovations. The rooms are very clean but very dated. Staff are not overly friendly with a few exceptions. A few bartenders seem to be annoyed to be serving you. We came with 2 younger kids and they were very bored. Not a lot of entertainment going on, the nightly shows aren’t anything special, our kids were looking forward to the magic show and I’m not even sure what kind of show we were watching 😆 furthest thing from a magic show. I was very surprised with the food; some nights there wasn’t many options but some were very good. But we only have Cuba to compare to. The beach is nice but if you go for a walk the resorts along the Bavaro beach have much nicer and deeper beaches. The chair situation is a nightmare. Being someone with young children we prefer shaded areas and they are all reserved by 6am and sometimes you wouldn’t see anyone sitting there all day. Resort should implement more rules on this. Overall, we had a decent time but would not return and would not recommend. Spend the extra money and go somewhere else!

The negative reviews were too much. Needless to say, I went with very low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. The food at the hotel was good with a lot of variety. The room had a comfortable bed and nice shower head, however we did have an issue with the balcony door which we resolved ourselves with a stick. You do have to get up early if you want a seat under a Palapa on the beach, however there are plenty of chairs for everyone and lots of beautiful palm trees as shade. There is a $10 US charge for a lock for the safety box in your room. We had access to free Wi-Fi in the lobby area. The staff were lovely. Thank you Luis Javier for your excellent customer service in the buffet area. Overall a very good experience. I would recommend!