"New Resort Opening May 1 2011" NOW LARIMAR ~ PUNTA CANA

[Skygirl]

Great pictures, tnx for sharing with us.

[moniwoni]

Thanks Sarah for the photos!  Can't wait to hear your thoughts, good & bad..... just an honest opinion.....  but mostly good, lol.

Today we confirmed our reception will be at castaways!!! I liked the idea of the poolside reception and the look but the castaway has better food options...

Sarah did you see any other locations for the ceremony that looked more appealing and PRIVATE... than the beach.  It looked like there was a lot going on during the wedding ceremonies... volleyball, lots of onlookers in bikinis... I think that may bother me.  We will have children so will not be able to use the secrets gazebo.... Which restaurant was your favorite ( looking for a spot to hold a dinner for about 25 of my guests (before most arrive on that friday)?? What did u think of the alcoholic beverages?  Ok I'll wrap it up...lol    Can't wait to hear back!  ~ moni

[sarahgn4t]

Okay so here goes it!  

 

The hotel is beautiful. The staff was very friendly and I had no issues with them. Claribel and Cristina are amazing. They were so helpful and gave me a tour of the hotel grounds and allowed me to watch the weddings that took place. They treated us like family. I can't say anything negative about the staff or customer service. Everyone was very nice and took extra special care of us.  The rooms were very nice. The beds a little stiff but we asked for a mattress pad and they brought us one right away. We stayed in a poolside view room the first night and it was very nice. Our patio walked out to the pool which was pretty cool. They upgraded us to the Preferred Club the last two nights with an ocean/pool view. Our balcony was bigger than our room! Ha! It had a beautiful jacuzzi tub on the balcony. The food would be my only concern. I have stayed at many all inclusive resorts so I don't have high expectations for food at these resorts but I would have to say that is something they really need to work on.  We ate at the Blue Water Grill the first night and I would not recommend it.  The food there was pretty gross. We also ate at Mercure (french restaurant) and that was much better. The buffet at Carnival and Castaways was not so good. I found a few things that I could eat but most of it was not so good. The last night we had a candlelight dinner on the beach. The food was amazing!  We had seafood soup. Grilled Shrimp, Filet and Lobster.  It was all super.  The one thing I would say they need to work on is the bread. We had good bread at the candlelight dinner but the rest of the time it was hard and cold. The Blue Water Grill was by far the worst. The food was cold and almost inedible. I talked to Claribel about the food and she said to compare the wedding food to the candlelight dinner on the beach. So if that is the case I am not worried. But as far as my guests eating all week I am a little nervous.  I already filed a complaint with AM Resorts management so I am hoping they work on this.

As far as the weddings go. They both brought me to tears! The brides were both so beautiful. They had very minimal decor but it still looked very nice. I talked to Claribel about the people on the beach that walked across the wedding path and the closeness of beach chairs and speedos and she said it can be blocked off but I am not sure how much control they can have over that. If you choose a beachfront wedding I would suggest maybe having more decor that can line the beach so that people are more careful not to walk through your area.  The other option for an outdoor wedding would be the fountain area which would be my other choice. It is in the center of the hotel and you can either walk through the fountain area (they put some kind of board down) and they lower the fountain so it is only about one foot high. That looks like an amazing place to have it as well.  I only saw one reception in castaways and it was a little lame. They did not have a D.J. or anything or any decor so it wasn't much to see. They put tables together so that you have options for set up. In this case they set up tables in a square so everyone was facing each other and the center was empty. Castaways is where I think we will do our reception unless we do that on the beach.  I would highly recommend some kind of decor to make more ambiance.

Drinks were fine. They were pretty weak but I can't really complain about them.

The disco is outside and rooftop so that is another option for an outdoor reception. That is all I can think of right now but feel free to ask more ?s and when I think of more things to tell you I will update this forum!

Thanks for listening!

[newbride]

 

Ladies I got these location images from Claribel she also sent me a link to a decor company they use www.innovart.com.do.

 

Also wanted to mention: We have booked for May 2012 with our Final Payment for the trip due March 2012.....I just recived an email from my TA letting me know that the resort made a change in the contract that the Final Payment is now due Dec 2012.....I am very upset with this change and am trying to fight to get it put back to March as this change will affect who will be able to come to our wedding because the new date is too close to Christmas

 

 

 

[newbride]

Sorry Dec 2011
 

Originally Posted by newbride 

 

Ladies I got these location images from Claribel she also sent me a link to a decor company they use www.innovart.com.do.

 

Also wanted to mention: We have booked for May 2012 with our Final Payment for the trip due March 2012.....I just recived an email from my TA letting me know that the resort made a change in the contract that the Final Payment is now due Dec 2012.....I am very upset with this change and am trying to fight to get it put back to March as this change will affect who will be able to come to our wedding because the new date is too close to Christmas

 

 

 

 

[TJfeb2012]

Sarah,

 

It looks like you had a great trip!  thank you for posting all the pictures... its nice to see the resort through the eyes of a guest and not through the lens of a professional photographer and a picture that has been edited. Very glad to hear that the staff was friendly. I think excellent service goes a long way!  Interesting that the food for the candle lit dinner was great but for the most part the rest of the food was not up to par... but that they have the ability to be do better when they want to, like for a wedding dinner...  

 

Did you get any pictures of what Castaways looks like on the inside?

 

When you say that the disco is outside and a roof top is the roof top a part of the Disco or that the outside Disco space has a roof top? LOL  Do you know if you have your reception there if it would be private or if it would be shared with every other guest?  Did you get any pictures of this?

 

For the ceremony part I wonder if they pushed everything further back, closer to the water, if this would prevent people from being right behind you and wandering through your ceremony area... I can't say that I would want strangers in little banana hammocks to be wandering in the backgrounds of my photos lol.  I am going to ask Claribel exactly what they do to enforce your private beach sanction if anything.

 

Hopefully with your complaint to AM Resorts about the food that by the time we all get married there everything will be up to speed and will be phenomenal~!  
 

Originally Posted by sarahgn4t 

Okay so here goes it!  

 

The hotel is beautiful. The staff was very friendly and I had no issues with them. Claribel and Cristina are amazing. They were so helpful and gave me a tour of the hotel grounds and allowed me to watch the weddings that took place. They treated us like family. I can't say anything negative about the staff or customer service. Everyone was very nice and took extra special care of us.  The rooms were very nice. The beds a little stiff but we asked for a mattress pad and they brought us one right away. We stayed in a poolside view room the first night and it was very nice. Our patio walked out to the pool which was pretty cool. They upgraded us to the Preferred Club the last two nights with an ocean/pool view. Our balcony was bigger than our room! Ha! It had a beautiful jacuzzi tub on the balcony. The food would be my only concern. I have stayed at many all inclusive resorts so I don't have high expectations for food at these resorts but I would have to say that is something they really need to work on.  We ate at the Blue Water Grill the first night and I would not recommend it.  The food there was pretty gross. We also ate at Mercure (french restaurant) and that was much better. The buffet at Carnival and Castaways was not so good. I found a few things that I could eat but most of it was not so good. The last night we had a candlelight dinner on the beach. The food was amazing!  We had seafood soup. Grilled Shrimp, Filet and Lobster.  It was all super.  The one thing I would say they need to work on is the bread. We had good bread at the candlelight dinner but the rest of the time it was hard and cold. The Blue Water Grill was by far the worst. The food was cold and almost inedible. I talked to Claribel about the food and she said to compare the wedding food to the candlelight dinner on the beach. So if that is the case I am not worried. But as far as my guests eating all week I am a little nervous.  I already filed a complaint with AM Resorts management so I am hoping they work on this.

As far as the weddings go. They both brought me to tears! The brides were both so beautiful. They had very minimal decor but it still looked very nice. I talked to Claribel about the people on the beach that walked across the wedding path and the closeness of beach chairs and speedos and she said it can be blocked off but I am not sure how much control they can have over that. If you choose a beachfront wedding I would suggest maybe having more decor that can line the beach so that people are more careful not to walk through your area.  The other option for an outdoor wedding would be the fountain area which would be my other choice. It is in the center of the hotel and you can either walk through the fountain area (they put some kind of board down) and they lower the fountain so it is only about one foot high. That looks like an amazing place to have it as well.  I only saw one reception in castaways and it was a little lame. They did not have a D.J. or anything or any decor so it wasn't much to see. They put tables together so that you have options for set up. In this case they set up tables in a square so everyone was facing each other and the center was empty. Castaways is where I think we will do our reception unless we do that on the beach.  I would highly recommend some kind of decor to make more ambiance.

Drinks were fine. They were pretty weak but I can't really complain about them.

The disco is outside and rooftop so that is another option for an outdoor reception. That is all I can think of right now but feel free to ask more ?s and when I think of more things to tell you I will update this forum!

Thanks for listening!

 

 

[Skygirl]

@newbride, tnx for posting this. I asked Claribel for some pic of different set up but havent heard anything yet, so thank you again

 

Originally Posted by newbride 

Sorry Dec 2011
 

 

 

[vav11238]

Thanks Sarah! I also sent complaints to AM resorts and have yet to hear anything back. I was told by my travel agent that as a guest of NOW Larimar, you can go to any other AM resorts for free. So, you could eat at Secrets, Dreams or Zoetry in DR and I've been reading on many of these where there's no complaints about the food. Luckily the Secrets is right next door, so couples without kids could go there easily. 

 

I've read from another bride that having the wedding in the middle of the resort also draws a lot of onlookers, but at least they're clothed. Am trying to decide what to do about this. I'm not a fan of all the beach activity that was happening during the ceremony in those pictures. 

[jbmarch2012]

Thanks sarah and thanks newbride! these are all very helpful!

[Katusha]

Thank you Sarah! Looks like you had a wonderful time. I will submit the complaint to AM resorts as well (the more of us - the merrier As far as the ceremony goes, I'm definitely having mine at the fountain site. Vav is right, at least they're not half naked lol. I am now wondering about the reception, since Sarah mentioned that Castaways wasn't that impressive. I'm hoping to hear more about the rooftop  and the lounge she mentioned.

Newbride, thank you for posting those pictures! very helpful for all of us.