Robert & Deborah - May, 2010

 Robert & Deborah, trip report , Caliente Caribe, May 17 - 24, 2010.

Mark & Lynne wrote an excellent trip report in November 2009. They seemed to
be well organized, so rather than re-invent the wheel, I fully intend, with
full disclosure here, to plagiarize their format.

Deborah and I are a low 50's couple, married 21 years. We consider ourselves
to be diehard nudists and soft-swap swingers We have been to Hedo 2 twice,
Hedo 3 once, Desire - Los Cabos, once and Desires - Cancun 6 times, as well as
other various nudist venues. Some friends told us they were thinking about
going to Caliente Caribe in February 2011, so we thought we would go do a
"check-out" trip. We decided to go in May because our anniversary is the
20th.

Travel - We went from our home in NH. to Boston and flew from Logan to Miami
and on to Puerto Plata. The flight was easy and customs was a breeze. We
were met by a driver and van supplied by the resort. They simply hire cabs
for transport. The a/c quit 3 minutes into the 1.5 hour trip, but we opened
the windows and all was okay. The cab did not have seat belts that
functioned, that was a bit scary. These cabbies drive crazier than we are
used to and there are motorbikes everywhere with
seemingly suicidal operators. Return trip, no seat belts, a/c good.
We were offered cold drinks both ways. On the return trip Dominican customs
took my razor cartridges and my tweezers from my carry on, must be they used
that "average, white male, USA terrorist" profiling thing to determine my
threat level as high! LOL.

Grounds - The resort is most beautiful, REALLY! Absolutely scenic.
When we arrived the upper level hot tub was full, but not hot, as they had
just filled it. The lower level
pool was in the process of being filled and by the end of day 2 was useable.
The hot tubs were not at proper temp. all the time, but any temp. request was
quickly attended to.
Any other grounds info can be had by reading Mark & Lynne's report.

Food - Okay, here is where our report begins to go a bit negative.
Desires has multiple restaurants, serving multiple entrees and buffets etc.
Caliente has 2 restaurants, NOT AIR-CONDITIONED, serving only 2 or 3 menu
choices, more choices at breakfast. The food at Caliente, while good, cannot
begin to compare with Desires. We grew bored
almost immediately, the selection is just not there. In all, if I were to
give Desires an overall food ranking, to include service, selection,
availability, quality and cleanliness, I would
rank them at 88 out of 100 pts. I would give Caliente just 50 pts.
They do have food available until late at night, but it is the pizza placed in
the warmer at noon and the hot dogs placed on the spinning warmer at the same
time. I'm not eating hours old food. My suggestion, bring snacks, really.
For those of you who like me, are chocolate hounds, bring your own, no
chocolate in sight! The on site store sells gifts and jewelry, period. They
do not have toiletries, food and other "forgot to pack"
stuff so don't depend on them. Bug spray, we found to be essential. The bars
were always running out of something and they would not have it until they
went to another bar somewhere else and retrieved it. They ran out of light
beer and diet coke for hours at a time. Their bar selections are extremely
limited and the bartenders knowledge of mixology is non- existent. Deborah
asked for a frozen strawberry daiquiri and received a non frozen screwdriver!
Ah, no they weren't busy at the time or ever actually. Oh, almost forgot,
that yellow stuff they call orange juice, I would call it Tang but, I don't
want to offend Tang.

Service - Service was reasonably good. The employees command of the english
language probably held them back, but they did try. Drinks were delivered to
the hot tub and pool upon request. Desires rocks!

Guests - What guests? Seriously, although we went off season, a high of 21
guests was somewhat unexpected, dare I say embarrassing. The resort holds,
our guess, about 280 people. Some of the villas are privately owned and that
is where we stayed. I'm not sure what their availability status is. I cannot
imagine how this resort is going to survive much longer.
The people were friendly, we enjoyed almost everyone's company.
Did we tell you they allow singles? Thanks, Sam from Belgium, your presence
made everyone feel beautiful, you managed to stare all of us into a level of
discomfort, none of us has previously experienced. And Anthony from Philly,
well somewhere there is a farm missing it's Banty rooster!
One Russian lady brought 2 men! You go girl!

Activities - Well, they have a very nice marker board detailing the days
activities, however their Entertainment Coordinator has sunk lazy to a new
low. She changed her outfit at least
3 times a day! Probably soiled from long bouts of doing absolutely NOTHING.
The only activity I saw that was not guest initiated was rock painting and
that went off 3 hours late.
Anytime you needed anything you just went to the pool table at the lower level
Tiki hut, that is where all the employees are. I'm rather surprised they
haven't fielded a Dominican billiards champion out of that place as of yet.

Night life? - There is no night life. There is no entertainment, period.
They have a 20 year old Rastafarian playing god knows what, at sound levels
equal to an Apollo space launch!
The disco was too hot and the Rasta dude played music so loud that no one
could be forced to stay longer than one or two songs for fear of bleeding from
the ears. Thank you Mike from Oklahoma! Mike wrestled control of the
airwaves from Marley ( Rasta dude), and supplied music over the sound system
from his ipod at sound levels more comfortable at the bar/entertainment area.
The latest we were up was 12:30 AM, most times bed by 10:30. Although the few
couples that were friendly were great, the place lacks the energy that a more
popular place would have. Every night we spent our time divided between the
pool and the hot tub.

PDA's - During normal times, that is to say, during non-takeover weeks, there
are no PDA's (public displays of affection) allowed anywhere except behind
closed doors. We were
allowed PDA's during our stay 'cause, who were we going to offend?
During takeover weeks PDA's are allowed only at the lower level pool, hot tub
and beach areas. I do have a copy
of the rules which I will mail to Denny, should anyone have specific
questions.

Overall, we would not return. We feel our vacation dollars are better
spent at a venue that is exciting. Caliente Caribe lacks excitement.
We were actually so disappointed we booked
Desires Feb 10-21, 2011 thru Denny P. while we were at Caliente.
Many thanks to M & R from OK. and R & R, A & T and M & J from FL,
and S & A from Germany, loved your company.

Love to all, Robert & Deborah