VIK Hotel Arena Blanca Rating: 2.5 Pearls

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Women learn the "sexy dance"

It can get pretty rowdy at this 494-room hotel. "One, two, three, sexy! Hip shakes ensue on the word "sexy." "Otra vez!" (Again!) So begins water aerobics on the pool deck. A staff member from the entertainment team teaches bikini-clad women the "sexy dance" (instructor’s words). It’s a mellower scene the rest of the day, whenever the music isn't bumping, but that doesn't mean the bartender at the nearby drink shack stops pouring Kool-Aid-colored frozen cocktails, all mixed with bottom-shelf liquor.

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Punta Cana is commonly -- and justifiably -- said to have the finest beaches in the Caribbean. Located on the D.R.'s easternmost tip, the area is also characterized by near-perfect weather, as well as dozens of all-inclusive mega-resorts ranging from cheap to chic. (A few small intimate hotels can be found here, but the most impressive beaches were swept up by the larger resorts.) Beyond the secure gates, attractions and Dominican cultural experiences are few and far between, so guests rarely leave the tourist enclaves, where endless lip-synched Michael Jackson performances far outnumber Bachata and Merengue shows, and where guests are lucky to find a few fried plantain chips alongside buffet burgers and fries. PuntaCana Resort & Club's nature preserve and Pete Dye-designed golf course and are among the area's highlights.

• 30-minute taxi from Punta Cana airport
• No buildings are taller than palm trees, by law
• Some poor roads

The beach

Because of the resort’s shape, it has significantly more beachfront access than other all-inclusives have, especially compared to the Iberostar Dominicana. What this means is there are more lounge chairs, more space between the chairs, and generally more room to hang out on the beach.

• Warm, clear water
• Securing lounges never seems to be a problem, unlike at many other all-inclusives in Punta Cana.
• No drinks service; it can be a pretty far walk (up to six minutes) to get a beer, depending on where you've set up camp on the beach.

Double Garden View Room

Rooms ar the VIK have been in the process of being renovated since 2009. Some of the rooms are bright and modern, with solid amenities, but others are old and musty. Be careful to specify which you're booking with the hotel. Newer rooms have received complete overhauls, with bright, modern decor, flat-screen TVs, new furniture and bedding, as well as new, spacious bathrooms that are leaps and bounds ahead of their predecessors. Old rooms have retained their thin floral bedspreads and curtains, nicked furniture, and musty smell: Try to avoid these. The balconies are a good size with pleasant views of the hotel's grounds.

The Cayena Club is a "members-only" area of the hotel that includes its own pool, bar, two restaurants, a small stretch of "private" beach, and a hotel with rooms that look almost identical to the standard rooms on the main property. Guests can book these rooms ahead of time (the amount for the upgrade differs seasonally). But there are also "recruiters" on-site looking to sell guests members-only upgrades. Nearly everyone complains about the annoying and aggressive sales' pitches. The upgrade is not worth it, despite what those aggrivating salesmen might say.

• Daily rental fee to use the safe (big enough to fit a laptop)
• Flat-screen TVs
• Note: Hefty fee for lost room keys

The pool

• Large, relatively clean pool with a connected hot tub
• Business center -- just three very slow PCs (no printer) in a small, dark room
• Metamorphosis Spa, a popular resort chain; full range of services, including manis, pedis and massages
• Spacious gym with one treadmill, two ellipticals, one StairMaster, two bikes, and some well-used weight machines

The casino, located behind a locked gate in an easy-to-miss area of the property that's overgrown with weeds, comes with a few slot machines and a couple of blackjack tables.

Kids enjoying the beach

• Small kids' club for children ages four to12. The open-air wooden building (no air-conditioning) only comes with a few dirty tables, a foosball table, and a few cups containing arts supplies.
• Old, unsafe-looking jungle gym
• There's one small area of the pool for kids, but it doesn't get as much sunlight as the rest of the pool and lacks a sloped entrance for easy entry.
• Free cribs
• Nannies can be hired for an additional charge.

The grounds

The VIK Hotel Arena Blanca is not a well-maintained property. In peak season, the plants along the pathways were either dead or dying, ash was on the coffee tables in the lobby, ants found around several of the buffets, and cigarette butts strewn about the property (very few on the beach, however).

Rooms renovated since 2009 are clean and modern, with new amenities and bathrooms; these are quite clean. Other rooms that have yet to be renovated are old and musty.

The buffet at El Mirador

Mirador, the VIK's buffet, is one of the worst in Punta Cana. The pasta at lunch, for example, comes topped with watery tomato sauce or alfredo (both worse than SpaghettiOs). The salad bar consists of four salads, including one with roast beef (huh?) and another one with hot dogs that remained untouched -- serving spoon in place -- throughout the entire lunch. Other options are often fried and resemble egg rolls straight out of the freezer (labeled "stuffed rolls" and "chicken strudel"). The dinner buffet is a slight improvement -- the pasta station has more ingredients -- but the selection of potatoes and vegetables often come with a layer of grease floating on top.

For lunch, diners can also visit El Bucanero, an Argentine-style brick barbecue, or El Calypso Bar, which features quick eats such as sandwiches and chips.

For dinner, guests can also dine, without reservations, at one of four a la carte restaurants: Trattoria (Italian), La Proa (a Caribbean seafood restaurant), Estrella de Mar (serving international cuisine), and El Cano (a seafood BBQ). The spinach and ricotta cannelloni at Trattoria had the dry, gritty texture of frozen spinach that's been kept too long, but it was an improvement over the glop at the buffet. But like most all-inclusive resorts in the D.R., the house red takes more like vinegar than wine. Also, note that some of these restaurants have dress codes.

While it is true that the quality of food at most Dominican all-inclusive resorts is worse than what you might get at any restaurant in the U.S., the fare at the VIK is below standards of other, similarly-priced resorts in Punta Cana.