Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Looking for a place to stay in Puerto Plata? Then look no further than Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada, a romantic hotel that brings the best of Puerto Plata to your doorstep.
Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada offers guests an array of room amenities including a flat screen TV, a refrigerator, and air conditioning, and getting online is possible, as free wifi is available.
The hotel offers 24 hour front desk, a concierge, and room service, to make your visit even more pleasant. The property also features a pool and free breakfast. Guests arriving by vehicle have access to free parking.
Travellers looking to enjoy some surf and turf can head to Le Petit Francois. Otherwise, you may want to check out a seafood restaurant such as Le Petit Francois, Ristorante Passatore, or Big Lee's Beach Bar.
Puerto Plata is also home to Casa de Cultura, a popular art museum that is not too far from Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada.
We’re sure you’ll enjoy your stay at Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada as you experience everything Puerto Plata has to offer.
Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
4.5 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, part of the Ascend Hotel Collection, offers a vibrant atmosphere with lively music that some guests may find a bit overwhelming. While the amenities are varied and generally clean, there have been mentions of limitations for non-Elite members and occasional maintenance hiccups. The rooms are spacious and often clean, with some offering unique features, yet issues like leaks and outdated decor are noted.
Service quality receives mixed reviews—some commend the staff's attentiveness, but others experience slow response times. Despite some travelers questioning the value due to overpriced services and unexpected fees, the hotel's location near the airport with scenic beaches is consistently praised.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Mixed
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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I had the Junior suite with jacuzzi in the room in adults only section. Great service everywhere and friendly staff. Rooms are cleaned very well, even at the beach bathroom are cleaned on a regular basis. I had an issue with getting beach towels replaced as in adult section you exchange in room only but when I went to front desk they brought me beach towel in about 10 min I was impressed. You have an issue they help you right away. The staff is very nice. What is nice also you can pay for late checkout if your is available, just call front desk the same day you leave and they will let you know. I had a late flight so it was nice to stay in room longer and take a shower just before leaving.
My only negative comment is in the adult section only people who pay for building 12 and 13 have access to adult pool (orange towel) but regular guests (blue towel) sneak in and staff do not come by to tell often them they are not allowed. There was at one pint 2children that were in pool. I payed more for adult section so it would be nice to have more staff to come and check more often as last weekend half of the guests had blue towels in adult pool, just not fair for people who paid more and have no place to use the long chairs.
Thank you Emotions. I have a really nice stay and did not want to leave :-)
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Date of stay: February 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â Get your beach longe chair early as it can get busy on the days cruise ships visit the resort
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.
Response from Hodelpa Hotels, Dueño at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Mar 8, 2024
Hello Mrs. Odyssey We greatly appreciate your choice for your vacation at our beautiful Emotions by Hodelpa Puerto Plata hotel in the north of our beautiful island. Thank you very much again because taking the time to highlight our work greatly honors us and helps us improve every day, in our case your happiness is in your hands when you return. we hope to see you soon , Sincerely , Waldy Rosario Guest Service Agent
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Room We had a 2 bedroom suite on the third floor of building 17. Both bedrooms were spacious with private bathrooms. The balcony overlooked the ocean. Building 17 was the closest to the Elite private pool and cabanas. I'd say the location was probably the best on the resort. Our microwave was missing, and the kitchen faucet was loose, but we didn't care since Emotions is an all-inclusive resort, there was not much need for either. It was nicely air conditioned with separate controls for each bedroom and the living area.
Beach The beach was very clean. The ocean is so clear and the breakers only about knee-high. One can walk left or right from the resort for a long way. To the right, there is a coral reef that can be explored with snorkel equipment, and we saw many fish. Snorkel equipment can be bought for about $25. There is a snack bar with burgers, French fries, fried chicken, pizza, salad and drinks right on the beach. The passion fruit mojitos are terrific.
Food There is a wide variety of great food available at the Ergo buffet every day. Dinner is available at the buffet or you can book a reservation at one of the on-resort restaurants. There is a great little coffee shop with made-to-order coffee drinks and deserts too. Room service is available 24 hours a day.
Elite Collection We had the Elite Collection package, which provided access to some special areas, like the beach pool. This pool has its own deck with umbrellas, beach chairs, cabanas, private bath room, and bar. We greatly enjoyed this area. Elite status also provides access to the Opus bar, where top-shelf liquor was included, and the Amora gourmet restaurant and lounge.
Safety Emotions is in a community of resorts in Playa Dorada. The community had a gate at the entrance to the whole area. Because of that, the whole area seemed safe, and we left our belonging at the Elite pool for hours with no issues. There were vendors on the beach, but it appears that they have to have a permit, so there were only a few, so we weren't bombarded by people trying to sell us stuff.
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Date of stay: January 2025
Value
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Make restaurant reservations through the concierge as the app is clunky.
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.
Response from Alba Sánchez, Atención al cliente/recepción at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Feb 3, 2025
Hello Mr. G1543XPMichaelp Thank you very much for choosing Emotions by Hodelpa Puerto Plata in the north of our beautiful island for your well-deserved vacation. We appreciate in every way that you have valued us because your reviews help us to be better every day. Once again, thank you for taking your valuable time to leave us your rating. Best regards, Rosa Maria Vasquez Customer Service Manager.
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This resort is in an excellent location, not far from the airport, on a beautiful beach and among mature gardens and trees. We stayed in the adult area where guests from two buildings share a quiet pool where music plays softly at the bar. It is a lovely place to relax and read and swim, usually. Unfortunately some adults act like teenagers at times and security must be called. At the main pool there is lots of activity, noise and space for those who wish to participate and party. There are no washrooms at the adult pool so most people go to their room when nature calls. Elevators are available, however the one in our building had the switch broken off and everyone had to walk to the second floor to ascend to floors 3 and 4. Floors are very slippery when wet in rooms, washrooms and some walkways. Smoking is allowed everywhere outdoors but many smokers are respectful of nonsmokers. We all did enjoy the meals and the rooms and had the attention of a helpful Hodelpa employee, Perla Cruz, who gave us advice and assistance on how to make this resort work for us.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
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.
Response from Hodelpa Hotels, Propietario at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Apr 22, 2024
Hello Mr. Alder Thank you very much for choosing our Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada hotel during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We are grateful for the fact that you have written to us, because your comments allow us to know about your experience and help us to be better every day. How happy we are that Perla Cruz gave you a great service and helpful time , we wil of course let her know this she will be very happy about it. We trust that you will give us the opportunity to meet with us again to achieve your total satisfaction. Once again, thank you for your comment. Kind regards, Waldy Rosario Guest Service Agent.
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I'm going to start by saying calling this an "all Inclusive" resort is quite a reach. Almost everything standard at every other all inclusive was +++ here. Want a Pina colada? $4 USD. Burger at the on-resort ale house? $10 USD. Beer other than Presidente? Additional charge.
State of our room: Upon arriving at our room, we quickly discovered two lights were not functioning, two outlets didn't work, both drawers in the nightstands had no bottoms, the showerhead was completely broken, snapped off at the handle(which was not fixed until the next afternoon), no remote for the TV. Right off the bat my wife and I looked at each other and questioned how often the rooms were maintained.
Food: Mediocre at best. I get it, it's an "all-inclusive"(see first sentence) so the buffet style restaurant so we expected it to have its ups and downs over the course of a week. But this was terrible, all four of us at one point or another became sick from the food and each from a different thing. Most of the meat was completely undercooked. The saving grace for us was the pizza and French fries. The Mexican restaurant on resort was also really nice, probably the best food there. Great atmosphere there.
Bars/Drinks: As mentioned, alot of drinks were +. There were no blenders at either of the two bars so getting a proper margarita/daquiri/dirty monkey or anything frozen was impossible. Bartenders were friendly enough, just not alot of variety
Housekeeping: Aside from being inconsistent in their arrivals(One day 7:45 am, next day not at all, day after 2:00pm), they did a wonderful job and were always friendly.
Pools were alright, fairly clean for the most part. They did water aerobic stuff twice a day with some funky music and the people leading the exercises were friendly and enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy leading the figurative charge. Pool area just got too loud more often than not, just in the sense of the music probably because it was a courtyard style, so the sound echoed through everywhere. Beach access was easy, and they were kept clean of kelp/seaweed. Strong undertow though, be careful!
If you're really budgeting and don't have any expectations then this resort is probably for you. If you've been to other all inclusive, I wouldn't recommend this because it was a massive step down from most in terms of quality and what you get from it. But due to the state of the room, the lack of true all-inclusiveness I don't think this will be a resort we return to.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
Response from Hodelpa Hotels, Dueño at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Apr 25, 2024
Hello Mr. TrevorwJ9562sr Thank you very much for choosing our Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada hotel during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We are grateful for the fact that you have written to us, because your comments allow us to know about your experience and help us to be better every day. We are sorry that your stay was not like you expected. We trust that you will give us the opportunity to stay with us again to achieve your total satisfaction. Once again, thank you for your comment. Sincerely , Rosa Vasquez Guest Service Manager
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This hotel is short staffed in all areas, such as the buffet. waiting for coffee or getting clean glasses takes for ever. Then when you get a so called clean glass or cup it still has lipstick on it for the last user. What baffles me is they don't check them before putting it on the table for you.
The pool bar and the beach bar sometimes only has one person working it and the lines are crazy.
No self serve water stations, you will have to line up in the crazy lines.
Public washrooms run out of toilet paper, hand towels and soap. Stall doors are broken, both at the beach and at the pool. Again not enough staff to deal with the issues.
The interior of the rooms have all been updates and looks great. the exterior of the building are in an extreme need of repair.
The beach is clean but still has cups and items from the day before still at 10am. Again due to lack of staff. They provide cans for the smokers so they don't have to leave their butts everywhere in the sand which is great. and I see most smokers returning the cans to the holder they made for them when not in use. Awesome!!
For the price I think this hotel is good, but if it rains there isn't enough spots to stay dry. We were there during that major rain that flooded everything and they did everything to contain the water but there was just too much rain. Good job!! but you need places for people to go so they can stay dry.
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Date of stay: December 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â The pool is extremely cold even on the hottest of days. we had 14 days and never got warm
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.
Response from Alba Sánchez, Atención al cliente/recepción at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Jan 6, 2025
Hello Mrs. Garyw Thank you very much for choosing our Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada hotel during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We appreciate that you have written to us, because your comments allow us to know your experience and help us to be better every day. We are so sorry that the service has not been to your complete satisfaction and with concrete actions. We immediately received your communication, we met with our team and held a meeting to analyze everything you told us, since we take the opinions of our guests very seriously. We trust that you will give us the opportunity to stay with us again to achieve your total satisfaction. Once again, thank you for your comment. Best regards, Rosa Vasquez Customer Service Manager.
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Pros: the beach is beautiful and long, lots of chairs available, but not much shade. The food is very good both at the buffet and Ă la carte restaurants, the best is Mexican. Hotel 20 minutes from the airport. Small fridge in the room filled every day with water, liquor and beer. Walk to the right of the beach 5 minutes, nice spot to take pictures. Cons: there are on the site swimming pools and restaurants that are accessible only to Elite members, so the pool near the beach you can not go there, there is only the central pool with far too loud music, no chance to rest, animation a lot of noise, the chairs are all stoned. Rooms are ok, but the bed was too hard, bathroom not too clean, stiff towels. The adult section includes a tiny pool the 15 chairs available are stormed from 6am (no need to book this section). There is no real lobby for a drink, you have to go to the bar by the pool in the evening and endure the children's entertainment with Baby shark in the stud. In short, it is not a place to have calm and rest, unless you do beach all week.
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Automatically translated
Date of stay: February 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip: Si vous voulez du repos et pas d'animation qui vous pète les oreilles allez ailleurs
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.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This is what I experienced . . Staff was very accommodating for local clientele . While writing this comment, I kindly asked for a refill , it’s been 20 minutes waiting for a refill of my coffee And a local came to sit at the next table and miraculously coffee was served.! Beach towels were not readily available usually waiting until after 4 PM for clean towels. No hair dryer in the room the attachment was on the wall without a hairdryer.
I do give credit for entertainment. They always try to get everyone involved and there was variety..
We have been here before wanted to give them the 2nd chance.. there will not be a next time .
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Date of stay: November 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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.
Response from Alba Sánchez, Atención al cliente/recepción at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Nov 16, 2024
Hello Mrs. Suciec, Thank you very much for choosing our Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada hotel during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We appreciate that you have written to us, because your comments allow us to know your experience and help us to be better every day. How sorry we are that the service was not to your total satisfaction and with concrete actions. We immediately received your communication, met with our team and held a meeting to analyze everything you asked us, since we take our guests' opinions very seriously. We trust that you will give us the opportunity to stay with us again to achieve your complete satisfaction. Once again, thank you for your comment. Kind regards, Rosa Vásquez Customer Service Manager.
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Hey all, I just returned back from this resort early this morning. Was there from Feb 25th til March 4th. 2025. Party of 6. 2 cpls in swim outs 2 others in regular room. Arrival was quick and easy and to the point. Only down fall was we booked our stay in April 2024 and was hoping to have swim out together with other cpl unfortunately they could not provide this. However they could have as the room next door was empty and we even mentioned this and they still wouldn't allow it. Didn't ruin anything but was wishful thinking. Rooms...ac good and cold, Rooms nice size but not many drawers for belongings but no big deal. Housekeeping did an amazing job however Stocking bar fridge seems to be hit and miss. No biggie we just helped ourselves to there carts lol. Swimout option was nice to have and enjoyed it. Showers definitely a hit and miss for warm water which sometimes sucked. Food....2 out of the 6 of us spent 3 days close to washroom could have been drinks or food but once again nothing Immodium can't solve. Food was delishious not always hot though but very repetitive, and not many choices like bigger resorts, however there was always something. Servers are hit and miss as well. Sometimes you would be ignored sometimes not. Only tried 2 a la carts Mexican and Italian both wonderful service and great food. Bars ... please post some options of drinks to par take in no menus on display. And a drink of the day would be nice to see. Bartenders fantastic, no complaints. Entertainment...at the beginning of our stay we had a blast. We generally never partake in any games however Wilmi had us engaged and we participated in many poolside games and one evening of dancing outside. He was awesome. Then mid trip we noticed him gone. To find out he had left and wasn't returning. After he left we didn't find the Entertainment nearly as fun. Beach ... I am not a beach lover however almost daily we played in the ocean and enjoyed every moment of this. It was beautiful! Spa we never spent any time or money there so no comment. Would I return to Emotions probably not, but definitely enjoyed my stay. ❤️
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Date of stay: March 2025Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Bring immodium
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.
Response from Alba Sánchez, Atención al cliente/recepción at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded 2 weeks ago
Hello Ms. Nicolem, Thank you very much for choosing our hotel Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We appreciate that you wrote to us, because your comments let us know about your experience and help us to be better every day. How sorry we are that the service was not to your total satisfaction and with concrete actions. Immediately we received your communication, we met with our team and held a meeting to analyze everything you told us, because we take very seriously the opinions of our guests. We trust that you will give us the opportunity to stay with us again to achieve your total satisfaction. Once again, thank you for your comment. Best regards, Rosa Vasquez Customer Service Manager. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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We went as a family, and from Check In the trouble started. We had to pay 10 dollars, for the first time in a Resort for entering the facility while we were being delivered the rooms, but so far everything was fine. I touched a 4th floor without elevator, when we had pointed out that all were septu/octogenarian people with certain health problems. The buffet, for me I think the worst I have seen and tasted in my whole life in All Inclusive, without variety, without replenishment of what was finished, with abuse of seasonings like oregano, pepper and salt, which led us to stop the little we put on the plate. The guest service due to a negative review I made immediately started the problems, contacted us and tried to solve but the Resort did not help them, we went to the Dominican "Fine Dining Fan" another disaster food without essence, preassembled apparently. We had to leave for the day and eat out. Only the Italian restaurant, raised the level last night. Personally we understand that we paid it with respect to those who offered us, it was very distant. I must stress that we didn't taste a gram of alcohol from the resort. They changed my room 3 times, because the elevator was damaged and I had a fourth, which I did not accept and I was placed on the 1st floor. You should review the quality of what they offer and who they offer it to. Unfortunate.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Buffet de baja categoria, el zumo de naranja era agua, muchas carnes en salsa con carnes duras...
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.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The staff were absolutely amazing !!! Resort was small which was awesome because the beach was a 2 minute walk and the amenities were 2 minutes. Had a issue with our room but was fixed asap and the stuff were great.
Food : food was good at the buffet however the food at the Restaurants were amazing especially the Mexican and the Italian.
Staff : staff worked so hard however the staff were not treated that well by the management. Many staff were given burgers and hotdogs to keep them going by many guests. Again hats off to the staff !!!!
Management : I hope you realize you have great staff and the staff is was makes the resort so if I were you I would ramp up wages and food for your staff because happy staff is happy guests. Seriously
Location is a 5 star and you can literally walk around the resort in 10 minutes. Staff get to know you as it’s a small resort so it’s fun all the time.
Fishing : fishing I give a 0 star the captain and his staff did not try for us guests to catch fish basically it was a boat ride. We went for two days and honestly felt like we were ripped off. I would highly recommend you do your research before paying for a glorified boat ride.
Non Alcahol option : there are none just water and soft drinks at the resort. Which isn’t there fault however it would have been nice to see some non alcahol beer and spirits. I found non alcahol beer at the store “Jumbo” if anyone is looking for some and it was alright. Again not the resets fault but would be nice to see some options.
The beaches are amazing and clean and the water is beautiful however if there is a red flag up make sure you know what your doing as the waves will roll you up and spit you out lol trust me on that one and women make sure your tops are don’t up tight or they will disappear also seen it lots.
Great vacation and looking forward to next year.
Oh PS there is a golf coarse next to the resort and has a restaurant in it called crazy horse. Meals are absolutely cheap and the wings are the best I have ever had. Note do not eat the 911 hot wings or you will be very sorry. But everything else is amazing and cheap
Kristian and Sarah the Manitoba Canadians.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â Everything was good
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.
Response from Hodelpa Hotels, Dueño at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection
Responded Mar 28, 2024
Hello Mr. Kristian Thank you very much for choosing our Emotions by Hodelpa Playa Dorada hotel during your vacation on the north coast of our beautiful island. We are grateful for the fact that you have written to us, because your comments allow us to know about your experience and help us to be better every day. Once again, thank you for your comment. Kind regards, Waldy Rosario Guest Service Agent.
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Does Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection have airport transportation?
Yes, Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata, Ascend Hotel Collection offers airport transportation for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
