Six months ago, I purchased an all inclusive 5 star resort package from Rainbow High Travel for a week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. My holiday vacation experience planned by Rainbow High Travel left me speechless and appalled, not to mention Rainbow High's stonewalling and dismal of my request for some compensation. To date, I have not received from Rainbow High Travel, Air Transat, nor the Gran Bahia Principe (hotel/resort) so much as a coupon for a chocolate bar despite my numerous polite letters, phone calls, and emails.
I explicitly told Rainbow High Travel that I wanted somewhere quiet and relaxing. The sales representative said she understood and recommended a package deal. She said it was low season due to hurricanes. In any case, the resort was a packed zoo...people everywhere and very noisy. This is exactly what I did not want. Clearly, once these companies have your money, they could care less about customer service or satisfaction.
An hour after departure, the captain informed his passengers that we would have to return to Toronto because the landing gear had not retracted following take off. The captain apologized for the inconvenience, and we then returned to Toronto, flying out again and arriving in Punta Cana at 10:00pm instead of 4:30pm local time as originally scheduled. Needless to say, this late arrival, ruined the entire evening for the passengers who would did not reach their hotels to 10-11 pm.
The local Air Transat representative who met us at the airport at 10:30pm mistakenly dropped off myself and four other passengers at the wrong hotel. We were all booked to stay at the Gran Bahia Principe Ambar, but we were lied to and left at the Bavaro.
We were given a reminder to meet an Air Transat/Nolitour representative at the resort's "theatre" at 10 am the next day for a debriefing for English and French-speaking passengers. Hotel staff did not know where the "theatre" actually was located--at their own resort! Myself and other passengers showed up at 9:30am and waited patiently for the employee to give us some form of orientation. No one showed up. This session would have been very useful in helping us navigate a resort the size of the Gran Bahia Principe. Moreover, an Air Transat representative would have been of help to address problems with the hotel and resort delineated below.
I made two trips to the office looking for the representative to ask questions. Neither time was anyone there. Passengers were also forced to march for close to a half hour to another hotel just to find out the shuttle time back to the airport.
There were many questionable incidents during my stay at the hotel:
* Children were running around everywhere: I paid $350 for an adults-only resort.
* The bell boy dragged my luggage aggressively, running several meters ahead of me all the way to my room upon arrival.
* Rooms in the villa were not the least bit sound proof; I heard the newlywed couple in the next room, moaning and groaning from 2-4am, not to mention the drunks coming back in the middle of the night.
* All four pillows on my bed plus the one in the closet were soiled and stunk of old sweat. I had to wrap a towel around the pillow so that I could sleep on it.
*Two of the days there, housekeeping staff did not provide me with any water or only a small bottle to last me an entire day. The bartenders were not able to offer anything but plastic cups of water.
* The television malfunctioned half the time--would not turn on, or only had access to CNN and two other English language channels.
* The beach in front of the resort was covered with seawood, which the Ambar hardly kept clean, unlike other hotels along the coast.
* Upon my departure, another bell boy refused to store my luggage in the luggage room for two hours even though four staff told me this is what I should do. Instead, I was forced to drag my suitcase into the restaurant to stop either someone from stealing it or mistakenly loading it onto another transfer bus.
* After housekeeping had cleaned my room, someone else entered the room while I was at dinner and took $200 pesos that I had left on my night stand for housekeeping.
I have never had a more stressful, aggravating, and miserable time on vacation. I chose Rainbow High Travel to organize this trip because I wanted to support local business but instead experienced hassle after hassle, disorganization, and incompetence while away. Rainbow High Travel has ignored me, offered me nothing in compensation and given me the brush off. read more
