A Tale of Two Resorts (or, How it Came to Be That the Baergs won't be Visiting the Domincan Republic any time Again Soon)

Before I get started with stories of our vacation, I just need to say that we really did have a great family time away. Our holiday seemed to be threatened at every corner, but there is much to look back on fondly.

Seriously, though, does this kind of stuff happen to other people??

We left Toronto on Wednesday morning. After a smooth flight with happy kids, we were allowed into the D.R. with barely a glance, and we easily made our way in a comfortable taxi to our resort, only 20 minutes away. Wow, were we off to a great start, or what!

We arrived at the Melia Caribe Tropical at around 4pm, and then the "fun" began. We got into the check-in line-up, and noticed right away a few disconcerted looking travellers, some on cell phones, some looking and sounding very frustrated. As we talked and listened, we discovered that these people had arrived 3 hours earlier, but had been told that there wasn't a room available for them. Somehow, the resort had overbooked. We immediately felt sorry for these people, but upon checking at a different desk, Stefan discovered that our name was in the system. Whew. Glad THAT would never happen to us.

Finally it was our turn to check in. The kids were getting restless, and hot in their travel clothes, but were somehow being patient. That's when the clerk informed us that, no, they did not have a room for us either and that we couldn't stay there, as they were completely booked. You have got to be kidding me!! We have just flown half way around the world (well, not literally, but close enough!) and we can't stay here?!? It turns out that the resort has overbooked by approximately 200 rooms (on Wednesday alone - there were more people over the next days) and they are now left to find a place for all these people. We had booked through Sol Melia's brand new website, which was offering great deals, and so had a lot of other people. But, there was a glitch in the system, and the website continued to take reservations, despite being full. We had a valid confirmation number and everything!

After we have gotten over our shock and realized that we can not persuade, cajole, or otherwise convince them to find us a room (cash may have helped. Seriously.), we are told that they will send us to another resort down the road for 3 nights, and then we can return to this resort for the last 4 nights. Not a perfect solution, but what else are we supposed to do?? Meanwhile, Stefan is having discussions with various people, but nothing is really happening. The clerks look busy, but then walk away, leaving us standing there wondering if we are still being helped. Or they get on the phone and talk in Spanish, ignoring us completely. (There are others at the check-in desk experiencing the same things, who are equally frustrated/exasperated). Finally, after a whole lot of nothing happening, Stefan finds a door into their back offices, marked Privado, and goes in to make something happen. He is immediately looked after and ushered into an office, where he continues to negotiate for another hour.

*I do realize that Canada does a great job of customer service and problem solving, so yes, we are spoiled living here. Not all countries have the same level of customer service, even though it may be promised on their website. We found out later that there were some people who used cash to encourage the staff to find them a room. And here we were, asking THEM to compensate US for all the trouble!! Wonder which customer they would rather deal with...*

After much haggling and arguing (they finally decided to not charge us for the first 3 nights, when we wouldn't even be staying at their resort), we loaded our hungry, hot and tired selves into the waiting taxi, to head to the next resort. We'd barely had lunch, let alone supper, but at least we'd brought some granola bars. We were dumped off at a lobby about 10 minutes away, where we were left to explain our situation to the next people, who had absolutely no idea what we were talking about. It was finally determined that we were at the wrong resort. Yup. We were pretty much ready to head back to Canada at this point. They told us we had to go to the next resort over. Once they found their keys, someone drove us and all our luggage to the next lobby, where we desperately hoped someone would help us.

After another hour of discussion, we finally had a room! It was quite a nice room, but we were still missing one bed. We requested a cot. Then went for dinner. Then requested the cot again. Then again. Then Stefan went to the front desk and asked again. It finally did arrive, with an official looking lady and her clipboard and walkie-talkie, who was in our room for half an hour, acting very official, but not accomplishing much. She wouldn't let me make the beds, nor would she make the beds, and we REALLY needed to get our kids to bed. Finally, some maids arrived, with the correct number of pillows, sheets, and blankets, and those beds did eventually get made, and those kids did eventually get to sleep.

Just one more fun thing before we can get to sleep - when I opened my suitcase, I discovered that one of my aerosol cans of sunscreen which was full when we left home, was now completely empty and had seeped through the plastic bag and soaked and stained much of our clothes. It did wash out, thankfully. Bed (despite being pretty uncomfortable) was welcome that night.

Thursday was a brand new day and we were determined to not waste another minute of our holiday. The weather was perfect, the resort was pretty nice, and we had a great couple of days relaxing. We wondered if perhaps we could just stay there the whole time, now that things were running relatively smoothly.

We got ourselves packed up on Saturday morning and headed back to our original resort. We had been promised a quick check-in upon our return, and were given their Royal Service package as part of the "deal." Nice in theory, but it still took at least an hour to get to our room, once again after much arguing and frustration, and wasting almost the whole morning. We did not get the sense that customers needed to be looked after. There were several others in the room having major frustrations as well, which was sad, but we at least realized that it wasn't just us!

We were taken to our brand new room, and it was absolutely stunning. It had a kitchen, dining area, living area, 2-roomed bathroom with giant tub, and a beautiful master bedroom and deck. We felt really glad to be in this room, although the only reason we got such an amazing suite was because of all the hassle. We would have been quite happy with the room we'd originally booked, and no stress!! However, it was pretty nice to have such luxury. We also had special access to a "private" pool and a "private" restaurant. Which basically meant that only select rooms had access, so they were quieter and a little cleaner. On with the holiday!!

We thoroughly enjoyed lots of time in the pool and walks on the beach - the weather was spectacular!! Taya got her hair braided, and the kids had fun sliding down a giant inflatable water slide on the beach. I was feeling so thankful that the troubles were over, and despite all the stress and frustration, I was so thankful that no one had been hurt or gotten sick.

Well, Taya got sick. We thought maybe she'd had too much sun, but when Stefan spent the next day feeling really sick too, we realized that we probably ate something not so great. The boys and I escaped (mostly) unscathed. Stefan was fine the next day, although Taya wasn't herself for a few days. But, we were still together and able to enjoy ourselves. Connor got to try a ropes course with a couple ziplines that they had at the resort and that was awesome. We had great food there, and lots of pina coladas!

As we got ready for dinner on our last day, we heard some yelling just outside our door. We had heard some yelling the day before from within the suite beside ours. I had thought it was the TV at first, but realized that it was actually people yelling at each other. However, as we tried to leave for dinner, we stumbled over a very drunk and crazy looking guy who was sprawled outside our room. His language was very aggressive, so we immediately herded the kids back to our room and outside on the deck so they wouldn't have to hear such vulgarities. I can't remember ever hearing such cursing coming from someone's mouth. He kept shouting some woman's name (maybe his wife or girlfriend?) At this point, we thought he was a local that had somehow stumbled onto the property, but it turns out he actually was a guest in the room beside ours.

We began calling for security to come, and other guests in the nearby rooms were also calling. At one point, the guy was banging on our door and yelling that he would kill us. We continued to call for security, and they eventually came, but did not remove the man. By this point, there are probably at least 20 guests gathered around the commotion, begging security to remove the man, but they instead ushered him into his room to "deal" with him. We demanded that they leave a guard outside the door all night, but no one was promising anything.

We did get to our dinner and returned to our room, and thankfully didn't hear anything from this man again. It was so incredibly frustrating to be begging security to come help, and having to wait that long. I'm thankful no one was hurt, and we could sleep safely that night, despite it all.

Then it was time to leave. It's always hard to end a vacation, but I suppose this time was different. It felt too short, but we were also happy to leave trouble behind. While we waited for our taxi to arrive, Connor and I went to the washroom, and when we returned, Stefan and the other two kids weren't there. Turns out they were in a different washroom, trying to wash wet paint off Taya's entire body and clothes. Some workers had been painting a curb, in the middle of the lobby, in the middle of the day, with no signs, (such as WET PAINT), right where we needed to wait for our ride. Taya (and every other kid I know) loves to balance on curbs, but of course she fell because the curb was so wet and slippery! Soo dumb. Then we had to dig out some clean and dry clothes for her, at which point the world's smallest car with not enough seatbelts arrived to escort the 5 of us and all our luggage to the airport. Seriously, can nothing be done right the first time? We finally got a van, that we could all fit into, and got to the airport, where everything went incredibly smoothly and we returned home to Canada, a world away.

We can (sort of) laugh at all this craziness now, and we certainly are thankful that we could take our family on such a fun vacation. We likely won't return to the Dominican again, but will definitely travel with the kids again. They had so much fun and were such troopers thoughout all the challenges (some minor ones I have left out due to time and space). We really were able to relax and have fun, despite everything trying to work against us. We made some wonderful memories, and took lots of photos, which I will share on here soon.

If you're still reading this novel, thanks! If not, I don't blame you - who has time to read such epic novels anyway? In summary, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but mostly it was the best of times, spending time with 4 of the people I love the most in this world. I am truly grateful.