I travelled to Lifestyle Holiday Resort in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on Nov. 26. The trip had been going great until the morning of the 28th. I was awakened by knocks at my room door early in the morning and to my suprise I was met by several Dominican law enforcement officials and members of the staff. The forced me and my cousin to leave our room and our belongings including wallet, and cellphones inside the room, the only item i was able to pick up in the rush was my passport.
We were told that we were being investigated for an assualt on a hotel employee. We were then arrested and taken to the Puerto Plata jail where we spent the entire day. Throughout the ordeal I continued to explain to them that they had the wrong person, they would not speak to us in english; they were saying that we were Dominican nationals. There was never a single piece of evidence presented against us. We were denied phone calls to both our families and the U.S. Embassy. A guard at the prison allowed us to use his cell phone to contact our families who then contacted the Embassy. The Embassy then made several attempts to contact the authorites at the jail, but the calls were ignored.
We eventually were released but only after obtaining a lawyer who is well seasoned in criminal law. The charges were subsequently dropped the following day by a Judge who believed that the hotel and its employees were simply trying to extort money from American citizens. I have never in my life been through anything like this and to date the hotel has not refunded my money. I will be taking legal action against this resort. Any advice, information or comments are greatly appreciated. Do Not stay in the Resort
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