Zel Punta Cana – May 24–28, 2026

First and foremost, it is important to note that Zel Punta Cana is not located directly on the beach. While there is beach access via a short walk or shuttle, those looking for a true beachfront resort experience should be aware of this before booking. What truly sets this resort apart is its people. Every single employee we encountered was genuinely friendly, welcoming, and eager to help. Not once did we feel like we were imposing or inconveniencing anyone. The staff consistently delivered e [... read more]xceptional service and were undoubtedly one of the highlights of our stay. The resort itself is fairly new and offers a very peaceful, relaxing atmosphere. If you’re looking for a quiet, serene getaway focused on wellness and relaxation, this resort is an excellent choice. However, if you’re part of a younger crowd seeking a lively party pool scene, constant entertainment, and a high-energy atmosphere, this probably isn’t the resort for you. Zel is intentionally quieter and more laid-back. The accommodations are impressive. All rooms are spacious suites that are modern, comfortable, and thoughtfully designed. We also never had any difficulty finding pool chairs, which was refreshing compared to many Caribbean resorts where reserving loungers can become a daily competition. The fitness and wellness facilities are among the resort’s strongest features. The tennis courts are excellent, and there are numerous fitness and wellness activities offered throughout the property. The spa was pleasant, although not particularly memorable or exceptional compared to other resorts in this category. One area that deserves more attention is the maintenance of the outdoor grounds, particularly the palm trees around the pool areas. During our stay, we observed several palm trees with large dead fronds and hanging branches that appeared overdue for trimming. Beyond aesthetics, this presents a legitimate safety concern, as falling branches could potentially cause serious injury to guests. Given the otherwise high standards of the property, this is an area that management should address proactively. Unfortunately, the biggest opportunity for improvement is the food and beverage program. While the food quality was acceptable, the overall selection was limited and lacked variety throughout our stay. The buffet, when open, is relatively small, and menu options quickly become repetitive. Room service was particularly disappointing. The menu is very limited and lacks many of the simple comfort foods that guests often look for while on vacation. Adding items such as pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, additional salad options, and other casual fare would significantly improve the guest experience. Even more surprising was the absence of a breakfast room service option, which feels like a significant oversight for a resort of this caliber. Similarly, the lunch offerings around the pool were limited and repetitive. The resort has tremendous potential, but the dining experience would benefit greatly from expanded menus and more variety throughout the day. During our stay, we also visited the neighboring Paradisus resort, which offers a completely different experience. Paradisus is a much larger property with separate family, adults-only, and more social or party-oriented sections. It features a larger buffet, more dining variety, and direct beach access. Guests seeking a larger, busier resort experience may find Paradisus more aligned with their preferences. Overall, Zel Punta Cana is a beautiful, tranquil resort with exceptional staff, spacious accommodations, excellent fitness facilities, and a relaxing atmosphere. If your goal is to unwind and enjoy a quieter vacation experience, it is certainly worth considering. However, the food offerings, room service program, dining variety, and outdoor maintenance require attention if the resort hopes to deliver an experience that fully matches the quality of its facilities and service.

Won't be back

Our flight arrived late and as a result, we did not get to the resort until after midnight. Upon arrival, we were informed that they did not have our room available, but that they would put us up in a "better" room for the night and we would just have to switch rooms the next day, which was fine - we were booked in a swim-up room and were given a large 2 bedroom swim-up room for the 1 night. We were hungry and tired and were told that we could order room service, as they would deliver until 2  [... read more]am. We ordered room service as soon as we arrived in our temporary room. They told us it would be 30-45 minutes. We waited until 2 am and the food never arrived. We ate the peanuts from the mini bar and went to sleep. Just before 7 a.m. I was awoken by a very loud noise. I got out of bed, opened the patio door and the plaster/drywall from the balcony above had collapsed onto our veranda/outdoor space. I presume from a leaky outdoor jacuzzi? I took a video and showed our concierge. I'm just glad we weren't outside when it happened. We were told to pack our luggage and they would bring it over to our room when it was ready at 3 pm. We went to the front desk at 3 pm to have our bracelets reprogrammed for our new room. We arrived to our room and our luggage wasn't there. It was located sometime later and brought to our room. My daughter quickly realized that her bathing suit wasn't in her suitcase, that we had left it hanging to dry in the closet of the other room. We contacted our concierge and he said he would take care of it. Later on that evening, my daughter became increasingly concerned so we went back to the front desk and Natalie offered to take us to the other room to retrieve it, as the room could not be occupied due to the ceiling collapse. When we arrived, the room had been cleaned and the bathing suit was gone. Natalie followed up with housekeeping as did our "concierge" Yunior, but they claimed they did not have it. I have no complaints about the food, or the people at the front desk. Big shout outs to Natalie and Juan at the front desk, as well as all of the staff at Tacorini and Nokyo, and the staff that brought the floating breakfast to our room. They were amazing. Housekeeping was terrible, not just because of the theft, but their inability to do the basics (ie they took our dirty towels and just refolded them, did not clean anything, did not replenish coffee, etc.) and yes, I tipped $5-$10 per day in the hope that it would get better. It never did. Service in some areas is great, but is also terribly lacking in others. I can't recommend this hotel, nor will I be back but I'm giving it 3 stars because there are some amazing staff members there who deserve some recognition. I wish we had a better overall experience

Relaxing Week in the Sun

Zel Punta Cana was exactly what we were looking for. It's a smaller resort with beautiful grounds and pools everywhere. The suites are amazing, we were in a ground floor master suite which had an indoor and an outdoor jacuzzi, our own yard with sun loungers and a palapa and a lovely outdoor sitting area under the roof. The interior was spacious with a king bed, full size dining table, living room and lovely bathroom. It was always easy to book one of the restaurants for the evening. Service was  [... read more]fast and very courteous. The steakhouse was our favorite but we enjoyed the Asian as well. The buffet was small with a good selection of food but the temperature of the food was not consistent. The pizza place just outside the buffet was also nice, they will make a pizza to order or you can choose from the selection they have pre-made. Even though the resort is not on the beach there are frequent shuttles to take you there. We never had trouble getting a lounger and the food at the beach restaurant was good. Drinks throughout the resort were well done and not watered down like many places. There are palapas and loungers all around the pools so it was never a problem finding a place to unwind and relax. The resort doesn't have a traditional front desk so there can be issues changing money into smaller bills for tips. Make sure to bring lots of small bills with you to tip this fantastic staff. over all we really enjoyed our week and would return.

Nice resort

Good healthy food that is flavourful and delicious. Steakhouse restaurant has good salmon, chicken and ribs. The room is very comfortable but there is a construction going on. It can be noisy. Massage at spa was absolutely wonderful thanks John.

Surpassed Expectations!

Zel is such a beautiful resort! My family thoroughly enjoyed our weeklong stay and I would highly recommend a swim out suite. The food was delicious and there was an extensive availability of drink options. All of the staff were so friendly and extremely attentive! Would love to go back!

Great Stay for soft opening of Hotel!

We just got back from a week’s stay, it was nice and we felt very safe at this resort. Service was great! Food was amazing at the Volcan and Nokio restaurants… Although Tacorini was a major letdown. If you have the chance do the show at the Nokio restaurant! Buffet was average, they need to do some work on the buffets but there was always something to find. Definitely need to work more on temperature control for the buffet. Found the breakfast better than the lunch in my opinion but the om [... read more]elette guy was great! Bar staff and wait stuff was amazing! Never had to tell them what we wanted, they knew when they saw us with our Yeti cups. A special shoot out to Frailin who went above and beyond everyday to stop and check on us and see if we needed anything. We were also given a free 5 hour late checkout which was nice as our flight didn’t leave till close till 10:30PM. We did notice that ceiling fans and a couple of the wicker styled lights didn’t work in our suite, but with the AC we didn’t really need it but just something we noticed. I’m thinking it’s an oversight where they rushed to get the rooms opened and someone didn’t check the electrician’s work. And the lights didn’t make much difference cause they were just accent lights… Loved the music they played all day up until 9:00 when they switched to the daily live music. They should look into having a dance floor or something similar. All in all, we’d come back again. They were working daily to improve with meetings as they had just reopened from renovating and rebranding a few weeks before we had arrived.

Resort was not bad

In general stuff was nice and kind but for our last 4 days we had issues with room cleaning service they didn’t come to do clean up our room even we requested 3 times after the second day of that they didn’t clean they come some excuse with shortage of stuff and the last night we found cockroaches in our room after we reported nobody involved with I d like to speak with the manager the didn’t even called me. Other issue is pools weren’t clean enough especially kids pool never seen cleaning.jacu [... read more]zzi wasn’t working at our balcony.

Garden suit by Melia

An Excellent resort with many amenities, large clean rooms, and friendly staff. Food options are limited as out of 5 restaurants, 3 were fully booked for the week we were there. Night's entertainment is also limited to mostly Kariyoki.

Beautiful and very quiet. Great for relaxation, not for kids and parties.

The hotel lives up to its name! The grounds are beautiful and filled with trees and greenery. You are very much surrounded by the most picturesque tropical gardens! Unlike any other resort in the surrounding area. There are plenty of palm trees and sun beds that are well shaded! The pools are everywhere. The staff is very kind and welcoming. Short 7-8 min walk to the beach or you can take the cart ride for a min or, 2. The food was good! The buffet isn't very large and lacked variety, but there  [... read more]certainly was always something to satisfy. The a la carte restaurants were also very good! The resort did lack evening entertainment and nightlife, like the title, it is very quiet. Not much for kids to do either. We were extremely disappointed that they did not grant us access to the neighbouring resort for the kids water slides and kids club. This should have been included in our package, and was listed during the time we booked, but access was taken away before our arrival. The resort is small, quiet, clean and beautiful. Not a place I would recommend for families with young kids simply because there isn't any kids club or fun activities to entertain them. We were told that the resort will eventually become an adult's only...

Fantastic resort

My recent stay at Garden Suites by Melia was simply fantastic. From the moment I arrived, I was greeted warmly and treated to impeccable service. The suite was spacious, elegantly furnished, and featured a delightful private garden terrace. The resort's facilities, including the tranquil pool area and rejuvenating spa, were top-notch. Culinary experiences were a highlight, with a variety of delicious options to choose from. What truly stood out was the exceptional service provided by the staff,  [... read more]who went above and beyond to ensure my comfort and satisfaction. Overall, Garden Suites by Melia exceeded my expectations, offering a blissful escape in a stunning setting. Highly recommended for a memorable vacation experience!

Amazing getaway

This was by far one of the best resorts we've traveled to thus far. Is it an older resort, yes. But once you see by pass the chip in the pool you will be amazed with what the remaining of the resort has to offer. We highly recommend splurging and paying a little bit more to get the swim out! You have your own little oasis on your patio leading to the swim out! The a la carte food, was good. However, the buffet food was just ok. We never starved.

Good resort for relaxing

We had the swim up master suits which was great was able to walk right into the pool from the room. Lots of green ares was great to relax. Bit far from the beach, but frequent shuttles were available. Ideal for matured people. Food was accessible, but being a Canadian used to good food, it wasn't a great experience. We had access to other hotel's resturants own by the hotel, that was a great option.

I really enjoyed my time there.

I just returned from a week at Garden Suites by Melia. The tropical feel at this resort was so important to me before I booked and it exceeded my expectations. I see a lot of resorts with a sleek modern style that feel more like an airport than a resort. This resort wowed me with the room size. I had a swim out and the outdoor space was so large which made my vacation even better. I couldn't stop staring at the expansive grounds and the beach was just beautiful. The staff which this resort has e [... read more]mployed are so professional and kind. Leonardo and the many who work there were always so genuinely happy and made us feel comfortable. The food, layout, beach, grounds, staff and accommodations are exactly what a vacation should be. Enjoy yourself!

A very comfortable resort for a family

We were part of a three-generation family holiday. The resort was great. The facilities were very clean and well maintained. The rooms were large and comfortable. The grounds are a delight. The strongest aspect of the resort is the staff. They were efficient, helpful, very friendly and often doted on the young children. The only weak part was the food. Although it was OK, it definitely did not measure up to the other aspects of the resort. I enjoyed the week, and would be quite happy to return [... read more] in the future.

You get what you pay for

This resort has passed its hay day..felt it was kinda run down and lots of features were not well maintained i.e drawers and cupboards in room were broken..shower and toilet doors did not close. Took 5 days for hotel staff to repair faulty TV in our suite. Took 4 hours for house keeping to bring toilet paper as the did not replace it when they serviced the room. Generally the staff were friendly but not very well trained and lacked knowledge of amenities and services. Every time we had a requ [... read more]est they did not know the answer and never got back to us with information we requested. The food was very mediocre and in most cases over cooked and bland. Lacked variety and every day was the same menu.The specialty restaurants were a welcome change but also lacked flavor and did not come close to what was described by the server. The Nexus bus service was very inflexible when we requested a pick up they wanted pick us up 5 hours ahead of our flight. As a result we had to pay for a taxi to the airport as we did not want to wait for 5 hrs at the airport.

Very Poor Resort - Serious cleanliness issues.

Spent a week in Garden Suites by Melia in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on a family vacation in mid-December 2023 via Sunwing. Overall, I can NOT recommend this resort with the serious cleanliness concerns and limited options for meals, especially given how it is advertised. I’ve been to Punta Cana multiple times and there are much better resorts available. Positives: 1. Resort grounds provide both walkable paths and golf cart shuttle options to the beach, kids water park and other re [... read more]sorts (Falcon, Paradisus) 2. Convenient amenities at the pool and beach such beach towels, day beds and lounge chairs. 3. Variety of well-organized kids activities throughout the week. Negatives: 1. Cleanliness and maintenance is serious concern. We paid to upgrade to the Garden Master Suite, but our hotel room had significant issues. (i) Most disturbing were the disgusting maggots we found on the bed sheet and head board. (ii) The latch on the bathroom door did not function so the bathroom door would not stay closed. (iii) After taking a shower the water in the tub would not drain. There was a pool of water higher than my ankles. When I talked to the front desk about changing rooms they initially said that there wasn’t an option to move rooms and to check back in the morning. I had to be firm about moving rooms given how unacceptable the conditions were. It should be noted that there are 4 hotels on the Melia property (Garden Suites, Falcon, Paradisus, Melia Caribe). 2. The buffet at the Garden Suites is tiny. Comparable in size to a Holiday Inn breakfast bar with limited menu options for breakfast, lunch & dinner which gets repetitive quickly. 3. Advertised by Sunwing as “Stay at 1, Play at 2” resort with free flow access to restaurants & resort facilities at Garden Suites and Falcon Resorts by Melia. In reality, this misleading as guest at the Garden Suites need to make reservations to eat at any Falcon resort restaurant. Even restaurants that typically do not need a reservation such as Origen (buffet) are not accessible for breakfast or lunch. Same with Mangu which is the outdoor poolside restaurant that is open for lunch. The process for making reservations at the Falcon is not simple as you need to go through the concierge. The concierge will ask their supervisor who will reach out to the Falcon. You cannot book in advance for later in the week and there’s no transparency on the status of the request. Even if you follow-up with the concierge they do not know whether or not a reservation is possible during your stay. It’s a very poorly thought out process. Expect your meals will be primarily limited to the restaurants at Garden Suites rather than what is advertised. 4. One of the conditions for eating at Falcon resort Origen buffet is you’ll need to sit through a presentation about joining the Melia timeshare / vacation rental program. This was not communicated to us by the concierge when arrangements we made. 5. Be aware that the servers at the a la carte restaurants in the Garden Suites will pressure you to post a 5 star Google review after your meal and then ask to see it. As the result the Google ratings for the Garden Suites are being boosted by the restaurants and may not truly reflect full resort experience.

Good Resort

This is a very luxury and expansive (and expensive) hotel. All Personnel seems to us were very eager to satisfy guests, very friendly and helpful. But again its a split for type of "VIP guests", so we did not have access by far to all facilities. Some other small issues.... 1. TV has only about six English channels, including useless CNN. 2. Whole unit was unnecessary large for a couple, we had a total four rooms, including indoor and outdoor jacuzzi. 3. No entertaining during all three weeks [... read more], except once week Karaoke.

NOT the reserve at Paradisus

We were extremely disappointed arriving to the “reserve”, only to learn that it is under construction and our room was a sorry equivalent. We reached out to our travel consultant, Wendy Harrington to change our arrangements only to be ignored. We ended up paying extra to stay at the Gran Cana, ended up having a good time, just a sour taste from the whole thing.

Great resort

staff was friendly,helpful and willing to get what we asked for. bars were well stock, no lines waiting and plenty to drink. plenty of chairs on the beach and the pools. rooms were big, bar fridge was full. food was good at the buffet , specialty dinning was very good

Outstanding in All Aspects

I’m a season traveller-especially throughout the Caribbean—and I can say without hesitation that the Reserve at Real Palm delivers. From a prompt check in to daily activities geared toward all ages. The food, both the five star a la cartes and the buffets are of decent variety and outstanding quality. Their patch of Bavaro beach is pristine and equipped with a seaweed vacuum that ensures a picture perfect day at the beach. And the tiki huts and cabanas add a wonderful touch—especially for  [... read more]those that like to spend the entire day at the beach. The nightly entertainment was varied and of high quality. Musicians and dancers made for a fun evening most nights and the sound system was awesome. In closing I just can’t fathom finding a better place to take your significant other or extended family for a relaxing truly five-star experience.