Very nice resort with super friendly staff

This resort exceeded my expectations in every way! I was there APR 23-MARCH 01. The staff were all smiles and were particularly impressive with children; they treated everyone in a friendly and professional manner, (even when customers were demanding and rude). They all seem to speak at least three languages and work very long hours, six days a week. They appreciate tips and toys, pencils etc, but do not seem to expect it. The entertainment at night is very impressive, and the activities during  [... read more]the day are frequent, varied, and fun to watch or participate in. The pools and bars are fabulous and it was never a problem getting a lounge chair or a drink. The beach is long, clean, and accessible, and it's easy to swim or paddle in. The food is fine - there is a big selection with some new selections each meal, lots of vegetarian or fussy eater options.I only went to one a la carte (Japanese, good entertainment, lots of food) because the buffet was good, maybe better. There is only wifi access in/near the lobby and it costs $5usd for an hour. My one, very minor, complaint is that some activities are not publicized very well. I heard indirectly about an evening synchronized swimming show that was spectacular, and the same about the gigantic paella cookouts, but I'm sure lots of people missed these. There was an interesting and varied mix of people from Canada, France, Germany, Chile,France, Russia.... and a range of ages from very young to very old. I'll be back next year I'm sure!

Staff needs to improve on customer care

The resort was beautiful and being in club premium is definitely the way to go. The selection of food was excellent. As for the service and friendliness ... that is something to be desired. I found staff at this resort were rather rude and really didn't seem like they wanted to help you. The staff at the "Italian" ala carte were down right horrible and beyond rude. We sat and waited and waited .. people even got up and left due to the poor service.

GREAT RESORT WELL SETUP

It was a last minute decision to visit this resort. Grounds, pools, food, beach, staff, public places all awesome.for us, the rooms were dated but if you spend much time in them, you are not on vacation. sunshine :) Tks;Tripcentral

Wonderful - IF you stay on the resort

Barcelo Puerto Plata was a beautifully clean, well managed resort. The rooms were clean and large. Mini bar really means pop and water, but if you wanted alcohol it was never very far away. Live entertainment every night was fun and entertaining. The 2 pools closed at 6:00 pm would have been nice to go for a evening dip but we understood about the safety factor. Truly the only thing and probably the biggest thing that will make me NEVER want to go back was the overly zealous in your face, don't  [... read more]take no for an answer people TRYING to sell you things on the beach. We were Never informed that the Barceló was on a "Public Beach" and the hotel security had no jurisdiction to chase them away. I suffered overwhelming panic attacks after the first 2 days of even venturing onto the beach in fear of being bombarded with requests to buy things. To please help them to feed their families. I would recommend the hotel to a friend but only after I warned them about the beach and the people there waiting for them.

Great getaway

My wife and I just returned from the Barcelo Puerto Plata resort. Buildings and grounds were kept up well. Plenty of restaurants and nice buffet. Didn't care too much for the Japanese restaurant but probably went expecting what we get in Toronto, which it wasn't. We upgraded to a Club Premium suite in building 16 which "made" the trip. Highly recommend the upgrade although probably wouldn't book the suite next time, just a Club Premium room -didn't use the extra rooms much. This resort is just t [... read more]he right size for us, not massive and not too small. Most staff were friendly.

Beautiful resort

The place is beautiful,rooms are specious,furniture and bathroom are very old,need renovating . Small things were frustrating,like TV remote control and clock not working. Everywhere was very clean. Service in the restaurant was not very good. Sometimes you have to wait more than 15 min for coffee,or for the table to be set,despite of many weitres moving around. All in all it was OK for the price we paid.

Just Ok

The hotel itself is nice enough, check in took close to an hour and a half. The pool has a gross thick feeling and has these weird floating things in it. The food was decent but as I type Im here sick. The highlight of my trip was the 12 waterfalls and Big Lees Beach Bar.

Amazing all inclusive Experience!

Great time! The resort is well kept, food is safe, great rooms, happy staff, great drinks and wonderful all day long entertainment!!! Also the beach is very clean making for great swimming! I have no complaints.

Rundown

resort staff was rude food was bland rooms were rundown in my opinion far too many stairs for handicapped guests as all food was up or down stairs including buffet which had groundfloor access but was always locked even when requested to use locals run the place on weekends

Better than expected

Very well maintained resort with nice friendly staff that were very accommodating. Rooms were clean and spacious as was the main pool. The beach was large and easily accessible yes there were lots of people selling stuff but all you have to do is say no and they go away. No big deal. The only thing I didn't like was the dress code for some of the alacarte restaurants no one wants to wear pants in +30 weather you can still look good in a collared shirt and dress shorts.

Amazing resort all workers are so helpfull .

I like it soo much and all workers are soo friendly and they work as a team for making u happy .Swimming pool clean and big bars are so nice u feel that u are full peace of mind .Aout food is clean too and lote of choices .

I keep returning over and over again!

This resort is beautiful, with amenities of all sorts, so convenient but most of all, it is the wonderful staff, whom I now consider my friends, that keep me coming back. They go above and beyond to ensure that each guest feels like royalty!! While there, I litterally have a "Perma-Smile". Can't wait until my next visit to what I consider to be my 2nd home..

FANTASTIC BARCELO VACATION!

The hotel was the cleanest all-inclusive resort I have ever been to. The food was phenomenal and extremely varied making all vacationers in the family very happy. The people were extraordinary, going out of their way to ensure everyone in teh family had the vacation of their dreams (relaxing for the parents, active for the children, exciting for the teenagers). The pool is very accessible, beautiful, clean. The beach was very easy to access and the activities offered such as parasailing, snorkel [... read more]ing and tubing were awesome. Our Westjet orientation guide was great, and the off resort adventures also offered a good variety of activities to choose from that were all fairly reasonably priced. I felt very safe and comfortable, while getting a really good touch of the local culture.

Nope

Wont go back Rooms were outdated, constantly had to be calling maintenance to fix things in the room, broken fridge, broken handles on the drawers , the closet broke off the hindges, the shower soap holder was rotted off the handle, the balcony sliding door was hard to slide back n forth half the time the sliding door got stuck and the Dominican aggresive flies attacked our room. My husband and I tried killing the flies with towels but they wouldnt die lol. The toilet water keep running all nigh [... read more]t so our room was constantly noisey with the toliet water noise running all day n nite. The food was HORRIBLE, you would think the a la cartes would be better and it wasnt. They have a sea food a la carte BEWARE they make you pay extra for the sea food ( not sure why they even call it sea food a la carte ) . The waiter staff are rude, the staff can barely speak proper english or even understand proper english, they are only friendly to their own ppl or ppl who speak spanish. The beach and pools are OKAY, if your staying in Puerta Plata _ take the time and spend the money to grab a cab n visit the local beach Sosua ( GORGEOUS BEACH ) the ppl are bit nicer n friendlier there, u will find more english speaking ppl and ppl who understand english better. Gorgeous view and the food seemed a bit better there too. The Dominican men and women are very good looking just not the friendliest ppl unless your giving them money of course. Would i go back ? Ya - but not to that resort , for me and my advice to anyone who has never been there before _ spend the extra money and stay at a 5 star resort nothing less not even a 4 star _ 5 star or nothing if u want a decent stay down there_ or go to Punta Cana ( which I heard the beaches are much nicer ) al though Sosua was VERY NICE ! More actions and parties and more things to do in Puerta Plata thou.

Okay resort

I was getting married , they didn't give us a king sized bed they attached 2 single beds in one which was so un comfortable our tv was broken every time we called they said they would be right up but never came . The food made me really sick and my husband is from the same city and he got even more sick from the food . Verry repetitive . The pizzeria on the top floor was the only good spot I found didn't make me sick , the pool was massive but filled with kids and hotter water then I would have  [... read more]in my bath . The beach is gorgeous as always . The people are rude who work there and to many locals .

GOOD RESORT

The hotel is well run, but the maintenance needs urgent work. There were frequent electricity interruptions, result in the breakdown of the air conditioning units. My first two nights were horrible as there was no a/c, but they eventually fixed it, by the time I was leaving.

Not what we expected

Food was decent, people were nice, but the resort was pretty run down and they allow locals to fill the vacant rooms on the weekends. The pool was filthy and we found ourselves very annoyed by the locals on the beach and outside the compound. All the Dominicans expect money from you regardless of the service being provided. I would not return to this resort.

AN ""OK"" HOTEL FOR WAHT YOU PAY

THE HOTEL IS ALRIGHT. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THEIR BUFFET AREA...NOT THE SEATING AREA, BUT THE AREA WHERE THE BUFFET FOOD IS EXPOSED...IT IS WAY TOO SMALL. PEOPLE ARE BUMPING INTO EACH OTHER. REASON WHY WE DID NOT GO BACK.ALSO,I ASKED FOR PRESTIGE CLASS AND GOT NO BENEFIT FROM IT. I WENT BECAUSE THE PRICE WAS GOOD..ONLY BECAUSE OF THE PRICE. IF PRICE WERE HIGHER I WOULD GO ELSEWHERE. SO IF PRICE IS KEPT LOW, I WOULD CONTINUE TO GO.

Great holiday at the Barcelo!”

We spent 2 weeks at the Barceló and it was great! The food was very good - lots of different fruits even mangos (my favorite) and the service was excellent - couldn't ask for more - the waiters are very attentive and we enjoyed having a coffee pot left at our table at breakfast. Our room was clean and spacious with a king-size bed which is what we asked for. The a la carte restaurants were very good, especially the Brazilian and the Japanese. It was somewhat complicated to reserve though - sho [... read more]uld be allowed to reserve for the week like most hotels do - don't want to have to line-up for quite a long time on my holidays. The staff at the reservations were not very efficient - answered a ringing telephone every few minutes while the line grew and grew. (whose phoning anyway? - can't reserve a-la carte restaurant by phone) We've been at the Playa Dorada beach before and we love it. Very good snorkeling off the beach and the beach is very long for walking. The time-share venders are not so annoying in front of this hotel - unlike the Blue Bay on the right and the Grand Paradise on the left - they are most annoying there. The entertainment at night was good - we like to dance so there was a band that played early until 9pm ever night - we would have preferred them to play until 10pm and skip the games at 9pm - very boring unless you're part of them and very few people are - I always wonder how many people like those games - the place sure empties when they start. But all in all this was a great vacation and we will definitely return to the Barceló! Stayed March 2014, travelled as a couple

2014 Holiday In The Sun

We had a room near the beach and loved the easy access. Great sand and beach area. Lots of shade available when needed. The pools were great as one worked for the younger crowd and we enjoyed the quieter pool up by the main entrance. Lots of chairs available and pool was great. The food was plentiful and we enjoyed most meals. Weather was great and staff very accomodating. We would recomment this hotel as the price was right and we weren't dissapointed with the trip at all.