Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Good Hotel, Good Food, Good Beach but NO Shade on Beach

All was great, September is off season time and resort was not full. Second time visiting Barcelo Bavaro Beach resort. Week of September 6 - 13 was 6 days sunshine 1 day rain. Great resort and vacation, no issues. Beach - Barcelo Bavaro has no shade area besides palm tree's, had some seaweed obviously but other resorts were much worse from what I hear. Plenty of activities sports or music, can walk to Palace from Barcelo Bavaro beach in 10 minutes. Hotel room - I was staying in Building 2, [... read more] 3 storey building has elevator, room is spacious, has a balcony ocean view, comfortable bed with all necessities such as hair dryer, full shampoo/conditioner, coffee machine, fridge. Never had a problem with AC or no hot water. Water was always very hot. Food at the restaurants was plenty, good, many choices, all was fresh no issue. Restaurant MIRAMAR at Barcelo Bavaro Palace extremely slippery floor.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Bring grippy shoes, buffet will take you down

Travelled with my 16-year-old son for 7 days from Toronto. Swim up room-not Privilege club. Paid $1400 each AI. No excursions. Flight: Sunwing failed us again, 2-hour delay from YYZ, and again a 45 min delay coming back. Transfer was fine, although YYZ baggage claim can suck it from top to bottom. Resort grounds: Well-manicured and clean, very poor maintenance repairs, nothing was done properly, or colour matched, just slopped plaster over something and let it dry. Swim up was awesome, al [... read more]though not very private, great refresher when the pool is too hot or full. The floor in the buffet is like greased lightning, I almost fell on my ass like 20 times. I learned to slide around gracefully by day 3. The entire resort is quite dangerous when wet. No traction on any of the pathways, or tile. They do have strips on some of the stairs to help in places. Food: We both got sick from something, I know it happens, so I am not going to fault the resort for that, as you never know what got you(ice cubes, uncooked meat, unclean bathroom conditions) Buffet was basic, grab the fresh Swiss chalet type rotisserie chicken when you can, and the waffle fries if you can find them. Pizza was just flat bread with a couple chunks of whatever was going bad in the kitchen. Bread and butter were my mainstay, kinda like a fancy prison. Ala Cartes, Brazilian was great, grilled pineapple and the various skewers, even the way they feed you was a great experience. Steakhouse was good, massive steak(rib eye) that an average person would never be able to eat. and no vegetables in sight. Oceanside was good, basket of coconut shrimp was massive and probably the best thing I ate all week. Japanese was the worst show I have ever had out of like 10 different resorts. No flair, and average rice and meat served. My son struggled with the air quality, but Gen Z has no coping skills for anything these days. All desserts were great. Ice cream, cheese cake very good. Room service food was limited to like 5 options, just a sandwich with fries that were usually cold. took about 30-45 mins each time. Strawberry daquiris were good no matter where I went, sorry i don't drink anything other than water and DQ's. Breakfast omelets and bacon are the only true constant, as well as desserts. Beach: unfortunately, I am not a beach person(Canadian Vampire), it looked nice, and had some heavy waves, but I did not see many people in there on any given day. Room: clean and standard, beds were firm but comfy enough. not as good as Royalton Cancun by far. Toilets were barely cleaned. 2 men with gastro issues, we put it to the test. had to flush 2-3 times each time to finish the job, and without a fan, the maid was not very happy to be in there at any time(toilet has its own small closet for whatever reason) and the bathtub in the middle of the room served no purpose. No one would use it, and it's in everyone's way. we stored dirty/wet clothes in it. Phone did not work for 3 days, A/C cut off for a full day due to a loose door handle. Staff: honestly, i hate reviews that say Miguel was the best!! or whatever, no one cares. The staff here were very rude and confrontational when there was more than 2 men working together. They never gave the right of way when walking, I was pushed onto the grass many times, and I am 5'10 and 300 lbs. I would not waste money on this resort. Nowhere near 5-star standards even though it was low season. I should point out that there was a tragic accident involving 2 buses the 2nd day we got there and I think it was 9 people died that were workers from Royalton(unsure if they were from us or Splash) I didn't ask.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Bahia principle ambar

Everything was great had a good time the pool was awesome and the dinners were great along with the buffet pool bar couldn’t get enough of it beach had a lot of seaweed but the hot dogs and burgers every day were great also

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Great Resort!

2nd time there, first in 2019.still a great resort! Food amazing, friendly staff and the trolley service is the best especially because the resort is so big. Took daughter her first time and she wants to go back with her family next time.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Not so good

We stayed on the adult side the beach atmosphere was good. What the draw back for me was no communication when we landed at airport, we were lost when we finally got to resort. Wanted to eat and drink but nothing!!! Had to buy a bottle of wine for room! The food was so pretentious, we ended up on the family side for food. Extremely expensive being a Canadian consumer, which was not understood. I don't mind tipping at all was expecting that but wow everywhere you turn you couldn't get a [... read more]way from it .don't get me wrong I tipped waiters, bartender, the lady who cleaned rooms anyone that I could because you felt obligated or they just didn't see you. And the words of entitlement on flags omg..I'm by far entitled. That was so embarrassing Then to end the trip we sat in the lobby waiting for our bus to airport only to find out that axel of wheel broken" and we had to pay 30 us dollars for a cab to airport. I asked why we couldn't go with someone else and got a story witch was absolutely crap! I would never return or even tell anyone to go unless you ate a pretentious human !!!!!

Occidental Caribe: Not worth it. Go to Mexico or Cuba instead.

I wrote a lengthy review on TripAdvisor you can check out. I can see why Canadians do not want to go to Punta Cana. Their service is so poor and the maintenance of the hotel is lacking enough that Cuba or a 3 star in mexico is better than Occidental. We tipped everyone and still did not receive mediocre service, let alone good service. We managed to visit 1 a la carte only. Lots of locals on weekends. Rude, cold servers, except for 1 lady. Beach was choppy. Lots of vendors. Not worth it.

Temptation Grand Miches Resort 21 Plus: Amazing resort

It was really nice trip. Rooms, service, food, entertainment-++++++++++ Special thanks: Joel-Sexy Pool Bartender, Antonio-Dining room Server, Popey, Capuchino, Electra, Bubles and all their friends-Entertainment Staff.

Riu Republica: Had fun

My boyfriend and I had a great time. The beach was beautiful and we took a walk on it each day. They had many different kinds of food that wasn’t too bad. I wish the restaurants that they has would serve you food, they were all buffet style, except for the steak house. The pool that has a swim up bar and music, the water was filthy. Our room key, probably six out of the seven days stopped working on us and we had to go to the front desk to get a new one that’s was frustrating. It also wouldâ [... read more]€™ve been nice if the entertainers played more games with the people staying at the resort and were more engaging with us. If you don’t go to the RIU parties there’s not much going on during the day at the resort I felt. It would be nice if more of the RIU parties were during the night and not during mid day and dinner time. Either way I still enjoyed myself.

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Worst Customer Service

The hotel grounds is clean, and the grounds are nicely maintained. The pools are clean and with various options. The service model requires a significant over haul. whether a diamond club member or standard room the service was the same and horrible. My family experience he worst treatment at this Royalton which was surprising given we've stayed at the Royalton in other countries and found the service to be fantastic. We experienced everything from being ignored at the bars, being ignored a [... read more]t dinner waiting over 20 minutes for cutlery or even worse almost an hour for drinks to go with dinner. Being a diamond club member meant premium liquor applied to us, but when we called for it at the bar the bottles were not apart of the package. Two minutes later the same bartender is serving the same bottle of liquor to a non-diamond club member. Royalton Punta Canada Splash you need to do better.

Occidental Caribe: Amazing Resourt

The hotel was very clean the staffs was very polite and courteous. One down side we didn’t receive a face cloth for the 5 days we were there, and only one bath towel per person per day. I would visit this hotel again

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Not the best unfortunately!

We have travelled the Caribbean well over 20 times. We have been to DR 3 times. We were going with a large group and this resort was chosen for us already. Many of us suffered from horrible food poisoning after eating at the italian restaurant. Everyone that had the chicken that night. Those who were sick were in their rooms for 1.5 days wasting their vacation and were still under the weather and not able to fully enjoy things for several days. We witnessed many unsanitary conditions when it c [... read more]ame to food where visible, I could only imagine what was happening behind closed kitchens. Raw meats being cooked on open grills (chicken especially concerning) using the same tongs to handle raw meats as to serve the customers cooked foods with. Birds being allowed to walk all over food in the buffet and seeing feces on fruits. I'm sure this country has health regulations but they were not following them here. I'm sure many other visitors have fallen ill as well. Only about 50% of the staff was happy in any way to be there working. Only in Dominican have I experienced this. No towels, no hot water for 2 days. Electrical wires exposed outside my children's room. Never again will I go back to this country or book this resort chain again. I feel very ripped off we lost 1.5 days of vacation due to illness and experiences many other inconveniences considering the money we paid for this resort. Star rating should be lower until they step it up!

Dreams Onyx Resort and Spa: Beautiful resort

Beautiful resort, very clean and helpful staff. Took our family with out 8 months baby, and we had the time of our life. From checking in to check out everything was smooth and stressless. The restaurants and the buffets were amazing as well serving all types of foods.

Dreams Onyx Resort and Spa: great getaway

The grounds and the staff were very welcoming and beautiful. The pool was quite big and lively, but not too crazy with party goers. the Beach is not crystal blue water, it is a bit darker, but beautiful regardless, we went right after a storm, so the beach was closed for 2 days because of immense amts of seaweed, but the staff wroked around the clock to remove it and they did. The rooms were always clean, but a bit outdated. The entertainment was VERY good, with a variety of things to watch and  [... read more]separate shows for the kids, but all shows were kid friendly.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: So family friendly!

Overall a great experience but of course there are some pros and cons Pros: 1) Family friendly, everything from where the family rooms are located , elevators everywhere, a path that's shaded to get your little one out of direct sun, a kiddie pool, lazy river and splash pad, kids menu, high chairs , elevators, mini club and activities 2)the property is just beautiful, tastefully decorated and they even have that spa smell 3) Some staff really go above and beyond, Rubin and Wendy at the bea [... read more]ch Bar, Carlos at the lobby bar, Jose at front desk/lost and found was a life saver ! Johanna at the splash pad was like a big sister to our son, Photography crew, animation crew, can't say enough good things about all of them. Cons 1) Definitely not a party resort, so if you want that vibe you'd have to go out or stay elsewhere 2) The beach is not really good for swimming, lots of seaweed and despite their best efforts to clean it out some days the water was almost black in colour from all the seaweed and rocks coming up to shore so not great for a beach lover unless you go out on excursions 3) The food and service is inconsistent. You're not likely to get a drink the same way from two different bartender so follow the person who makes it the way you like it. Some days the same dishes at the buffet were overly salty or overcooked. It all depends on who you land on. And some staff were border line rude.Twice within the week I had to call to ask them to clean our room...etc. 4) it's first come first serve for à la carte restaurant. It's nice that you can just walk in but with a baby we didn't have the luxury of time to be on a waitlist . The only one you can reserve is tappiniyaki and we did enjoy that one Other relevant information 1) the air Canada experience and the transfer to and from the hotel were a nightmare . Sunwing seemed to be the better option in comparison 2) I couldn't get an answer in time on whether I can get a crib in the room or not so I had to pack mine, I had emailed the hotel and our rep here a few days before we left but didn't hear back

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Won't go back

Staff were very unfriendly and rude We would ask the main lobby for an americano, they would tell us to use the machine. we waited an hour for the coffee machine to work because it was empty and still wouldn't make us a coffee with the machine at the bar. Cockroaches were all over the room enterainment was minimal and not good. bars would stop taking orders before 11pm

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Great resort

The grounds are great, the facilities excellent especially the lazy river, the room was clean but the beach was covered with sea weeds which was not great. The service in the dinning room was very poor most of the time. Michael was the only person that provided excellent service but we did not get him at all times. At times it was wait time to get into the dining room and conclude the dining room was not large enough to accommodate the amount of people. Overall the facility was great.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing Resort

Second trip to the Ambar and it's totally awesome here. The one negative thing I can say about my recent trip was a lack of service staff at the Sports Bar. This is a popular hangout but this time there were only 2 waitresses to serve the whole bar. We had to leave, twice, because our waitress never came back with our drink order. Other than that, 5 stars for absolutely everything else. Will definitely be returning.

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: Save your money and go somewhere else

I paid $1788 cad a person which I find is overpriced big time for this hotel. One room was great but the other was terrible. Broken toilet seat, shower head, and shower door. Air conditioning was leaking water on the floor daily. Service: not great. Took them 3 days to bring me toothpaste as I forgot mine. First 3 days we could hardly get coffee and water served for breakfast. Very slow service - got better by day 4. Drinks were good. Beach was terrible. HUGE amounts of seaweed that they just gr [... read more]ind it down- they don’t pick it up but this is an issue in the ocean so I would avoid the Atlantic Ocean resorts. We love the beach but only went 2 days. Pools could of been cleaner. Water was hot buy 1:00 pm as it was really hot. 42 degrees with humidity. Plenty of chairs and towels. Food was very good. I have severe allergies and the head chef would take me to explain what each item had inside the food. I did stay away from the areas that had seafood ( my allergies) as people mix the spoons. Entertainment wasn’t great. The kids arcade was great. The resort is HUGE which I found too big. Be prepared to walk tons. A la carte that were great; the italian and Japanese. Steak house I didn’t like and the food only came at 9. Air conditioning needs to be improved in the buffets and restos as with the extreme heat, we were boiling hot 🥵. I have asthma and struggled with this. Check in was ridiculous. Took us 1 hour as the guy i had didn’t know what he was doing. Check out was great. The bus to and from the airport was great. Great AC. Airport was brutal. There isn’t AC everywhere and it’s a long wait. We stayed in the duty free stores till the end basically but when we had to board the plane , no AC. Long line and we were put on a bus that had no AC. I almost fainted and had an asthma attack. Bus takes you to the plane then you have to walk up a ramp into the plane. In the extreme heat, if you have health problems I highly suggest you either do VIP or have help from the airport prior to booking. I regret this as I didn’t realize this could of happened. Thank god the airplane is really cold but took me 2 hours to feel better. When I arrived home, they also stole my cigars so don’t leave any cigars in your check in luggage. I’m sure it was the airport in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately I don’t recommend this hotel. I would not return. Also, not many people speak English so learn Spanish. I speak Spanish and still could not get the service at times. Gift shop extremely expensive. $6 usd for toothpaste, chips were 2 for $18 usd , I bought a stainless steal coffee tumbler and it was $30 usd. Bracelets were 3 for $10. Beware of the peddlers! They harass you everywhere you go especially the beach. They also start extremely high with prices then go really low when they see you won’t bite. We did 1 extersion which was good. The party boat - seascape - booked with Marcus. We paid $83 usd per person. They said high prices due to the pandemic:(. Bargain with the peddlers. We wanted to buy 3 bracelets and they asked for $80usd. Then we only took 2 of them and got for $15 usd each which it already broke . We purchased the metal ones with the blue stones. Anyway, al in all, I won’t return.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing Resort Luxury Ambar

WHERE" to start and "HOW" to start saying THANK YOU. Also how grateful and blessed I am to have spent even a week with all of you at the BAHIA PRINCIPE in PUNTA CANA, especially at the LUXURY AMBAR. Having a "home away from home" to come back to every vacation made my trip more enjoyable and memorable. Your hospitality, service, kindness, respect, Love and friendship were exceptional, appreciated and will never be forgotten. I can't stop talking about the enormous amount of fun I had with al [... read more]l of you. It is always a pleasure to visit the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana, especially the Luxury Ambar. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to all of you for making me feel so special. Thank you.

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: This is not a Royalton hotel, it is a Memories hotel, very disappointed

The buffet restaurant very hot, no air condition, poor services. On the storm rain days, we asked for umbrellas, they said they don’t have any more. We order room services, after 45 minute, they said room services is not available.