Secrets Royal Beach: A Fantastic Stay at Secrets Royal Beach, Punta Cana

I recently had the pleasure of staying at Secrets Royal Beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and it exceeded my expectations in many ways. The resort provided a memorable vacation with its outstanding features, exceptional service, and remarkable culinary experiences. Here's my review, including the pros and cons of my stay. Pros: Culinary Delights: The food at Secrets Royal Beach is simply outstanding. The resort offers a wide variety of dining options, and each restaurant serves deli [... read more]cious dishes. I especially loved the French restaurant, where the cuisine was exquisite and the service impeccable. Every meal was a culinary adventure. We had dinner on the beach that was incredible and well worth the additional cost. Exceptional Staff: The staff at Secrets Royal Beach truly made my stay special. They were attentive, friendly, and always ready to assist. I want to give a special shout-out to Orlando, my butler, who went above and beyond to provide exceptional service. His attention to detail and willingness to accommodate my requests made my experience truly unforgettable. Preferred Club: Opting for the Preferred Club was definitely worth it. The exclusive amenities, such as a private lounge, upgraded room amenities, and dedicated concierge service, added an extra touch of luxury to my stay. The Preferred Club provides a heightened level of comfort and convenience. Great Drinks: The resort's bars offer a wide selection of premium drinks. Whether you're lounging by the pool or enjoying a night out, the bartenders are skilled at crafting delicious cocktails. The drinks were consistently well-made and a pleasure to enjoy throughout my stay. Cons: Local Vendors on the Beach: One minor downside was the presence of local vendors on the beach. While it's understandable that they are trying to make a living, they can be persistent in their efforts to sell their products or services. It's worth noting that a simple "no, thank you" usually sufficed, and they respected personal boundaries. Overall, my experience at Secrets Royal Beach was outstanding. The resort's superb cuisine, excellent service, and luxurious amenities created a truly unforgettable vacation. While the occasional interaction with local vendors on the beach was a small drawback, it did not significantly impact my overall experience. I highly recommend Secrets Royal Beach to anyone seeking a fantastic getaway in Punta Cana.

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Great All In

The Royalton Punta Cana Upon arrival to the Royalton Punta Cana we upgraded to the Diamond Club and were introduced to Denis. Denis was our Butler for the time of our stay at the resort. Denis was amazing and he helped us with booking of all a la carte restaurants and was very caring and attentive. We especially enjoyed practicing Spanish with Denis and had a lot of great conversations. Denis made our stay at the resort special and it felt like we had a friend. The Royalton Punta Cana is [... read more] a nice hotel located on Bavaro beach. The beach (12 miles long) is beautiful with powdery white sand and turquoise waters. The beach is clean and maintained daily. The staff at this resort are very helpful and very friendly. The food is good and if you are a fruit lover you will enjoy the wide selection of fresh fruit. The best a la caret restaurant was Jade offering Thai food. In addition to several a la carte restaurants and a large buffet there is a coffee shop offering a variety of coffees, pastries and gelato. The resort also offers a few stores with beach wear, jewellery, perfumes, accessories and snacks. There are daily shows, kids club and yoga sessions in the morning. There is also a casino and a Martini bar. This resort is great for both families and adults (the Hideaway section of the resort). There are opportunities for excursions, sports and other attractions at additional cost. Overall for value I would recommend this resort as it meets the all inclusive standards.

Melia Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort Adults: Such a beautiful resort

The resort and this vacation was such a relief from tight packed work schedule. Martine did a great job in understanding the requirements and helping us identifying the right place for us. Looking forward to collaborate with her more in future.

Riu Republica: Beautiful Resort

The rooms were clean, pools etc The staff stayed on top of everything and always made sure things stayed clean. I would 100% recommend anyone who asks me about vacation to go to this hotel and resort.

Lopesan Costa Bavaro Resort Spa and Casino: Beautiful resort

I booked with Jim O'Neill - he was excellent from beginning to end! I would book through TripCentral again, but only if Jim assisted! Thank you, Jim! Extremely friendly and helpful and tolerated all of my questions. Hadn't done an all inclusive in 15 years, so I had a lot of questions. As for the resort, absolutely beautiful from the moment we walked into the lobby. The entire resort was clean and beautiful - had a spa like feeling to it with the warm colours and landscaping and just t [... read more]he overall vibe. The good: The room was clean and super spacious - housekeeping was great. Beach was nice, bit of seaweed, but it is an ocean The boats in the water were only periodically noisy, but I didn't find it annoying like a lot of people complain about - actually gave for some nice pictures and something to look at vs just the ocean Food at Inari (the Japanese restaurant) at the teppanyaki tables was fun to watch and delicious! Service at the adult pool was great - although there are no swim up bars, the servers come to the pool and serve, so basically the same Happy to have some shade at the ocean and pool areas Room Service - was very good. We actually became friends with Jose and are keeping in touch. He was so nice and wants to learn English :) The not so good: The Teatro - the show Emotions was absolutely horrid, we walked out early and chose to not go to any additional shows Booked the adult only package - however, there were some young crying kids on our floor at the hotel, so that was a bit disappointing Booked a flight package that left early in the morning on departure and early afternoon on the way home - for a higher price (the flight got changed to a later departure both ways - so felt we got screwed on pricing AND had to pay $25/hour at the hotel for a late checkout) We only stayed an extra 2 hours, but still thought that was crappy on the hotels part...and quite frankly, Sunwing too. The food - was okay, but not necessarily the buffet, it wasn't great at all. Wish they actually had a Domincian restaurant so we could try authentic food. It's just Dominican people trying to cook North American food, so it's average. The drinks - were definitely not watered down! Get a double espresso with Gressy! Amazing! Coffee - if you want to take some home, buy it at the airport, it's cheaper! Would go to this resort again and would recommend.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Mediocre experience

I wanted to love this resort (arrived mid May 2023), but there are things that just made it a bit frustrating and I will not go back. I have also been to a couple of other resorts in the DR (4 and 5 star) and would go back to those. This is the first time I am writing a review on a resort because there are things people need to know about my experience. Let me start out with the Pros of this resort: Beach front is beautiful with a great bar! Lots of shade. Loved the lobby bar and the staff [... read more] who worked there. They were super friendly! I want to give a shout out to Bolivar who checked in my friend and I. He was SO great, friendly and deserves a raise. The two pools in the middle of the resort are huge and had great swim up bars. Cons of the resort: All of the restaurants and reception/guest services are at one side of the resort except for the beach restaurant which is open for lunch and a light snack (breakfast at this restaurant is only for "Privilege" guests). This means, if you are at the opposite end of the resort (which I was), you have to walk to eat...and it's a long walk. I have high arches in my feet and if I knew how much I had to walk, I would have specifically brought a pair of sandals that would provide more support to the feet. My feet hurt after a few days and for the rest of the trip. I like walking, so if I had the proper support, I wouldn't have minded it. Therefore, if you are prone to issues with your feet, bring a good pair of shoes! The restaurants that we went to were ok. Nothing stood out, however we didn't get to the Japanese place (which you need reservations for) but heard that was phenomenal. The resorts I have been to, there is always a restaurant or two where you can grab breakfast or lunch that is super casual. Most people go in their swim suit and either put on a shirt with their swim trunks or have a beach cover up. We were told that the beach cover ups we were wearing (I was wearing one where the sleeves came down to my elbows and length was to my knees - slightly see through but I was wearing a one piece swim suit) it was not appropriate and they would let us in this one time. Going forward, I would have to wear some sort of dress or shorts and tank top to be allowed in. I have never had this when going to other resorts. I understand that restaurants you go to dinner, you shouldn't wear a beach cover up with a bathing suit. It was just really irritating because all I had packed were beach cover ups, bathing suits and nice dresses to wear for dinner. What I also found interesting is there was no place to grab food or a snack after 7:30pm. You have to wait until the OverTime Sports bar that starts serving snacks at 11 or 11:30pm (can't quite remember). One of the most frustrating experiences was having to chase staff to get our fridge restocked. The second day, no one restocked our water, alcohol, etc. On the third day, we had to walk over to Reception to inquire and the person said that it's supposed to be restocked everyday and he would have someone do it right away. Thankfully, someone came. However, the next day, no one came again. Between 2:30pm and 11pm, I called Reception/Guest Services 7 times to ask if they can restock our fridge, especially the water. I also walked down to reception at 9:30pm that night because we kept being told someone was coming but no one did. My friend and I finally gave up and had to go the next day to Guest Services and lodge a complaint. We were told that they would make sure someone would come right at 9am. When we got back from breakfast around 9:15am, no one came. We went to the beach and came back around noon - no one was there. I called at noon and then again at 4pm to say someone still hasn't come. Finally, someone came. For the rest of the days we were there, are fridge was restocked except they didn't restock the small vokda, bacardi and rum bottles. I gave up and didn't bother asking about those as it was just taking too much of my time to chase the staff. Overall, my experience was mediocre at this place :(

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Increíble resort

We only have positive comments about this resort. From the friendly staff members, to tasty food and drinks and spotless facilities. We had an amazing time. The beach is quite clean and all the facilities kids friendly

Serenade Punta Cana Beach and Spa Resort: Beautiful Experience

Staff were absolutely friendly. All amenities were spotlessly clean. The hotel is about 2 years old. Staff worked round the clock to keep up with the maintenance of all areas included the frequent removal of seaweed washed up from the beach. A beautiful experience all around

Occidental Punta Cana: ACCIDENTAL PUNTA CANA- bright spacious and unfriendly

We just got back from 6 days at this resort from May 17-22nd. It was for my husband's birthday surprise. Upon arriving, check in was slow. Not to mention the front desk staff are the first people you are greeted by, there was barely any pleasantries. Arriving to our room (block 24). We were on the 3rd floor- the elevator did NOT work.. but I have to say that the room is absolutely perfect. Its spacious, clean, bright, comfy king bed, and being on the third floor- our ceilings were like 18 feet t [... read more]all with a nice oscillating fan in the middle. We had the view of the garden which also overlooked the other resort but it was perfect. The pools are endless but to give you perspective- I'm 5'5 and the deepest part of the pool was barely past my knees. It is lovely though. There's hamburger shack on top of the main pool that's open til 5am and a pizzeria that I believe is open til about 2am, Our rooms were cleaned almost regularly, but tipping does go along way. I left notes in Spanish asking for things we needed extra (water, soft drinks) and maybe 2 dollars or I left little trinkets like candy or lip gloss. There is in shower conditioner, shampoo and body gel which aren't bad at all actually, wish I had known that before travelling so I could've packed lighter lol. The lobby is gorgeous- enough seating and bar space to accommodate even a large crowd, every night there was an entertainer, we saw a saxophone player and a singer. The buffet- There wasn't many options to choose from, and its basically the same thing every day. We stuck with the fresh omelettes, a fruit smoothie and plaiintains in the morning. Lunch and dinner were roughly the same choices for both. I can't say I wasn't ever full, but definitely lacked on satisfied. A la cartes- We went to Italian, Mexican and the steakhouse. Italian was super small portioned and we felt rushed, literally were there for under 40 minutes. Mexican was tasty, and the steakhouse lacked seasoning but a good portion of steak with a tiny tiny piece of carrot, brocolli and barely a quarter potato. each meal, we went to grab a pizza after. Nightly entertainment- Enjoyable but like any resort, the same kinds. One night it was raining so they turned the theatre into a movie theatre which was kind of cute for the kids If you can't speak Spanish or slightly understand, brush up on some basics. They show you that they're annoyed that they have to speak English. The beach- beautiful, enough lounge chairs for everyone. It's not too shady though. Lucking out to find an area with the shade can be scarce. The beach is clear waters, they do work hard to keep the seaweed away. Only one day there was a lot but there was also a medium sized rainstorm the night before. There's a beach bar near by which also seconds as lunch and dinner buffet, but be sure to have clothes to put on as they may not serve you the buffet without a shirt on. PLEASE dont upgrade to Royal level or premium. I saw them waiting in the same lines as us, getting the same treatment regardless what band they had on. We experienced this at the last resort we went to (Impressive Punta Cana) so we weren't surprised when it happened at this one- Friday to Sunday is Local DR residents time. You'll see around 2-3pm, it just gets busier and more populated on Friday. This is because the residents will come with their entire family and take over. At this resort it wasn't as bad because its a more spacious resort. They'll try and cut in front of you at buffet line ups, they play their own music very loudly. The Gym- What gym? My husband went in, looked around, and left. They could use a serious upgrade. There is on site shopping inside the resort there's 3 stores with souvenirs and pharmacy type things and snacks. Just outside the resort theres a shopping centre of just the same type of things, but they are cheaper. This place could do better with firstly customer service, a smile goes a long way, more options at their buffet, larger sized portions for their a la cartes, and more shaded areas on the beach, umbrellas?? Overall, for the price we paid for 2 people and 6 days- I would not do it again. The resort is huge, lots of space to lounge, swim, relax, let me make mention that another part to making my trip was our room..... which usually wouldnt have a factor seeing that you would want to spend more time OUTSIDE your room than in it. SPF 50 is suggested, bring a good quality thermos for your drinks, tipping money, and bug spray if you're sweet skinned lol.

Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana: Beautiful resort

Great, friendly and courteous staff, well kept grounds and facilities. Excellent food with good variety. No reservations required for the A la Carte restaurants Rooms were comfortable and cleaned daily with stocked mini bar. Enjoyable nightly entertainment. Beautiful beach . A great resort for anyone.⛱️ 💙

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Great Experience

I spent a week with my husband at Aquamarine and we loved our experience! I’ve met many friendly and amazing staff, especially Luciana and Juan! They are the most adorable people ever. The resort is clean, there is always people working so I’ve never felt without assistance in any second. A point to get better is to let guests from the other divisions to get drinks in any bar at Bahía Principe - I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Âmbar pool, but was advised that we couldn’t  [... read more]get any drinks near the pool, unfortunately. To get more drinks we would have to walk to the beach bar or come back to the Aquamarine ( what would take a long time for each or). Also, there was a bit of confusion on where the events were happening at night due to the rain that happened on a couple of days. But is understandable. On the other side, the food was great! The buffet and a la carte were amazing - except for the il olive / Mediterranean restaurante, all other restaurants, including Portofino (Italian), MEAT (amazing crab pie!!), the Japanese restaurant and the Brazilian rodízio… we had a great experience in all of them. Our room was always cleaned and restocked with water, coffee and pop. Thank you for this amazing service and we will be back to the Bahia Principe, For sure!

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Wonderful Resort!

The Resort was super clean, the grounds and Pool were very well maintained and over all the food was very good! The staff there were all very nice! The Room was dated however it was super clean and we were only in our room to change clothes and sleep! My only complaint was the beach did not have cover for their lawn chairs...I burn easily and so I did not spend too much time on the beach! Thank you.

Occidental Caribe: AVERAGE RESORT

The Hotel is so vast and it really, really needs a lot of TLC (tender loving care) My observation for our 12 days stays are as follows; Public areas are plenty but it tends to be crowded, especially during Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The Al Cazar, which is the main Dining/ Buffet area is always traffic and with all the huge side windows are open, which it allows few beautiful birds to help themselves to pick up foods from the buffet ; fruits, breads, rice, etc. in and out during breakfast a [... read more]nd lunch. I have picture on them. Beach lounges chairs are outdated and plenty of them are broken, that we need moved around the coconut trees in order to get some shade, since they don’t have any open hut 🛖 at all. Public washrooms are also problematic due to lack of water pressures, especially for the urinals in the men’s washrooms. This problem also occurred in our own assigned room that we need to flush the toilet twice or three times. We also experienced to be bitten by mosquitoes every night while we’re sleeping in our bed for the 12 nights that we stayed, in which we found them in the following morning fully feed from our blood 🩸. The food was salty and lack of serving spoons. People are using the same one from one dishes to another; pork, fish, or beef and fish. Our only consolation was that the staff were very friendly and as they said ´´ We are only working here ´´.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing resort

Food was good, drinks were great, staff was amazing and friendly, and the resort was very clean! Love how all the resorts are connected so there shuttles take you to the others in seconds. Nice small shops at the resort with a cool coffee shop as well.

Finest Punta Cana: Superb Resort!

The resort is beautiful and the staff are terrific. We had private check-in and private check-out, awesome! They can't do enough for you. Service is unbelievable. We were a group of 8 family members. Food was great. Drinks were top shelf. Didn't want for anything. Beach service top notch for anything we wanted, food included! Definite 5 Star Resort all the way! The only issue we had was at the Dukes Seafood Restaurant. It took a little more than an hour to get us seated and just over [... read more] another hour to be served and probably would have taken longer if the Manager hadn't come and asked us how everything was lol. We obviously got lost in the kitchen shuffle as well :). Problem seemed to be that we were a large group of 8. With that said, we noticed that others who came in behind us were seated first at tables for 4. They really should have pushed 2 tables together for us or at least asked if it would be ok with having 2 tables side by side rather than waiting for a larger table to empty for us. Perhaps we should have mentioned that at the time although we did not, lesson for us as well. We did mention this in our review with the concierge for future reference for them.

Serenade Punta Cana Beach and Spa Resort: Beautiful resort

We enjoyed our stay in this resort. Food was amazing. Clean. Nicely maintained garden. Drawback was the language, everyone do not speak English. It was noisy. Rooms are not sound proofed. It was our 40th anniversary and they put a banner with a birthday wish & a Happy birthday cake which was not appropriate for our celebration

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Not worth it

16 of us, ages 9 and up. Booked Diamond club, worth it if you want to eat at restaurants in the Royalton Punta Cana which are definitely better. Grounds were nice but accommodations/washrooms dated. Food was typical all inclusive, nothing spectacular. Games (billiards, air hockey etc) required $$; for what we paid, should have been included. Not much for night entertainment, no disco, only sports bar open late. We did enjoy the Rock show.

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Very beautiful resort

The resort was amazing with so many amenities. Food was very good and the space was beautiful for pictures. Had a very fun time at the pool and entertainment at night. Staff was very accommodating as well since we needed to switch our room

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Ok resort

Ok resort beautiful grounds ok food service 3/10 not much entertainment I wouldn't go back or reccomend. Beach was beautiful. The al la carts were not that good on Japanese. Drinks ok weather amazing.

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Would not recommend

Resort is poorly managed. Food was terrible, being recycled from left overs. I actually had food poisoning from eating a calamary mini burger. Room service was terrible, bathroom sinks not cleaned, dirty face towels were left the way they were and not replaced. We had to tip the cleaning staff the next day to make sure the room was properly done. In 5 days, we must have killed at least 5 to 6 cockroaches in the room. Would never go there again.