Ocean El Faro: Good resort Great people

It was a fun and big resort for family. Restaurant reservations are brutal (line up at 5 to get a spot in line to eat 2 hours later), buffet was okay. Pools were awesome, beach is awful but if you go off the resort to the left, the lagoon is beautiful. Entertainment was great, beach party was amazing. There is a baseball field just off the resort in front, bring some baseball gloves for the kids playing there and watch them play! Very talented. The people at the resort made it so much bette [... read more]r. Very friendly

Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: Two strikes

This is the second time we have been to this resort, and the second time our accommodations have not been what we paid for. The first impression at check in has been poor both times. The food was plentiful, but the general quality was lacking. Bar service, butler, and housekeeping where outstanding. Grounds are well maintained, but many of the rooms have views of service roads, garbage huts and neighbouring properties. Not a view you expect from a 5 star hotel.

Dreams Onyx Resort and Spa: Beautiful Resort!!

My family had the best time at Dreams Onyx - it was the most beautiful resort we have ever been to and the staff was so friendly and helpful all the time. Food was fantastic and we loved that we did not have to make reservations to visit the restaurants! We will definitely be going back!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Loved this resort!

We travelled early April 2023 to this resort for a week. The weather was perfect around 28 to 29 celsius every day. The grounds were pristine, our room was kept very clean and the bar kept well stocked by our awesome housekeeper, Nertania. The pool area was busy however the lounges around the deck were not allowed to be saved. Staff allowed vacationers an hour to return to their lounges or towels were removed. Usually this was not continued after 9 am. We ate at 3 of the a la carte restaurants  [... read more]which were very good. There is quite a number to book from but book early on arrival as time slots go very quickly. We had a room with a swim up pool which we thoroughly enjoyed. We would definitely go back to this resort if we decide on Punta Cana again!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful

If you are thinking of booking one of the Bahia Principe resorts, this is the one to pick --- it is on the ocean, unlike Aquamarine or Grand Bavaro which you have a long walk or have to ask for a ride on the little bellhop cart to get to the beach. I stayed in a "swim up" room: each Villa has about 10 rooms on the ground floor that open up to a small, semi-private pool that sits between the villa and the main path leading down to the beach. Technically the pool is a long strip shared by all t [... read more]he rooms, but the decks have dividers between them so you can easily ignore your neighbours. This was perfect for me since I like to sleep in while I'm on vacation, and the lounge chairs around the main pool area and on the beach fill up very early (people do that annoying thing of putting a towel on a chair to "claim" it while they go off to do something else for hours.) So the swim up room is quiet and private and has your own private chairs. If you want to socialize with other guests or be in a place with commotion and music then I'd say you don't need it ... but if you want to spend time by yourself or with your spouse without having to fight for a chair, then its perfect. One other thing ... the swim-up rooms are in shade for only about half the day (makes sense right), so when you check in, think about what time of day you want to be sitting by the pool and ask them to put you in a certain room. If you like to have shade in the morning, pick a west-facing room, and if you like shade in the afternoon, pick an east-facing room --- they have both.

Melia Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort Adults: So peaceful

The resort is very big, but not due to lots of buildings.Instead, it has lots of park space & little ponds.It is so peaceful on the grounds.The distance from the reception to the beach is over a kilometer, but they have a tram that runs every 10 minutes or less that can transport you. Breakfast & lunch happen at the beach end. The food is good with the exception of the A la carte on the beach.The atmosphere is calm with peaceful music.There are great activities every day, but you need to find th [... read more]at information out yourself as it is not obvious. A QR code is available for that. The supper is at the buffet or a-la-carte on the reception end of the grounds. The bar lounge is nice, but seating is limited.There is usually a musician. There are hand sanitizers at the restaurants. You are seated by the hostess, rather than just going in on your own. There is the usual 'up-sales' people who look and act very much like caring staff (how is your room?), but don't be fooled. They are trying to get you to buy The Level.They are respectful if you immediately say you are not interested. I hated our Air Canada rep. I wasn't alone feeling this way. His name is Christ. He was rude & not helpful.There are 3 Melias next to each other.It wasn't clear which one was ours when we arrived.Turns out that 2 of them connect with a path, which no one explained to us.The Air Canada rep ONLY had his meet and greet in the other hotel. We ran around in the heat for 40 minutes trying to figure out where he was. No one seemed to know anything. When we did meet him, he was abrupt. "I told you I would meet you in THIS hotel. Now it's too late so come back the day before you leave". Argh! Day before we left, we went at the assigned time, but he was busy trying to sell excursions, so he handed us the schedule & told us to figure out our pickup time ourselves. The washrooms are very clean & well maintained. They didn't wash the floor in our room & we had to ask continually for facecloths. They were very good about restocking the fridge. Maybe because it was April, but the weather was uncomfortably hot & humid. The entire beach had a sea weed problem. The workers raked all day trying unsuccessfully to stay ahead of it.

Dreams Flora Resort and Spa: Good resort

Good hotel but definitely not 5 stars; 4 stars will be appropriate. The staff needs more training and the restaurants are not up to par. Generally, it was very clean, well maintained, good wifi, nice beach.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful Resort

The Ambar resort is amazing. Beautifully decorated with everything you could possibly need. Some of my favourites are; sports bar, coffee shop, lobby, and beach area. It’s a large resort with accessibility to some of the other hotels. We stayed in a swim up corner which was very comfortable. We used room service and was delighted how easy it was to order on their app. Our order came exactly the time selected on the app and was hot and tasty. The a la cartes and buffets were perfect and no comp [... read more]laints on service or selection.

Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: Great Resort

The resort was clean and service was excellent. Staff was friendly and helpful. The food was very good at all the restaurants. Easy to find a spot on the beach . Maid service was very good as was our butler service. Our butler Yordy Cedeno was in contact with us every day to arrange our reservations.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Grand Sirenis Punta Cana

Waterpark area for kids is far from rooms. Three small areas for little kids a shallow pool great for bigger kids and slides. One main pool and only a small area for kids. The rest of the pool is 6ft -7 deep. The family suite is not exactly a suite, very small but beds and pull out bed were at least comfortable. Overall resort was ok but will choose a resort with anything near main area so kids have something to do other than be in the water and sun. Lastly had a medical emergency with my tod [... read more]dler and the doctor was great. Went out by ambulance. Resort is 45 minute from the hospital.

JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar: Perfect !

The grounds are beautiful. Everything very well taken care of. Public areas are very nice and clean. Dining is very good when comparing to other resorts. Always chairs at the beach. No getting up with the birds to reserve a chair! The resort is not big which is perfect. Would definetely recommend this resort and would go back.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Great visit to Bahia Principe Grand Aquamarine

Left Moncton, NB Canada and flew with Air Transat - well actually Smartlynx Airlines - booked with TripCentral about 6 weeks before the trip - great customer service with TripCentral - two hour delay taking off but all good - flight crew very attentive and some good food options offered for $$$ - nothing complimentary other than standard drinks - arrived March 10, 2023 - 4 hours and 15 minute flight - same time zone as Moncton so no need to change your watches - wheelchair ramps are rolled up to [... read more] the plane, very easy to disembark - we had a bout a 100 yard walk from the tarmac to the arrival gate lineups - quite a lineup at the Punta Cana airport right out to the opening doors - got thru the long lineup, took us about an hour to get to our bus with our luggage - about a half hour waiting for all clients to get to the bus - cold drinks offered at $$$ - short drive to the resort (so hard to see all the garbage on the way) maybe a half hour - Bahia Principe Grand Aquamarine - Adult Only - was dropped at the Amba/Aquamarine combined lobby then transferred quickly to our room in building 80 - room 204 - this room is further down the large building really close to the Aquamarine lobby and buffet - if you like short walks everywhere, pick building 80 - if you want a really good pool view and a half decent short walk everywhere pick building 81 or 82 poolside levels 2 and 3 - there will be some music and partying going on across from you but that usually was done by 11pm each evening - Sand was too sandy, Water was too salty, Food was too good, Too many food options, Too many A La Carte Options, Pool was too refreshing, Lounging options were too plenty Drinks were too good, Bartenders were too helpful !!! You guys get the drift now !!!! Only negative of the trip was the loud room cleaning crews in the morning in the hallways - we were always up before they were around but noticed they were a bit noisy and any guests that liked to sleep in, their sleep was likely interrupted. On a positive note, the rooms were cleaned daily, crews were very friendly, bar fridge was stocked daily, extra towels and facecloths provided as requested. AC worked as it should - I had the ceiling fan on all the time on high to circulate the air - keep your deck door closed and closed at all times to keep the AC on when you are in the room. You need to put your room key in the holder when you are in the room for lights and AC to work - I think the AC still works when you are absent as the room was a good temperature whenever we returned. Bathroom had two sinks and jacuzzi tub - we did not use the tub - no need. Plenty of hot water, toilet paper, shampoo and soap. Standup walk-in shower was great with a rain head shower. Left on March 17, 2023 - bus was right on time at the combined Ambar/Aquamarine Lobby - about a half hour drive to the airport - lineup at the airport leaving was very quick - we had to show our boarding passes and passports at least 5 times going thru the airport - grabbed some food before we boarded our plane, lots of options in the airport as well as duty free - be aware there are no flight announcements so be at your boarding gate one hour ahead of time - wheelchair ramps were rolled up to the plane, very easy to get on - we had a bout a 200 yard walk from the departure gate to the wheelchair ramps into the plane - the plane was boarded from both ends of the plane - two sets of ramps - flight took off on time. - 4 hour and 25 minute flight. Only issue was they separated myself and my wife - we just talked to the rep at the boarding gate and then they put up back together. During the first check in the computers went down for a short time, this may have been the issue. All in all it was easy to fix.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Pretty good stay at Royalton

TL; DR: big resort with lots of people and good buffet/okay sit-down restaurants, but with small, crowded beach and boring kids’ club. When we checked in, I was waiting for someone to try to upsell us to Diamond Club, but when I inquired, I was told it was sold out. No matter - I don’t really know what I would have done with it. Yes, Diamond Club has a private beach and pool. There is a butler that gets you dinner reservations and sets stuff up for you. Is this worth $155 usd per day  [... read more]for a family of 4? I guess it depends on how busy the resort is when you go and how much extra cash you have. We’re early birds with two kids, so have been hitting meal time on the early end. The buffet has been pretty great overall (Dominican night was especially great!) but depends on your expectations. Is this going to be the finest meals I’ve ever had? No. But it’s pretty good, and there are lots of choices for everyone. My husband stood in line at 545 to get into the Italian restaurant. We got in no problem on the patio as soon as they opened. Was it amazing? No. But it was fine. The teppanyaki was fine, too. The Brazilian restaurant was not at all crowded at lunch, and was really good. The beach - I love the beach generally. And I understand that a lot of the east coast Mexico is full of seaweed and the beaches are not great these past few years, so that’s why I ended up in the Dominican on Bavaro beach, known to be an amazing beach. Is it amazing? Well, again, depends on your beach experience and expectations. Royalton Bavaro has a beachfront of about 150 metres, with over 700 rooms. Some of that beachfront is dedicated to Diamond Club members exclusively. All this to say - The water is clear and beautiful, but it’s pretty crowded in there. If you get a beach chair, you will be up close and personal to the folks next to you. The rooms - we got a 1 bedroom presidential suite, and I would not have done it any other way. There aren’t that many of these types of rooms available, so I would absolutely recommend getting these if you, like me, don’t want to share a bedroom with your kids. It’s twice the size of the regular “family suites” that they offer here (which is really just a regular room with a lattice sliding door between the bed and the sofa - not exactly private) and was just a few hundred dollars more. It has a room with a bar, eating area, sitting area (with pull out) and bathroom, and then another bedroom bar area with a giant bathroom/dressing room. A few times, there was either no hot or cold water. Communication about the issue wasn’t totally great. We had no problem getting mini bar top ups, room service or other things brought to the room. Tipping gets you great service. We were averaging about $30 in tips per day. I had excellent service from Stephanie Esteban at the pool. She was so sweet to my daughter. She made us feel really welcomed. The waiters working the courtyard at the main buffet were also excellent.

Ocean El Faro: Beautiful building, slow staff

We just came back April 22, 2023. The lobby is gigantic. Beautifully designed, rooms clean, food ok ( tasty but not many options). Washrooms clean and everywhere. Staff don't seem happy, service very slow. I believe they're understaffed. To reserve a restaurant, you need to line up to book same day which meant we were only able to book 2 restaurants out of 5 I think. To improve that, we need to be able to book via app, front desk, or pre book in advance for another day.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful Resort

Beautiful gardens, very well kept. Latest building colour change very nice. Staff very friendly and accommodating, food was plentiful with lots of variety. Bars were good, Limbo Bar was top notch, bartenders were true mixologists.

Melia Caribe Beach Resort: Beautiful Resort

We booked their "Level" package. The room was nice, but not the one advertised on the site that we were looking forward to. The Level specific pool and restaurant was a smaller area. Service was extremely slow and so we used the main pool by the beach where there was more action. If your booking the Level, the only real value to you may be the room. It was nice to walk through their dedicated lounge where you could make your own drink or get a Nespresso coffee at any time. Most of the staff we [... read more]re friendly that we encountered through the week. A nice variety of restaurants. Food was resonable quality and a decent selection. A la carte restaurants were difficult to obtain reservations at, even with Level package consierge service. They were also all extremely slow on service, with exception to the Mexican restaurant, which was one of the better restaurants. Tram/golf carts came by every 10-15 minutes to take you from main lobby/restaurant area to beach. It is walkable in 10 minutes however. Resort grounds were well maintained and were very scenic.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: You get what you expect , always.

What you see ( in the ad.pictures, ) what you get. Nice, clean, quite, Good food, good bars, good beaches, good entertainment. Perfect for younger generation. Surge for best season watch for rainy months .

Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana: Great Resort

The Jewel Palm Beach was a great resort and would recommend highly recommend it. The restaurants were amazing with no reservation needed, we did all once; Japanese food was great, Italian we did twice again food and service wonderful, Mexican great and French wonderful. The bars at both the pool and lobby were great servers at both were fantastic. There is a mixologist every night with specialty drinks. Staff in Dominican are always friendly and the Jewel staff were especially friendly an [... read more]d helpful they obviously like their jobs. The rooms are clean and well stocked, with towels twice a day if needed. The bed was very comfortable we had a king, the pillows were not great but tolerable. Entertainment was great a singer every night followed by entertainment on the stage by the pool. Two nights we had silent disco which is so mush fun. We like smaller resorts so this was perfect. We’re not beach people but people we meet were very happy we loved the pools and had no problem finding chairs with umbrellas and if we didn’t the staff brought one to us.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: great resort

the resort was wonderful, Never having been to a resort before we weren't sure what to expect. It was amazing. Our room was perfectly located between the lobby/restaurant and the pool / ocean. Couldn't have been better everyone was so friendly andhelpful LOts of activities and the food was great

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Luxurious resort that was always very high energy

We loved our stay at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace. We stayed in one of the oceanfront suites, with the water and jungle just steps away. It was picturesque. We were premium level members, and found the service, the food and amenities of that tier absolutely perfect for what we were looking for. As for covid protocols and such, they had hand sanitizer in elevators and around restaurants, and the open air facility certainly helped keeping a fresh flow of air. There were plenty of servers and support  [... read more]staff, so I'd say they recovered quite well considering. Even the beach was cleaned every morning. Very nice vacation spot if you have a family or are up for a party. Not really suitable for a zen-like vacation.