OK but not great

We have travelled to all-inclusive resorts for thirty years and so we have a pretty good idea on the merits of those resorts we visit. The Be Live Canoa was clean and well kept, which wasn’t hard considering the time of year we were there (September). The food was OK but not great. The ocean was lovely but the beach was not walkable for the most part and the entry to the ocean is very rocky which certainly takes away from the enjoyment. Our biggest complaint was the constant upselling by staff [... read more] on a daily basis. You could not walk anywhere on any particular day without being followed and basically accosted by someone trying to sell you a membership in the VIP club or sell you something in their shop. Incredibly you could not get a decent glass of wine to have with dinner or at any of the bars. When we tasted our first glass, it was as close to vinegar as you can get. I returned our glasses to the bar and was told if we wanted a nice glass of wine we would have to get it through a VIP membership. The only alternative was buying a bottle to have with dinner. This is totally counter-productive to enjoying an all-inclusive vacation. On a last note I emailed the resort directly before we left and advised the resort that my wife had mobility issues and that we would appreciate a room on the ground floor. The resort ignored our request.

BE LIVE COLLECTION "CANOA" HORRIBLE RESORT

THE BE LIVE COLLECTION "CANOA" RESORT IN LA ROMANA IS THE WORST RESORT WE HAVE EVER BEEN TO AND WE HAVE BEEN TO MANY MANY RESORTS. WE WERE THERE FROM JULY 24th TO JULY 31st, 2019. WHERE DO I BEGIN. THE AIR CONDITIONING IN OUR ""FIRST"" ROOM DID NOT WORK - IT WAS 28 DEGREES. WE ASKED TO BE MOVED, OUR SECOND ROOM WAS A ""LITTLE"" BETTER BUT STILL VERY WARM TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. THE TEMPERTURE IN THAT ROOM WAS 25.5 DEGREES AND NEVER BUDGED DEFINATELY NOT ACCEPTABLE, BUT WE STAYED IN THIS ROOM ANY [... read more]WAY BECAUSE EARLIER THAT DAY MY HUSBAND OVERHEARD PEOPLE AT THE POOL ALSO COMPLAINING ABOUT THEIR A/C NOT WORKING. THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY BIRDS AT THIS RESORT. THERE IS POOP ALL OVER THE GROUNDS FROM THESE BIRDS ESPECIALLY THE TURKEYS. ONE TURKEY TRIED TO PECK A GENTLEMAN THAT WAS ON MOBILE WHEELCHAIR AND SOME TURKEYS MADE THEIR WAY INTO THE BUFFET WHERE ONE GIRL WAS STARTLED AND KEPT WAVING THEM AWAY BUT THEY WOULD NOT LEAVE - THIS IS SO UNSANITARY - JUST GET RID OF ALL THESE BIRDS. AGAIN VERY UNSANITARY. THE SWIM UP BAR IS A COMPLETE JOKE. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SERVICE THERE WHATSOEVER. THE BAR IS TWO SIDED, ONE PART BEING IN THE POOL (where there is no booze on that side of the bar???) AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS BAR IS BEING SERVED TO WALKERS BY. THERE WAS ALWAYS NO ONE ON THE POOL SIDE, LITERALLY PEOPLE WERE GETTING OUT OF THE POOL WALKING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BAR TO ORDER THEIR DRINKS AND GETTING BACK IN THE POOL - SO WHY BOTHER HAVING A ""SWIM UP"" BAR. ALSO THE ""PIER BAR/RESTAURANT IS A ""PAY"" BAR/RESTAURANT - THIS WAS NOT MENTIONED AND IS NOT NOTED ANYWHERE. WE SAT AT THE VERY END OF THE PIER ONE EVENING OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN AND SOMEONE APPROACHED US TELLING US WE COULD NOT SIT THERE THAT THIS PIER WAS A PAY BAR/RESTAURANT. THE PLACE IS OLD. IT DEFINATELY NEEDS SOME MAJOR REFURBISHING. A LOT OF THINGS ARE CRACKED AND BROKEN. GOING TO THE BEACH FROM THE POOL AREA, THERE ARE SO MANY ROCKS STICKING OUT OF THE SAND THAT IF YOU DON'T WATCH IT YOU CAN STUB YOUR TOES BADLY. THE OCEAN IS GORGEOUS, BUT YOU CANNOT GO IN IT BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY JAGGED ROCKS AT THE BOTTOM OF IT THAT IF YOU HAVE NO BEACH SHOES YOU DEFINATELY SCRAPE YOUR FEET BADLY. THE FOOD IS DECENT, BUT COULD USE IMPROVEMENT. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE TO GO AT NIGHT IF IT RAINS AS THE ""PLAZA"" IS NOT COVERED. THE BUFFET IS OPEN AREA, SO SMALL BIRDS COME IN AND NESTLE ON THE INSIDE PEAKS OF THE THATCHED ROOF, SO ONE TIME WE WERE EATING THERE AND BIRD DROPPINGS LANDED ON OUR TABLE. SO VERY DISGUSTING. ALSO, IF YOU LEAVE YOUR PLATE ON YOUR TABLE WITH FOOD TO GO GET WHATEVER, BIRDS FLY IN AND PICK AT YOUR FOOD. SO YOU ARE EATING FOOD THAT BIRDS HAVE BEEN PICKING ON. I WOULD DEFINATELY NOT RETURN TO THIS RESORT OR RECOMMEND IT FOR THAT MATTER. EVEN THOUGH THE PRICE WE PAID WAS REASONABLE, WE STILL THINK WE PAID WAY TOO MUCH FOR WHAT THIS RESORT HAS TO OFFER. LIKE I SAID THIS RESORT NEEDS MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR RENOVATION. IF I WAS OWNERS OF THIS RESORT, I WOULD BE EMBARRASSED TO SELL THIS RESORT TO VACATIONERS. WISH WE HAD GONE SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Great resort overall

Stayed at Be Live Canoa from July 8th - 15th. I stayed in block 5, 3rd floor, pool view room which was very close to the pool. Steps away and could be seen from my balcony. The beach was just on the other side of the pool. Buffet food was good, lots of selection and never had a problem finding something to eat. I also ate at the snack bar and that was good as well. Drinks were tasty, pool bar was convenient and close. Room was cleaned every day and drinks in mini-fridge were replaced daily [... read more] as well. My only complaint would be the filtration/cleaning of the pool. By mid-afternoon is was a bit dirty but I just took a dip in the ocean at that time. The colours of the ocean is the most beautiful I have seen and could not get enough of the view.

Good value for money

Not a 5 star but overall a good experience. Enjoyed the buffet and snack bar food. Room was cleaned and mini fridge was stocked everyday. Found staff to be friendly and hard-working.my only real complaint would be the cleanliness of the pool by early afternoon. Better filtration and cleaning is needed.

Beautiful resort

Beautiful place! Only went to one A la carte restaurant- Japanese. Excellent! Plenty of shops/boutiques on the resort for whatever you will need; souvenirs, clothes, liquor, jewelry, snacks...etc. Good size resort with good walking distances everywhere. Lots of birds, turkeys, ducks and a peacock on the grounds. A lot of European tourist. Our room was very spacious with closets and drawers. Did not like the bathroom area, glass doors for toilet and shower. No hooks to hang anything in the s [... read more]hower: towels, facecloths etc, (bring your own facecloths). Beach is nice but too crowded. You need to get up quite early every morning to reserve your chairs on the beach. Be sure to put an old t-shirt or old beach towels to reserve your chairs. We started using our resort towels and twice, someone stole a resort towel on 2 different days. Never had this happen to us before. I don't recommend leaving those resort towels unattended. We were not impressed! Security guards on beach don't seem to notice these people. You will pay 20$US if you do not return your towel card at checkout.

Beautiful Beach & Amazing Staff

Hotel grounds are well kept. Workers always making sure the grounds are maintained. Some rooms are more updated than others. But house keepers work hard and rooms are cleaned well. Beds are so comfy. We stayed in building 19. Japanese Restaurant so good and fun. Pizza Restaurant was simple but pizza was really good. Drinks are strong. Coffee bar amazing! Get the VIP package. Mario in the VIP lounge will be missed. Beach is beautiful. Entertainment staff are great and work very hard. [... read more] All main line staff spoke several languages. The vendors can be a little aggressive so that would be my only suggestion to management would be to ask them to tone it down a notch.

Great Beach,Good Resort, Amenities lacking. 3.5/5 Star Resort, not 5 or 4 star.

Pros: -Friendly Staff and efficient -ViP upgrade (25 USD/day/pp) is worth it for the Adults only part of pool and beach and room service and snack bar and pool bar and safe key and lounge bar and snacks and small minibar in room and fast WiFi. -Large rooms, lack decor and seem "tired". Comfortable beds. Good bluetooth speaker in the room with USB ports. Incense provided in rooms. Ensure tipping daily though for best room prep daily. -In room minibar was adequate with daily tipping Cons:  [... read more]-Towel service often runs out of clean beach towels. Only one towel per person permitted. -About 4 loungers in the VIP adults only part of the beach (mattresses with part shade) need to be squatted for at 06:00 in the A.M. with your towel. People hold them all day long with their towels. Its a "towel game". -Buffet can be underwhelming at times. -Billed as " Adults Only " resort but only the VIP areas are adults only. -Wifi is 10$/day if not with VIP. The free one is too slow. -Restaurants are very underwhelming. Limited free alcohol selections at supper meals are avalaible, as they prefer you order from the various bottles of wine available for Cash purchase outside of all-inclusive. Only the ViP restaurant was good enough. -Gift shops have limited selections of pharmaceuticals that are sold, along with Sunscreen, at 10 times the price of the same items in the shopping centers in town. -Electrical outlets in room use american style two-prong 110v system, but cannot plug in 3-pronged US electrical plugs (such as my laptop.) due to missing ground hole. -The GYM facility was very bad. One functioning treadmill with limited weight machines and difficult towel availability. -The use of table tennis paddles and various other recreational items on the beach required cash deposits. -Room service menu was limited. Sometimes hours of meals were not respected (menu states breakfast 'til 11am, but when you call at 10:40am they refuse breakfast and suggest you order the lunch items. -No hair conditioner provided, just shampoo and soap provided. -Room keys often de-magnetized requiring unplanned 20-minute walks back to the front desk to reset the cards every 48hrs or so. -Room toilets were located close to the beds so all body noises are heard by all in the room... -Room TV channels only has 3-4 english channels with no possibility for streaming or VOD or Netflix even if you bring a streaming HDMI device due to wifi firewalls. -Air-conditioning was not optimal in the top floors, and ceiling fan only worked at medium speed. -Single, not double, occupancy jacuzzi in the room. -Clothes dry racks not available in most rooms with stickers reminding everyone NOT to hang dry item onto the balcony rails everywhere.

Horrible experience

Grounds were amazing...service was only for the young cute girls...and watch out for the wet floors under the air ducts in front of your bedroom door with no signs...and the buffet was horrible...thank goodness for the Japanese restaurant

Worst resort I've ever been to

I've been to quite a few resorts in th Caribbean and this was the worst I've ever been to. Rooms were clean. Not enough staff in buffet area. 1 to 50 ratio approximately. Most meals were finished before water was served. First day food was good but went downhill from there. Experienced one part cooked burger in the snack bar. 24 bar was slow. Most nights standing in line for at least 10 minutes. Lots of good things about resort but reviews are about the bad parts. Lots of people that I talked  [... read more]to said they were repeat customers. Not sure why but they have their opinions also

Nice Hotel - Amazing Beach!

Second time to this resort and feel it was actually better last year. They are under new management and are changing things but didn't seem for the better. (Food is far more repetitive than last year). Upon reserving I have made notations on the file and then called a Trip Central Rep to make sure my ground floor request was noted due to mobility issues, and I asked for a particular building, plus a few other requests. Upon check-in, they told me there were no requests on my file and that they  [... read more]were putting me on the 3rd floor. I advised them I could not do the 3rd floor, and after going into the back room 3 times and 40 minutes later, I got a room but totally not what I requested. You would think they would take care of repeat guests!! On the good side, the Beach is Incredible and the grounds are maintained by a very set of hard working people!

Disappointingly NOT a 5 star!

My wife and I have had the good fortune to vacation extensively throughout the Caribbean. We've stayed at 3 stars to 5 stars and I would have to categorize Be Live Collection Canoa as a 4 star, and not a 5 star as their website suggests. We attended the resort the week of Feb. 15th, 2019. I'll comment on the pros and the cons and let you form your own conclusion. Pros We found the staff to be friendly and courteous, the wifi was excellent throughout the entire property, the washrooms throu [... read more]ghout the resort were clean and well stocked, our room was well maintained, the entertainment was good, the beach is beautiful, plenty of lounge chairs and shade, but I'll comment more on the beach below, resort was overall well kept, short drive from/to the airport...sounds good so far. Cons The food in the buffets was disappointing! Orange juice consisted of 'Tang' powdered orange juice, eggs were either omelettes or fried, no boiled, or otherwise, syrup dish for the pancakes/waffles CONSTANTLY went empty - no one replacing it, people left waiting, two types of cereal...Fruit Loops and Raisin Bran, milk containers CONSISTENTLY empty - no one replacing them, people left waiting (lots of almond milk though)....they could use a buffet staff member keeping track of what is running low/empty and see that it gets replaced, food was REPETITIVE - pool area buffet especially, you could have broccoli, potatoes and cauliflower for supper and see it again for breakfast, there are more kinds of pasta that could be presented throughout the week than spaghetti and rigatoni, and the sauce was of poor quality. The staff in the buffet came to our table on 2 occasions at suppertime throughout the week asking if we would like more water/wine...that was frustrating. The pool was clean but the water was very cold!...few people swimming in it throughout the week. 2019 - solar heaters do an amazing job at heating pools and there was plenty of sun. The beach - step into the water and it is very rocky and slippery, my wife slipped getting out of the water and cut her foot, some snorkeling, but it is way out there by the roped swimming perimeter - with motor boats zipping closely by. The entertainment started late - 10 pm. After a 6:30 - 7 pm supper you had a long, near 3 hour wait (chat/drink) - how about starting at 9 pm, as many other resorts do, then people could sit in the lounge areas after the 1 hour show and chat/drink, probably a better start time for the many young children at the resort. I believe that in most instances you get what you pay for. The cost of this vacation was less than what we would have paid for at a 5 star like the Riu, or Royalton or Dreams. In balance, I definitely would have to categorize the Canoa as a 4 star resort.

Lovely! !

I really enjoyed it. The staff were lovely . The beach also! A special shout to Juan from snack bar/Mexican a LA carte took such good care and the mexican food yum. Also Yun Yun from the animation dept. Lovely lady. She even went out of her way when she had seen I had cut my knee to get a life guard to come and fix me up! The grounds are beautiful.

Good, but wouldn't come in the holiday season.

I enjoyed staying at the hotel, but wouldn't recommend coming here during the holiday season. The grounds are nice: clean, lots of birds and very green. The beach is nice and clean as well and there is an artificial reef, the fish were very friendly. Once you get in the water the bottom is mostly rocks. However, the lack of furniture in the room was upsetting. There was no desk, no chairs and the sad shelf that we did have was slanted and we were afraid to put too much stuff on it. The holid [... read more]ay dinners were good, but it was just too crowded and loud to enjoy it to the fullest. Also, the service wasn't on the level. It was hard to get the attention of the waiters for anything during meals and their English is generally poor. But the second that about a third of people left, the service became soooooooo much better. I would say that one can definitely give this hotel a try in the less not so busy seasons and surely you will get more bank for your buck.

Decent Stay

Not a bad place depending on what your looking for. Beach was nice a bit rocky however. We chose the vip master junior ocean view suite adult only our ocean view was ground level and partial. Room was decent a bit dated parts nothing some fresh paint couldn’t fix. Food was very repetitive and not the best. I would say 75% don’t speak English and their was a lack of communication throughout our stay so you kind of have to figure things out on your own. Overall the weather was nice and it was  [... read more]a good vacation however probably would choose a different resort next time.

Fabulous Vacation

This hotel is beautiful, well kept, lots of greenery and beautiful beach...Our room was block 6, closest you could get to the beach...Food was wonderful, good selection and lots to eat...I wouldn't waste my time on the Pizza Alacarte, better pizza in the buffet...we asked for an Italian restaurant and she said KM Pizza was Italian but it is just pizza...International restaurant was terrific, great service and good food, small portions but very good, staff was excellent....this was my third trip  [... read more]there and I will definitely go again...24 hour food and drink, clean hotel, comfortable beds, great service, beautiful beach. Only downside to the trip was we had our towels stolen twice, not the resorts fault but watch the guests, I travel 3 times a year to the Caribbean for the last 15 years and have never had my towel stolen yet. Safe is not included in your room. The resort seemed quite full when we were there and there was very rarely a line up, if there was, it went quick...overall, it is a wonderful resort and I will be returning

Good Resort!

Be Live Hotel was beautiful. The grounds were lush and well taken care of. Our room was standard so pretty basic. But we didn't come for the room. A few minor issues with the aircon which was dissapointing. The pool was fabulous and the beach was amazing! Food was good and the people were very friendly. The nightly shows were great; especially the Michael Jackson show. The dancers were so good and have a lot of talent. The one thing I didn't love was the pressure to buy stuff from the v [... read more]endors they allow on site. While they were friendly I just didn't enjoy the constant pressure. Overall though this hotel was pretty good.....we relaxed and enjoyed our family vacation to the max!

Nice Stay !!

We had great relaxing week. Very clean and food was typical resort food . Buffet could try to have better warming trays !!! Best thing got an Upgrade to a VILLA... Amazing... Resort was too big for us !!

Very poor for price....

The grounds were kept nice..the rooms were dated but fine except the bathroom toilet would not flush..the bathroom sink wouldn’t drain..we even upgraded ourselves for VIP..$300.00....really...there are 2 classes of VIP. A and B I presume..we only pd enough for B I guess... if you speak only English good luck..vip breakfast bar..bacon and eggs didn’t .exist. We waited 15 min for coffee, only to find when waiter left that it was freezing...and another 15 min for new one..bacon and eggs was ac [... read more]tually 2 eggs... never all easy over..and bacon had to come from buffet. Was gonna be 5 min.. after spending so much time waiting on the not so easy over eggs, the bacon still hadn’t arrived..still waiting.........food was garbage really..beach was sardines in a can..very unhappy staff..we had ala cart one night at Mexican and the waitress was the best...most fun...AND could speak English without having to get somebody else to explain...........all in all I would not recommend...I have better treatment in Cuba at a 3 1/2 star....really...and could have been there for 3 weeks for the cost of one at be live.....hope this helps so body who only speaks English....

Terrible worst resort we have been to.

1, Hardly anyone spoke English they catered more to the Spanish speaking people. 2, We upgraded… really couldn’t see the benefit except for the adult pool… The a la cartes were a joke, Japanese got a pass… Supposed to get premium drinks 🍹 Not one of the party of 10 could drink the red or white wine, that’s so you buy a bottle that costs a fortune… 3, So after upgrading flight, & amenities in the hotel, which has mold and rooms very damp We all were counting the days t [... read more]o come home…You guys need to reavalueate this place… Won’t go into trying to get some bacon 🥓

Very disapointed.

Our party off 8 people were very upset about this hotel,the food was the worse we have ever had on a resort.Hardely anyone spoke English ,Just to get breakfast was an nightmare.All 8 off us paid an extra $300,00 a couple to get upgraded to VIP.but it did not get much better.The food was still the same,food was always cold even the soup,I don't know how many times we had to send our food back for one reason or another.I really don't know how they rate this a four star.Ive been to a three star in  [... read more]Cuba & it was a lot better than this.For $1500.00 each it was a rip off.I would never go back to this resort.& I would not recommend it to any off my Friends.i don't usually put reviews on here but I feel people should know what they are getting into before they spend their hard earned Money.