Catalonia Royal Bavaro: An Amazing Resort!

Our recent stay at Catalonia Royal Bavaro in Punta Cana was nothing short of exceptional. This is a beautifully designed, expansive property that thoughtfully caters to both adults and families. The adults-only side offered both calm and lively areas, while the family section was vibrant and energetic — the best of both worlds without either feeling compromised. The grounds were stunning: lush, tropical, and impeccably maintained. The rooms were spacious and spotless, with options to sui [... read more]t different preferences. We split our 2 week stay between a Privileged room and a two story unit with its own infinity pool-both came with extras of which we took full advantage. Dining was a true highlight. The resort offered numerous à la carte restaurants, each with its own theme and ambiance. The buffets were equally impressive. The food was fresh, varied, and beautifully presented. Our dietary restrictions were well accommodated . Getting around the property was easy thanks to well-maintained pathways, and a shuttle service that was quick, reliable, and plentiful. What truly set this resort apart, however, was the staff. From arrival to departure, every interaction was marked by warmth, professionalism, and genuine hospitality. Their attentiveness and friendliness elevated the entire experience. This is a resort we recommend without hesitation — for relaxation, celebration, or simply soaking up the Caribbean sun in style.

Occidental Caribe: Beautiful Beach

While this hotel is very large and the staff are wonderful, there is areas of the hotel that are run down. We had issues in our room the first night with water dripping from the ceiling in the washroom. We were moved to another room after many trips of going to the front desk and complaining. It was only when I spoke to a butler named Juan Carlos that we actually were moved to another room. He is the one that did everything possible to make our stay amazing. The grab bars in the shower in both o [... read more]f our rooms were protruding out of the wall ready to fall. The grab bars in the elevator were protruding out of the wall and one night it actually got ripped off and it was hung there for a day before someone actually removed it leaving two gaping metal holes on the wall. Food was amazing. A huge selection. I had to get up early to save beach chairs if I wanted some as they got taken up early. There is a lot though. But I stay here again? For the price probably not. If I got a good deal maybe yes. Another issue we ran into was my husband and I both got very sick 3 days before our trip was over. We ended up with a respiratory illness. With the amount of people touching the same utensils in the buffet, it's bound to happen. I would much prefer the food being served so only one person touches the utensils. I know higher end resorts have this way of doing things.

Punta Cana Princess: Beautiful Beach and Great Staff

The grounds and beach are well maintained. The food is good and the staff are great. The rooms are in dire need of updates but bearable based on the limited amount of time spent in the room. There was a couple of problems with leaking pipes and lack of hot water several times.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: BEAUTIFUL RESORT

The hotel and food was great except my husband getting food poisoning the day we were leaving from eating a pre-made mini sandwich at the buffet. Only took15 minutes and he was vomiting and diarrhea. Took 2 days to recover. Getting up at 5.30 am to get a chair in the shade was ridiculous. People would not sit in them all morning as they spent the morning at the beach. We were told the second day by a guest that if you want to secure a chair you pay the pool guys. He said thats just the  [... read more]way it is.

VIK Hotel Arena Blanca: Very Relaxing Resort

This is a very nice small resort. The beach was lovely for swimming with a gentle sloping sand bottom. The pool was cleaned daily and was refreshing. The grounds were lovely with flowering plants throughout and maintained regularly. There were 2 menu type restaurants which we did not attend as my husband is a picky eater; the buffet suited us better. We found the food was good on the buffet with a good variety to choose from and something different everyday. The area in the main reception bu [... read more]ilding was a great place to relax and have a coffee or drink out of the sun. Also there is a pergola with vines overhead with flowers, also nice to relax and chat. The entertainment was geared at getting guests involved, dancing or participating in some way. The rooms need some work. Our first room had 2 double beds so we requested a King room because we were there for our anniversary. Were were given a King room and everything was good except the sliding door onto the patio was very hard to open and close and the closet doors did not work. Some rooms have been updated as we could see new sliding doors have been installed. We were provided with 2 large bottles of water daily in our room and there was a small refrigerator. The staff were generally friendly but did not speak much English, I found my Spanish translation app helpful at times. Over all I would return to Vik Arena Blanca as we had a lovely relaxing time.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Great getaway destination!

The Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana was a great destination for us! The grounds are very well kept, the food is amazing the staff are friendly and helpful, they even had Canadian Club whisky and clamato juice for cocktails! The spa was a great treat for us but the cost being in US dollars is not ideal for any Canadian!

Melia Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort Adults: "Perfect Holiday"

We traveled to the Melia Punta Cana Wellness and Beach Resort,The Level, on Feb 6-13.We had a very “special week” …..the management of this hotel can be very proud to have such an amazing team. The grounds on this resort are breathtaking, right out of a picture book. I could go on about the Hotel, the dining and the beauty of the grounds, but that would take up too much space and time …...so let me just thank a few special people who made our trip special. Armando Brito: We corresponded wit [... read more]h Armando several times well before our actual vacation date and Armando assured us that he would do his best to look after our special requests. Armando made us feel like we made the right decision about booking this vacation even before we arrived at the Melia.Thank you again Armando for all of your follow up. Alejandro Estrella: Alejandro was our Concierge and he looked after “all” are requests during our stay at the Melia. I can't say enough about him. He was in contact with us every single day during our holiday. Alejandro went above and beyond to make sure we had the best experience at the Melia Punta Cana Beach Resort. Gracias Alejandro. Aldo Rodriguez: Aldo is one of the drivers that will shuttle you from one end of the resort to the other. He truly is one of the best ambassadors this resort could ever wish to have. My mornings would usually start with an early morning shuttle ride to the coffee shop and I always enjoyed my conversations with Aldo.......what a nice way to start my day. Albania Casimir: is the hostess at the Quimera Restaurant. We always looked forward to our breakfast and lunches for she would always be there to greet us with her friendly smile and a warm “Hola mi amore”. She would always come over to our table to make sure we had everything we needed. Miguel Linares: Miguel always made time to come over to our table no matter how busy he was, he would come over to check in and make sure all was well. Gracias Miguel. Euris: Euris worked at the Quimera Restaurant and was a true gentleman. He always ensured that you were happy with your meal and if we needed anything. There are many reasons that make one want to keep returning to the same resort year after year however the above mentioned individuals are a “big” reason why my wife and I will definitely be returning next year to the Melia Punta Cana Wellness and Beach Resort. Don & Rosanna

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Wonderful Foodie Resort

Positives 1. Clean, comfortable beds and rooms Extras - Shampoo, conditioner, body wash included Make up mirror with light, magnification 2. Excellent selection on buffet 3. Speciality restaurant 4. Great bar beverages and good selection of non alcoholic drinks 5. Entertainment had something every night but mostly oriented to families. Not cruise ship caliber entertainment but not nothing. 6. Beautiful long, beach but very powerful undertow 7. Diamond club perks, early [... read more] buffet seating with designated area Top shelf liquor for drinks Designated beach area loungers 8. The wrist band you wear is your door key 9. Best check in we've experienced because we were diamond club. Negatives 1. Food allergies are requested by staff but not acted upon. I had to ask for a manager in order to have it attended. 2. They tried to sell a membership into their resorts. Very heavy handed sales pitch 3. Lots of families (not what we were looking for) 4. No designated smoking section outside at pool and beach areas 5. Occasional loss of water in rooms 6. Although you have access to other affiliated resort the foot print of the main resort is relatively small in comparison to other resorts we've been in.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Amazing Resort

Great resort with awesome food! We paid for privilege and were able to eat at an a la carte restaurant each night. Very clean rooms and grounds. The staff were amazing! Great beach and pool. Activities every night. It was so much fun.

Melia Punta Cana Beach Wellness Resort Adults: Average at best !

We’ve been to Punta Cana well over a dozen times and this Resort is mediocre! The grounds are mature and lush due to its age but the resort itself is getting dated and worn. Only 2 a La cart restaurants to choose from and they do book up fast. The Buffet was good but not spectacular. Units are relatively clean and comfortable. Poolside and beach loungers are taken by 7am so reserve your spot asap every morning. All in all, it’s an ok place but there are other resorts (Lopesun and Princess) I [... read more] would pick before this one

Viva Miches by Wyndham: Overall a very clean, reasonably sized resort

We went down with my brother's family for a week, all teenaged kids. It was a pretty solid little resort. Pros: -Very walkable. You can walk from the furthest room to the beach or pool in 2 or 3 minutes -Clean and modern. The facilities are in pretty good shape -Friendly staff. I stayed in the DR a few years ago and the staff were dead eyed and miserable. They seem friendlier here -Food was good. We found the buffets and a-la-carte's to be sufficient. We didn't get bored. -Cats  [... read more]and dogs on site were a plus for us -Beach is really great. Large and long Cons: -Aggressive timeshare VIP salespeople lurking around every corner. Huge turn off. -Meal at the latin fusion a la carte took 3 hours -The stage is in the main area where the bar is, so we had to hang out in the lobby with no bar at night to avoid the noise. If you'd like a detailed review and walkthrough, I made one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb6je1qN9xw

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Disappointing Stay

We stayed at Royalton Bavaro from February 8–15 with a group of 10 (four rooms). Unfortunately, this experience fell far below expectations for a resort of this level. Prior to arrival and again at check-in, we requested that our rooms be in the same building. We were assured this would be accommodated by the front desk employee, but upon arrival to rooms we were split between Buildings 16, 17, and 18. We were not instructed to download the Royalton app and were not explained how to get to ou [... read more]r rooms and were not offered an intro to the resort(as this is usually done at check in or at the room when bags are dropped off). The rooms were visibly dirty. There was mold in the bathrooms and stains on bedding, along with a strong mildew smell. One room’s air conditioning produced a sewage odor when turned on(building 17), and another had a broken mini-fridge that took five days to repair. Housekeeping was inconsistent — toilets were not cleaned daily, bedding was never changed during our seven-night stay, and surfaces were not properly wiped down. We often cleaned areas ourselves. Dining was inconsistent and, at times, unacceptable. The Steakhouse was excellent. The Zen restaurant was enjoyable, but food was just ok. The Italian restaurant experience was abysmal, half our group left without eating. Service was terrible - drink orders took 30min. Food items did not all arrive and food took over 90 minutes to be delivered. The main buffet had an unpleasant odor, chairs were sticky or had food debris on them, and disorganized service — we frequently waited for cutlery and water after already having food at the table. More concerning were the food safety practices observed at the beach/pool buffet, including cross-contamination between raw and cooked items. On one occasion, a staff member handled raw chicken and then fresh tomatoes without changing gloves. During our stay, 6 of the 10 people in our group became ill. Four were violently ill and confined to their rooms for approximately two days. This significantly impacted our vacation and raised serious concerns about sanitation and food handling. There were positives: the beach is beautiful and the seaweed was minimal, and the café was excellent — great pastries, sandwiches, coffee, quick service, and consistently reliable options. The daily/nightly entertainment was excellent and shows were great. The pools and lazy river were extremely cold, to the point where we only used the lazy river once despite it being one of the reasons we booked. Morning beach walks also revealed leftover glassware, beer cans, and debris from the day before in and around all the beach loungers. Lastly, if bringing Dominican pesos for tipping, bring small bills. Throughout the week, the lobby, casino, and gift shop were unable to provide change, which made tipping difficult. Overall, this stay did not reflect the quality expected at this price point. While there were a few highlights, the cleanliness, food safety concerns, and multiple illnesses made this a very disappointing experience.

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Good Resort

The grounds were well kept and beautiful. The meals at the buffet were very good with many, many choices. The entertainment at the theater was exceptional and very professional. The meals at the Italian, Spanish and Steak House were first class. The maid service left a bit to be desired--the maid would take the dirty towels but did not leave as many clean ones as she removed--however the room was always cleaned very well. The room itself needed to be refurbished---the bathroom counter was in  [... read more]bad shape and needs replacement---we arrived very late on Feb. 8, 2026 and there was water leaking from the light fixture directly above the toilet so that when a person sat on the toilet the water dripped right on them--this was reported in the morning and did not happen again---however when the shower was used water dripped from the ceiling in the entrance. Overall we enjoyed our time at this resort.

Secrets Playa Esmeralda Resort and Spa: Beautiful Beach!

Disappointed in Resort with it being a New Resort it was run down. It didn't look New at all. Leaking ceilings in many Hallways. Broken stair rails. Mold on outside of some buildings. With water leakage, many hallways had lots of water on floors that wasn't even cleaned up. The secure lock on room door didn't work. The food was okay. Buffet was ALWAYS COLD. Not a good buffet at all. A few of the restaurants were okay but far from our expectations for being a Secrets. Also, we paid for Pre [... read more]ferred Club. That didn't mean anything there. There was no identification between reg. Guest and preferred. They used the pool and the bar. Only thing they couldn't do was go into the preferred Restaurant. That was a big joke there. Also for being an adults only Resort.......The centre square entertainment was for Dreams as well so Always had lots of kids as well as in Amphitheater lots of kids. The staff was phenomenal, we enjoyed them so much. Special thanks to our Butler SIMON, he was amazing. I love Secrets, but disappointed in this one.

Ocean El Faro: Clean and Beautiful

A large resort with many areas to occupy your day. Many staff working throughout the day and night, cleaning the pool, tending the garden, cleaning public areas and beach. Entertainment was plentiful and spread out from family areas and adult only areas. We changed our room from rooftop to swim up adults only area. This worked out as we now had a swim up facing the sun, near the action of a pool and bar. If you want privacy and quiet choose room top. We also upgraded to privileged, $575 cdn pp. [... read more] We didn't find it worth the price with other resorts at half that price. The provided butler did make our reservations for dinner, get us a dehumidifier , and wine and champagne. Our upgraded mini bar wasn't in place until day 4, which didn't matter as the excellent bar staff looked after us and our neighbors. The lighthouse restaurant, privileged only, was the gem of the resort, excellent food and service, top notch. A la carte restaurants were all good. The buffet was so so. ( We only went once and not impressed because the the light house was outstanding. The lazy river was nice, tubes provided, or bring your own. In room coffee was awful, no tea( hot water) available. The only good coffee was Mike coffee shop, a good variety of hot and cold drink with terrific friendly service. We did find that too many sales people trying to sell their chain program, a little annoying. Beach chairs and area was terrific, only drawback was the water was inaccessible to swim, of f which we knew. A cove usable to swim but was not owned by the resort and garbage washing up made it unappealing. 2 areas, family and adult , both terrific in there rite. We had a late departure flight, we left our luggage in the lobby lockup and enjoyed the facilities for the day. They booked us a shower located near the lobby before our departure. Thank you for Shannon and trip central for organizing our trip, worry free, nice transfers.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Big fun resort

Huge resort Staff were wonderful Drinks very good Room slightly outdated Lots of bars and restaurants Kid friendly Adult friendly Beach is beautiful Nice touch with water park Felt safe Pretty lobby

Occidental Punta Cana: English speaking guests not welcome!

This is a beautiful property with multiple pools and easy access to the beach. Some of the quality however has been compromised since we last there in 2020. The steak restaurant for example was huge disappointment. The steaks we were served was certainly not of the same quality as what we had experienced in our previous visits. The biggest shock however was how unhospitable the front desk and guest services staff were, to the point of being rude. Many of them spoke little or no English and made [... read more] no attempt to be helpful. Announcements of pool activities were only in Spanish. There were about 40% of us non Spanish speaking and we felt very unwelcome. For a major chain like Barcelo this was very disappointing. We had the same problem at the airport. We were told there was no English spoken and when I asked for a wheelchair for my mobility issues, I was told there are none in the airport. When I explained about my difficulty, the staff member shrugged! Not only will we not be returning to this hotel, I will not return to this unwelcoming and monolingual country!

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: DO NOT TRAVEL HERE!

All I have to say is terrible food, rude and lazy service at restaurants and bars unless you tip big, room was under construction and overall not worth the money. Got taken to the hospital due to parasites and food poisoning from poor hygiene and food prep practices.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: The resort was amazing..spacious and super clean

The hotel grounds were beautiful.spacious .wonderful places to sit and have coffee..very , very clean The preferred bars and their bartenders were comedians, knew their capabilites of mixing drink The entertainment was good for the most part, however our entainter Gregory, was top notch. Our servers in the preferred section were courteous and always arrived, with our drinks and food with a smile

Punta Cana Princess: Always amazing

This is our 4th time staying at the Punta Cana Princess and it never fails to disappoint. Plenty of variety to choose from for every meal at the buffet. A-la--carts do not require reservations and have been updated. The food choices are delicious. The staff are all very friendly and most speak English. The beach is beautiful but beware, due to water levels rising, it is not as vast as it used to be. You also don't have to wake at the crack of stupid to reserve a chair unless you want an umbrella [... read more] at the pool. One downside for me, maybe not everyone, is the new bathroom design. Private toilet, semi private shower but no door disconnecting the bathroom from the main room.