Hotel was lovely, quaint, chick! It was refreshing to stay at a small resort for a change, be able to walk from one end to the other in less than 5 minutes. And did not give anything up in regard to facilities, still had wonderful restaurants, pool areas, and entertainment. Staff were plentiful, courteous, and resort was clean, although the resort is starting to show signs of wear. Food was hot, tasty, and well presented.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Trish101 -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Wonderful time had by all!!
Great family vacation, family friendly with all the amenities. Totally recommend to others. The pools and entertainment were fun. Load of memory opportunities. Food and beverages average but plentiful. Kids had a blast and were well entertained. Nice and relaxing otherwise.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Panpan -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Great resort
From food to staff (especially Daritza by the pool)to everything you want, Ambar was fantastic! Great times ðŸ‘
First time we stayed at an all adult resort and we loved it! The rooms were awesome and the whole staff made our stay easy! We will definitely go backðŸ‘
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
El Petito -
Verified Purchaser
Catalonia Bavaro Resort: R&R in Punta Cana
We really liked this resort and we would go back.
Pros: The layout was great; the newly renovated privileged room was clean and spacious with the fridge always stocked; the food in all of the restaurants including the two buffets was very good; the pool was large enough and had ample seating with umbrellas; the beach was cleaned every morning and had a water walking path that was very cool. Fransisco at Margarita's pool bar was fantastic. And Isa at Curacao Bar was exceptional.
Cons: Th[... read more]e breakfast buffet staff need to be more attentive to the guests as we were totally ignored two mornings. The Marvillaoso staff need to take "no" for answer the first time and not bother guests repeatedly. It would have been nice if there was a sports bar since we like to watch the NHL playoffs, but we knew upon booking that there was no such bar.
N/A: We didn't take part in the activities or the shows or the disco. But all seemed very well attended and fun.
It was a great vacation for us as we just wanted great weather and R&R - we got both!
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Candace -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Absolutely the Best Resort in Punta Cana
We picked this resort as we stayed there two years ago and loved it. I really was blown away with the newly renovated rooms. The new coffee shop, sports bar, and updated restaurants were amazing. We highly recommend this resort. We will be returning next year.
Had an absolutely fantastic 10 days at this resort. The resort grounds were very well kept. Buffet was great so much so that we didn’t do any of the ala carts. The beach was fantastic with plenty of shade with lots of seats available at almost any time of the day.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Superb 5 star resort
The grounds were well kept and the room was imaculate. The service was impeccable. The À la Carte restaurants had exquisite service and the same applied to the buffet which had a different theme every night.
All the drinks listed on the all inclusive list were readily available.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
River rat -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Love this place
Let me start by saying I've been to this resort many times. Esmeralda, green, blue, and now aquamarine, which is green again. The people that work there have always been great, very friendly, always willing to help. The beach is amazing, that's all I need to say about that. The rooms in aquamarine need a little care. As it's getting a bit run down, but the maids keep this place clean. The buffets are good, food is plentiful and overall good. If you want to do a la carte restaurants, you better b[... read more]ook the ones you want before you arrive. As its hard to get in otherwise. Not all a la carte restaurants are good, my favorite is mashua, a Peruvian Japanese fusion. Very good. The others are decent, but one I won't go back to is m.e.a.t. all about steak and meat cuts. Ordered rib eye and got something else, I thought a one off. But other guests saying same thing. Trying other cuts didn't help, couldn't chew the meat. I'm not blaming the cooks, they are given bad meat to work with. The shows are good, they work hard to try making guests happy. I will be back to this resort, love the beach and the resort is well priced compared to some area resorts. The new luxury anbar section is the renovated blue. Looks good, I may try this section in off peak time to get lower prices. We spend every day on the beach so no coments on the pools, but the pools look amazing. Lastly, the best parts about this resort are the beach, the staff and the cleanliness. Will definitely go back.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Clean Resort
The hotels grounds were very well kept and maintained. The hotel room toilet and AC worked and there was always plenty of hot water in our villa. The only issue we had during our stay was our safe battery had died in the room right before supper time, we called the front desk and the battery was changed out within 10 minutes! The food at the resort was vast but the buffet had mostly basic foods with not much flavor. The ala carte restaurants were much better than the buffet but you are only allo[... read more]wed 3 during your stay(Always order the beef, girlfriend ordered chicken and got chicken wings and not chicken breast). The pools were clean and the beach had lots of Palapas and sun chairs. We saw the beach operator with his tractor cleaning the sand every day.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Andrea -
Verified Purchaser
Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: Great vacation at a great resort!
I've done many vacations in the Caribbean, and this was a first where I had very little to complain about.
My mother and I stayed at Grand Sirenis from April 7-14.
What appealed to me most was that it was a newly renovated resort. The room we had was clean and new. No moldy/musty smell we often have in humid tropical countries. We had a large room with a king size bed and a separate "den" with a second TV. Check in was quick and efficient (a first) and was very impressed that they asked t[... read more]hat we go eat asap, as the lunch buffet was quickly closing up for the afternoon. Food was great, enough selection at the buffets. The a la carte restaurants were so so, was disappointed with the portion size at the Mediterranean restaurant and the American diner took long to come up with a burger and fries. Was happy though with the Italian a la carte, and the Italian at the buffet. The beach was great, with loads of chairs to choose from. There was some seaweed accumulation, but I think that's seasonal, and goes with the tide. It was cleaned up the next day. Pool was nice too, but the more shallow pool was where most entertainment took place and a little noisy. The other section of the pool was less noisy, however deeper than 6 feet, and only good if you can swim in deep water. All in all a great resort.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Carol65 -
Verified Purchaser
Excellence Punta Cana: Exceptional resort
This was our second visit to this resort and we found the renovations they did quite nice.Cushioned double lounges around the pool and facing the ocean were the best! A small outside hot tub was appreciated ,very soothing! I was a bit disappointed that the menus were changed but in all fairness it’s because my husband and I are notâ€foodies†who will try anything so not the resort’s fault.We always found something delicious to eat though.The new larger showers are great and more modern r[... read more]ainhead fixtures are nice but one end is open and with A/C on I was cold!haha.The pool was extended and a swim up bar put in which was great.I highly recommend this resort!
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Great resort for kids!
We had a great stay with our 4 and 8 year old. This was a good value resort for our family. There was a bit of s scramble for pool chairs in the morning so I recommend getting up early. It would be great if the hotel had towel cards do people couldn’t leave their towels all over the chairs to reserve them.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Tropical Deluxe Princess: Beautiful gardens and wildlife
We enjoyed our stay because of the very beautiful landscaping and presence of wildlife. The restaurants and buffet were excellent. Lots of choices at the buffet. The restaurants were great. The servers were excellent. Cleaning was staff were very accomodating. Reception staff were fine. The only suggestion I would have is better maintenance in the rooms, ie plumbing and a/c. Hench we were required to move from the original room we were given. We met others with similar issues as we did.
I wou[... read more]ld recommend this hotel if some updating had taken place.
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Rhonda -
Verified Purchaser
Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Large beautiful resortðŸ‘ðŸ¼
Grounds n people are wonderful!! Was easy to get into dinners!! Drinks were very good!! Food was good!! Didn’t take long to get there from airport!! Easy check in!! They had us in a 3 bed room which I didn’t want they switched me to a king room !! 😊 Can walk for miles on this beautiful beach ðŸ¹ðŸ¸ðŸºðŸ¦‹
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Punta Cana Princess: Perfect vacation
This was a beautiful resort. Views from our room were stunning. This was one of our favourite trips. Food was good. Rooms were very clean and we'll maintained throughout the day. Service was impeccable. Staff were personable, warm and friendly. Beach was kept clean and organized. Weather was fantastic. Loved it!!!
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Grand Memories Punta Cana: Great family trip!
All was great. Staff was fantastic, service was quick. DO NOT DO THE TIME SHARE THING! Although the "free" steak dinner at the Royalton was amazing, it was not worth the 3 hours of my time. I had a new "blended" family go, and the water slides, etc. got them to bond. My only complaint (other than the time share) would be that there were limited seats at the pool and beach with shade. Otherwise, I loved it. Will definitely return...
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
StephBee -
Verified Purchaser
Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: 1 week in paradise
My second time coming to D.R but this time in Punta Cana at the Be Live Collection, it was
AMAZING! I booked it 10 days in advance and got an amazing deal. The staff is super
Friendly and helpful and the resort and beach is 10/10. No complaints what so ever. The food was great compared to other all inclusive I have been to. I was shocked in how well everything went considering how last minute we booked it. I’m very thankful I was able to go on this trip and thanks to the travel agent Ariff f[... read more]or
Helping me out over the phone. White sand and light blue water, very bright and relaxing resort with lots of activities going on and great buffet and Al La Carte. I also realized the staff is nicer at this resort because they get treated better here,
Everyone is happy and super friendly. It was perfect
For my
Boyfriend and I. I hope to return soon. We had a VIP room but in the regular section and it was more than perfect. Our room was near literally everything! I didn’t hear any kids or crazy people which I loved and I didn’t pay extra to stay in the kid-free zone, I also liked how there are so many
Different types of people (single couples families). Another plus, is that there are local gift shops 1 min out of the resort and they are super friendly as well with amazing deals, this trip
Was beyond perfect and I’m so happy! Love it thanks Trip central
Location
Value
Food
Beach
Rooms
Service
Helpful?
Report
Private -
Verified Purchaser
Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Very disappointed
We just got back home on Monday. The DR is a beautiful country and the locals are very friendly.
We were VIP on the adult side of the resort.
The room itself was okay, the bathroom ceiling leaked, but that's to be expected, the water was hot and we had water every day. The bed was comfortable enough and the pillows were great! We did notice though that our room was not as nice as many of the other rooms were, and when you pay the extra for VIP you expect your room to be as nice as everyone el[... read more]se that paid the same. The room is in need of upgrades. Our fridge did break, but they fixed it. TV didn't work but we didn't bother with it anyways. We were in block 2.
We tipped the maid and the person that restocks the fridge daily. The fridge was never restocked. We had to chase down someone every day to get stuff for the fridge. The maid never once left a flower in the room or animals made out of towels on the bed. The sheets were still full of sand every night and we even had to chase them down one night to clean our room. We also had to chase them for towels. The maid also walked in our room at 7:30 one morning while we were sleeping and woke us up. Also, you could tell they were in and out of your room a few times a day after cleaning it so make sure you use the safe. Some peoples safes were broken into while we were there, but ours was good.
Now for the staff. When we arrived our luggage was removed from the bus on the family side of the resort. We had a person tag it to the adult side and then we were told to leave it there and we were taken over to the adult VIP lounge. We had someone take our info and go to check us in for us. We were told our rooms would be ready by 2 and then he disappeared never to be seen again.
At 2 someone said our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3. They tell you to go and enjoy yourself while you wait, but keep in mind, you still have your carry on, purse, etc with you and your sunscreen is back in the family lobby in your checked baggage. So you can only basically wait. Between 3 - 3:30 you find out your room is ready. They don't come and tell you this, you have to keep going to the desk to see if it's ready yet.
Now remember, your luggage is still on the other side so they tell you they will go and get it and bring it to your room. This took another hour and a half. We tipped the bell boy, and he gave us a dirty look and walked away. No thank you, nothing! I also need to add in here that a few people went and got their sunscreen out of their bags and one couple even picked up their own bags. None of them were even questioned, so basically anyone could have taken our luggage.
The staff at the hotel didn't have a clue what they were doing. Trying to book a restaurant took 5 days and when we did finally get one the restaurant didn't have our reservation. Hubby got up at 6am because they said you had to book in lobby early. At 7 she said come back he's not here. He said when she said I don't know, so went back at 8 and there is a line up with people booking with her. The same person that told us to come back to book because the person wasn't there that does the booking!
With VIP adult you get a $200 room credit. We had to ask our Air Canada rep what its good for because staff don't know. He says we can buy a bottle from the bar. The bar says cash only. Had to go back and get the AC rep to get it for us.
We never once saw the butler we were supposed to have even though we didn't plan on using him. We had to use same beach towels every day because there were never any clean ones (not a major thing).
The entertainment and bar staff were great but the hotel staff were lazy and wanted tips for their laziness. They were also rude.
The beach is full of hecklers and they come at you over and over again. They don't bother you after you give them a firm no. They were nice guys other than the constant selling, but they are just trying to make a living.
Myself and others we knew also got food poisoning. So, after 5 of our 7 days we were ready to go home and had just had enough of the hotel staff. We upgraded to VIP because of all the negative reviews we read before going here, but don't waste your money upgrading. We went there with the attitude that we would make the best of it as we aren't complainers, but there was just so much wrong.
We went to Cuba last year and enjoyed it far more than this resort for less than half the price we paid at this resort. It really soured us on this beautiful country.
Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Royalton Bavaro Punta Canada
We had an amazing time at this resort. The staff were friendly and accommodating especially with the kids. The food was great and the rooms and premises were kept clean which was very important to my family and I. The entertainment at night was also fantastic! The ambiance was great at night and day and the resort was beautifully lit at night. My only complaint is that the beach was rather small and felt a bit cramped, but there were a lot of umbrellas for shade, which was good. Overall, great e[... read more]xperience!