Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana: Awesome experience

Everything was great! The lazy river and water slides were our favourite part. The food was great, rooms were clean and felt new and the beach was awesome. Even at peak times, there was always seating by the beach/pool. Overall awesome experience.

Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana: Nightmare vacation, not Breathless but rather Sleepless!

FIrst of all we never got to Dreams Macao as we were relocated to Breathless Xhale as Dreams was not yet ready. This review is of Breathless Xhale We had challenges from day of arrival and every day we were there. 1) It started with the check-in and electronic keys not working for one of our rooms (4152) and waiting over an hour to be resolved. Drunk guests sitting in puddles of beer in the hallway sneering at us and side tracking the staff trying to help. 2) Day 2 the discovery of cock [... read more]roaches in my room 4154 (killed 3) and a broken thermostat where temperature would not go above 64 degrees F. Absolutely freezing. Cleaning were informed and cleaned room on Monday. They tried to fix the thermostat but it did not hold and temperature continued to drop, butler came in every day to adjust for me. Sliding glass door to patio would not open, they tried to fix with WD40 but it did not resolve. Light on patio was burned out, they replaced bulb. - We went for a tour of hotel with our butler in a golf cart and he did not secure my friends wheelchair and it fell out crashing on the pavement. - Room 4152 smelled like a sewer, we advised housekeeping and they came and put stuff down the drain to make it smell better 3) Day 3 - continued to have thermostat issues, killed more bugs that evening, reported to hotel (room 4154). The weather was very windy and outside both of our rooms was a facilities room where the door did not secure and banged very loudly every night -- we reported this x3 but it was never resolved. 4) Day 4, they cleaned room 4154 again, used an insecticide and told me they would come early in the day (at 9:30 am) and did not come until 1:30 pm -- I had a headache all night from smell of insecticide. Room 4152 continued to smell like a sewer and we reported again. 5) Day 5 -- we just wanted to leave - more bugs, door banging, bad smells, and on top of all that out of control drunk guests screaming at the top of their lungs in the pool area outside our rooms and taunting us while we sat on our patio. We reported this and were told the hotel has no control over other guests actions! A bit of a mystery given this was the 'quiet' xhale section of the resort. 6) Resort offered us free massages, we accepted until we saw the release/consent they wanted us to sign saying basically that we were agreeing all issues were solved, we would not post on social media or complain to our travel company!! We did not sign. Hotel contact Lisbeth claimed this was a requirement of the SPA as they were a 3rd party provider. 7) Resort tried another tactic and offered us two nights free stay in future, assured us there was no consent, when they tried to give us the coupons there was same consent to sign -- we did not sign!! This was definitely the resort - so underhanded. We will be writing a formal letter of complain to Air Transat and TripCentral --we were in constant communication with our Air Transat representative through all of this so he is well aware.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: great resort

enjoyed our stay at the resort. Everything was really good. The grounds were very well maintained . The staff was great. The food was very good. My only negative was the fact that the walkways were hard to walk on as they were very uneven and for a person will back problems it proved to be uncomfortable.. overall I had a wonderful experience .

Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana: Relaxing vacation

We were at the Now Larimar in March 2020 and our stay was wonderful. We upgraded from the Garden to the Larimar section as we prefer being closer to the beach. The resort is beautiful! The pools, the grounds, the beach, the super friendly people, everything from this place is amazing. The food was delicious, even the buffet : so much variety to choose from. The resort is very clean and we felt very secure here. Something for everybody : lots of activity at beach, i.e. kayak, parasailing, sailboa [... read more]ts, etc. The only strange - awkward thing is that the preferred pool is placed in the middle of main traffic path to get to the buffet or plaza.Would have no problems recommending this resort.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Poor service

Nice hotel, nice and spacious rooms, beach is small, about a km long but very shady and quiet if you prefer that. Pool is loud, crowded, you can never get seats unless you get up at 5:30 am to reserve them and there aren’t enough ombrellas. Food is ok. Unless you’re drinking beer, the rest of the drinks aren’t good. Service is bad or nonexistent. You need to get your own napkins, utensils and glasses. A la carte restaurants are good but to reserve them is stressful. Be firm and ask when an [... read more]d where you want to eat. Don’t let them dictate time and place. Best thing was the coffee shop, ice-cream place and the Sushi restaurant. A trip to the city, including cable car, was enjoyable We will not be returning to this resort, however

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Amazing Resort

Second time at this resort. No complaints. Great food, beautiful grounds and fantastic very very long beach. The resort is not too large, so you get to know all the employees. The entertainment team is amazing.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: A first rated property

Very friendly staff totaly clean areas , fine food , only our TV reception was deficient and also it did not offer a Canadian News Chanel ( CBC NEWS World etc,) while it had American , British , Chinese , Spansish yet the largest single group there are Canadians .

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Beautiful resort

The resort was beautiful food was excellent everything on site was perfect except for the arrival. When we arrived at the hotel they told me they were expecting us on the 8 and not the 7 of March gave me a hard time I felt bullied by them. They gave me a room with three bed not what was on my paper since we reserved the castle front King bed. Went back down to explain this room was not what I paid for and we didn't see the castle at all. He started tell me that this room is a castle front I had  [... read more]to open Google and show them the front castle room and stool he was arguing with me. Then another man came and told me to come back the next day at two they would change my room. Went back at two no room come back at three he said came back at three still no room he says come back at 3:15 finally got a room still not what I paid we had a castle view King bed I accepted that room we felt tired of all this argument. They made the error instead of giving us a upgrade they made us fill like "shit". I told air Canada rep I'm not sure if he did something. Once this was resolve we really enjoyed all the staff on site all the activities the shows the food everything was perfect. It's a shame what we went through upon our arrival and I had Jonathan a 6 year old that was getting tired of waiting in front for our room

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: A Really Nice Resort!

This was our first resort trip in years. the Majestic Elegance is a beautiful resort. the grand lobby and staircase when you enter, the little extras we received for upgrading to the elegance Club, (which I do recommend doing.), the beach view, the pools, the swim-up bar, etc. the rooms were beautiful however, we were on the ground level along with other friend and the rooms on the ground level had this terrible musty, moldy smell that would not go away even with the air conditioning on full.  [... read more]it was difficult to stay in the room at night to sleep. And the humidity was so bad in the room that our bed sheets and linens were always wet. one day, our room was not cleaned. but, the rooms themselves are really nice and comfortable. We had other friends stating on the second level and they did not experience these issues. So stay away from ground level rooms. With the upgrade to Elegance Club, we had private adult only beach and a Sunset room that had fresh food and drinks only for Elegance Club access open daily from 7 am - 11 pm. This was great! We had a butler as well, but he really didn't do too much for us. He was a really good guy, but we hardly ever saw him. maybe once every other day where he said hello for a couple of minutes and then gone. He did make our dinner reservations for us which was nice. the food is pretty good all in all. Selection of restaurants and buffet houses is good but the buffet was bland and not allot of selection. Breakfast buffet was excellent. Nightly entertainment was typical for a resort. We had allot of rain the week we were there so some events were cancelled. Very clean resort but the cleaning of the rooms could be more thorough. We saw items on floor all week behind the bed that was not cleaned once. We didn't complain though and if we had, I'm sure they would have made things right. Most employees are very friendly and willing to help if they can. We would recommend the Majestic Elegance for sure if you haven't been there already. And we would go back another time.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Resort needs work

We went to the same resort 2 years ago with unfortunately the same week of bad weather. That's not the resorts fault at all. However this rain exposed the same lack of maintenance experienced 2 years ago. Every single time we used the toilet in our room, water would drip on you. Clearly a leak in the roof. The main dining room still showed the signs of water damage on the ceiling and the walls. There was a table up against the wall that had so much water damage it had black mould on it. Not ver [... read more]y good place to be eating. The pool was loosing tiles every single day. The Algae was so bad it was thick and black- not green The 4 x 12 tiles running around the pool bar haven't been cleaned in a very long time. I could continue to go on with things that I saw. Needless to say after 2 very similar experiences 2 years apart we will not be returning to this chain of hotels- ever. Might I point out that this is supposed to be a 4.5 star hotel. That is a false rating in my opinion. To surmise- Very Dissapointed. Scott Foote

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Great Trip !

Good: The resort and staff are very nice. Things were kept very clean. Bad: The air conditioning never worked in our room (97109). I spoke to at least 5 or 6 different people over the course of 3 days and it never really got it fixed. I finally talked to Francisco (building 97 butler) and he had someone look at it, but it still didn't work very well. We finally gave up asking because no one seemed to be able to fix the problem. Hard to find chairs at the beach and pool.

Secrets Cap Cana: Great time!

The hotel had exceptional service, rooms and food. I think I gained 10lbs at least ! The beach was beautiful although more umbrella's are needed. This seems to be an issue with every resort and this one was no exception however there were plenty of pool lounges and chairs for everyone. Our room was also amazing. I loved the two shower head shower. It was wonderful to use at the end of the day.

Punta Cana Princess: Great size / atmosphere

Very nice resort that is well laid out comfortable. Access to the beach or pool was never a concern with lots of chairs and paladas. Food was very good, the buffet was excellent and the ala carte restaurants are available without having to make any reservations. Resort is starting to show some signs of age but is in no means run down. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Resort has a team of entertainers that arrange activities on the beach to providing nightly entertainment at the main  [... read more]lobby. By 11:00 P.M. the show shuts down and the resort gets very quiet. The 24 hour bar and snack bar was situated between the pool and the beach with various lounging areas and booths if you wished to continue with the night life. Great resort if you want to relax, this is not a party spot. Would not hesitate to do there again

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Trip from Hell

The grounds were beautiful. Road traffic heavy, golf carts, buses, vans. All on public walkways. Food good until second week then all three of us were sick. Room was spacious although dated, not enough storage, bathroom unacceptable, no hot water half of the 2 weeks, leak in the ceiling during heavy rain( 5 days of that ). No umbrella available until 3rd day, all of which were heavy rain. The resort sent my family ( which came on our day 5 ) to a different resort. Two days of working to get them [... read more] to our resort. No power on too many occasions to count one of which was at night. My wife felt her way to the bathroom only to slip on the leaked water on the floor causing several bruises. There was some good but not worth mentioning.

Sunscape Puerto Plata: Great family resort

Very nice place to stay. Rooms comfortable. Food was great. I have 3 negative comments otherwise terrific holiday place. 1. 2nd day was mislead into a pushy sales tactic in order for the hotel owner to sell memberships. If they said upfront what they wanted I would have strongly declined. Started with "you haven't received your free gift yet when you arrived". Be aware! 2. Bar tenders do not practice proper hygene techniques when filling drinks. Ie they put the draft beer spout righ [... read more]t into your drink and when they are refilling personal cups this is obviously a transfer of germs. 3. The constant parade of vendors at the beach gets annoying. Up to a dozen an hours asking to buy their wears. Prefer they set up their wears and let people go to them.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Disappointing

After staying at the Royalton in Mexico last year, we were looking for a similar experience this year in Punta Cana. We elected to take the Diamond Club option which provided some extra advantages which were good. The butler service was very disappointing. Food for the most part was good. A la Carte restaurants were good, but service was very slow. The house wines were dreadful. Premium liquors were advertised as included, but was not entirely the case. Many staff did not understand English very [... read more] well, so communicating was often difficult. Grounds were nicely kept, but simple little things ignored. There is a nice 9 hole mini-golf course, but the water(it rained 4 out of seven days), and stones were never cleaned off. The lazy river was nice for the kids. Beautiful beaches, lots of chairs both on the beach and by the pools. Staff often didn't seem friendly, and were not as engaging as last year for group activities.

Riu Republica: Very nice resort

There are many pools all well kept. Just depends on type of music, if any, you like. Best restaurant was the steak house. We had lousy service at the Italian. Very good entertainment too. I loved the house band. We felt a little old here ‘cause it’s a real party place and most guests are much younger!

Breathless Punta Cana Resort: Not a 5 star, maybe a 3

We paid for the xhale club at Breathless resort, not worth extra money, We arrived at 10 am and didn’t get room till 3, our luggage showed up at 5 after many phone calls, and the host that was supposed to look after us for the week. It is very dated, room was musty smelling, we didn’t get much extra for our money, we had a lounge with premium alcohol, supposed to be for xhale guests, anyone could come in, nobody checked. Overall we had a good week, weather wasn’t the greatest but can’t [... read more] control that.

Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Excellent Resort, Fantastic Beach, Great Location

Overall: excellent quality for money The Room: Ours was in the middle of the building, second floor facing the pool, we could see the ocean from our balcony too. We could hear the entertainment in the evening but never found it too disruptive. Our room had been updated sometime in the last few years. I wish the bathroom had been bigger or that the toilet was separated but it wasn't a huge issue. The bed was comfortable enough though still on the harder side. The Food: The food was fine, a  [... read more]lot of variety but things were often not labeled correctly. Quality was good but not amazing. The a la carte restaurants were also ok but not amazing. I had no stomach issues at the resort whatsoever from either the food or the filtered water they serve. The Beach - AMAZING what a fantastic location and great swimming. It does drop off fairly quickly for folks travelling with little ones but it's a nice sandy bottom. It can get rough but we swam even on the red flag days. Despite the signs, everyone reserves chairs so it's best to get out in the morning and do so if you want a prime spot in the busy seasons like march break. The beach vendors can be annoying but are generally respectful when you say no. We also felt comfortable leaving our bags on our chairs while swimming. The Staff - helpful and friendly regardless of whether you tipped or not (though we almost always did.)

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Great Resort

It exceeded our expectations. Lots of things to do. A variety of great spots to eat, a 24 hour sports bar. The beach and pools had great variety. Could swim in the ocean even on the windy days with reef as protection. We would be great for those with kids with the water park. We would definitely recommend it!