Funtastic Family Vacation

We spent a fantastic week at Iberostar Bavaro Suites from July 11th - 18th Likes: room was big enough for 4 Pool, Beach, Staff, Entertainment, Golf, Gym, Amenitites The pool area was fantastic. Lots of space. We didn't use the pool with the swim up bar. But the deep, zero entry, and kids pool were well used by our family. The bar near the pool was never crazy busy and there was always someone walking around to clear your cups and bring you another. There was plenty to be involved in at [... read more] the pool area. The entertainment staff did a great job. The beach was beautiful. Lots of chairs. Lots of shade. The beach bar has a great vibe and they grill burgers and hotdogs to order. Best burgers on the resort. There was always a BBQ on the beach and more often than not, there was lobster involved. Do not miss the Paella Party! The water could be a little choppy but I found it not too bad. Sauble Beach or Grand Bend can be much more rough in my opinion. Seaweed comes in a little with the tide in the late afternoon but not all that bad. The room is quite large. Tile floors so watch for slippery floors if you come in wet. Not at all noisy. Discovered when we left there were people above us. We did not hear them. Air conditioning functioned well but you do not control the temperature. Drying rack on the porch was handy. Bar was restocked daily but snacks dwindled at the end of the week. Evening shows were fun. Do not miss the circus show! It is open air. The bar is close by and there is always someone taking orders. The grounds are beautiful. My only regret was not spending more time exploring. Water sports are run by Dressel Divers. We did kayak..was a great time! They are very professional and offer water based excursions. We went on the full day Snorkel to Saona Island. I highly recommend that. Food. A La Carte meals were quite good. Although the service is a bit slower and so you should expect your meals to take about 1.5 hours. These meals are air conditioned. Except steak House. The buffets are open air. Was warm but nice. Service was pretty good for drinks and plate clearing. The staff in the food area were lovely. We simply did not really like the food. Typically we are not buffet people and are a bit picky as I am excellent in the kitchen. Still there were some good items (ribs, churros, fresh juice bar, salad bar, taco night). We were able to find something. I found the pool buffet to be the best one for lunch. Always lots of fruit available. Passion fruit looks awful but served with a little bit of honey, was my new favorite. The golf at Iberostate was good. It is worth it to bring your clubs and shoes. My husband golfed the course 4 times. Enjoyed it each time. The gym is beautiful. Lots of classes and good equipment. If you workout regularly you will be happy there. Kids club offers a good variety of activities. My kids were not interested in going. Definitely best suited to younger children (5-8 or so). The staff that work with guests speak many languages. It is amazing how multilingual they are. Once they find out you are Canadian they do prefer to speak French. But will gladly speak English if your French is a little rough around the edges. Overall- I would not hesitate to return, except we didn't like the buffets. For this reason only we will look elsewhere for next time. I definitely recommend this resort to others.

Mostly good with a few annoyances

I traveled in a group of six...ages 3-51 years. I booked three rooms on the phone with Jenn B instead of online as I wanted to make sure we got two rooms that were connecting rooms. Pros: Sunwing flight, resort layout, excellent beach, above average food and drinks, Star Friends/Animation team, service in bars/restaurants, kids water park Cons: poor wifi, inconsistent hot water, air conditioning varied within 3 rooms (1 cold, 2 warmer), pool could use some maintenance, ceiling fan and other swi [... read more]tches not marked in room The resort overall is nice and the beach is excellent. We walked over a mile in both directions and truly feel the Iberostar Beach is the best in that area. The resort is aged but the rooms are kept clean. I read the resort will be closed for two months in Fall 2016. The pool layout is good with some zero entry areas but could use some maintenance (missing tiles, loose ladders, etc.) The main issues were all of us losing our wifi connection 4-5x a day and inconsistent hot water daily. We were planning on using wifi on our phones/ iMessage to keep in contact with each other. It seemed like every day, the wifi would die around 2:30pm for an hour. The hot water we had maintenance come twice. I guess we were turning the faucet on the wrong way...which was not communicated the two times maintenance came (because the maintenance crew only spoke Spanish and we barely speak Spanish). On day three, we ended up having a manager come and go over the things wrong in each room. We were told for the hot water...While the faucet is off, you have to turn the dial to fully hot and then turn the water/shower on. After it runs a bit, you can adust the temperature to warmer. We were just turning it on in the middle and trying to adjust (how every other shower faucet I have used in my lifetime). It makes no sense to me but we did take warmer showers after that. Maybe it's a water pressure thing of priming the hot water. We were not the only people with this hot water problem so Iberstar should put signs up around the faucet. This is like a rating of 4.2 / 5 resort...if they sort these issues out, a bit more (4.5)

So So Resort

I would have to really think about recommending this resort. There is lots of upgrading needs to be done with the first thing making sure they have hot water and that the patio doors look. When they say someone will be there in 15 minutes be prepared to wait about 45 minutes to an hour. Plus side: The a la carte restaurant are great especially the Steak House. Even the main buffet was excellent. You could always find something you liked and the same goes for the beach buffet which turns into the [... read more] Steak House at night. What else can you say about the beach except beautiful and the same goes for the pool.

Very nice resort...however, needs an update!

The resort was very nice. The beach is the best part of this resort as it is huge. The buffet was very good! The restaurants (we tried the Japanese and Mexican) were good. Hotel rooms need an update!!

Great Experience!

Rooms were clean and stocked daily with refreshments and fresh towels, cleaning staff were excellent. We stayed in the 1200 block right by the pool / beach and loved the convenience. Groundskeepers worked very hard at keeping all areas including the beach clean and tidy. Always beach and pool chairs available. Dining options varied and always something new to try. Overall a great experience.

Nothing Major to Complant

Overall it's a nice hotel. The rooms are clean and quiet enough as long as the door and window are closed. The buffet has great variety of choice and the a la carte restaurants are even better. If there's one thing to complaint, it's their English skill, most of the staff can only speak Spanish and for those who can speak English also has limited words. We spent lots of time explaining what we want than actually get what we want. It would have been a five star for sure if the communication wasn' [... read more]t an issue.

Great Resort

We had a great time, the resort was beautiful and the grounds are very well kept. They food at the buffet was good, they had a lot of variety so we didn't have to eat the same things over and over. We only made it to one of our a la carte bookings, the Steak House. I had the salmon and my boyfriend had the steak we were both very happy with our meals and the service. The resort & bar staff were very friendly, you got the same pleasant service whether you tipped or not. The pool and beach were ni [... read more]ce, there was a bit seaweed in the ocean but nothing to keep you from going in. They kept the beach clean and seaweed issue was maintained daily. Only negative would be about the night entertainment , it was bit lack luster we've seen better at other resorts. However the Dominican and Ibero -Stars shows were the best by far. We really enjoyed those. Oh Yes! our room was really nice, cleaned daily and no towel issues or bugs. I swear the bed was on of the most comfortable we've slept on out of all the resorts we've stayed at. All and all it was a great vacation.

3rd Time's a Charm!

Our 3rd time visiting this beautiful resort in Punta Cana and it just keeps getting better! From the moment of check in, we were treated like royalty. The staff are so friendly, accommodating and genuinely care about the guests with no expectations of a tip in return for this service. The resort remains immaculately clean and so well cared for. The food continues to be outstanding providing variety and high quality food clearly labelled and replenished. What I found remarkable was the auditing o [... read more]f the presentation that took place at each meal. Management observing the presentation of the food, the labelling and ensuring the staff were cognizant of what was required to make it even better. We requested the same room due to location in advance of arriving and they did everything possible to accommodate. We were welcomed with a bottle of rum and fruit platter upon arrival. I celebrated my birthday while there and at teh end of the night, I returned to find a chilled bottle of champagne with fruit platter and a birthday card. So impressive and truly made me feel special. I always provide balanced feedback in my reviews so here are the cons I came across during this visit: 1. The rooms have excellent air conditioning but should have temperature control vs. high/medium/low. We were freezing in the room but if we turned it off, it was too hot 2. On my previous visits, the entertainment staff were extremely sociable and visible. Each morning, they would walk the beach, stopping to say hello to all guests and set the stage for the day's/evening's activities. During this visit, we noticed less entertainment staff working, they were not very visible during the day. They truly make the experience while you're there so would like to see them increase their visibility and sociability during the day to ensure a better stay. Overall, I have travelled to many other places over the years and always draw my comparison to this resort. Simply outstanding resort! I will be returning to the Iberostar Bavaro in Punta Cana for a 4th time.

A wonderful and relaxing vacation

We spent a week at the hotel and we have nothing but great things to say about it. Our room was clean and spacious, the food was very good (we loved the à la carte restaurants), the service was very friendly, the pool was fun and the beach was beautiful. We would go back again and would recommend the resort to others!

Amazing Resort

Food was excellent, comfortable room, friendly people, great entertainment. It is a family orientated resort. Very safe for the children to walk around. If something was not good they would try to fix it as fast as possible. I would go again with my family.

Wonderful resort in all aspects!

Truly an excellent time in all regards! The staff stand out as very friendly and outgoing; especially the entertainment staff. Always busy but never too busy to stop and talk with you. The dining and buffet experiences were a highlight. Loved the arrangement of hotel rooms, close to everything. Have already told friends and will certainly do a return visit.

Excellent Choice

For a family of five, with three young adults, it was a great resort. It was very clean, lovely suites; the staff were very friendly, professional and helpful, and the food and beverages were very good.

Great Resort

My husband and I stayed at this resort for 6 nights early December. We have travelled to many resorts in this area and thought the rooms were great. Upgraded and spacious -very comfy. The resort was also very clean. Staying at the Suites side you can visit the 2 adjacent resorts (really it's 1 resort with 2 separate hotel buildings sharing the same amenities.) which is great as you can try their nightly shows, shopping, restaurants. We did like the adjacent resort pool better as we found the sui [... read more]tes pool small for the amount of rooms- the loungers were really jammed together and no adults only pool as I had read there was. We thought the food was good but did not try all restaurants, we heard the Mexican was great from people we met and we really liked the Japanese. We found the staff were very friendly. Nightly theme shows were fun and we found the daily entertainment was fantastic. This truly is a a fun resort. We would recommend this to mostly everyone except those looking for an adult only pool/experience. We had a great time!

Beautiful Resort

Iberostar Bavaro is really gorgeous. We had a suite with no view (just the other bungalows), but since we hardly stayed in the room, it didn't matter. The grounds are beautiful and the temperature in the room was perfect. Everything worked well - plumbing, hot water, fridge, etc. However, we were robbed of US$200 on our first day, which kind of put a damper on things, but it worked out well in the end. The hotel provided a free excursion and the manager, Wanda, couldn't have been nicer, going ou [... read more]t of her way to reassure us and in general, being extremely helpful. The food in the buffet was plentiful and varied. We tried two of the restaurants, but were disappointed and next time, would stick with the buffet. The drinks were so-so, but since we are not really drinkers, this didn't matter too much. The beach is beautiful and generally free of seaweed. We did not go in the pool, so can't comment. Went on two excursions - Horse Play, which has to be arranged online or by phone as it is one of the excursions offered by the resorts. It really gives you value for your money - a long horseback ride, zip lining, a demonstration of cigar-making, a demonstration of how chocolate is made, and a typical Dominican meal. Well worth the price. The other excursion was Bavaro Splash - snorkelling, snuba (not as deep as scuba diving), and riding your own speedboat. Also very good. The people were so kind and it was a good day out. All in all, despite being robbed and my daughter's getting sick, we managed to have a good time. I can highly recommend the Iberostar Bavaro.

Iberostar Bavaro is great

Iberostar Bavaro is a wonderful resort. The rooms are large and very clean. The staff are amazing especially Francia in the dinning room. It is close to the airport so you can be by the pool or beach in a short time. The beach is endless and clean. The pool area doesn't feel crowded at all with a wonderful area for children. We have been to several resorts in the DR and this is by far the best!!!!! We flew with WestJet. The Sunwing check-in area in the DR looked like a big mess.

Average resort

My husband and I were taking our first vacation away from our toddler. We had a good time, but the resort is far from what I thought it would be. The positive: nice beach, big rooms and food is ok. The negative: old resort, no quiet areas for couples and service was bad. Overall, it was an average resort and would not recommand to my friends unless it is real cheap and they are going with a big group.