Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Nice resort but over-priced

Here is our breakdown of our trip to Iberostar Dominicana, Punta Cana. Room: We requested both with our agent and the hotel itself a room on a upper floor, which we received, and something fairly close to the ocean, which we did not even come close to receiving as we received a room overlooking the reception lobby, gym and Spa. Noisy and very unhappy for the $2000 spent each (x2 people). When we went back to reception after seeing our location, after much heated discussion the head at recepti [... read more]on finally moved us from building 3793 to 3893, which was immensely better and for this we were grateful...at least we could see the ocean even though not right on the ocean. They originally wanted us to pay an additional $60 US/night/person for this room but finally said “for no extra charge”. Reception and Guest Services: Nice people who when advised of issues did handle them in a timely manner and also were good about following up. Food: The food was average and nothing special. Very repetitious even though write up on the resort said variety on a daily basis. Line-ups were long and took forever to get through. Ordered a glass of white wine and got a Coke, which I do not even drink. Bars: Probably the best service on a resort. Bartenders rotated service on a regular basis so you never had to wait too long. Much friendlier in the lobby bars as opposed to the beach bars. Entertainment: The Iberostar Punta Cana (IPC) and Dominicana (ID) both had nice nightly entertainment. The staff were friendly and provided a happy environment. The Star Band was very good at IPC and the live shows at ID were good as well. No complaints in this area. On resort survey: Very poorly done. This was the ONLY day that anybody in the resort volunteered extra customer service (offered to drive you anywhere all day long) and main buffets cared about handling their clients. While I was trying to complete the resort survey, I was interrupted at least 5 times by someone telling me to give them a good review. The manager/supervisor did so much as to stand at my table and read my review and while I turned it over he asked me what I was hiding and was I giving him a bad review. Unbelievable. The next day the service went back to what it was before “survey day” and nobody volunteered drives or cared about your happiness in the buffet restaurants. So blatantly obvious. Size: The resort is HUGE and far too busy for us. We never could get a seat at the poolside and fortunately they put down more umbrellas at the beach so we were able to get seats there on a daily basis. Recommendation: I would never return to this resort. More $$$ does not mean better value for the money. Our previous experience at Iberostar Costa Dorado in Puerto Plata was fantastic value for money (about $500 per person cheaper) but definitely not this Iberostar resort. Iberostar Costa Dorado was far less money per person + we got an ocean view room, which faced directly onto the ocean!!!

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Amazing Resort

This is the first time we have been to Memories Splash. We would definitely go again. We were with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons. It is an excellent family getaway. We enjoyed just sitting beside and in the pool with the boys. It was a very relaxing vacation. The weather was terrific. The staff were very friendly and helpful. They couldn't do enough for you, very accommodating. The servers in the Selection restaurant were wonderful. Wilkin and Valentini always made sure that [... read more] our 4 year old grandson had his chocolate milk. It's just a small thing but important to him.

VIK Hotel Arena Blanca: Very good resort

It was my first time at this resort. The location of the hotel is perfect. Only 25 km from the airport.... Beach front resort. The beach is smaller than showing on the picture but still beautiful and clean compare to other resort on the same beach. The resort itself is clean and the vegetation is beautiful. The resort size was perfect for us. We where in the farthest block from the lobby (#5) and still within 10 min walk. The staff where very nice and I was suprised that they speak multip [... read more]le language. The food was good to all the restaurant, including the buffet. Nothing outstanding... but everything is good. We also enjoyed the fact that we didnt had to reserve in any of the restaurant. Just like every resort I have been.... the wine taste bad... and the drinks at this resort are also made with cheap alcool. You need to specify barcelo rum if you want to have good rum...otherwise it's cheap. The room where ok and clean every day. Overall, It's a really good resort quality/price compare to other resort in Punta Cana. I recommend this hotel to everyone and I wont hesitate to go back.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great resort

The personnel at this resort are fantastic. The ground is in great shape. The rooms are in good condition. The beach is OK. The pools are great. The pool bars and the lobby bar are a great place to hang out. The pool restaurant and the buffet restaurant served great food. The problem with this resort is giving access to US high school groups for their senior years. They have no respect for the other customers and it is the same for their parents or chaperones. The hotel should have them  [... read more]signed a waiver to behave. They are wild, noisy and rude and so are the parents. I told one father that he was not allowed to smoke at the lobby bar, he turned around and stayed at the bar. More security needed to take care of this problem.

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Fabulous vacation

Just home from a fantastic vacation with four families, 17 in total. The resort was beautiful, grounds were well maintained. Food was excellent, a la carte Restraunts were all great. Buffets all had lots of choices. Beach was OK, geotubes in the water to help with erosion were not the prettiest site. And lots of seaweed but resort had people raking the beach all day long to keep the seaweed to a minimum. Entertainment staff was non stop, activities at both the beach and poolside areas. They [... read more] put on a huge Easter party for everyone. It was amazing. My only issue with the resort was we had requested adjoining rooms because we are a family of 5, we didn’t get the adjoining room, had rooms on opposite ends of the hallway. So we had to separate and each stay with the kids in separate rooms. Overall it was an amazing vacation.

Sensatori Resort Punta Cana: Most relaxing and indulgent vacation

Having gotten married at the Sensatori in Mexico, we decided to try the Sensatori in Punta Cana as well. Both resorts are fabulous. The service is amazing for both Sensatori resorts. We booked the honeymoon suite and were not disappointed. It was worth every penny. We were upgraded to the Premium section upon arrival. The suite was beautiful, the bedroom walls opened up to the ocean view. The food at every restaurant was so good. We enjoyed K23 for the 8 course meal experience. W [... read more]ok Wok is Asian fusion and the food was delicious (I'm Asian, trust me in this one). The buffets were delicious, I never got bored going there. Everything was so fresh. If you're a foodie, you won't be disappointed with this Gourmet - Inclusive resort. The beach was well kept and there were always chairs to be found. Book the private cabanas early though, those are in high demand. The loungers around the infinity pools get taken by early morning and don't free up until after lunch each day. The premium section and adults only sections are quiet and always have loungers though. Even though this resort shares property with the Nikelodeon resort, there are so many places to go for adults only if kids aren't your vacation preference. As for entertainment, I really enjoyed the live performances all night every where we turned. The resort hires very talented artists from around the world.

Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Awesome vacation

This resort is amazing ... very big and very busy but very well maintained. The grounds are immaculate, the rooms and bathrooms everywhere are very clean, the best I've ever experienced . The staff are wonderful, very helpful and pleasant. The flight and ground transfer were seamless. A big thumbs up to Tripcentral and Shauna Langille ... thank you for a wonderful vacation. The only downside was the bugs, bring your bug spray and use it, my sister was severely bitten and reacted. However our tri [... read more]p was still amazing

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Amazing, as usual.

Second trip back to this gem. My husband and I vacationed at the Ambar Green two years ago for our honeymoon; it’s better than we both remembered. Excellent food and service! Impeccably clean and great entertainment. We’ll definitely be returning in the future.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Wonderful Vacation

My wife and I had an amazing time at the Luxury Grand Bahia Príncipe Esmeralda.From the time we arrived until we left the staff went out of their way to make sure we had a great time.Norielis in Guest services had all our A La Carte restaurants booked for us and filled our request for the building we wanted to stay in.Building 95 was close to everything,the quiet pool,the small buffet ,the lobby and the beach.She even had a bottle of champagne and a fruit bowl sent to our room to help my wife c [... read more]elebrate her recent retirement.The food is really good but one of the A La Carte Restaurants over cooked the fish and the service was extremely slow.Other than that everything else was great.I definitely would recommend this hotel to all my friends and family.Truly an enjoyable experience.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Tidy resort

Hotel and grounds well groomed and tidy. Polite and timely services. Food and beverages were handy and plentiful. All the employees including the grounds keepers to the people who cleaned the streets were very polite and friendly.

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Wonderful vacation

Had a great vacation at this resort. We travelled with 4 families. Kids ages ranged from 12 -17 yrs. the resort always had activities going on for the teenagers. They all had so much fun. The staff were all so kind and helpful. The entertainment staff were great and a lot of fun. The food was really good and plentiful. The resort was immaculate and staff were constantly cleaning. Would highly recommend this resort for families

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Fantastic stay

Resort was fantastic. Staff were great and very helpful and friendly. Food was good. Lots for the kids to do. Activities going on all day long at the beach and the pool. Lots of great entertainment. Very clean and well kept.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Great vacation

My daughter and I stayed for 8 nights. We had a wonderful time. Staff was really nice, room very clean. We stayed in the royal section and really took advantage of the restaurants. Tasted most of the items on the menu as we shared a lot of dishes. It is a very quiet spot and you just have to cross over to the other section for the "action". Weather wasn't the greatest but we made use of all the nooks around the resort.

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Great resort.

We loved the resort. Making dinner reservations was the only issue we had. It's very hard to get into Zen and Hunter. The grounds, beach and facilities were amazing. Staff are amazing and very helpful.

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Great resort!

The resort was very clean, the food was good and most of the staff were great to deal with. The beach and pools are beautiful and all of the facilities are top notch. Personally didn't like the various class systems they have. ie. Royalton, Diamond club, Hideaway and Memories. They are trying to capture too broad a market. We felt bad for the Memories guests that were expected to walk down a pathway at Royalton to access the beach and not stop or use the facilities along the way. We heard  [... read more]complaints from a few of them. The Hideaway area didn't gel with the theme of a family resort. An 18+ resort should be a separate resort. Perhaps a quiet/adult only pool area would make more sense. We were going to upgrade to the Diamond club but were told it had been oversold and wasn't worth the extra money unless we planned on drinking an extreme amount of high end alcohol. Didn't like having only the one draft beer choice. Would like more options including some canned/bottled beer options. The other tropical types of drinks (pina coladas, daiquiris etc.) were from concentrate and not very good quality. Straight mixed drinks were a better choice. We have 3 children and they enjoyed the splash park at Memories. We also visited the Royalton Bavaro located down the beach. It is brand new and even nicer than the Royalton PC. The kids loved the lazy river and surfing machine. We would stay there next time but would also stay back to RPC if Bavaro not available.

Riu Palace Macao: Fantastic Resort - Will return

This is by far the nicest hotel we've been to. This is our second time at Punta Cana and our second "adults only" resort. The quality and selection of the food was fantastic. Even the picky eaters would never go hungry. The service at both the pool bar and the lobby bar was first class. The wait staff was very attentive and quick to bring your drinks. The grounds were impeccable and there was always cleaning staff continually making sure everything was spotless. The beach was beautiful with  [... read more]lots of lounge chairs and palm trees for shade. The rooms were well kept and the turn down service at night was a lovely touch. We got the free bus that took us to a cigar factory, a chocolate factory and a very large souvenir store. The only negative was when we booked our catamaran/snorkel tour on the plane. It was cheaper that buying it at the resort, but it was pretty lame for the price. Of course there will always be picky people who aren't happy unless they are complaining about even the smallest things, but to those people, perhaps you need to stay home. This is after all a third world country, so get over yourself. We are seasoned travelers and consider this a 5 star all the way and we will return for sure.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Fun spot

I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel. The staff really adds to the experience. The buffets were not that great but the à la carte restaurant were good but you had to wait a minimum of 20 minutes. And some nights up to an hour or more.

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Excellent hard working people

Everyone booking needs to keep in mind nothing is ever perfect. The people make the place and as a 2nd visit this resort is great for families and the staff do try there b st to ensure a good time is had

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Nice,quiet and very clean resort

This resort was very nice “adults only” which made it a nice quiet resort. The grounds were maintained beautifully, the pools and pool areas were always cleaned. The bar service around the pool area was perfect and this kept the area free of glasses as they were continually coming around to pick them up. This is a very quiet resort so if you are looking for a relaxing resort this is for you. All of the Restaurants were fabulous at the Royal and not having to make a reservation was a bonus.  [... read more]The Japanese restaurant at the adjoining Catalonia was not worth the wait. The food was horrible and very salty. There were a few days without hot water in the shower but regardless the rooms were great. The staff were amazing at the restaurants and bars. Overall good vacation.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Beautiful paradise

This resort was a nice experience. Check in was fast and staff were friendly. Rooms were ok. Dated but clean. Grounds were beautiful and well maintained. Beach was beautiful. Pools were well maintained.Entertainment' was every night which fun. Not sure on the shows ,didn't see any. Was happy with lobby entertainment. All in all it was a great vacation.