Did not Meet expectations in comparison to other Riu Resorts I have stayed at in the past. Minimal amenities and lack of options for food and activities. Staff was pleasant and helpful. Water was not replenished in room, had to request it at front desk everyday.
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Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Great resort
Beautiful small resort, food ok, beautiful beach. Hideaway adult only worth it. Clean, good service, great intertainment. Saona trip Is fun however the advertised starfish holding is no longer permitted. All and all great experience.
The first four days were somewhat rocky. The air conditioning did not work , no hot water and housekeeping was terrible. After complaining, the air conditioning and hot water was fixed but the housekeeping remained terrible. If you needed something, you had to run after the maid and even then she did not have the items (coffee, creamer, towels, etc)
The beach and water was fantastic.
The buffet was okay but the a la carte restaurants were excellent.
Overall we would give this resort [... read more]a 3 out of 5.
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Nickelodeon Hotel Punta Cana: Choose Mexico if your going to think about going to DR and specially this resort
Pricey had bug issues in our hotel room, whole family had the runs, got so bad we were all afraid to eat at one point
not all was bad. But if your going to pay these prices go Mexico resorts
that's my overall advice
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Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Average resort
Had some personal property stolen from the room. And major plumbing problem not adequately taken care of. It is too big and too crowded. A thousand chairs and nowhere to sit. Lots of mosquitos and sand fleas or something. The staff can’t possibly cater to the guests as they should. I’ll stick to Cuba where you always get a warm welcome.
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Royalton Hideaway Punta Cana: The Good & The Not Great
The food at the hotel was very nice. The grounds and rooms were clean. We were not thrilled by the service. When we got to the hotel it took the bellboy over 2.5 hours to send the luggage to our room and we had to call more than 4 times.
Our balcony was the only room without any lounge chairs on it. We had a swim up suite so you can imagine how irritating that was. I informed our butler of this and called the front desk multiple times.
They said that they'd " get to it" They didn't. My husb[... read more]and ended up grabbing one himself from by the pool area. Why the staff couldn't do this is beyond me.
Service : The staff were not helpful and were to the point of being basically rude. It appeared as though unless you were waving tips at them constantly for doing basic things they couldn't be bothered. Our maid was friendly and pleasant and other than her the bar fridge guy was the only pleasant person to help us.
When we ordered room service the first day we asked if there was coffee that could be delivered. The room service guy pointed at the coffee maker on our table and said " You can make it yourself."
It turns out guess what? They actually have coffee in room service that they'll deliver.
Room Service : This was a great feature because you could order it from your tv which was great and decide when you wanted it.
We like to bring insulated water bottles on vacation because then we can get the bartenders to fill them up with our alcohol of choice so as not to have to keep running back and forth to the bar.
I noticed that when myself or my husband would do this the bartenders filled them up minimally.
My husband remarked that he believed they did this so that we'd have to keep coming back constantly and thus leaving a tip.
Please note: My husband and I do tip generously.
Butler Service: I really really really do NOT recommend paying extra for this service. Our butler showed up the first day and informed us he was there to " be at our beck and call". We are not people that take unfair advantage of this.
Two couples from Canada we met there said that they noticed (they also had a butler) that the butlers kept making the small requests we had seem " impossible" or " really hard to acquire in order to make small requests seem like they'd moved mountains when they hadn't. The one time I called to request the lounge chair the butler said they didn't have enough yet every room in our section did.
We asked if we could have wine delivered to our room. Our butler said it was impossible unless we wanted to pay for it. That was interesting because our " neighbours" had bottles of champagne and wine delivered to their door daily . Without any fee.
Our bar fridge attendant randomly offered us wine without us asking which was great. And without a fee. We tipped him regardless.
Our butler told us the hours he was available to help us which was 7 am - 11 pm. Then he randomly told us that another butler was going to take over and give us service. When we went to meet him
(the second butler) he informed us that he had " a gift" for us. Well that's always nice.
The second butler gave us one travel mug ( I guess we were sharing ) and then proceeded to try and talk us into a BREAKFAST MEETING the next morning.
Please Note This : The BREAKFAST MEETING is a scam to sell you basically a TIME SHARE.
Do NOT GO TO THIS. I've known about this from reviews I've read.
We did NOT go and will never. The people doing this sit at a desk down the hall from your room and basically hassle you to try and get you to go to this.
It's very annoying. If I want to buy a time share I'll approach you. It was aggravating to feel pressured our on vacation to waste time in a breakfast while people try and hard sell you.
Whatever claims they make, I know from other people that they are false and these people are trained to pressure you with hard sales tactics.
We go on vacation to relax, not to be pestered.
Swim Up Suite: We absolutely loved our room. We were on the end of the swim up room section and it was awesome. They use walls and plants to give privacy to guests. We would definitely recommend that.
Diamond Club: We were in the Diamond Club but the frustration was that they didn't really explain when we arrived what that meant. When we went to the buffet there was a Diamond Club stand separate but no one was ever there.
Many couples we met also had complaints about the service.
Excursion: We went on the dune buggy excursion. I have done atv , etc excursions in many countries. It was a fun experience but not what we'd hoped it would be. We just basically followed the leader in a long line up and we stopped at road side stands where very very pushy locals tried to aggressively sell us products. One man in a stand basically had his wife wrap up two wooden goblets that I had been simply looking at that he wanted to charge me $60.. US for. I politely declined and then he kept dropping his price and following me to the point where he tried to stop me leaving and grabbed my arm.
My husband had to tell him to back off very firmly.
The excursion advertised that we would get to swim in a cave which was enticing. What actually happened is that the cave is down a series of very steep steps where you have to jump into the water with rocks jutting out so you have to avoid while everyone in your tour group watches.
The area to " swim in" would not have held many people as it seemed to advertise.
Not our cup of tea.
We spent about 10 minutes at the cave and many people did not participate in that activity. Probably of our large group only 6 people did this in a group of about roughly 40.
It felt like the excursion was basically an excuse to take tourists to people peddling their products.
Overall it was a decent trip but they really need to improve on their customer service and staff friendliness.
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Silvana -
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Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Wonderful Resort
This was our 11th time at the Ambar blue, have always enjoyed our stay and had a great time, met up with old friends and made new ones. We stayed two weeks and the weather was amazing, the best beach that is kept always clean.
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Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Punta Cana Great
Our group of 4 has travelled many times. The Catalonia in Punta Cana, DR is one of the few resorts we will consider returning too. The rooms average... best part were quiet at night. The beach beautiful, the first few days the water was quite clear. The grounds beatifully kept. The food has room for improvement as we find in most Carribean countries.
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Cheryle -
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Secrets Royal Beach: Beautiful, Comfortable but not yet a 5 Star
We have travellled Mexico and the Caribbean extensively over the last 30 years therefore we believe we can give an honest review of Secrets Royal Beach. We enjoy adults only resorts and have now been to six different Secrets resorts. This resort is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are immaculate and very pretty. We arrived on Dec 9th, the drive from the airport was very comfortable, and short. Our room was not ready when we checked in, however, we expected that as it was just after noon (our fl[... read more]ight was very early in the morning) but at 3pm our room was ready. Well worth the short wait. The room was well appointed, spotless and very pleasing not to mention very comfortable. Thank you Ana Rosa for doing a great job (rm 4310).
We stayed at the beach the entire week during the day. It was perfect. Soft sand, great palapas for shade and very comfortable loungers. We had read that the vendors on the beach were bothersome, but we didn’t find that at all. A few approached us but we just said “no gracias†and away they went. The water was murky the first few days due to rain the previous week but cleared up half way thru our vacation. The only complaint we would have is that there is only 1 restroom for all the guests on the beach. More are needed. Suggestion: move the photo booth to the lobby and put in more restrooms. The pool was just a very short walk from where we sat on the beach. It was surprisingly cold to get into but after a few minutes felt good. It was clean for the most part, however the lazy river could use some scrubbing. It looked like algae was starting to build up under the water level. The lazy river is great to float around or even walk through. A very big negative for us, around and in the pool was the smoking. Many times we saw people smoking IN the pool. This should be outlawed immediately. Ashes are dropping into the water (gross) and people are waving their cigs around and could poke another guest in the face. We know that the DR allows outdoor smoking but other Secrets resorts have designated smoking areas. There is nothing worse that sitting by the pool and someone nearby lights up a cigar. Not only is that inconsiderate by the other guest, but the hotel should step up and ask these people to refrain around non-smoking guests. Answer: designated smoking area. Keeps the pool area clean, odor free and all guests happy. The foam party was awesome, but again we saw other guests smoking during this fun event. Simply an accident waiting to happen.
Moving on. We were extremely happy with the Seaside Grill and The Himitsu restaurants. The food and the service was awesome. Jenrry, Juan Carlos and Edisson made our day. Great service from these gentlemen. The ribeye in the Seaside was to die for. Comparable to The Keg here in Canada. Soooo Good! The hibachi table was fun. We went to The Himitsu our first night and watched the hibachi tables and saw that Edisson was the best so we booked for his table when we went later in the week. He did not disappoint. We had a fun time with him. The buffet, La Riviera was somewhat disappointing. Unless you went to the omelette bar, the eggs sitting out, as well as the French toast and pancakes, bacon etc were cold. You had to get them and take them to the omelette bar to get them heated up. It is a smaller buffet than most of the other Secrets we’ve been to.
All in all though, the food was good tasting. We would like to thank Juan Duarte , Rudy and Liliana for their great service.
All in all, our vacation was very positive. The weather was simply fantastic. Our only real complaint was the bar. As Canadians, we drink Canadian Club rye whiskey (CC). The Secrets brand advertise top shelf spirits, however this Secrets either didn’t stock it in their bars or kept it hidden. Then they would try to pass off bourbon to us. We even had a server roll his eyes at us when we asked for Cc and sprite. Generally their answer was that they didn’t have it. We had read on TripAdvisor before we came that management ask that you go to see them while you are on your vacation rather than complaining about it after you are home, so we went to a manager, Raquel about half way thru our vacay. For the rest of the week, all of the bars gave us no attitude and always had this liquor, except the pool bar. They actually had some hidden below in a cupboard, told us they didn’t have any, but once we mentioned Raquel’s name, all of a sudden they had a bottle available. This type of practice brings the overall guest experience down. We love the Secrets brand so this type of behaviour is unacceptable. Guests are paying more for this brand than other resorts so please don’t nickel and dime the guests. We would like to thank Raquel for assisting us in getting our Canadian Rye Whiskey. It tastes so much better than bourbon!
Our stay was very relaxing and comfortable. We would rate this resort a 4. Im sure if the smoking and the bar service was addressed on a daily basis, it could rise to a true 5 star in no time. It certainly has the foundation to become great. Until the smoking issue is addressed, we will likely continue our journey to other Secrets before returning.
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Mostafa -
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Riu Republica: Very good Report
It was very clean and tidy hotel.
entertainment was great and food was good, but the restaurant was okay.
Daily program was fun and all the helper and entertainer were fantastic.
All together was really very good.
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Bear78 -
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Excellence El Carmen: Second visit this year
I was there in July and again Dec 17-21, the place is amazing. I am an avid traveller, vacationing at least 2 times a year. This is the first resort I have visited twice. The resort is beautiful, very clean and the staff are amazing. Book an excellence club swim out room and you don’t have to leave your room. Pool is right there, fully stocked bar fridge with premium liquor, 24 hour room service and a short walk to the beach. I’ve been to all the restaurants now, my only complaint.. portions[... read more] too big lol fantastic food, service is amazing! Aqua therapy massage was an experience, I regret that I didn’t try it in July. I expected the shows at night the be the same as in July... all completely different. The staff truly make sure you are having a good time. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to be spoiled
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Tati -
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Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana: Dreams palm beach
Mediocre overall.
4 stars at most. Limited activities. One staff member was very pushy about upgrading our room to the prederred one. The resort is very small and the food selection and quality was very limited.
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Sarah -
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Paradisus Punta Cana: Great Time
The hotel grounds were extremely well kept and very clean. There were ample chairs to choose from at the beach, never had a problem finding a spot to enjoy some sun. A recommendation would be to have some palapa’s put on the beach so that if you require some time in the shade it’s available. We did rent a covered sun bed one day for a very reasonable $25 USD. The waiters will serve you all day until your little heart is content. The only complaint we had was our room didn’t get cleaned 3 d[... read more]ays in a row. We don’t spend very much time in our room, so after one little phone call we received fresh towels without any hesitation from the front desk staff and an apology. The food was great, with lots of selections to satisfy even the picky people. Also, unlimited a la Cart reservations was a nice perk.
All in all had a great time!
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Baileys -
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Secrets Cap Cana: Nice resort and great location
Very nice grounds
Plenty of room on beach and plenty of lounge chairs and towels
Very clean
No need for butler in preferred section as there are plenty of lounge chairs (no need to reserve) and no reservations required for dining
Unfortunately dress code NOT enforced at restaurants which is disappointing for those of us that pack dress clothes (many guests wearing shorts and t-shirts to dinner)
Purchased west jet indulgence package (daily use of water circuits, bottle of spirits on arrival [... read more]and special turn down service )that was NOT recognized at this resort
West jet rep was rarely on location
English language barrier
Service at restaurants inconsistent
Very good entertainment
Room service and housekeeping very good
Spa services and romantic dining on beach WAY overpriced
Excellent WiFi service
Resort shopping lacking in variety
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William -
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Excellence El Carmen: Amazing Resort / Sub-Standard stay
Hotel, grounds were amazing. I was staying for a 1 year anniversary. Excellence El Carmen made this 1 year event a very bad memory for my partner and I.
Anniversary dinner was forgotten on 2 consecutive days. No flowers were left in room until a complaint was filed. At that point it was too late.
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Elaine -
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Punta Cana Princess: Beautiful resort
This was one of the best resorts that we have been to.
The staff was friendly, food was excellent and the beach amazing!
Everything is within walking distance. The grounds are well groomed with nice carvings.
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Private -
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TRS Turquesa: Beautiful!
We just returned from this beautiful resort! Beach was amazing, warm water, white sand. There are several pools, all beautiful. Food was ok overall, didn't like that we had to make reservations for dinner and could only get 6pm slots for all nights. Overall great holiday!
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Vlad -
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Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Good value resort
We stayed in this resort in spring of 2009, 2012, 2013 and decided to visit it again in December 08-15 of 2017. Our room 1218 is a regular junior suit and we found it in overall good technical condition and the housekeeping was also very good.
A very friendly personnel is in all areas of services; all are polite and eager to assist. We felt very comfortable of staying in full harmony of the excellent weather, pleasant environment and good maintained premises. Thank You All !
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Excellence El Carmen: Excellent!
The Excellence El Carmen was by far the best resort I have ever visited. The customer service was great, the food was great, the hotel was clean and we had an overall wonderful experience. We would definitely go back to this resort or any Excellence!