Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Amazing Resort

We loved this resort, it was clean, well maintained, huge with lots of lovely grounds to walk around. The beach was kept clean, lots of beds available, the sea was actually warm ! the pools were lovely and warm too. The food was fantastic as were the staff all very friendly. We will definitely return :)

Riu Palace Bavaro: Great vacation in Dominican

Stayed at the RIU Palace Bavaro July 16-20th. Bus ride from the airport was only 30 minutes, and when we arrived we had a very easy check in process. We were upgraded to the VIP section. Our room was very spacious and clean. Walk to the pool, beach & restaurants was very short, as the resort is not large. Food was really good. Service was good. Only ate at the buffet restaurants as the other restaurants have a lot of fish & seafood on the menus (which didn't appeal to us). Bars were good [... read more], enjoyed the coffee bar in the lobby - they served good coffee and soft serve ice cream. We went to the shows each night and they were not the best shows we have seen but they were entertaining. Beach was nice, not overly crowed and could always find a beach chair (same for pool but it was a bit more crowded). Only complaint about the beach was all the seaweed. I did see them out clearing it one day but they could certainly do it more frequently. Overall really liked the resort.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Old, but still nice

The place is better than in the past, but still needs to be renovated. The food is okay, but not great . The spa treatments are excellent but expensive. The beach was awful because of the incredible amount of seaweed. Could hardly swim with all the seaweed. Although they tried to clean up the beach, they could of cleaned it up much quicker if they used a boat with a fishing net and a tractor. Night shows were good. Room a/c wasn't working properly. Hasn't been working for the last 2 years. T [... read more]hey gave us a fan which helped a lot. A/C unit inadequate for room size from what I was told. Don't understand why they don't put one in for the room size, since they have the space for one. I know that it's strange to rent the same room (67301) but the location is to die for. Close to everything, especially to the beach. Place hard to beat quality vs price. Room service was good, food arrived hot. Maid service was okay but always short of something and to come back. Plenty of coffee and water. Bar refreshed daily Hope this review was helpful.

Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Disappointing Experience. Expected more from 5-star hotel.

We just got back form 7 days vacation at this resort. (Grand Bahia Principe Bavaro). We are family of four with two kinds (13 and 8) living in Canada. We have limited experience in Caribbean vacations: it is based on our visits to 4 Cuban 5-star resorts. We were told that 5-star resorts in DR are class above the 5 star resorts in Cuba (Melia Marina Varadero, and Ensenachos Iberostar where we stayed in the past). We went to DR for: i) the beach, ii) a bit of luxury ( food, drinks ) apparentl [... read more]y missing in Cuban 5 star hotels. We expected something a class better from this place, as everyone ( including travel agents) assured us that compared to Cuba the Grand Bahia in DR is a top notch place. We got none of the above so we were quite disappointed. Below are the details: 1) Beach is practically "un-swimmable" due to the seaweed. The thick layer of algae in the ocean makes it a very unpleasant experience -- my eight-year daughter and I, got some form of skin rash from this on a third day. It is true that the seaweed is "taken care of" -- there are workers with pitchforks working along the shore whole day. They rake the seaweed into the small piles ( 1 meter diameter and 1 meter high) with about 2 meters space between them. Then the tractors come to scoop them up and move away, and then the pitchfork guys start again. If you lounge on the beach you see and hear these tractors all the time, you also smell diesel. I would not be surprised if there is an accident with kid run over by one of these machines at some point. The other raters comments about " weeds being an issue that is quickly dealt with" do not reflect the sad reality that the whole beach is affected by this ( July 12 to July19). For me it was the source of greatest disappointment -- staying near the pool is an option, but I could rent a place with swimming pool closer to home, if all I cared for was the pool-- I wanted an ocean. 2) Food/Restaurants/Drinks None of the restaurants use their air-conditioning fully. I does not matter how good the food is if I am sweating while sitting there. I know we came there for the sun -- but the whole point is to be able to get out of the heat/humidity from time to time. ( Buffet and each a la carte restaurant we visited were about 27C.) Bars serve almost only local substitutes of quality alcohol-- did not see much difference from what I was offered at Cuban resorts. (To give you an example -- they consider Gordon Gin and Beefeater as upgrades for which you pay extra), so at no point I felt that this was 5-star establishment, I was expecting. 3) Rooms -- we had junior superior room booked for us. It was OK for size , but it had this aggressive chemical odour to it-- like bleach was used excessively to mask the smell of mould. We had to complain to get a room with properly working AC. After being transferred to the new room I discovered that the AC unit has a limiter on it. I had to complain three times to the resort management and finally the technician was sent to remove it ( he had to open the ceiling panel to change the electrical element in the circuit.) After that the cold air finally started blowing. Needless to say the AC was "working" before, (so they try to make you believe that what you get is a standard) just not the way it should have been: it was barely blowing a tepid air on max settings. It seems to be a typical approach-- many guests will not complain or will resign themselves to the fact that this is the way it is supposed to be, and live in this humid/hot environment. Rooms are very dark ( there are only wall side lights so at night it is quite dim.) 4) Resort is very busy, the beach and the main pool near the beach are overcrowded. Perhaps the other ( adults only) parts of this complex are less crowded, but I was told we are not allowed to use them. 5)Number of people/vendors trying to sell you something is unbelievable. One section of the beach had as many of them as guests. You can also be ambushed by friendly sales representatives who want to show you the new resort Fantasia or get you to join the Privilege club. 6) there are throngs of very loud guests waking you up at night (3AM) if you are near the main transfer route of the hotel. ( We were in Villa #30). 7) the mini-golf area is not very good ( no shade and very worn out) POSITIVES: 1)The food is of decent quality and fresh -- none of us had any stomach trouble despite eating risky food (we had beef carpaccio, seafood, mayo-based salads etc.) 2) Staff is very efficient and quick, there are many people working there. If you ask for something ( towels, busboy) the action will be taken within few minutes. 3) The resort is very clean. 4) It has good quality night entertainment -- I mean life music ( not the shows). 5) Very few mosquitos -- I got bitten once or twice for the entire stay. 6) Main bar in the lobby serves very good drinks -- look for what they call a "drink of the day." If you are Canadian do not bother to buy Dominican Pesos -- the whole resort operates based on US dollars. Room Tip: Check the AC in your room upon arrival.

Riu Republica: Spectacular experience

Riu Republica is a very modern looking hotel with extremely friendly and helpful staff. As soon as I arrived I was welcomed with a glass of juice as I waited for check-in, which gave me a good vibe. The resort is a good size, not too big, so the distance to walk from our room to the beach or restaurant wasnt too far. The only complaint I had was that while i was there the hotel had construction going on at early hours of the morning right outside of my hotel room. Otherwise i rate my stay a 10/1 [... read more]0 and want to go back as soon as possible!!

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Awesome resort

Had an amazing time at this resort. We had no problems here. The staff are very nice and there are a lot of food options at the buffet. The location is very picturesque too. Only minor complaints are that there is quite a bit of seaweed at the beach and the resort is a little far from some of the excursions.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Sliding Down a Slippery Slope

THE GOOD: Grounds: Exemplary Staff: Exceptional Housekeeping: Hit and Miss Butler Service: Amazing Animation Team/Activities/Shows: Awesome Conceirge: Bang On Check In: Friendly and Efficient Gym: Modern facility and equipment with helpful staff NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: Building/Rooms: Needs a face lift - beginning to show its age Pool: Algae evident - needs a thorough cleaning on the deck and water line Food: Quality has declined over the years with poorer cuts of meat and predictable  [... read more]menu items New Restaurant at ocean end of Villa 90 poorly located - every pre-lunch hour the smoke from the kitchen (bbq?) drifted over guests poolside

Punta Cana Princess: Very dissatisfied and disappointed

We booked an oceanview deluxe suite at this resort having been to Dominican back in February. We were shown to our room and instead of oceanview received a pool view with trees front and center. After complaining to reception we were given another room which was closer to the ocean but exactly the same view as before. When I complained again, I was told the only oceanview are the honeymoon suites, which were not available to me as they were all booked. What kind of resort offers oceanview wh [... read more]en they don't have these rooms available? We were told to speak to our sunwing Rep, who made inquiries and also concluded that no oceanview rooms were available, he recommended we speak to our travel agent who should help make things right. I paid for an oceanview room, I could have paid less and got the same view I'm not happy. After that, we had no choice but to stay in this room. The maid service was good for two days, after which the service went dramatically bad, even by tipping every day. Bed was just casually made no extra welcome was offered. The fridge in the room was only serviced after asking for water and beer, no snacks made available. The ala carte restaurant were a hit and miss, only four on the resort and not all of them open at the same time. Buffet was mediocre at best. Both myself and my girlfriend became sick as did a lot of fellow guests that we spoke with. Water in the room was not suitable for brushing your teeth, Overall this resort claims to be 5 star, I would compare it to a Cuba style 3.5 star. Very disappointed for the money that I spent.

Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: Resort was well maintained and clean.

The resort overall was clean and nicely laid out. The butler we had was hardly seen or heard from. The staff seemed a bit unorganized. The rooms where very nice and the roof top was great. The restaurants where nice and overall service by staff was good.

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Fantasic Resort

This resort was amazing!!! The food and the hotel staff and service was great Perfect for my whole family, the children had a blast at the pool and the beach. Couldn't have asked for a better choice of vacation :) I truly enjoyed the 7 days we were there, will return in the near future

Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: Mixed review

The Majestic part of the Mirage is new. 7 months old when we went (July 2017). And is still going through growing pains. The client experience is uneven. Some parts unbelievable (rooms and beach) others you see will shortly get to the exquisite level of the Elegance and some need more work. Take the gamble and you will not be disappointed if you can manage your expectations on an even keel. In case you feel out of sorts speak to Javier he will sort it all out. All and all good place that has t [... read more]he potential to be amazing.

Riu Naiboa: Poor Resort

Rooms are not cleaned properly, refill of fridge not done regularly. Pool is small and not properly cleaned. Almost same food everyday, not enough choice of food for vegetarian. Too much mosquito in room. Coupons are not given at time of check-in as part of our packages from Hotel and sunwings. I don't like this resort as per money I spent.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Nice grounds

We stayed at the Majestic Colonial where the grounds are beautiful and well kept. Staff is very friendly. The area where the most improvement is needed is the rooms and housekeeping. Rooms are run down and not kept as clean as we like. Had to ask for more towels quite frequently. I understand they will be doing a renovation in 2 months. Buffet could use some changes as well, everyday seemed like the day before. Would be good if they changed it up a bit more. Weather and beach was beautiful.

Grand Bavaro Princess: Bavaro Princess is The Best in Punta Cana

EXCELLENT RESORT! I loved it! My mom and my daughter loved it as well! Even though it was a 3/4 days trip but everything was excellent. No complaints...Can't wait to come back!!!! Thanks to Tracy Weldon (from TripCentral) for suggesting this Hotel.

Tropical Deluxe Princess: Wonderful family vacation!

We spent the week at Tropical Princess resort. Had a family suite. 2 adults, 3 children. Overall great vacation! 5/5: food 5/5: service 5/5: beach and pools 3/5: rooms Rooms need a deep cleaning especially bathrooms. Very dusty furniture even though cleaning lady passed everyday. Royalton sellers were too demanding, harassing us every morning at the buffet to come to a 20 mins meeting for them to get their commision. It got really annoying during 6 days to have to say no 5-6 times  [... read more]a day. Wish the hotel would forbid this company. It's not helpful to anyone and i question if they actually earn a living from this. Was our first visit to punta cana and loved the animation in pool, the servers at the buffet were very efficient and the creperie was delicious!!! Would recommend and come again!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Luxury Bahia Principe Amber Blue

Friendly environment with very good service. Beach needs more management to prevent customers from preserving beach seats by their towels. Excellent foods and drinks where ever you go. Overall is a very good vacation at Bahia Principe.

Sensatori Resort Punta Cana: Amazing property...

We had a great vacation overall, I will break down the review in sections: Property: Was absolutely stunning. Was a very new property and was just beautiful and amazing. We booked a family swim up suite, and we couldn't have asked for more. The room was so clean, and modern. Everything was great. The pools and everything was clean. The resort, even though very busy, and (they said) completely full, the beach was never packed, there were so many moments I was on the property looking out at th [... read more]e ocean with no one in front of me. There was no trouble booking cabanas or getting chairs at either the beach or the pool, mostly a little hard to find one with an umbrella mid-day. Most of the pool bars are closer to the beach area so we had to walk quite far to get a drink during the day, but still, amazing property overall. Food/Restaurants: Unfortunately, I'd say this was the lowest point for me... the meat at the buffets were too dry most of the time, and my 2 year old son who usually loves to eat, would barely eat anything at all except the fruit pouches they provided. He for some reason didn't even find the fish and chips/chicken fingers or fries appealing... I didn't enjoy the food much. The fruit was good, and fresh, however, nothing else was super impressive. The white beach party was great, the food was amazing that day, nothing was overcooked and was very good. We really liked the food in Mexico better at Azul Fives. The Space restaurant was really cool and neat. The buffets offered during lunch were very unimpressive, and nothing I looked forward to eating. We asked to book restaurants the 2nd day we arrived (we arrived at 3pm in the afternoon so unpacked and settled in first) and by that time, we couldn't get any restaurant reservations until the last 2 days of vacation, which actually might be a blessing in disguise... We had the Italian Restaurant the day before we left and I had a terrible case of food poisoning as soon as I got to the airport. I'm not sure if it's from the restaurant, or something else I ate at the resort... but it was absolutely the worst thing ever, considering the heat and being dehydrated from not being able to keep down water with two toddlers in tow. I also asked for avocado (just plain b/c my toddler wasn't eating) and apparently the searched the resort for 4 days straight (b/c I tried to get some every day) and they don't have any avocados there which I find a little weird... As for drinks, I'd say this place was very lacking on the drinks offered, and the knowledge of some of the staff on how to make drinks. I ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri twice, and ended up with a Margarita. My husband ordered a Caesar and somehow ended up with beer in it once, and then the second time it was made from Gin... The bar on the beach and at the beaches or pool bars were fine, it was moreso if you ordered anything at the main buffet... They also only had (very) bottom shelf selection of alcohol. They didn't even have Stolicnaya Vodka or Disaronno. They had some Margaritaville brand and Absolute. Again, we much preferred the drinks in the Mexico Property. At the coffee shop, I'd order the same thing everyday and it came out tasting different every time. It was great the first time, and then never again. They had several things on the menu which they couldn't make bc they didn't have ingredients for it, ie. Matcha green tea, soy, and some juices. They 'ran out' of soy for 5 days... and mid-day they had no apples for juice... someone ordered the wrong thing in front of me and they said it was what I wanted... I asked if it was a Caramel Machiatto and they said yes... no, then added about 1/3 a cup of syrup and said it was what I wanted and to try it... it tasted like water for some reason and she said it shouldnt, and and after a bit of back and forth she made a new one. Child-friendliness: was amazing. The playhouse was great, we dropped our 4 year old here once a day for 2 hours, and this was the favourite part of her trip!! They also had a play (theatre) show at 7:30pm each night where families go and watch a show, there's a bar in the back (of course) for the parents, and they did a bedtime story there too. Kids of all ages enjoyed the show (1-15), it was great. They also showed a movie in the courtyard and served either popcorn/cotton candy every night, which was amazing b/c the kids loved it as well. Great resort for kids. Service: I'd have to say service is very mediocre here. There were a few people who were great, and we liked their service a lot, but I'd say 70-75% of the people didn't really make you feel as welcome as you would at a lot of the other all-inclusive resorts we've been to in Dominican or Mexico. I will specifically mention the bar server at the beach Jose Luis was really amazing. He went above and beyond any expectations I had in any resort. B/c our room was far from bars, and I was returning back to the room, I wanted to get drinks for myself and husband to bring back to the room - I was going to try to carry 4 drinks back myself (which i have done before), but he insisted on helping me out b/c he loved to be helpful. I know a lot of people will ask for you to write a good review of them on their site, but he never asked at all. He just went above my expectations for amazing service and I wanted to (hopefully) give him recognition for it. Cleanliness: The rooms were great, the outside property was maintained amazing, however, the high chairs weren't very clean, as well, we found a lot of the dishes were actually quite dirty. You could go to the buffet and ask for a bowl, and someone would bring you one and then wipe it down randomly with a cloth on the counter... and if you looked at it, it would be dirty with fresh food on it...The tables a lot of times at the main buffet were sticky - the first night we got there and sat down, my hand felt like it touched syrup... I really wasn't impressed with the cleanliness at the buffet. For the price we paid for this resort I'd expected more. I still have to say that overall we did have a great vacation... of course minus the food poisoning part but wanted to be very thorough with the review....

Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: Great resort

A great resort, amazing staff. Nightly entertainment was alright. When we were shown our room, our jaws dropped. Our room faced a construction site. Workers, noise and dust all day. No mention on website. Very disappointed.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Nice resort

The grounds were in well kept condition. Beach was big with plenty of spots to sit. Room was nice and clean. Pool was big and spacious for all people. Only negative was fair distance to beach area. Other then that it was a good spot.

Breathless Punta Cana Resort: Great trip!

My husband and I just came back from a week at Breathless and it was fabulous. We were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary and we had the best time. The beach was great and clean. No fighting for a beach chair. The entertainment staff were great, friendly and talented. The food was top notch. Loved the fact that we didn't have to book a la carte dinners and there were options every night, including the resort next door. Everything was clean and modern. We would love to return soon!