Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Disappointing Stay

We stayed at Royalton Bavaro from February 8–15 with a group of 10 (four rooms). Unfortunately, this experience fell far below expectations for a resort of this level. Prior to arrival and again at check-in, we requested that our rooms be in the same building. We were assured this would be accommodated by the front desk employee, but upon arrival to rooms we were split between Buildings 16, 17, and 18. We were not instructed to download the Royalton app and were not explained how to get to ou [... read more]r rooms and were not offered an intro to the resort(as this is usually done at check in or at the room when bags are dropped off). The rooms were visibly dirty. There was mold in the bathrooms and stains on bedding, along with a strong mildew smell. One room’s air conditioning produced a sewage odor when turned on(building 17), and another had a broken mini-fridge that took five days to repair. Housekeeping was inconsistent — toilets were not cleaned daily, bedding was never changed during our seven-night stay, and surfaces were not properly wiped down. We often cleaned areas ourselves. Dining was inconsistent and, at times, unacceptable. The Steakhouse was excellent. The Zen restaurant was enjoyable, but food was just ok. The Italian restaurant experience was abysmal, half our group left without eating. Service was terrible - drink orders took 30min. Food items did not all arrive and food took over 90 minutes to be delivered. The main buffet had an unpleasant odor, chairs were sticky or had food debris on them, and disorganized service — we frequently waited for cutlery and water after already having food at the table. More concerning were the food safety practices observed at the beach/pool buffet, including cross-contamination between raw and cooked items. On one occasion, a staff member handled raw chicken and then fresh tomatoes without changing gloves. During our stay, 6 of the 10 people in our group became ill. Four were violently ill and confined to their rooms for approximately two days. This significantly impacted our vacation and raised serious concerns about sanitation and food handling. There were positives: the beach is beautiful and the seaweed was minimal, and the café was excellent — great pastries, sandwiches, coffee, quick service, and consistently reliable options. The daily/nightly entertainment was excellent and shows were great. The pools and lazy river were extremely cold, to the point where we only used the lazy river once despite it being one of the reasons we booked. Morning beach walks also revealed leftover glassware, beer cans, and debris from the day before in and around all the beach loungers. Lastly, if bringing Dominican pesos for tipping, bring small bills. Throughout the week, the lobby, casino, and gift shop were unable to provide change, which made tipping difficult. Overall, this stay did not reflect the quality expected at this price point. While there were a few highlights, the cleanliness, food safety concerns, and multiple illnesses made this a very disappointing experience.

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Good Resort

The grounds were well kept and beautiful. The meals at the buffet were very good with many, many choices. The entertainment at the theater was exceptional and very professional. The meals at the Italian, Spanish and Steak House were first class. The maid service left a bit to be desired--the maid would take the dirty towels but did not leave as many clean ones as she removed--however the room was always cleaned very well. The room itself needed to be refurbished---the bathroom counter was in  [... read more]bad shape and needs replacement---we arrived very late on Feb. 8, 2026 and there was water leaking from the light fixture directly above the toilet so that when a person sat on the toilet the water dripped right on them--this was reported in the morning and did not happen again---however when the shower was used water dripped from the ceiling in the entrance. Overall we enjoyed our time at this resort.

Secrets Playa Esmeralda Resort and Spa: Beautiful Beach!

Disappointed in Resort with it being a New Resort it was run down. It didn't look New at all. Leaking ceilings in many Hallways. Broken stair rails. Mold on outside of some buildings. With water leakage, many hallways had lots of water on floors that wasn't even cleaned up. The secure lock on room door didn't work. The food was okay. Buffet was ALWAYS COLD. Not a good buffet at all. A few of the restaurants were okay but far from our expectations for being a Secrets. Also, we paid for Pre [... read more]ferred Club. That didn't mean anything there. There was no identification between reg. Guest and preferred. They used the pool and the bar. Only thing they couldn't do was go into the preferred Restaurant. That was a big joke there. Also for being an adults only Resort.......The centre square entertainment was for Dreams as well so Always had lots of kids as well as in Amphitheater lots of kids. The staff was phenomenal, we enjoyed them so much. Special thanks to our Butler SIMON, he was amazing. I love Secrets, but disappointed in this one.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: I'm never disappointed - Great resort

This is my 7th year staying at Casa Marina. This year, they gave me ground floor room. Walk out to the pools and the beach. II don't know, but I feel so safe and relaxed staying here. The staff, i mean ALL the staff are great. When you leave the resort, there is the town of Sosua, right there. I also find it safe, day and nite. By the way, Kevin from Trip central got me the patio room.

Ocean El Faro: Clean and Beautiful

A large resort with many areas to occupy your day. Many staff working throughout the day and night, cleaning the pool, tending the garden, cleaning public areas and beach. Entertainment was plentiful and spread out from family areas and adult only areas. We changed our room from rooftop to swim up adults only area. This worked out as we now had a swim up facing the sun, near the action of a pool and bar. If you want privacy and quiet choose room top. We also upgraded to privileged, $575 cdn pp. [... read more] We didn't find it worth the price with other resorts at half that price. The provided butler did make our reservations for dinner, get us a dehumidifier , and wine and champagne. Our upgraded mini bar wasn't in place until day 4, which didn't matter as the excellent bar staff looked after us and our neighbors. The lighthouse restaurant, privileged only, was the gem of the resort, excellent food and service, top notch. A la carte restaurants were all good. The buffet was so so. ( We only went once and not impressed because the the light house was outstanding. The lazy river was nice, tubes provided, or bring your own. In room coffee was awful, no tea( hot water) available. The only good coffee was Mike coffee shop, a good variety of hot and cold drink with terrific friendly service. We did find that too many sales people trying to sell their chain program, a little annoying. Beach chairs and area was terrific, only drawback was the water was inaccessible to swim, of f which we knew. A cove usable to swim but was not owned by the resort and garbage washing up made it unappealing. 2 areas, family and adult , both terrific in there rite. We had a late departure flight, we left our luggage in the lobby lockup and enjoyed the facilities for the day. They booked us a shower located near the lobby before our departure. Thank you for Shannon and trip central for organizing our trip, worry free, nice transfers.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Big fun resort

Huge resort Staff were wonderful Drinks very good Room slightly outdated Lots of bars and restaurants Kid friendly Adult friendly Beach is beautiful Nice touch with water park Felt safe Pretty lobby

Occidental Punta Cana: English speaking guests not welcome!

This is a beautiful property with multiple pools and easy access to the beach. Some of the quality however has been compromised since we last there in 2020. The steak restaurant for example was huge disappointment. The steaks we were served was certainly not of the same quality as what we had experienced in our previous visits. The biggest shock however was how unhospitable the front desk and guest services staff were, to the point of being rude. Many of them spoke little or no English and made [... read more] no attempt to be helpful. Announcements of pool activities were only in Spanish. There were about 40% of us non Spanish speaking and we felt very unwelcome. For a major chain like Barcelo this was very disappointing. We had the same problem at the airport. We were told there was no English spoken and when I asked for a wheelchair for my mobility issues, I was told there are none in the airport. When I explained about my difficulty, the staff member shrugged! Not only will we not be returning to this hotel, I will not return to this unwelcoming and monolingual country!

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: DO NOT TRAVEL HERE!

All I have to say is terrible food, rude and lazy service at restaurants and bars unless you tip big, room was under construction and overall not worth the money. Got taken to the hospital due to parasites and food poisoning from poor hygiene and food prep practices.

Viva Tangerine by Wyndham: Wonderful resort

Everything was exactly as it was last year when I was there. That’s why we booked again. A small resort &very friendly. Workers pleasant, always helpful. Good food. Property clean & well kept. Enjoyed my stay. Dianne Conrad.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: The resort was amazing..spacious and super clean

The hotel grounds were beautiful.spacious .wonderful places to sit and have coffee..very , very clean The preferred bars and their bartenders were comedians, knew their capabilites of mixing drink The entertainment was good for the most part, however our entainter Gregory, was top notch. Our servers in the preferred section were courteous and always arrived, with our drinks and food with a smile

Punta Cana Princess: Always amazing

This is our 4th time staying at the Punta Cana Princess and it never fails to disappoint. Plenty of variety to choose from for every meal at the buffet. A-la--carts do not require reservations and have been updated. The food choices are delicious. The staff are all very friendly and most speak English. The beach is beautiful but beware, due to water levels rising, it is not as vast as it used to be. You also don't have to wake at the crack of stupid to reserve a chair unless you want an umbrella [... read more] at the pool. One downside for me, maybe not everyone, is the new bathroom design. Private toilet, semi private shower but no door disconnecting the bathroom from the main room.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: Beautiful resort

The public areas are very nice and very clean. We were there during the Super Bowl. They had a giant TV if you wanted to watch the game. They also had finger foods. At the cafeteria, they had made special desserts for the occasion (mini footballs, etc.). They were beautiful and very good! The rooms are beautiful. Beds very comfortable and nice decor. The chamber maids were excellent. They came by twice a day. The restaurants were very good. The Japanese tapaniake was excellent. The Mexican r [... read more]estaurant and the Asian restaurants were also excellent. The steakhouse was not as good. My steak was fine but my friend's was impossible to cut. Was returned and the next steak was too rare. The beach was nice but you had to get there by 7:30am if you wanted a chair. I would recommend this resort.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: Great Resort with Excellent Service

This is our 9th Secrets resort that we have been to and Secrets Tides did not disappoint! The resort was very well laid out, the food was good, the staff were excellent and the resort amenities were very good. Everyone who works at the resort works very hard to ensure that your stay is memorable. With this being a newer resort, the rooms were excellent and cleaned exceptionally well each day. The nightly entertainment was good, however the entertainment in the lobby bar from 7pm-850pm was ve [... read more]ry good. Each night they had something that got the crowd moving (2-piece guitar band, steel drum player, violinist) etc. Whether you went to eat at the buffet, the barefoot grill, the food truck by the beach or the a' la carte restaurants each meal was very good. The nice thing is that men don't have to wear pants for dinners at the a' la carte as shorts work! Give this resort a try you won't be disappointed.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Nice resort

The grounds were very well maintained. Food was good but inconsistent also the menu on the app in some restaurants was completely different than the restaurant menu. Biggest complaint was having to get up before 7am in order to get a chair at the pools. People would leave towels for as long as 6hours and never use them.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Nice resort

The grounds were very well maintained. Food was good but inconsistent also the menu on the app in some restaurants was completely different than the restaurant menu. Biggest complaint was having to get up before 7am in order to get a chair at the pools. People would leave towels for as long as 6hours and never use them.

Caribe Deluxe Princess: Exceptional service

5 stars all the way Everything was good. One restaurant -italien- was not to the level of all the other restaurants. The Brazilian restaurant was the best. The tropical environment and the faune were like a paradise.

Coral Costa Caribe: Nice resort

Really liked the resort our room was in the perfect place it was clean and spacious only didn't have a chest of drawers and the patio door was hard to use the food was good and we enjoyed the activities the staff were friendly and welcoming

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Greatest resort ever

We have been to many resorts and this one beats them all. It set's a high benchmark to beat when seeking a relaxing holiday. It offers all of what you would expect from an all inclusive: clean and refresh resort; big room; great pools; great food; flexibility with the a la carte restaurants; easy access to the beach which were very clean; friendly and courteous resort employees. I would not hesitate to go back

Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Very nice resort but cold pools!

This resort is a solid 4 star. Grounds are beautiful! At night it is stunning. Lobby is beautiful and fun with great entertainment every night. Food is decent. Trying to book a restaurants is very annoying - we opted for the buffet most nights. Rooms are pretty and well appointed but could use some work. Musty smell but luckily we had a dehumidifier in the room that helped. Staff was hit and miss. We didn’t find them eager. Waiters at the pool and lobby would come by once in a w [... read more]hile but never consistent even though we tipped well. This is NOT a resort you will be dotted on. All the pools are cold so be prepared for that. The lazy river was the coldest. Super Fun for kids - fun kids pool with slides etc. One pool is loud and rowdy (Infinity pool) and the Royalton pool is more quiet but still fun. Overall we liked it and would go back.

Dreams Flora Resort and Spa: Well run resort

Upon arrival, we were treated courteously and efficiently. The hotel was everything we expected it to be and more. The food in all restaurants was fabulous. The waiters on the beach at your service with a smile. When they say "Welcome Family" you are treated like family. Clean rooms, the grounds immaculate and the drinks served were top shelf. The beach was great and well kept. There was live bands and great music. This hotel caters to their clients and do not disappoint.