Great resort with room for improvement!

Just had a 1 week stay here in Diamond Club. The property itself is stunning and immaculate. Our Butler Prax was brand new however we had a great experience with him and thought he did very well. The staff and service is outstanding , the food was very good. There is room for everyone to spread out and not feel crowded around the pools. The beach is beautiful however if we were not Diamond Club I may have felt the seating was crowded, although there are tons of palapas in non DC for shad [... read more]e, which is great. Constant waves were great for body surfing. There are a few areas in which I feel the resort can easily do better; they MUST update some aspects of the rooms such as their pullouts which are old and stained and terribly uncomfortable from our experience, however they did bring us a roll away bed instead, which was better though even those can use replacement to firmer beds. Also I felt that the nightly entertainment was just so so, the circus and white nights were fun but otherwise we found it to be pretty boring, and things like silent disco could be GREATLY improved if they did that outdoors after their show so people actually know about it and participate more. It was in their Score Bar, fully lit and just was not as much fun and very little participation and ambiance in my opinion. And lastly they can greatly improve the teen club equipment, such as putting in more functional pool tables, a few ping pong tables would be great and a FREE air hockey machine. There was also only 1 functional pool table in Score. Our overall experience was great however for the above reasons I can only rate it a solid 4 star considering the 5 star high price.

Great family trip

Excellent hotel. Extremely clean and the staff is so kind and friendly. Our room was in the building at the beach so a fair bit of walking to the buffet restaurant but needed the walk with all the eating lol! There is also a smaller buffet restaurant at the beach open at lunch hour which is perfect. Lazy river is a must must must!!! Has a bar as u float by too which is only accessible if ur in the lazy river. Have no complaints at all about anything. Great rooms. Comfy beds. Large showers and [... read more] lots of hot water. We did bring Imodium as we were nervous reading some reviews and of course u can’t drink their water. We did have to take some Imodium but nothing serious just more precaution. Would absolutely go back. Trip Central is always our go to. Top notch and the site is so user friendly. Staff is always available to answer ur concerns. Wouldn’t travel without using them first!!!

Great all around!

This was a beautiful resort with something for everyone! Plenty of bars and restaurants, pools, lazy river, gym etc. I loved that reservations were not needed for restaurants (except tepanyaki) and the food was great. Steakhouse and Italian were my favourites. Staff were super friendly. Room was clean and modern. Would definitely go back.

Best resort!

My husband and I just went to Royalton Bavaro for my 49th bday. We were in Block 15, in a swim up room. It was amazing to have a swim up room. The resort was clean, food was tasty and plentiful. Lots of options and lots of places to eat. The bartenders were busy at the beach bar but made sure everyone was served. For my birthday the staff decorated a private space at the steak restaurant where i chose to eat my dinner. They even put up balloons! The steak matched the Keg! It was cooked just h [... read more]ow I wanted. We enjoyed the lazy River for a float around and a drink. Barely used the pool as we were at the gorgeous beach all day. We absolutely will come back to this resort!

5 stars across the board - amazing resort!

Hotel very well kept! Exceeded expectations overall! Clean and still looks new. We experienced exceptional personnel, from bus boy, front desk, bar tenders, hosts at restaurants, servers to housecleaning (Felipe was amazing at his job - he dealt with minor issues as soon as we brought it up to him). As far as I am concerned, this resort deserves 5 stars across the board - personnel, room, beach, food, accessibility, lazy river, pools, activities, value, etc.

Great resort

The hotel was beautiful and the grounds lovely. The staff were very courteous and helpful. When concerns were raised by our fellow travellers they were quickly addressed. by the staff. My grandsons loved the Flow Rider. The staff at this place were extremely helpful to them and gave them great guidance. It was the hit of their stay at the Royalton.

Amazing - best ever all inclusive

My family had a lot of demands for our vacation and Shae Dureault recommended this resort and it did not disappoint. Amazing food, pools, activities, gym, entertainment and the lazy river was icing on the top.

September 2023

I would go to this resort on and on! No complaints overall! My only suggestion: more place to hang clothes in the balcony, barely any space Also very humid rooms , if we did turn off the AC the floors would be very wet.

Bring grippy shoes, buffet will take you down

Travelled with my 16-year-old son for 7 days from Toronto. Swim up room-not Privilege club. Paid $1400 each AI. No excursions. Flight: Sunwing failed us again, 2-hour delay from YYZ, and again a 45 min delay coming back. Transfer was fine, although YYZ baggage claim can suck it from top to bottom. Resort grounds: Well-manicured and clean, very poor maintenance repairs, nothing was done properly, or colour matched, just slopped plaster over something and let it dry. Swim up was awesome, al [... read more]though not very private, great refresher when the pool is too hot or full. The floor in the buffet is like greased lightning, I almost fell on my ass like 20 times. I learned to slide around gracefully by day 3. The entire resort is quite dangerous when wet. No traction on any of the pathways, or tile. They do have strips on some of the stairs to help in places. Food: We both got sick from something, I know it happens, so I am not going to fault the resort for that, as you never know what got you(ice cubes, uncooked meat, unclean bathroom conditions) Buffet was basic, grab the fresh Swiss chalet type rotisserie chicken when you can, and the waffle fries if you can find them. Pizza was just flat bread with a couple chunks of whatever was going bad in the kitchen. Bread and butter were my mainstay, kinda like a fancy prison. Ala Cartes, Brazilian was great, grilled pineapple and the various skewers, even the way they feed you was a great experience. Steakhouse was good, massive steak(rib eye) that an average person would never be able to eat. and no vegetables in sight. Oceanside was good, basket of coconut shrimp was massive and probably the best thing I ate all week. Japanese was the worst show I have ever had out of like 10 different resorts. No flair, and average rice and meat served. My son struggled with the air quality, but Gen Z has no coping skills for anything these days. All desserts were great. Ice cream, cheese cake very good. Room service food was limited to like 5 options, just a sandwich with fries that were usually cold. took about 30-45 mins each time. Strawberry daquiris were good no matter where I went, sorry i don't drink anything other than water and DQ's. Breakfast omelets and bacon are the only true constant, as well as desserts. Beach: unfortunately, I am not a beach person(Canadian Vampire), it looked nice, and had some heavy waves, but I did not see many people in there on any given day. Room: clean and standard, beds were firm but comfy enough. not as good as Royalton Cancun by far. Toilets were barely cleaned. 2 men with gastro issues, we put it to the test. had to flush 2-3 times each time to finish the job, and without a fan, the maid was not very happy to be in there at any time(toilet has its own small closet for whatever reason) and the bathtub in the middle of the room served no purpose. No one would use it, and it's in everyone's way. we stored dirty/wet clothes in it. Phone did not work for 3 days, A/C cut off for a full day due to a loose door handle. Staff: honestly, i hate reviews that say Miguel was the best!! or whatever, no one cares. The staff here were very rude and confrontational when there was more than 2 men working together. They never gave the right of way when walking, I was pushed onto the grass many times, and I am 5'10 and 300 lbs. I would not waste money on this resort. Nowhere near 5-star standards even though it was low season. I should point out that there was a tragic accident involving 2 buses the 2nd day we got there and I think it was 9 people died that were workers from Royalton(unsure if they were from us or Splash) I didn't ask.

So family friendly!

Overall a great experience but of course there are some pros and cons Pros: 1) Family friendly, everything from where the family rooms are located , elevators everywhere, a path that's shaded to get your little one out of direct sun, a kiddie pool, lazy river and splash pad, kids menu, high chairs , elevators, mini club and activities 2)the property is just beautiful, tastefully decorated and they even have that spa smell 3) Some staff really go above and beyond, Rubin and Wendy at the bea [... read more]ch Bar, Carlos at the lobby bar, Jose at front desk/lost and found was a life saver ! Johanna at the splash pad was like a big sister to our son, Photography crew, animation crew, can't say enough good things about all of them. Cons 1) Definitely not a party resort, so if you want that vibe you'd have to go out or stay elsewhere 2) The beach is not really good for swimming, lots of seaweed and despite their best efforts to clean it out some days the water was almost black in colour from all the seaweed and rocks coming up to shore so not great for a beach lover unless you go out on excursions 3) The food and service is inconsistent. You're not likely to get a drink the same way from two different bartender so follow the person who makes it the way you like it. Some days the same dishes at the buffet were overly salty or overcooked. It all depends on who you land on. And some staff were border line rude.Twice within the week I had to call to ask them to clean our room...etc. 4) it's first come first serve for à la carte restaurant. It's nice that you can just walk in but with a baby we didn't have the luxury of time to be on a waitlist . The only one you can reserve is tappiniyaki and we did enjoy that one Other relevant information 1) the air Canada experience and the transfer to and from the hotel were a nightmare . Sunwing seemed to be the better option in comparison 2) I couldn't get an answer in time on whether I can get a crib in the room or not so I had to pack mine, I had emailed the hotel and our rep here a few days before we left but didn't hear back

Great resort

The grounds are great, the facilities excellent especially the lazy river, the room was clean but the beach was covered with sea weeds which was not great. The service in the dinning room was very poor most of the time. Michael was the only person that provided excellent service but we did not get him at all times. At times it was wait time to get into the dining room and conclude the dining room was not large enough to accommodate the amount of people. Overall the facility was great.

Beautiful and clean Resort

In this review I need to mention, this is our 4th trip in Punta Cana to different resorts. We are not picky and adjusting to any situation. This is a beautiful hotel that was kept clean all the time. The beach was (lucky for us) clean from seaweed and so is the water. The travelers in the hotels beside Royalton were having trouble getting to the water because of the amount of seeweeds in and out. Room: The locations are away from all the night entertainment. which is good for families w [... read more]ith kids. Big enough for a couple with 1-2 small kids, but the bath tab at the entrance is more suitable for a young couple. I kept all our stuff away so the room could be clean easy, but the service was only to change the towels and fix the beds. Food: We are not a restaurants people. The buffet in the morning is like all other resorts as well is dinner that we have been in the Dominica. Entertainment: We liked it very much for a change from other resorts we have been.

Amazing Resort

Very clean, professional and friendly staff and amazing food. We had a fabulous vacation and any time we asked staff for anything they were always quick to respond and wanted to make sure we were always having a great experience.

Pretty good stay at Royalton

TL; DR: big resort with lots of people and good buffet/okay sit-down restaurants, but with small, crowded beach and boring kids’ club. When we checked in, I was waiting for someone to try to upsell us to Diamond Club, but when I inquired, I was told it was sold out. No matter - I don’t really know what I would have done with it. Yes, Diamond Club has a private beach and pool. There is a butler that gets you dinner reservations and sets stuff up for you. Is this worth $155 usd per day  [... read more]for a family of 4? I guess it depends on how busy the resort is when you go and how much extra cash you have. We’re early birds with two kids, so have been hitting meal time on the early end. The buffet has been pretty great overall (Dominican night was especially great!) but depends on your expectations. Is this going to be the finest meals I’ve ever had? No. But it’s pretty good, and there are lots of choices for everyone. My husband stood in line at 545 to get into the Italian restaurant. We got in no problem on the patio as soon as they opened. Was it amazing? No. But it was fine. The teppanyaki was fine, too. The Brazilian restaurant was not at all crowded at lunch, and was really good. The beach - I love the beach generally. And I understand that a lot of the east coast Mexico is full of seaweed and the beaches are not great these past few years, so that’s why I ended up in the Dominican on Bavaro beach, known to be an amazing beach. Is it amazing? Well, again, depends on your beach experience and expectations. Royalton Bavaro has a beachfront of about 150 metres, with over 700 rooms. Some of that beachfront is dedicated to Diamond Club members exclusively. All this to say - The water is clear and beautiful, but it’s pretty crowded in there. If you get a beach chair, you will be up close and personal to the folks next to you. The rooms - we got a 1 bedroom presidential suite, and I would not have done it any other way. There aren’t that many of these types of rooms available, so I would absolutely recommend getting these if you, like me, don’t want to share a bedroom with your kids. It’s twice the size of the regular “family suites” that they offer here (which is really just a regular room with a lattice sliding door between the bed and the sofa - not exactly private) and was just a few hundred dollars more. It has a room with a bar, eating area, sitting area (with pull out) and bathroom, and then another bedroom bar area with a giant bathroom/dressing room. A few times, there was either no hot or cold water. Communication about the issue wasn’t totally great. We had no problem getting mini bar top ups, room service or other things brought to the room. Tipping gets you great service. We were averaging about $30 in tips per day. I had excellent service from Stephanie Esteban at the pool. She was so sweet to my daughter. She made us feel really welcomed. The waiters working the courtyard at the main buffet were also excellent.

Great Resort

the hotel is large so if you don't like walking than I wouldn't recommend it to you. The grounds were always clean, the staff were super nice, the food was good and the beach was always clean of any seedweed. I stayed in the junior deluxe room and it was amazing. The shows were good also. My only complaint is that there was suppose to be no reservations for the steak house Hunters but you have to line up. We were there approx. 40 mins before it open and was 5th in line so we thought for sure we  [... read more]would get in on the first sitting, than a bunch of people came in and said they have reservations and they were all let in and we couldn''t get in, I heard if you pay the run up front you will for sure to get in....I don't like that but I know it goes on. The Italian restaurant was my favorite, and the buffet was my 2nd as they had a different theme dinner everyday plus your basics, pastas, etc. the food truck had great sandwichs we had lunch there everyday as it was a different sandwich each day, they serve hamburgers, hotdogs and chickenburgers everyday also in case you dont like a sandwich, plus they had great fries. They have plenty for little kids to do, they had there own pool, play area plus there was a lazy river which everyone could use. Overall I would give this resort an 8 out of 10 and planning to go back to it next year.

Great Resort

The hotel is big but well laid out. We booked a swim out room which was a wonderful experience. The food was excellent and the staff amazing. All spaces, both ours and public areas, was clean. We really enjoyed the Rio restaurant which we went to for a special occasion that we had travelled to celebrate. And the rock band that played were fantastic. We did have a couple of issues. The resort advertises that they have a no reservation system, which is true; however, what it means is that you c [... read more]an only put your name on a waitlist after they open and you could wait for hours before you can get a table. We would have preferred to book a time a day or two before so that we could better plan our day and not end up sitting around waiting to eat. They have smart TVs in the room. Booking a table through that would have been much better. Our second issue was not with the resort but with Air Canada. We went to our assigned meeting with Caroline, the AC rep, and we were the only two people at that meeting. She advised us to be checked out and at the front of the resort by 10:55. We were there in plenty of time (and I was able to prove it because when you check out they write the exact time on your departure ticket), but the transport left without us. We waited for almost an hour before being directed by the resort staff to speak again to the AC rep. When I did so she denied that she had told us 10:55 and also said the transport left at 11:15. She said that the bus would wait no more than 15 minutes but Caroline never mentioned that to us either. She got very annoyed at me and said we would have to catch a taxi at our expense. We did do that, and although rushed we were able to make our flight on time. Caroline’s attitude was appalling and she also made claims that were untrue with respect to what she told us. The resort staff called a taxi for us straight away and were very helpful but we were left soured by Air Canada.

Amazing week!

Beautiful grounds. Clean rooms and food was amazing. Ate fish and salads all week with no concern for getting sick. Our butler Angel was great at taking care of all our needs. Highly recommend diamond club for the extra perks of a butler, access to flow rider and the water park at Royalton splash.

Terrific Resort

Our room was lovely we had the swim up. The restaurants were great as well and the whole place was super The service and entertainment was great and the booking with our agent was simple and very helpful overall it was a really great experience

Gorgeous Resort

The Royalton Bavaro is a gorgeous resort, beautiful rooms, good food and lots of great entertainment. However, we booked in Oct./22 and requested side by side adjoining rooms and a crib. We were travelling with family with 2 small grandchildren.We were told days before we arrived on Jan. 27/23 that the only way to guarantee this was to pay $100 US extra per room. When we arrived not only we didn't get adjoining rooms, we were on different floors. We finally paid more $350 US to move on the first [... read more] floor to be side by side with a swim out pool. Nothing else was available, apparently. As amazing as this resort is, be aware you have to pay for adjoining rooms. Also, hot tubs are not hot, not even warm.

The Royalton

Overall thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Royalton, great food, service and amenities...I would however, suggest more attention to the small maintenance items in the rooms. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________