Punta Cana Princess: Amazing food and great hospitality!

The resort had an intimate feel to it because of its smaller size. Nonetheless, it did not lack anything because of all the amenities offered at the neighboring Princess sister resorts which were part of the package (food, facilities, Entertainment). The buffet offered a lot of variety and had a different theme every night. The staff was very friendly, hospitable and very attentive to our needs. We often walked or sometimes took a small shuttle to the other Princess resort in the evenings to cat [... read more]ch a show because our resort was not well equipped for the bigger shows. The beach was beautiful and only a small distance from the rooms (the beauty of smaller resorts). Bring a pair of earplugs if you are a light sleeper because of the proximity of the Entertainment building at the Vik Resort next door (mostly to building #5 at the Princess). After the 2cnd night, I slept like a baby. My husband and I did not care for the merchants on the beach in the small stores trying to entrap you into buying something. Buyer beware! Never buy the first day. Do your price shopping first and then go back and bargain your best offer! It especially hurts when you are paying in Canadian dollars!!! Overall lovely resort!

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Cannot Wait Until I Return

GROUNDS: Immaculate PUBLIC AREAS: Spacious and well equipped with many creature comforts ROOMS: Comfortable and good daily housekeeping DINING: Eloquent presentation and excellent cuisine STAFF: Second to none - always happy and glad to see you BARTENDERS: Wonderful people and so hospitable ANIMATION TEAM: Very personal and engaging POOLS and BEACH: Clean and well maintained FRONT DESK: Friendly and efficient LUGGAGE HANDLERS: Timely and professional INTERNAL TRANSPORTATION: Runs like  [... read more]a well-oiled machine OVERALL GRADE: A+

Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: Older Resort

Sirenis Tropical is an older resort with little to no updates. Rooms aren't great, but they aren't horrid and really who sits in their room while in paradise. It was good got sleeping, however I would strongly recommend bringing your own pillows! Bathroom was okay, tub didn't drain well and there were no face clothes (a huge pain when traveling with two small children). Our maid cleaned our room everyday minimally, never did anything special and we always left a few gifts and a tip! Front des [... read more]k staff are the WORST during check in!!!!! Restaurants had a descent variety of food. Staff at the buffet weren't great. Often waited 5-10 minutes to get a seat for the baby and drinks. The dinner staff was a lot better! Pool is run down with tiles missing or attempted to be replaced (the work looks sloppy), but its a great pool for kids! The ground are beautiful, and the beach was gorgeous with a great breeze. The waterpark is the biggest perk of the resort and seems to be the newest thing. There are things for kids of all ages. Keep in mind, the bigger waterslides are for kids 8 years and older (we told them our five year old was seven and they let her on them). The large splash pad is for kids and they don't allow adults to go down the slides. I did notice that if you ignore them when they are blowing their whistle to tell you this, they just give up and let you go down the slides. All in all we had a good time. No we won't return to this resort, Vacation is what you make of it regardless of where you stay.

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Great time

Any issues we had with the resort were minor and easily overlooked based upon the great time we had. We went with two young children and really enjoyed the pool. All of the staff seemed to go out of their way to engage our kids, it was really great.

Occidental Caribe: Nice Resort

The hotel is older but well laid out. Grounds are nicely kept, al a carte restaurants pretty good, beach is beautiful and clean, rooms are small with paper thin walls sounded like the people in the next room were in our room. We went at a bad time as there were hundreds of students there for reading week from the US and it was a nightmare. They were up partying all night, throwing up in the pool, spilling drinks in the pool, you couldn't even get close to the bar to get a drink. After 2 days w [... read more]e moved to there sister hotel 10 mins down the road the Occidential Punta Cana well worth the extra money although we did not have to pay any extra, thank you Air Transat for getting us moved. Would not go back to the Occidential Caribe been to a lot nicer resorts for the same money.

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: Wouldn't Recommend

Rooms are dated - clock didn't work, rust in shower, no water pressure, sliding door did not lock Food was not good - I am still trying to get my stomach back to normal I would never recommend the resort

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Great Beach, and Resort, Not So Great Rooms or Service!

This resort is beautifully landscaped with a great beach. The chicken bbq hut was the best food at the beach...and the hotel all together. The rooms were not super clean, and mold and mildew was on the bathroom walls. The bathrooms were not ventilated with fans which contributed to the problem. The waterpark at the resort was great for the kids and adults alike. A short walk from the main hotel, the waterpark felt like a separate resort...two holidays in one! Food was just okay. The reser [... read more]vation restaurants the food was very disappointing. Not enough restaurants were open to offer 24 hour service. I understand that the hotel is going to be undergoing some renovations (some had already started while we were there). I would only recommend this hotel after the renovations. NOTE: English is not great by the staff. If you don't speak Spanish...learn a few main phrases. It was difficult to find help in English.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Very Nice Resort !

Overall very nice resort and I would go back BUT not on Spring Break ! I happened to be there the same week as about 1000 drunk 20 year old's who took over the resort ! It's unfortunate the timing was poor and this made a difference on the enjoyment of the trip. I have to commend however Catherine at the front desk who went above and beyond to help me and she truly changed my vacation for the better ! Beautiful resort, great food and service, lovely rooms in block 16/17 ONLY :)

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Great resort!

We have stayed at this resort three times since January 2016, and we like it. The rooms are clean and all around the resort is very clean and beautifull. Food buffet has a wide selection of food with different themes every night, and the a la carte restaurants are so good if you can manage to get in. If you like rum well this is the place. The only disappointment I have is that they do not have any slushy drinks, as their machines cant keep up with the heat in the bars by the pools, which is all [... read more] I like but hey the beer was good and now they stock the room fridge with coors light, and juice boxes for kids along with a va riety of pop and water bottles and bags of lays chips.Drive from airport is less than 30 minutes all on the main highway.Oh and you can also buy California wines at the buffet and bring the bottle to your room if you want.

Riu Palace Bavaro: Riu Palace Bavaro

We had a 1 week stay at the Riu Palace Bavaro, Punta Cana Dominican Republic. We found the resort very well appointed. Rooms were updated, clean, spacious and modern. The food was very good, with lots of selection on the daily buffet. The restaurants were okay, but we found we had a few picky eaters and they prefered the options the buffet provided. The resort pools and beach front were very nice and clean, and ample beach front with plenty of shade from the numerous palm trees. The bar co [... read more]uld of had more premium liquor options, but otherwise there was plenty of selection of beverages. The evening shows were entertaining and the day activities were just right if you wanted to participate.

Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa and Casino: Very nice

In many ways the Grand Palladium Place Resort and Spa was excellent. The hotel itself is very nice ,the customer service representatives were friendly and accommodating. The grounds were beautiful and kept clean and well maintained.. My wife and I found that meals were well prepared and gave each of us a nice choice to choose from. Waiters for the most part were friendly however, at times seemed to forget others and concentrate on people they knew better . We had a junior renovated s [... read more]uite and it was spacious with only a few problems that were fixed in a reasonable amount of time once they were identified. The major problem with the room was the tub. When having showers the water would leak onto the floor in the area of the bed. The glass tub enclosure (s) and I say enclosures because many of my siblings experienced the same problem. Checking in and out was very well organized. The hotel computer for printing out boarding passes was not working the best and after paying all that money why do we need to pay 5 US dollars to print out a boarding pass(30 min pc time). Myself and others experienced pc problems and, if they were not sorted out, the cost would have been much much more to print it out. To me this payment is a form of gouging an individual. A strong point is the fact that come 11 pm you could hear a pin drop, the bands had stopped playing in the vicinity of the hotel. Allowing all to have quiet a noise free environment to just sit back and relax or sleep. We would definitely book the hotel again.

Occidental Punta Cana: Bad resort

I was very disappointed with this resort .the maids did a bad job cleaning .the coffee pot was never cleaned . Had to fight to get water coffee beer and facecloths . I tip every day with money gifts and candy and still that didn't work . A la carte restaurants were not good . But the food at the buffet was good .I found a huge cock roach in my room .I will never go back .

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Punta cana ba princepal

Lenny was fantastic the resort was perfect this was our second time their and we loved it food was great room was clean beaches where clean people was fantastic when we had problems the host was their to help

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Good resort for families

The hotel was quite nice. The rooms need updating but the beach and pool area are really great. The food is OK but the house wine is well ... not good at all unless you like grape juice. The staff were wonderful and we really appreciated the service in the main buffet area. The a la carte weren't really worth it but the chicken on the beach was scrumptious. We did a tour to Monkeyland and loved it. Overall, we were happy with our experience. The water park was a hit with our kids and the shows w [... read more]ere impressive.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Good value for money

The hotel was quite nice. The rooms need updating but the beach and pool area are really great. The food is OK but the house wine is well ... not good at all unless you like grape juice. The staff were wonderful and we really appreciated the service in the main buffet area. The a la carte weren't really worth it but the chicken on the beach was scrumptious. We did a tour to Monkeyland and loved it. Overall, we were happy with our experience.

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Super clean awesome for kids

Perfect place to take your kids there are lots of options for them. There was a great selection of food for every taste and the staff worked really hard to ensure our stay was perfect. I would definetly recommend this to families

Riu Bambu: Bambu-zled

Rooms: We chose the standard room as they are close to the lobby. Upon arrival (March 2/17) we were told that the room had been upgraded to deluxe room only to find out that the room was the last building at the back of the resort. The patio backed onto a construction site for the RIU next door. We had a black construction screened fence about 3 feet from the patio with a muddy clay against it to keep it standing. We insisted on having the room we paid for and were placed in 2306 right besi [... read more]de the lobby by 2:00 the next day. What can go wrong right? This room had no hot water which took three days to fix, a toilet that barely flushed and we did not get bottled water until the next evening. We resorted to taking cold showers, using the public washrooms for shaving and toilets and getting glasses of drinking water from the bar until we had some. We were also told that the sports bar (no coffee or ice buckets in rooms) would provide ice and coffee for the room if needed and when we asked for ice, they tied off a green garbage bag, filled it half way, tied it off again and sent us on our way. The one time we asked for coffee, we were told the machine was broken. We arrived Thursday evening and were finally settled into our room with everything working by Monday evening. We had a wonderful maid and she made sure we had everything we needed from Monday onward. Our room was spotless everyday. Her service level was impeccable and we looked forward to coming back to our room every day. Grounds: The grounds were well-maintained and there was a boardwalk on the beach that connected you to all of the surrounding RIUs. Great place for walking and running as the breeze from the ocean kept you cool. Pools: Pools were adequate UNTIL...the springbreakers arrival on Sunday (two bus loads) and trust me they were rested. We realized by supper that evening that our little heaven would never be the same until our departure March 16/17. BTW RIU policy website states that they do not accept SPRINGBREAKERS. Here are what all of us endured: 1. lineups in the washrooms due to toilets no longer flushing or girls locked in the stall because they were sick. 2. inaccessible poolbar from 10:00 to closing everyday. The springbreakers used this area as their public washroom and spent the day drinking shots, spilling drinks in the pool and vomiting poolside. 3. we witnessed five of them go out in wheelchairs the first day. They would come out of the pool and just fall over into their lounger and vomiting off to the side of their chair. Not once did we see any staff come and clean up afterwards. We actually watched some of them walking into it and they jumping back into the pool. 4. our nights were filled with screaming, slamming doors, stumbling people on the walkways, parties in the rooms and balconies and staff talking loudly to try and settle them down for the other guest. We slept with two hour intervals at best. 5. the final straw for us (our last full day) was the poolside fight. We watched two young men arguing in and out of the pool with girls and guys trying to keep them apart. The foul language back and forth was not acceptable. I went to the poolside entertainment staff and asked if security was called and they told me "it is not our problem". I then went to the front desk and told them security was needed poolside and again nothing. Finally the springbreakers managed to get the fight under control and diffuse the situation and things returned to normal chaos. All this to say, this is a family resort and there were plenty of children witnessing the events. I also felt terrible for those families as I heard them pleading with the spring breakers that they had children trying to sleep in the adjacent rooms.

Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Did not live up to expectations

I would like to preface this review of the Sunscape Bavaro Beach Resort in Punta Cana by saying that we had an OK stay at the resort; however, it did not live up to our expectations. I believe that the next time we travel, we will be holding the travel agent's feet to the fire a little more than we did this time before selecting a final resort destination. This was a very easy sale for our agent - in hindsite, we believe that we were definitely not asked enough questions by the agent to define  [... read more]what we were looking for on our vacation. As they say, the devil is in the details. This is how our stay started. At the check-in, we were well greeted with the promise of some type of tropical drink, which came much later, but while we were doing the check-in, the phone rang and the check-in attendant picked up the phone and tried to service us and the person on the phone at the same time, which lead to confusion for all three parties involved. Once the check-in was sorted out, we were greeted by our special "Concierge" who was assigned to us for the week. Little did we know at the time that this was not the "real Concierge", but a salesperson for some type of "time share" that Sunscape is trying to sell to all families that visit this resort. He tried to have us sign a contract on the first night (after we had been travelling for over 16 hours) in exchange for $200 dollars worth of "resort" coupons to be mainly used for the on-site spa. After we refused, since it was now dark and there was not enough light to view the small print on the contract, he asked us to stop by again the following morning to read and sign the contract. We did not stop by the next morning to sign the contract, but to tell him that we were not interested. Meanwhile, every day afterwards (even on our last morning at the resort), we had these "special" Concierges soliciting us to go to a VIP breakfast for the "time share" sales pitch. For us, this was very very very unpleasant, as we were on vacation, not a sales convention. On day two of our stay, our toilet started leaking from the base and we would end up with a puddle of water where both of your feet are situated when going to the lew. Making a long story short, we complained and they sent different people to look at the problem, but it was not until we went to see the "real" Concierge (Maria) later at night who solved the issue for us by having us switch rooms (two rooms, as there was four of us travelling and we needed the two to be close to each other). She even came with us to help with the room switch. This somewhat reconcilliated us with the place. We are forever fans of Maria the Concierge. Airport - two hours wait to get into the country - two and a half hours wait to get out of the country - completely disorganized at all levels, including Air Transat, and very frustrating Rooms - needed to call to have the fridge restocked with water and pop, regardless of tip - needed to call to have beer in the fridge - hot water was nowhere to be found - if we had hot water three times in one week, we were lucky Buffet - always having to pursue the server to have a glass of water with your meal - even if leaving a tip - same issue with coffee at breakfast Specialty Restaurants - needed to also pursue server to have a glass of water with your meal - excellent service after ordering your first drink, as when they saw that it was getting empty, they would bring you another one. If, in the meantime, you felt like trying something else, too bad. Pool - incident in pool on our first full day at the resort - guest threw-up in the pool - at the corner of the stairs heading inside the pool - guest was attended to discreetly by "lifeguard" but swimmers remained unaware of incident - pool was never evacuated or cleaned for the rest of the week - guests in the pool were never aware of what took place and this was the swim-up bar pool - we never went back Beach - nice sandy beach - a lot of litter coming in from the ocean - very unpleasant - plenty of interesting and fun activities that are lead by the staff - that was a highlight - waitresses are very busy, they did a fairly decent job bringing drinks - they work hard - constantly solicited by tour operators close to the beach in the Resort section Food - general - the food was good, although a bit lacking in flavour, there was plenty of it and a great variety - there was a good choice of specialty restaurants - the fact that we did not have to reserve restaurants à la carte was a good thing - the pizza bar was much appreciated by all - the bartenders were always attentive and courteous Theatre & Entertainment - some great shows were lined-up at the theatre and we thoroughly enjoyed the variety and the pool table - excellent music was played in the Lobby - the atmosphere was quite festive and relaxed - the free Wifi in the lobby did not meet our needs - it was intermittent and weak - the coffee shop was great, had some neat desserts and mini sandwiches Air Transat Rep - our Air Transat Rep was not there the first morning that we were scheduled to see him - a replacement rep from another airline had stepped-in to help - this replacement rep turned out to be very helpful and we booked our only excursion (Bavaro Runners) through him - we finally met our Air Transat Rep by chance on the 4th day and he was very aloof and standoffish - not the kind that gives you confidence if you need a friend Excursion - the Bavaro Runners excursion was the best that we have ever made in the Carribean All this to say that we come back with some mixed memories, mostly happy, but with some which left a sour taste. Needless to say, the Dominican Republic will not be a choice destination in our near future.

Zel Punta Cana - All Suites: Beautiful resort but...

The resort was beautiful and immaculately maintained. The rooms were beautifully appointed. The food was quite good on the whole although probably not the island you want to have steak on. I would recommend sticking with fish as its fresh! We have a 2 year old and they have so much for kids to do. Very kid friendly. This is why we chose this resort. One huge caveat though and I think the resort didn't address properly. They're too afraid to offend guests. There were a couple of people in the k [... read more]ids area and even in the kids pool smoking!!! Staff did ask them to stop but they continued. I understand that the resort is not a non smoking resort but they NEED. To make kids area and pools non smoking. Anything less is an insult to parents with young kids that can't swim in other pools. Frankly this is a deal breaker and as much as I liked the resort I won't be back. Frankly I may not return to DR if they are so smoker friendly. This is beneath our standards.

Occidental Caribe: Amazing Resort-Great Value

Met all of our expectations-4 years in a row to the same resort. Great food choices, very friendly and accommodating staff and you cannot beat the beach! A la carte restaurants also great with exception of the French restaurant which had slower service and not as good food as the other a la cartes