Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Small Things Add Up

AIRPORT We traveled in late August this year. This was our 1st time going to a resort in Punta Cana. All travel arrangements to and from the airport were great (just hold on to your bags as porters will try to grab them out of your hands for a walk less than 200 feet). RECEPTION When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with a tropical drink and a cold towel (lobby is not enclosed). We had, during the booking process, requested adjoining rooms. When we arrived, the rooms were nowhe [... read more]re near each other. They eventually got us closer, but reception made it seem like it was a hassle. ROOMS We booked a junior suite and a deluxe room as we were told that you could get adjoining rooms, but not the same type. The junior suite was exactly what you see on the website. Large, beautiful view of ocean and beach, all amenities. We were very pleased (even though we had to wait until after 8:30pm to get in). While waiting, we went to the deluxe room. It was NOWERE near what is depicted on the website. It was a standard room, closer to the pool and beach. Don't be mislead by the website! The next day, we requested the room beside or across from the junior suite. We were told the were sold out during our stay. We were deliberately misinformed. These rooms were vacant during our entire stay. Staff simply didn't want to accommodate the change even though we were willing to pay for a upgrade. We made the best of it despite the minor inconvenience and reception staff attitude. VENDORS EVERYWHERE Do not expect to relax on the beach, by the pool, getting towels, walking to restaurants or walking around the resort. You are constantly bothered by vendors!!!!! There is no escape. Vendors selling excursions, straw hats, cigars, spa treatments, etc. The worst is the location of towel service. In order to get your beach towels, you had to go to an excursion desk where they would often not give you your towels until you listened to their pitch. Every single time. A real pain!! FOOD OK, food is subjective so take this as you see fit: Our best a la carte meal was at the Mexican restaurant and it was good at best. The other a la carts we attended (Italian, Steakhouse, Japanese) were very disappointing. The first come, first served method is also a pain. We arrived at the Italian restaurant around 7pm and were advised of a 1.5hr wait time. The adjacent restaurant was the Steakhouse, so we went there instead (no wait). 1st resort where you couldn't make reservations. This too was a big pain. The buffets were ok. The food selections never changed (for breakfast, lunch or dinner). We tended to eat the same thing day after day. Again, one persons meat is another persons poison. Take what you want from this. CUSTOMER SERVICE I have already noted how we were treated by reception regarding the room, so I will move pass that. In general, staff were pleasant. Some staff would look you in the eye and walk right past when you were requesting anything. Others went out of their way to offer you an enjoyable experience. It took 3 calls and one face to face to get the bar fridges restocked. even then, it was no where near daily (every 2-3 days). Small pain, but we paid for the service, it should be received. BEACH The beach itself is gorgeous! A lot of lounges available, shade if you want it, bars on the beach. The turquoise waters were amazing. Beach was well maintained. POOLS The pools were very clean, tons of lounges (again with or without shade), nice atmosphere. water was cool too, so it felt very refreshing when you jumped in!

Sensatori Resort Punta Cana: Disappointing resort

This hotel was billed as an adult luxury 5 star resort. In fact, we found it to be disappointing on many levels. Many people with whom we spoke said that it did not measure up at all to the other Sensatori resorts, and that they had booked it based on the reviews of the other locations. This location had only recently opened and we too booked on the reputation of the chain. There were many, many details that looked like they had been rushed just to make the opening deadline - showers that did [... read more] not drain, faulty air conditioners, paint peeling off the walls, plaster crumbling in corners, dried out grass and incomplete landscaping with some plants already dying, bathroom doors that had swollen and would not shut (one of the public bathroom doors had even come right off its hinge!). If we had not known it was a new hotel we would have thought that it was looking worn and needed updating. The communication level amongst the staff also needs work. We were told by our agent that we could ask for an upgrade once at the resort, but when we did the reply was that our agent was the only one who could do that, while the resort could not. Our rep from Sunwing was not very helpful either. We informed him of the issues and he said he would look into it but we never heard from him again. He was more interested in selling tours than in solving problems. The front desk staf were not very well trained to pamper their guests. I jokingly asked whether there was a welcome cocktail and they said they had forgotten all about it! And when we asked to have our luggage brought to the room, we waited almost 1/2 hour before we went in search of it - it was on a cart outside our building with two porters just chatting. When we informed them we were taking our luggage to our room there was not even the hint of an offer to help. They simply watched us unload our bags and take them upstairs to our room. The gourmet restaurant and coffee bar were not clear as to whether they were included or not - it gave the impression of being a very transitional and not well thought out service. And finally, we found it very upsetting to discover that the resort shares the grounds with a second resort, Nickolodeon, which is a family resort! There were children everywhere, including the lounges and nightclub, and they were allowed not only to be there until late into the night, but to climb on the furniture and be rowdy. The same went for the shared swimming pools. To re-cap: physical facilities sub par; service sub-par; falsely billed as something it was not i.e. luxury adult resort. A very disappointing holiday.

Vista Sol Punta Cana: Good holiday for the value

This was our first visit to the Dominican Republic. We chose this resort for it's size and beach location. The best part of the resort for us was the beach (shade, dappled shade or full sun spots available). Most chaise lounges were clean and comfortable. We felt the staff in buffets could have been more hospitable. We found ourselves getting our own cutlery and sitting at tables that were not cleaned! A la carte meals were our best meals (Gourmet was the best!). The resort was not too busy due  [... read more]to it being off-season. Our room was turned down each day that we asked for that to be done and two 1.5 litre bottles of water were delivered to our bar fridge each day. We were happy with our maid service. Our room was a swim-up room in Building # 18. Which has NOT been renovated yet. The air conditioning unit (?) dripped through the bathroom ceiling throughout our entire stay. Black mold was beginning to grow in some of the tile crevices...a reno is definitely needed in that building. Also, a couple of our light fixtures did not work. It was clear that these items would not repaired. Someone came to look at the issues but no action was taken during our stay. The main pool was closed during our stay for a scheduled (?) maintenance period of one month! Another building of rooms was also closed for renovations during our stay. We found the on-site vacation sales men to be friendly but also pushy. When we walked the beach we were haggled every time by the local people selling their wares. This was a big downside for us. We understood that they need to make a living but some of them were very pushy and aggressive. Resort security was very good - good presence. Our SunWing representative, Julien, was excellent. His English was very good and he was very helpful at answering our questions and helping us to book an excursion to swim with dolphins. We would recommend this hotel as a value hotel. There is some "do it yourself" required with this all-inclusive! We would rate it at 3 to 3.5 stars.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Dreams, Punta Cana, just really dreamy

Let's start with the problems. My wife and I arrived at Dreams on Sunday, Aug 21, and were not able to get our booking request of a 2nd floor unit, but was put on the 3rd floor. When arriving at our room, we noticed that the A/C was not working, but since we were tired, used the ceiling fan and waited until the morning. On Monday morning, we approached the concierge at the Preferred Club, and explained about the A/C, and was told that it was resort wide, and it will be fixed by 3:00pm. The A [... read more]/C was still not working that night, so the next morning we approached the concierge again, and was told that there were no rooms available to move to. I requested an upgraded room with A/C, but was told it was $60/day extra, we declined, but finally were moved on Wednesday, 4 days later. Upon arrival at Dreams, we were told to meet with the Air Transat person at 9:00am the next morning. We arrived promptly, and were told he was late, we waited until 10:00am and left. We returned Tues, Wed, Fri, and Sat at 9:00am to see him. Other travel operators said that he rarely showed up at this resort. WHY IS HE BEING PAID, AND WHY ARE WE NOT GETTING ANY SERVICE. Having paid for the Preferred club, our luggage was to be picked up at 1:30pm on the day we were leaving. We waited until 2:00pm and he never showed, so we took our luggage ourselves, fearing we would miss the transportation. Now for the pleasing part of our trip. The Preferred club had excellent A/C, and great snack foods, for each meal. A special commendation to Andre and Jilbert, they did an extremely great job in serving us. The servers at the beach were very excellent as well. We were quite impressed with their service. The food at all of the restaurants was very good, and great service. The grounds were well kept, but the rooms need to be updated. There were complaints of leaking water, no A/C, and no place to put your clothes, other than hanging them up (no dressers) I will not be returning to this resort.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing Resort

The resort was a great place to relax and have fun. The room was excellent. The service was amazing. The shows were great. The buffet had a great selection of food for everyone. I would go back in a heart beat.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful resort but some problems

Pros: The grounds were beautifully maintained, the pools were nice, the beach although some seaweed was great; always found a chair. The staff were friendly. The bartenders were great, I tipped sometimes and sometimes not but got good service either way. Cons: did not get our room choice, was travelling with our adult children and requested a room with 2 beds for them, we didn't get it--my son had to sleep on the sofa for the first night and they didn't get moved to the right room until 4 th [... read more]e next day. In their new room the shower didn't work, they had to use ours, took 2 days and 2 complaints to get it fixed. Room service is a joke, selection is poor, takes for ever (close to 2hrs one time), orders are wrong (arrived late the first day, buffets closed and room service brought everyone's food except mine, complained- told it was on its way but it never came- I had no diner on my first day). Our fridge never worked, complained - took 2 days for someone to come - said it was fixed but it wasn't, complained again seemed to be fixed but died again- we gave up. The stocking of the mini fridge was inconsistent never had all the items they listed on the info book in the room but everything was warm so it didn't really matter. Our room got hotter as the week went on, had to sleep with a cold wet towel one night, I was so desperate; complained and I think someone tried to do something, it was slightly colder but the room smelled like a sewer. Not much to do at night, everything closes down pretty early, only the disco and casino are open later, would be good if they had a lounge that was open later at least till 1 where you could get a drink and snacks

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda Great Vacation!

The resort grounds are beautiful. The staff is friendly. The beach area was extremely beautiful and clean. The food selection was great at all locations. The waiters made you laugh and made you feel special.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda Great Vacation!!!!

The hotel rooms were perfectly clean. The service was great. Friendly staff, specifically the waiters at the buffet restaurants. The food was great and a great selection daily. The beach area was impeccable and clean.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda Great Vacation

The resort grounds were beautiful. The staff was extremely friendly, especially the waiters in the buffet areas. The beach was amazingly clean. I would go back in an instance to enjoy the beautiful weather as well.

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: De bonnes vacances

Un resort qui nous a donné des vacances reposantes. Nous nous sommes bien détendu. Côté chambre rien à dire. Côté restauration les buffets je les trouvent relativement bon. On y trouve son compte. Les restaurants sont très bien décorés mais ils manquent de raffinement par rapport au cadre. Le kids club est disons correct. Le baby club reste moyen. Cela manque de jeux pour les plus petits et de personnels content de les recevoir. C'est un peu le travail à la chaîne pour certaines pers [... read more]onnes. Le service de manière general est bien, les gens sont très souriant et serviable. Ils le sont plus avec des pourboires. Le voyage etait bien organisé- avion air transat génial - transfert bien- Check in & out bien aussi. La plage est bien egalement. Les piscines sont bien. Les toilettes sont très propres. L'hygiène du resort en générale était très professionnelle. Femme de ménage de la chambre très bien. Activités nocturnes animations bien. L'alcool à volonté c'est bien mais autant le faire moins à volonté et avoir de l'alcool de qualité. En gros moins boire et mieux. Excursion faite monkey land pour les enfants c'était bien: nota ils abusent avec leur photos à 10 dollars la photo c'est un peu de l'arnaque bref. Dans l'ensemble je suis satisfait de mon séjour. Je retournerais dans un palladium avec plaisir.

Grand Bavaro Princess: Find Another Resort

The hotel staff was unfriendly and no one on the resort spoke any English. The worst was the front desk. The toilet stopped flushing properly and the shower stopped draining. Two of my other friends in our group both had problems with their rooms too. I'd say the food at the main dining room buffet was just okay, but the food was good at the 3 restaurants you could book were good (initially they wouldn't let us make reservations with our package until my friend complained which was ridic [... read more]ulous given we had a large group).

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Great Resort

Spent 5 days at this resort in August. The grounds were beautiful. Several different restaurants with a good selection of food. 24hr room service with a limited selection. Two pools, one with a swim up bar. Very quiet around the pool. Beach was beautiful. Lots of shade from palm trees and the water was protected by a floating barrier. The rooms were nice with a jacuzzi in it. Our room overlooked the pool which was very nice. Internet was provided but was poor quality at best of times and almost [... read more] nonexistent in the room. Timeshare rep is relentless, get rude with him and he'll disappear. We wondered around the family resort next door. It's grounds were beautiful however it it much louder. Had a great vacation here.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Good resort great staff

We were upgraded to vip. Services were excellent staff were excellent everything was excellent except for plumbing. They were working on it when we arrived. Older buildings being renovated I believe. Toilets not working daily. Water coming through the ceiling of one room but moved to a honeymoon suite. No hot water sometimes. Everything else was excellent which made up for the plumbing renos

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana: real "Hard" rock...

Fun-tastic.... Only problem for vegetarians. Never starved though. One very important thing is waterpark/slides. If you think you can book this for waterpark/slide fun, its not big at all if your kid is over 7 yrs. so, waste of money if you think to have that kind of fun... Go somewhere else. Staff is excellent, new manager has just been appointed 2 weeks ago.

Grand Bavaro Princess: Clean and friendly resort

Good variety of food in the buffets, everyday different theme. Beach is fairly clean and well maintained. Lots of green on resort property makes you feel like you are out in the jungle at times.The resort shuttles run non-stop all day with minimal wait time, after about 3-4am you've got to request to be picked up via the reception and you only wait a few minutes.. Overall had a great time

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: Wonderful Resort

We had a great time at this resort. It was clean and bright, the grounds were well kept, the staff were always there to help with a smile on their face. Food was very good. Our room was excellent thanks to Adam at the front desk who upgraded us to a Deluxe Suite with premium amenities. Thank you Adam......Would also like to recognize Gabriel Bautista - General Manager - Food Services, who made us feel very comfortable and was very accommodating and made our stay special. Thank you Gabriel ....

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: Punta Cana Trip Aug 2016

OK. let me start by saying this was our honeymoon resort 10 years ago. We returned here 10 years later with the kids (three girls 7, 4, 3) - Aug 2016. We flew Air Transat. Only good thing was registering for their Kids Club -- totally free and fully worth it. You get your kids seats selection for free (basically only pay for the two adults). You can use the club class line to check in. You get a snack coupon for each kid since they dont give out snacks on these flights unless you pay for them.  [... read more] Got to the Bavaro resort lobby around 1:30. Got our check in documents/keys, etc and received a cold welcome drink. Concierge said the room will be ready only around 3:30--that's how it started. Believe me I know what i'm getting into with All-inclusive trips and realize there will be minor little issues here and there, so keep this in mind while reading. I will "TIP" along the way for useful things we learned that you could take advantage of. TIP: if you love walking this is the place to go. If you have little kids that don't like walking, try a smaller resort. This place is pretty huge. Take the little coach train that drive around every 20 minutes to get from one spot to another. TIP: use the map they give you -- you will need it. We walked around and took the train to the first dining spot we saw -- Las Torres buffet. The whole resort is divided into four sections (Bavaro, Punta Cana, Palace, Royal Suites). You can make use of most of their facilities. Went back at 3:30. Got to building 26 to see the room was not even ready. They moved us to the adjacent building (building 24). Standard Room (Master Junior suite: two double beds, pullout couch, separate washroom and a small balcony facing the grounds. Sink got clogged the first time we used it. We all went swimming and walked back around 7. Key didn't work. Tried a bunch of times. I then had to leave my wife and 3 kids standing there wet and ran in my slippers all the way to the lobby (about 15 min walk). Later that night we moved to building 17 (Room 1712). TIP: Building 17, 18, 19 are luxury buildings at Bavaro -- Building 19 I think is for Travel Club guests. When we came back with the kids asleep we went into the new room and only then I noticed there is no separate washroom--this was some sort of couples room--couples who don't mind going to the washroom in an open concept room. The closure was a frosted glass door that was open at the bottom and top and the shower was the same. You can see pretty much everything. When we went to the washroom we had to send the kids to the outdoor patio. We thought we should be grateful and didn't want to say anything. (this was night 1/day 2). Day 2 night-- the power goes off twice only in our suite -- we called for repair at 8 and when we came back to room at 11PM it was not done. We called again and repair man was in our room from 11:30PM - 12:15AM. Day 3, I had enough and we were moved to building 30 -- this was an upper room with an ocean view. It was a blessing. I hated to complain but we couldn't stay without a closed bathroom. Restaurants: We tried El Arrecife (buffet), Tapeo (spanish), Sports bar (bar food 24 hrs), Rodizio (Brazillian), Las Torres (buffet), Adelita (buffet). TIP: dont waste time at Tapeo -- it was like some weird try at modern spanish fare. There was gray paste on our plate that was supposed to be a sauce. It tasted like you would image gray paste to taste. Rodozio was okay. Meats were not great but the chicken at the steakhouse was good :-) The indian (Bhogali) was the best meal. Great curry and tasty naan break. Although the second time the curry had too much garlic salt. TIP: The buffets are nice-- there is las torres in the punta cana side and then the main Adelita in the Bavaro lobby. The mangos is what drove me back to punta cana. i ate so much fruit for practically every meal --mangos, papaya, watermelon, passion fruit. The Arrecife is crowded and open (no AC). Food wasn't so good here. Guy at the grilling station was switching from cutting raw chicken breast to flipping burgers and didn't really wash his hands -- salmonella for sure. He got busted by a guest so he grabs an egg, crushes it in his hand, uses that as soap and rinses it off. Island sanitizer? Pools: If you have kids, spend your day at the Kids club pool area (punta cana section). There's a big pool (shallow and deep end) as well as a splash pad area with a big pirate ship and small water slides. This is in the centre of the resort. The kids club is also very nice. It was a drop in sort of program but a lot of people left there kids there the whole day--weird. but i'm sure they had fun. They had a small rock climbing wall and a small zip line section and a movie theatre. The Bavaro side pool is crowded and really dirty. the other pool in the Punta Cana section closer to the beach is also crowded and dirty. All the pools had tiles missing here and there and two of us cut our feet on these -- no good. TIP: Bring lots of bandaids. Beach: The beach was amazing -- can't complain. The water is a little mirky, closer to the shore so you can really see much when under, but i'm sure it is clear when you go past the safety buoys. The chairs do get taken fast but we weren't there to sun tan, so all good. The sand is incredible, soft, and white (or yellow, i couldn't tell). Souvenirs: The resort has souvenir shops and also some vendors that come to the resort and setup tables. These are not locals but are employed by the hotel to sell--you really wont get a good deal or anything. The gift shops are okay for little magnets ($3/$4) but frames, shirts, etc are expensive. The day before we left we found out about a free van that takes you off the resort to a local gift shop to buy souvenirs. We go to the little "strip mall" and went in. It was a clean mall like store. When we go in they said, "once you finish we will take you outside--more stuff there". So we bought a few magnets and went outside--we were ushered into another store--no price tags, so i figure this is the place to bargain--and it was. TIP: Buy one or two small things in the first store and wait to shop at the second. We got tshirts, little glass bottles with sand, purses, etc. Other: The resort had a claim your prize thing on our door so we went to see. It was a sales tactic to sign up for their Palladium Travel Club. They took us to a staged room in building 19. It was the most amazing place i've seen. Honestly, take the tour for curiosity sake. After rejecting their sales pitch of $17000 membership, I asked for the prize. It was $100 off at the spa. My wife used it for a $99 massage. Fully worth it. Muguel and Francisco from the front desk were very helpful in resolving any issues that arose.

Barcelo Bavaro Beach: Beautiful resort

The grounds were lovely. Everything is so clean. Food was great. Very pleasant employees. The best beach I have been on, soft sand, and clean sea water. There is nothing I would change. I have absolutely no complaints.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Excellent resort

The grand palladium punta Cana was an amazing family friendly resort. The staff were all fantastic and made our stay very comfortable. The food was excellent. The grounds are big but don't that deter you, it's easy to find everything you need or want! Def recommend this resort

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Very nice

The resort is beautiful. The rooms were spacious. Everything from the rooms to the grounds, pools, beach, restaurants, common areas, rest rooms were incredibly clean and well maintained. The staff were all very polite, friendly and professional. We never felt wary or uncomfortable at any time. Food and drink were always available. We were grateful for being in a quiet part of the resort, but appreciated the option to join festivities when we wanted to. Coming from Canada, we don't know  [... read more]any Spanish and the staff knew very little English so it was often difficult to ask questions. But everyone was very eager to assist. Both staff and guests were mostly Spanish speaking so we didn't socialize with many people during our stay. The food and drink was plentiful, but the islands have a very different flavour to everything.