Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Wonderful vacation

This resort is absolutely one on the best I have stayed ... Everything from the room , pool , grounds, food was superb .. Would go back in a heart beat ... Loved it ... The staff at this resort was the best !

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Memories splash

The airport in Punta Cana is a gong show. Long, never ending lines that are confusing and miss managed. We waited 4 hours between landing and arriving at our resort, despite being the first dropped off the shuttle bus. Next we experienced the check in, once again long lines, but this part was dog eat dog. If you can speak Spanish and you don't mind dirty looks from others you can cut the line and yell for service and get your room before others. Food was fair typical Dominican Beach too [... read more] far and too many stones Pools were nice Rooms clean enough but housekeeping was later in the day

Riu Republica: Amazing Resort

I have to say that I think the entire staff, no matter what position, were very friendly and eager to please.... no matter what!!! Food and drinks were good. I enjoyed the "all inclusive" part of my trip, as I've never gone on one before. I can't wait to go again. As for the swimming pool, I loved the table and stools in the pool itself. What a way to enjoy some drinks in the hot sun! As for the beach, I found there were plenty of chairs and huts, so very easy to find one. The beach  [... read more]was beautiful! I would definitely recommend this place to my friends and I will be definitely be returning. Thanks for such an awesome vacation. Dianne Rice

Riu Republica: Amazing Resort

Just returning from a weeks vacation in Punta Cana. We stayed at Riu Republica Adults only that just opened in June of this year. Cannot say enough as It was simply an amazing vacation. The hotel is beautiful. The beach was just great breathtaking. The rooms were huge, large bathroom, no tub In our unit. But they do have jacuzzi rooms. We had a courtyard view. We did ask for king bed but got 2 doubles. That was my only thing that disappointed me. Maids did a great job cleaning our rooms d [... read more]aily. We were treated from staff like family. They were such friendly hard working people. Grounds were always cleaned and gardens kept beautiful. They catered to us from morning to night, from the beach to the pools to dining to entertainment. We even had fruit daily delivered on the beach and by pool and some awesome pineapple drinks made by the pool. A Shout out to Evelyn in the the sports bar, and Wandy at the pool bar for your awesome drinks you made us. Also to Ramy at the morning Buffet. Such great workers with great hospitality. Just always made us feel so welcome and catered to our needs. We left them great tips as they worked so hard to make our stay awesome. The food was plentiful and Delicious. The entertainment was non stop around the pool daily, to daily exercise classes to night time shows and parties. I have 2 timeshares that are 5* in Mexico and in Orlando and this stay at Rui Republica was as comparable as to our stay there. We loved the Rui Sante Fe in Cabo and took a gamble on this new resort. Glad we did. Not a bad thing to say, I would highly recommend this place, we have made some amazing memories and we will definitely be returning. A special thank you to Debbie Macguire at trip central for her excellent care and work helping us with the booking, your patience in answering all our questions and finding us all the ins and the outs of this new resort before booking and making this vacation a memorable one.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Very disappointed

this hotel seems to cater to a certain group and there are different rules for different complexes, depending on where you're staying. we did not receive the room we requested, we were 3 in our group and housekeeping kept leaving us only 2 towels each day, beach towels were not readily available and we had to wait 3 days to get fresh towels. There is a bar in the room that gets replenished, but they don't give you a bottle opener to open and enjoy. When we asked for one, it took almost 4 days [... read more] to get one brought to our room. The buffets do not change at all, they are the same every day. There are many restaurants on site, and you're told that you don't need a reservation, but when you get to the restaurant for dinner, they tell you that you can't be seated until the Royal Suites group has had dinner cause they have reservations. This was the same at all the restaurants on site except the sports bar that only offered hamburgers and fries (YUK). The representatives ONLY SPOKE SPANISH so it was very hard to communicate with the staff. There was no entertainment by the pool as you would expect, and when there was, it was only related to in Spanish, so you had no idea what was going on. Asked for change at the registration desk to break $100 bill and came back home to find out by bank it was counterfeit.Paid almost $300.00 to our party of 3 to take a day tour of the capital and our tour guide spoke very little english, so we didn't get the information translated as to what he was saying. So poorly organised and the tour took over 13 hours to complete, way too long of a day!. We are so disappointed with this vacation that we will never recommend this place to any family or friends. we expected so much and got so little.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Good but not a true 5*

Rooms was beautiful. Food was okay. The Italian at the hotel was not good, but at the Esmerald was very very good. The service was not the best and everything you asked was a no at first until you argue with them.

Excellence Punta Cana: Excellance All the Way!!!!

We just got back from our 7 day vacation and we loved this resort. Beautiful pools and we'll kept grounds not to mention the friendly staff. Looking forward to going back one day. The Excellance Punta Cana is our favorite Adults Only.

Occidental Punta Cana: Disapointing Experience

The hotel is classified as a 5 star. It was MAYBE a 3. I have never been so disappointed. Our check in was awful, it was completely disorganized there were about 15 people standing behind the counter and no one spoke to us for about 15 minutes and they were doing NOTHING. when they did speak to us the check in was very frustrating and took way too long. THen we got to our room. WE HAD NO CURTAINS... we were on the first floor and you could see right in. We spent the whole first day tryin [... read more]g to explain to someone that we needed curtains. Noone would assist us or come help. It was very annoying and disappointing. Finally after day 1 we were so upset we got curtains. The pool was dirty. There was green sludge in it and the same bandaid floating there for the whole 5 days. The food was alright.. it was not awful it was not great. None of the staff would help you with anything out of the ordinary though, if you had a special request forget it! Our shower in our room was revolting and our bed was completely uncomfortable. I am also sure that other people had bed bugs as a LOT of ppl said they were itching in the beds. I would absolutely never go back and in fact never stay at a Bavaro Again.

Caribe Deluxe Princess: Not as advertised

Hotel is extremely outdated. Staff is very unfriendly. We paid for VIP package but did not receive any upgrades, as we were told we were not staying there long enough - so why did they charge us for VIP package, take our money and not provide us with any of the benefits. The room is very old and did not have any towels, fridge was not working and was not stocked (as they had advertised). When we called reception, no one spoke English to even complain. When we eventually got to speak to someone,  [... read more]nothing was done. And it was a nightmare to try and call back - so we just gave up.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Looking forward to returning again (and again!)

This was our third time at the Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar. The check-in was super easy although I'm not sure why it takes place at the Ambar 3, where there aren't any rooms, while our room was in the always wonderful Ambar 1. The staff at every station throughout the resort, (housekeeping, gardening, servers, chefs, hostesses) are most gracious, happy and helpful. Their commitment to providing outstanding customer service is beyond expectation. The rooms are spacious and well maintained and [... read more] the bed was so comfortable! There were a few burned out light bulbs at the entrance of the room and the soap holder in the shower needed a bit of a repair, but other than that, the room was lovely. The food is delicious! We ate dinner at several a la cartes and enjoyed them equally as the buffet. The beach is beautiful and the maintenance staff work so hard at sweeping the boardwalk and clearing the sand from the lounges! Great job! The only thing that we found to be a little disheartening are the guests who save lounges at the beach and/or pool and never seem to arrive. I'm not sure the resort can prevent guests from being so non-courteous.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Disappointing Hotel

When we booked this hotel, we were sold that it was going to be great and a lot of fun, however upon arrival, it was disaster after disaster. The hotel itself was much bigger than we expected as the restaurants are not all on the same resort, they span over the multiple Grand Palladium resorts that are connected and you have to try and find them and walk far to get to them, and the map they provide SUCKS! We were even advised by our Sunwing Rep that the map sucks so don't even bother using it!  [... read more] When we arrived it took them forever to check us in, we were exhausted and hot and wanted to get to our room. Prior to coming we had requested to get a cot in our room, and when we arrived there was no cot so we requested one from the front desk. We had to call 5 times before someone came at 10pm that night. We were also only given 2 towels in the bathroom when we were in fact 4 guests, and surprise surprise, we had to call 5 times to get towels! There were also no beach towels left by 2pm when we arrived, which is not acceptable when this isn't peak season and the resort isn't booked out. The room was good enough, however the pillows smelt like sweat, they were gross. The pool was always filthy, with hair balls, cigarette buts and garbage, it was not properly maintained. Service received from the staff was abysmal. When we went for breakfast or dinner at the buffet, we would usually get there shortly after it opened and we'd have to steal cutlery from other tables or coffee mugs because no one would come around to give us any of it. When you book your excursions through the Dive Shop, you need to make sure they are not going to their buddy down the beach to book it because that happened to us and we tried to get our money back and it took a while to finally get it back. They let a lot of hagglers on the resort so you get stopped every 5 minutes being asked to buy something or buy a tour which was really annoying, we’d avoid going certain ways or places because we knew there would be people to harass us. The food was good, no complaints about the food and the bar service by the pool area was awesome, always someone walking around and bringing us drinks. All in all I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, it was definitely not a 4 Star, more like a 2 ½ star. Very disappointing.

Secrets Royal Beach: Very Good Resort

Resort staff was very friendly. Food was very good and the restaurants available at Secrets and the attached NOW Resort has nice food too. Secrets resort rooms are a bit dated, however were neat and clean.

Breathless Punta Cana Resort: Awesome Resort

Excellent accommodations, service, food, entertainment, staff and beach. Everyone is very friendly and always willing to help out. Rooms and property are always kept neat and clean. I would definitely recommend Breathless Resort and Spa in Punta Cana!

Paradisus Punta Cana: Paradisus = Paradise

Our one week stay at the Paradisus Resort was great. Front desk was great regarding service and their means to help. Check in was as expected a little rough, but they offered my family of four a free upgrade of one night at the Reserve which is definitely more for families with smaller children. The Reserve is very quiet, beautiful rooms and pool but remote from the rest of the resort. The grounds are exceptionally well kept by the workers that definitely work hard every day...beautiful job!! [... read more] Kelvi was our favourite at the lobby bar. We would end our nights there with a late night cap before taking the Golf cart back to our rooms. The guys at the main pool bar were also very friendly and entertaining. The staffs all around were very friendly and most understood English enough to make conversation. Need I say there was prevalent Time Share solicitation, employees who seemed to hustle by striking up conversations and if you weren't interested would walk off leaving you hanging in mid-sentence. Lacked a bit of day time entertainment, we would've enjoyed inclusive activities on the beach or at the pool although we did enjoy the themed nights held at different locations on the resort. The food was of exceptional quality, there was variety in the buffets plus many beautiful a al carte restaurants to choose from. BBQ night Wednesday was by far the best night. Tables and lights set up directly on the beach with live music and wait staff that kept the drinks flowing. Chef at Agua came out to address my daughter’s peanut allergy and then again which was very much appreciated and nice. The Gabi Buffet, Bar (Francisco) and parties there were our favourite. It was hard to find cabanas / shade at the pool area from people who would just leave towels to save spots for the day. The beach had better control on removing unused towels after certain time. The beach did have weeds along the edge of the sand which the workers tried their best every morning to rake up. Golf cart travel was necessary as the resort is pretty big, and the main lobby is a little ways off. The whole resort lay out is beautiful, we didn't mind exploring each path finding pretty Eco gardens. The Paradisus Punta Cana was like Paradise, overall a very clean, five-star deserving resort.

Blau Natura Park Resort: Amazing Resort

This place is amazing. Although the rooms aren't the best the people make up for it. The device was always friendly and welcoming and the food exceeded my expectations. They constantly change up the buffet options and have country themed nights for food.

Whala Bavaro: Do your research before going!!!

The hotel had a lot of hidden things we were unaware of when we arrived. We went down as a group of 5females. We requested a joint room that didn't happen. Bottle waters were not left in our room daily. I love travelling going to different places and I was very disappointed. Even to get a blanket was an altercation. Some of the staff there does not have a clue how to customer service and be polite. Front desk people were very rude and not approachable. The purchased wifi only worked well in the  [... read more]lobby didn't work in my room. The bar closed at 11pm opened at 10am. We went to party and enjoy we were restricted. The food was not accessible either 24hrs no snack bar or anything. Overall the first experience was not enjoyable for me at this resort. I would not recommend it to anyone.

Riu Republica: Nice resort

Overall I enjoyed my stay. The resort was clean and well maintained. No surprise as it had been open less than a month. Great service with friendly staff and people. Great food at both the daily buffet and the 3 restaurants. Good design to have the restaurants all together so we didn't have to search. Room was nice with one exceptional element - poor design with the wall with the shower being a smoked glass. Anyone in the bedroom area could see the outlines of those taking a shower! The beach wa [... read more]s lovely as well as the two pools - one was quiet with the other having music and a sit down bar in the pool. The entertainment was somewhat lame - live band playing slow music most nights. Very generous with alcoholic drinks.

Excellence Punta Cana: Best Resort We've Been Too

The food - Amazing, especially the seafood. The restaurants were all solid. Buffet was typical but above average. Pools - The main pool is huge and busy. Try the smaller one for a calmer atmosphere and more private bar. Entertainment - The shows were fantastic and much better than expected. These performers are skilled! Rooms - Getting a little dated, but wonderful big tubs, marble showers and updated fixtures. Beds are comfy with lots of pillow choice. Lots of space. Resort and  [... read more]grounds - Beautifully maintained grounds and lots of space for wandering the resort. The lobby and buildings are unique and well maintained. You are never out doors, yet everything is open air. Bars - All great, and suit every need and every area of the resort. Service - Excellent all around.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Nice resort

I loved everything about the be live collection resort, lots of entertainment. one problem we had was the service! The service was not good, very slow at everything even with Cleaning our rooms every morning. Was times they hadnt even cleaned our rooms.

Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites: Funtastic Family Vacation

We spent a fantastic week at Iberostar Bavaro Suites from July 11th - 18th Likes: room was big enough for 4 Pool, Beach, Staff, Entertainment, Golf, Gym, Amenitites The pool area was fantastic. Lots of space. We didn't use the pool with the swim up bar. But the deep, zero entry, and kids pool were well used by our family. The bar near the pool was never crazy busy and there was always someone walking around to clear your cups and bring you another. There was plenty to be involved in at [... read more] the pool area. The entertainment staff did a great job. The beach was beautiful. Lots of chairs. Lots of shade. The beach bar has a great vibe and they grill burgers and hotdogs to order. Best burgers on the resort. There was always a BBQ on the beach and more often than not, there was lobster involved. Do not miss the Paella Party! The water could be a little choppy but I found it not too bad. Sauble Beach or Grand Bend can be much more rough in my opinion. Seaweed comes in a little with the tide in the late afternoon but not all that bad. The room is quite large. Tile floors so watch for slippery floors if you come in wet. Not at all noisy. Discovered when we left there were people above us. We did not hear them. Air conditioning functioned well but you do not control the temperature. Drying rack on the porch was handy. Bar was restocked daily but snacks dwindled at the end of the week. Evening shows were fun. Do not miss the circus show! It is open air. The bar is close by and there is always someone taking orders. The grounds are beautiful. My only regret was not spending more time exploring. Water sports are run by Dressel Divers. We did kayak..was a great time! They are very professional and offer water based excursions. We went on the full day Snorkel to Saona Island. I highly recommend that. Food. A La Carte meals were quite good. Although the service is a bit slower and so you should expect your meals to take about 1.5 hours. These meals are air conditioned. Except steak House. The buffets are open air. Was warm but nice. Service was pretty good for drinks and plate clearing. The staff in the food area were lovely. We simply did not really like the food. Typically we are not buffet people and are a bit picky as I am excellent in the kitchen. Still there were some good items (ribs, churros, fresh juice bar, salad bar, taco night). We were able to find something. I found the pool buffet to be the best one for lunch. Always lots of fruit available. Passion fruit looks awful but served with a little bit of honey, was my new favorite. The golf at Iberostate was good. It is worth it to bring your clubs and shoes. My husband golfed the course 4 times. Enjoyed it each time. The gym is beautiful. Lots of classes and good equipment. If you workout regularly you will be happy there. Kids club offers a good variety of activities. My kids were not interested in going. Definitely best suited to younger children (5-8 or so). The staff that work with guests speak many languages. It is amazing how multilingual they are. Once they find out you are Canadian they do prefer to speak French. But will gladly speak English if your French is a little rough around the edges. Overall- I would not hesitate to return, except we didn't like the buffets. For this reason only we will look elsewhere for next time. I definitely recommend this resort to others.