Very clean. Excellent service. Great facilities for all, especially for kids. Lots of good shows and entertainment for children. Food at the buffets were great with lots of choice and plentiful. Pool bartenders were excellent.
Downside was the beach was covered in seaweed.
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Shiona -
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JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar: Beautiful Resort and Great People
Recently back from Iberostar Grand Hotel Bavaro. Everything from start to finish was just wonderful. The cold towels on arrival with champagne, the lovely a la carte and buffet dinners. Buffet was our favorite. The pool and activities were great and even won at the bingo. Special thanks and shout out to Hansel, Luisa (our morning maid), Tobias, Hamlet (amazing beach service) and Robert (bartender at pool bar). I would like to thank Jordie for taking time and speaking with us his professiona[... read more]lism and Hansel's were just top notch - great customer service.
Shout out to Phil and Felicia (our two favourite pink flamingos) - thanks for the show before we left.
We loved the pink champagne and morning fruit and grilled salmon.
We were so sad to leave and hope to come back soon. Thank you for the best 50th birthday a girl could wish for :)
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Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Amazing Resort- As always!
This was our sixth trip to the Barcelo. On two previous stays we were on the all adult side, This trip we stayed at the Palace side during the first week of June/18. We booked Premium level- well worth the extra dollars in my opinion.
Much has been written about this resort so I won't duplicate too much here. ALL staff were excellent: Check-in, restaurants, pool, bars, activity centre etc., The staff- housekeepers, waiters etc, really appreciate a tip- it formally recognizes an appreciation for[... read more] their efforts. I amazed at the generosity of many tourists in this regard. I'm also amazed at how extremely cheap other tourists can be- especially when they ravage the services and attention of the dutiful staff and walk away without even leaving a buck or two- Shame!. The resort and beach were immaculate at all times. The a l;a cartes were excellent for the most part as we did a different one each othe the seven days we were there. Chez Gormet was excellent, but, unfortunately every course we were served that sitting was luke-warm-a bit disappointing as we really enjoyed that one in the past. Must have been just an off day. The only other disappointment we had concerned the disco. Enough Latin music already! We have encountered this complaint several times there. The D.J's just don't get it or don't have copyright to play more North American tunes. I like Latino music- but not to the exclusion of all else. Despite making requests, the D.J's just didn't care to mix it up- even a little- so we didn't really get to enjoy the club to it's fullest because the same old Latino tunes just got older and older as the days went on. Other than that everything was spot-on.
Also want to compliment our travel agent Lynne Dixon- Trip Central, Sudbury, Ontario (though we are located in Hamilton, Ontario). We have booked a few trips through Lynne so far and each time she delivers promptly, follows-up questions , researches those questions that she does not readily have an answer for and gets back to us. She is thorough in her documentation, and I have enjoyed her assistance in this regard.
I hope you enjoy the resort- and the staff- as we have. We'll be going back again someday as it is a well managed, staffed and resourced resort.
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Occidental Punta Cana: Fabulous resort
Paradisus Punta Cana is a beautiful resort and we enjoyed all the activities, food and especially the beach and pool. Friendly and helpful staff made our stay wonderful. It was a destination wedding for our family and the setup was beautiful.
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Paradisus Punta Cana: Wedding party
Overall the resort was amazing. Very beautiful and enjoyable stay. There were a few things though that were not so great. The service in the main dinning locations by the beach were extremely slow service and not very friendly. We would go the whole dinner or lunch without getting our water filled up. Also the variety and selection of food was very averge. We were hoping for something better. Also the service at fuego was terrible. We waiting 30 minutes or more just for a drink and our food too[... read more]k over an hour and they only brought out a couple people's food and others had to wait even longer. Also our transit guide Juan Pablo was not very helpful at all. He overcharged us on 2 excursions and refused to give is a refund and just told us to write a complaint. Very poor service.
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Asha -
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Secrets Royal Beach: Amazing resort for our honeymoon!
We had the most amazing time at Secrets Royal beach! We loved that it was adults only, had a ton of a la carts restaurants to choose from, cool little coffee shop and lots of entertainment! The staff were also so friendly and so accommodating for our vegan and gluten free dietary restrictions. We will definitely be staying with a Secrets resort again in the future !
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Royalton Hideaway Punta Cana: Very nice place
Food was decent but lots of choices. Nice clean pools very friendly staff. Liked the fact that our bracelets opened our door so no worries about losing the key. Would have like to maybe have some music at the pool area
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HS84 -
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Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Great staff, beautiful resort. Will visit again
We went for a one week all inclusive vacation late July/early August.
First I'd like to thank the staff for being so kind and hospitable. They are responsible for making this trip a fantastic experience.
The resort itself had more than enough pools and a huge beach area. The a la carte restaurant's were to die for but the buffets could use some improvement. The rooms were clean and well maintained and with A/C. We met some friends and I think we all agreed to make this an anual trip!
Fantas[... read more]tic experience all around. Lot's to do, lots to explore.
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Majestic Mirage Punta Cana All Suite Resort: It just about doesn't get better than Majestic Mirage....
I have traveled all over the world for business and vacations. I am absolutely stunned at how well this hotel makes its customers feel in just about every aspect of what people expect when they go on holidays. I will not mention names of the people that worked for this hotel because its pointless. The management have done such an incredible job of training monitoring and respecting each other so they all deliver service consistently well, politely, immediately, respectfully and effectively. Not [... read more]a single person expressed any sort of attitude and laziness. From a senior manger's perspective at a very large Canadian Corporation, I tip my hat the the management at this hotel. Everywhere is immaculate & spotless and you never see things getting done but they get done on time, every time. The place makes you relaxed and comfortable. Rooms are as good as can be expected and twice the size of any other room I have stayed at in the Caribbean... 1,000 square feet or very close to that. Doors work, sliding doors work, pool is crystal clear, grassy areas are like fairways at high end golf courses. Gardens manicured at all times. Ashtrays (yes, unfortunately I smoke) never have more than one cigarette butt in it, because its only going to be your cigarette butt. Everyone you get in contact with speaks English well. All the staff have a sense of confidence when they talk with you, unlike many other hotels where they have more of an intimidated approach....again, management is educating, regularly training and respecting their staff who feel empowered and proud to serve clients. The food...exceptional...lots of variety...good portions...elegantly presented...makes you feel that you order a very special dish and they ensured it was going to be presented that way for you to enjoy. I always had Cuba in 3rd place, Dominican Republic in 2nd and Mexico & Jamaica tied for 1st. At this very moment, no 4-5 star hotel that I ever visited over the past 30 years is better than this hotel, from end to end. The drinks...perfectly made, extremely refreshing and delivered right away. One dark spot was the seaweed....it came in and it came in heavy almost daily. So what did the hotel do? put a dozen guys on it starting at 3:00AM to pile it up and take it off the beaches as fast as they could. Did they win and beat mother nature every day? Heck no....but they did win a few times though and cleaned up the beach before we got there in the morning.
NOW THE BAD STUFF:
I do have a few problems with my stay here:
1) I really doubt I will ever learn about new hotels in the Caribbean because I fear that no other hotel can deliver as much value and joy like this hotel...
2) The price I paid was too low for this place and I am certain they will raise their prices in the future....I just hope they don't!
3) The level of professional management, quality of the hotel and the food and drink is realistically not sustainable... Overall it was all just too perfect. I must have caught the week that everything and everybody was on point every single day. I am a realist and know you cannot maintain such a high level forever...something will have to eventually give. I just hope somehow they can maintain everything for many years to come at the same level and only increase pricing to match inflation!!
It was a real joy for myself, my wife and my daughter.
TO MANAGEMENT AT THE MAJESTIC MIRAGE: I don't write good reviews just to be polite. In fact I rarely write reviews as I can't be bothered. But when I think something is extraordinarily good or bad, then I have to share my views so others are forewarned. You guys have done an incredible job. You should raise a glass of your finest at your next management meeting and toast your genuine team success to be so organized and committed and deliver exceptional customer experience and value.
Best Regards,
Ray
The grand lobby was impressive! The rooms were spacious nicely decorated and very clean. We were accommodated with adjoining rooms for our kids. We liked the higher floor too as the villa was right beside the pools but high enough for privacy. The room was always perfectly made when we come in to rest and get ready before dinner. The family liked to have drinks after dinner at the beautiful lobby bar while watching / dancing to the live music and activities in the courtyard. The buffet is near b[... read more]y with endless selection of delicious choices. The shows were entertaining at the theatre next door. The kids also liked the pool table by the theatre. There are A LOT of activities including scuba diving lessons, water aerobics and out favourite beach volleyball at the beach. The pools are huge and swim up bar was nice.
The property is enormous!! We took the shuttle to the beach which came every 5-10 minutes. It was ok because it was very hot to walk far when we were there. I probably want to have a villa closer to the beach next time.
The restaurants were great. Again the buffet had a lot of selections, the Pisces restaurant had very good grilled food and the paella was delicious. We enjoyed the mikado tepanyaki table but our favourite was the Garden Grill restaurant for their ribeye steaks and tenderloin.
There was a large amount of seaweed in the beaches BUT the staff did an incredible job in constantly cleaning the weeds out. We walked down the beach to other properties but we couldn’t continue far because the other properties had a lot of died up seaweed all over the sand that it hurt to walk barefoot.
There was a lot of mosquitoes but the resort sprayed once in a while to control it. It was difficult to control when it rained for a couple of nights. I think it helped bring on a higher floor so there was less bugs compared to being on the ground floor.
Overall it was an amazing family vacation and looking forward to go back again!
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Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Beautiful Resort
This rrsort is well maintained and beautifully kept. Very clean and great night entertainment with shows everynight. Beautiful beaches and the food is delicious with a great variety.
The only draw back is the staff that try to get you to buy the membership in order to partake the vip sections of the resort and the fact that you must be a member to travel here as a vip. Some of the staff were pushy and then acted bratty for not going on the tour. I experienced both. I choose not to go on the t[... read more]our and then later on in the week I took the tour. Fantastic villas etc. However how they do business is not up front nor do they inform you professionally on a business level. They arr looking for you to invest your money and yet they do this very unprofessionally and they do not provide real answers nor real paperwork. For this reason I will not revisit nor recommend to a friend
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Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa: Such a great place, especially for the kids!
The resort was excellent and very beautiful. The evening entertainment was amazing! The dancers! The kids had an absolute blast in the kids pool area, lazy river and other pools and they danced their nights away every night! would definitely go back and cannot wait!
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Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Awesome resort
This was our second time staying at the Grand Bahia Principe El Portillo in Samana. We had an amazing time once again. We love this resort because it is on the smaller side which makes it easier to get around. We also love that El Portillo is located right on the beach so there is no need to take a shuttle back and forth to the beach. The beach is simply spectacular! The water is fantastic for swimming and snorkelling. We brought our own snorkelling gear and saw lots of beautiful tropical fish o[... read more]n our own without having to book an excursion. There are only 2 swimming pools. The large pool located right on the beach hosts daily activities. We enjoyed going for a swim in the small pool located away from all of the action. It has a bar where you can get a drink and is a nice quiet place to chill out after a busy day at the beach. The A la Carte restaurants were excellent. Our favourite was Portofino (Italian). The buffets offered a wide variety of choices for breakfast lunch and dinner. We particularly enjoyed eating lunch at Las Olas buffet while taking in the gorgeous views of the beach just steps away! The service in all areas of the resort was outstanding! We will definitely be returning to Bahia Principe El Portillo in the future!
Ocean Blue and Sand: Great Family friendly resort!
The grounds were well-kept, the employees were courteous, friendly and helpful. The pools were amazing and the amenities were great for the entire family. The grounds were large, with a frequent shuttle to take you from the front to the beach in minutes. The variety of restaurant options gave a different flavourful option each night, with the Japanese restaurant, only one requiring a reservation, the best. A wonderful family-friendly resort.
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Chris -
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Sunscape Bavaro Beach: Beautiful Resort
The resort was beautiful however the beach was full of seaweed.
The pictures of the beach prior to the trip did not capture the truth.
I was very disappointed with this however the rest of the resort was amazing!
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Dreams Onyx Resort and Spa: The perfect resort for a family of four!
We had such a lovely stay at the Now Onyx. It was especially perfect for our 6-year-old and 21-month-old: we had a junior swim-up suite which they really enjoyed, and 24-hour room service meant we could have our meals in the room when the kids were too tired/cranky to make it to the buffet. We also enjoyed the a la carte restaurants and appreciated the fact that reservations weren't required - it's been difficult in the past to enjoy a la carte restaurants with set reservation times since a chil[... read more]d's schedule/mood might change and could throw off dinner timing. At the Now Onyx, we enjoyed three a la carte dinners (a staggering record for us!) because we could go when it best suited the kids' schedule. The grounds were so clean, the food was great, the staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating, and there were no mosquitoes! We'd love to come back again - it was the best resort we've been to so far.
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Playabachata Hotel: Huge disappointment!!
Being our 3rd time to this resort we were both excited and looking forward to it. Our room was awesome! However, we felt as though we were forgotten because the resort was packed with locals and couldn’t believe how loud and rude they were. We couldn’t get near the pool area all week and seen dirty diapers laying around the pool area among other things. The food wasn’t the greatest. We did make the best of it though but we won’t be going there again ☹ï¸
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Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: great resort
the grounds were well kept the buffet breakfast and lunch were repetitive but i think you get that at most all inclusive but there was allways something for everyone . the dinners were theme different each night wed was dominican shrimp and lobster the al acarte were good there are 3 . the staff were very helpful and polite the house keepers were very good but we did tip them 5.00 per day the room was good but we did have an o/v the hot water and pressure was good the mini bar restocked every [... read more]day . the beach was nice some seaweed to deal with but the beach was cleaned every morning ,beach vending people once you say no thanks they move on,the ocean was always very warm talk about free epsom salts bath. lots of lapaplas and loungers don't have to go early in morning to get one.