Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Average resort

My thoughts on this hotel are. The grounds and public areas are clean and fairly maintained. The rooms are big and average. The service and maintenance of our room was below average. Noisy A/C unit (when it worked). Had an issue with our A/C thermostat on our the first day in the resort, the T-stat batteries need to be changed. The maintenance staff replaced it with old batteries on the same day. In the middle of the night the A/C stopped working again, took 3 days to get it fixed, and the main [... read more]tenance and resort supervisor had left our room door open with no one inside except the maintenance key left on the key holder to keep room lights on. Door to balcony did not close well. Cleaning services was below average, cleaning staff would ignore the used towel tho be changed and place them back on the clean towel rack. The food at GP in the a la carts and buffet are great. The service from the waiters/waitress was below average. drinks would take a long time to arrive at the table at the buffet. The self serve drink stations where shut down. In order to get great service at this hotel, be prepared to tip the staff with anything above $5 American dollars.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Excellente!

This resort was amazing! The pool was beautiful and clean at all times. The rooms were very clean, the cleaning lady came twice a day one in the morning and evening. The staff is amazing, they were always on top of things and very friendly and sweet. The beach could be better but the set up is very nice. Overall I would definitely recommend and go back to this resort. It was a beautiful experience!

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Its alright

The resort itself is beautiful but people that work there are rude never listen to what you say they just get you what they want at the end of the day as in food. Food was not good in general i got my stuff stolen on the pool worth (300$) while i was swimming abd i never got them back. we also found cocraches walking on the table at the sea food restaurant after we finisehd eating it was disgusting we tried talking to the manager but he didnt care. My room's A/C got broken twice during the week  [... read more]i called twice no one came so i had to go to the main desk and bring someone with me.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: GBP Ambar - Excellent on so many levels

Visited this Adult Only resort from August 12 to the 19 with a friend from university, we are both single guys. This hotel is the Adult Only section of the bigger Grand Bahia Principe complex. The size maybe a turn off for some, that seek a more intimate experience, but for us, the size was a plus, as there are many lobbies, activities, pools to see and spend time at. Truth be told, we spend the week at the Adult pool and beach side, as there were no kids. The Ambar section did have lots of coup [... read more]les (understandable), so if a party/single scene is what you are after, you will be disappointed here. We just wanted to get away and find time to relax, although the club was rocking with singles after 11:00 at the central "town square". We did book 10 days in advanced our request for the a-la carte restaurants, and got every request. So for the 7 nights we were there we dined at restaurants, no buffet for us. Did the Don Pablo twice, excellent food and presentation, heard people complaining (from the other hotels) they could not get a single a la carte (most of the Ambar guests got their reservations) . Do yourself a favor and plan ahead and you would not be disappointed. On the topic of food, breakfast was amazing, my buddy ate smoke salmon and caviar for breakfast, just so he could say he had that. Food was always fresh and there was a day that they had a person making donuts right in front of you, how cool was that. Every morning they had a mimosa station set up (orange juice and champagne) and our server kept bringing us glasses of mimosa once he saw our glasses were empty. Top class service. I don't drink coffee and had to tell the servers "no coffee for me please" many times, I did appreciate the fact that they thought I drank coffee. Lunch during our stay was at the Ambar 1 pool "snack bar". Which snack bar makes fresh palella and pasta in front of you, and had fresh assortment of meats and dishes. My favorite was fries with chilli and cheese dripped all over it and some BBQ chicken on the side. Dinner was at the various a la cartes. All were awesome, my favorite was the Rodizio, the meats were just perfect and it just kept coming, most meals disappear over time, this restaurant was the opposite. There was absolutely no issues with food, and both of us were fine, so stomach issues. Just be smart and try not to get crazy with the assortment of food. The beach was as expected, lots of seaweed, but the workers kept it as clean as possible and once you get past the first 10 feet, the ocean was clear. There was lots of "Reserved for Adult Ambar Patrons" signs all over our section of the beach, so getting a spot was not a problem. They even had a young man clean the sand off your lounger and feet after being on the beach. I had to tip him (10.00 USD), since no one was. Spent lots of time at the Ambar 1 pool, where shaded places were not a problem to obtain. They were very consistent with brining drinks to you, the girls came around every 10 minutes or so. Many times they came around with fruit skewers (pineapple - cantelope - watermelon) and specialty cocktails for you to try. The Ambar 2 pool had a sushi bar, which I was told was very good (did not try it myself). It is true the Ambar 2 pool was quieter (until the pool bar patrons got their fill, and the noise level went up), but it was great interacting with many different people. In closing, my friend only visit to the Caribbean before this trip was to Cuba and after the first hour being at the Grand Bahia Principe, he was blown away with the overall presentation of the grounds, lobbies, pool, etc. Myself, I was in the Dominican last August, staying at the Grand Palladium Palace (which was awesome in its own way), but the GBP Ambar blows it away. I used the room safe and many times I had my iphone charging in the room during the day, with no safety issues what so ever. I did tip the maid 5.00 USD everyday and my room was perfect. The turn down service was amazing, with the blinds drawn in, PJ's laid out on my bed and chocolates left (3.00 USD tip was left for the turndown maid) . THIS PLACE IS AMAZING and set the bar at what a 5 star hotel is. I did not name any staff in particular in this review, but as a collective they were all awesome. Hopefully we will be there next August for round 2.

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Great vacation

The royalton resort was beautiful. Clean, minimal bugs, beautiful clean beaches. The grounds were maintained. The rooms were kept clean. No issues with any staff members. Everyone was friendly. Good family resort.

Royalton Punta Cana Resort: Awesome resort!

Beautiful resort! We were there for my daughter's wedding. The grounds and the food and the staff were wonderful! Only complaint was there was consistently a shortage of towels, both in the room and at the pool.

Sanctuary Cap Cana Luxury Collection Adults Resort: DO NOT STAY HERE!

I have never written a review for a resort before but felt compelled to do so now so no one else goes through what we did. We booked this hotel based on the reviews (all great) but I am not sure how there were no poor reviews. We booked a swim up suite in the castle. Check in was good, rooms were AWFUL! They are not a reflection of the pictures on the website, dirty & stained. Mini bar consisted of water and beer only. The swim up room pool was dirty. We paid $1800 US to upgrade to a Honeymoon  [... read more]suite which was equally terrible, we ended up getting our money back and moving resorts after being shown 5 rooms that we were not happy with. In the end they did offer an upgraded room free of charge but at this point after seeing 5 rooms already and being charged to upgrade due to the room conditions we were ready to leave. The seaweed on the beach is excessive which is causing a smell (bad), Punta Cana is having a seaweed issue but the resort we transferred to cleaned it up every day so it was not an issue. The breakfast buffet was small (not what you would expect from an all inclusive resort), you CANNOT wear flip flops at any restaurant for dinner (even if they are nicer ones) and that was all I had packed. You have to sign a receipt after each meal, my husband & I left a cash tip and put $0 on the receipt and when we checked out (the day after getting there) the waiter had added a 1 to make it $10 even though we left cash, thank goodness we kept a copy to prove we did not leave a tip on the bill. The grounds are not what the pictures reflect the website what so ever! The items that were GREAT... the food for one meal we had, the pina coladas and the service that was provided with all the issues we experienced. We checked in on a Sunday so moved to another resort on Monday to enjoy the rest of our holiday. If you are looking for a stress free, relaxing holiday in a clean well kept resort, do yourself a favour and book it somewhere else!

VIK Hotel Arena Blanca: Quiet getaway!

This vacation was exactly what we were looking for! A smaller resort with a real Carribean feel! Palapas on the beach and around the pool offering shade for those who needed to retreat from the sun. The pools were clean, our room was very clean, everyday, we stayed in building #4, very central to pool, restaurants, bars and beach! I loved how close the pools and beach were together! Short walk everywhere! Shopping on site, and a market of shops close by! The beach was white sands, unfortunately, [... read more] with hurricanes brewing in the area, there was a lot of kelp on shore and in the ocean...the hotel did have locals cleaning the shoreline which looked like a never ending job this season. Food and beverages were self serve everywhere but at the a la cartes. We loved not waiting in line for a water, a Pepsi or a slushie! Our expectations were for a quiet, clean, sunny vacation and that's exactly what we got!

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Good resort

Overall good resort, clean rooms , good food, friendly except the check in. We got there at 2:30 pm and after waiting in line for more then an hour our rooms still were not ready. We got our rooms after 6pm. We were very happy that they cleaned the seaweeds every day.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Simply excellent vacation at the Bahia Principe!

Myself and my family (wife and two kids, 12 and 17) stayed at the Bahia Principe Esmeralda at Punta Cana, DR. We were incredibly impressed about all aspects of our stay there. We have only been to the Caribbean once before (a small resort in Negril, Jamaica) so we were comparing to that. The transfer to and from the airport was very good, relaxed and on time. The airport very nice indeed. Wasn't very clear when we got there that we didn't need to queue to pay the 'tourist tax' so we queued for  [... read more]a while until someone from Air Transat pulled us out the line and directed us through customs. The resort was just fantastic, huge and impressive. We had a couple of adjoining rooms in block 90 near the beach, exactly what we requested, and really nice rooms, however probably any one of the blocks in the Esmeralda would have been fine. The only very slight issue was the bed was a bit hard, but really this is very minor, not really a problem at all. The choice and quality of food was amazing from the 'snack bar' by the beach to the Don Pablo gourmet restaurant. I was very impressed observing the staff just how professional and courteous they all were, at all levels from the desk staff to the serving staff, room maids and pool cleaners. Serving staff very attentive and at just the right level. Could not quite believe just how much food and imported alcohol was available, very nice indeed not to have to think if you can afford a better meal or fancy drink. I had a chat with the restaurant manager Eugenia (I think her name), very hard working and personable lady. She runs a very tight ship indeed and it really shows. The cleanliness was very impressive, everywhere was spotless, especially all the washrooms, they were always kept super clean. Hand sanitizer always offered walking into the restaurants. I noticed someone wiping down the stair railings with isopropyl alcohol. Really this impressed me a lot just how thoughtful they were about hygiene. I fail to see how they could have done a better job. The beach had quite bit of seaweed but that's no fault of the resort, and anyway they raked it away every day so wasn't really an issue. I left my sandals on the beach when sailing and forgot about them. Went back later and they were gone. Checked at the sailing counter the next morning and they had seen they were left and took them in. Wouldn't have been a big issue to lose them but nevertheless I appreciated them doing this. Although resort entertainment isn't really our thing we really enjoyed it especially the daytime pool exercise sessions, really good fun. Nighttime entertainment a bit cheesy but still good fun and entertaining. The Animation Team (entertainment staff) are really good and put a lot of effort in. Didn't do any excursions, we were going to but it was hot and humid and just wanted to enjoy being at the resort more. The Hobie catamarans were super good fun and probably my highlight; flying over clear waters to the reef and shipwreck was just great, and it was free. So, we would go back there in a heartbeat! I guess from the number of superlatives I have used you can tell we really enjoyed it! The Esmeralda was definitely for us the better part of the resort to stay in and would recommend this. The Punta Cana and Bavaro part of the resort were busier. August a good time to go, I'm sure nice in the winter but possibly a few more people staying there at that time.

VIK Hotel Arena Blanca: Expected more

Great service but hotel needs upgrade of facilities. Rooms are really old and stuff broken. Doors don't work. Shower broke etc... Sheets are hard and uncomfortable. Food is excellent. Service and staff excellent. Lobby needs to upgrade and modernize.

Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Trip Central Vacations

We booked with Trip Central to Grand Bahia Principe Bavaro Punta Cana It was excellent. Great food variety, room close to all amenities. Get sport activity variety. Beach is sensational. Dining room service excellent I would return. Trip Central was an excellent travel agent

Iberostar Selection Bavaro Suites: Great Resort

We had a great time, the resort was beautiful and the grounds are very well kept. They food at the buffet was good, they had a lot of variety so we didn't have to eat the same things over and over. We only made it to one of our a la carte bookings, the Steak House. I had the salmon and my boyfriend had the steak we were both very happy with our meals and the service. The resort & bar staff were very friendly, you got the same pleasant service whether you tipped or not. The pool and beach were ni [... read more]ce, there was a bit seaweed in the ocean but nothing to keep you from going in. They kept the beach clean and seaweed issue was maintained daily. Only negative would be about the night entertainment , it was bit lack luster we've seen better at other resorts. However the Dominican and Ibero -Stars shows were the best by far. We really enjoyed those. Oh Yes! our room was really nice, cleaned daily and no towel issues or bugs. I swear the bed was on of the most comfortable we've slept on out of all the resorts we've stayed at. All and all it was a great vacation.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Outstanding resort!!

Me and my girlfriend travelled to the Dreams Punta Cana Resort for 1 week from August 15th to August 22nd. This was our first time travelling to the Dominican Republic and it exceeded our expectations! The resort itself is phenomenal! It had the most amazing service and entertainment team, the drinks and food were delicious and the shows were great! I would highly reccommend this resort to anyone travelling to Punta Cana!

Occidental Punta Cana: Beware of bed bugs!

This hotel is in serious need of renovations, the common areas are decent however the rooms are really run down. The tubs in the bathrooms are cracked and in very bad conditions. The beds are the worst part of all, Bed Bugs! Got bitten several times and still have close to a hundred bites in arms and body. The AirConditioning unit stopped working and was fixed until 2 days after we reported. The food is acceptable for the most part. The buffet is the best without a doubt, don't even bother goin [... read more]g to the A-La Carte restaurants, there is no AC in there and the food is not worth it (except for the Mexican and the Pizza place). The buffet had a good selection and if we knew better we would had eat dinner there every day. Bartenders where friendly around the resort and drink tolerable. The entertainment at the beach is boring, but the one at night can be fun some nights. For water activities, it is a disappointment, they try to sell you paid activities (banana, parasailing, etc...) and then when you want to do the free kayaks or small catamarans they say the water is too rough (when obviously is not). Lots of sea weed after a storm and staff took 3 days to clean it, in Cancun they clean up in 1 day. Not enough loungers at the beach so you got to be there a 7AM if you want to get a decent spot. As they always say you get what you paid for. If you do not mind getting eaten buy bed bugs then go to this hotel. The price is cheap but so are the installations. Food was probably the only thing positive about the trip; it wasn't the greatest but we didn't got sick at least and was sufficient.

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: good value

Excellent nice beach good food friendly staff Only issue beach had to get up at 5 am to put your towel and reserve a chair under umberella Pool area excellent very nice friendly clean property Friendly staff entertainment at night lacking

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Great resort with some caveats

The Good: Food was good, the grounds and beach is lovely, service is excellent. Room was very nice. Loved that you get unlimited of the water park. Shows were fantastic - the circus show and Michael Jackson are not to be missed. I like that the pool is at least nine feet deep in places. The Bad: Drinks aren't great. Beer, rum and coke and gin and tonic are good, but forget margaritas or daiquiris and mojitos are terrible. Beach isn't good for snorkeling due to the fine sand that gets churned up  [... read more]and means poor visibility. Restaurants not as clean as I would have like, but I could live with it. Buffets were extremely loud. WiFi only in the main lobby, which is a pain.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing resort

Fantastic , hotel was well kept very clean great entertainment friendly staff and great food. Amber 1 was more entertainment throughout the day. All the ala cart restaurants were amazing staff were very outgoing. I can't wait to go back!

Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana: Good Resort

The grounds are beautiful the hotel rooms are nice the bathrooms could use some updating, but the suites are amazing. They did a great job dealing with the sea weed compared to the other resorts along Bavaro Beach.

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Nice and walkable

The resort we liked, clean grounds, easy to get from one area to another, plenty of pool choices. Large clean rooms,and bathrooms, = but wish the bathrooms had a DOOR. Only problem was , all three of us got sick, had only eaten in the buffet at that point, =SO . Ruined it for me, as could not eat for three day's.