Ocean El Faro: Very good overall resort / Better than average food / Mediocre beach area

We've traveled to multiple AI resorts 2-3 times a year for over 20 years. I'm in my mid-40s, and I'm not that difficult. I know what I like and what to expect for the price paid. My fiancé and I traveled with our 10-year-old daughter for this trip. I always do a lot of searching and reading before booking a vacation so that I know what to expect from the chosen resort or hotel. This was my first time at an Ocean brand hotel, as I often travel with Iberostar Selection and Riu Palace brand hot [... read more]els. I’ll make it easy for you: If you like the beach, this is probably not your resort. If you prefer a large pool area and THE AMAZING LAZY RIVER, this resort has a lot to offer. This may be your next destination. CHECK-IN: • Very fast and effective (with that in mind, I found that the front guest staff could be a little cheerful and have a warmer welcome if I compared it to another hotel). GUESS EXPERIENCE: • Awesome service, very attentive, and helped a lot with a few issues I had with booking restaurants. • They also assisted me with my fiancé's birthday that week with a cake from the pastry chef. • I felt that if I asked for something, they would do everything in their power to accommodate. OVERALL STAFF: • Excellent service everywhere. • Did not give more attention to people who tip or do not. (I gave 1$ a drink on average) • The restaurant staff was good and accommodating for different plate requests. • The bartenders were great, especially Ricardo & Domingo at the pool bar. (I’m the Bloody Caesar guy from last week ? ) and Joel and Juan at the sports bar. ROOMS: • Very large junior suite with a nice set-up of chairs on the balcony. • My view was very disappointing to me as I normally upgrade my view at the resort while checking. But the price was Ridiculous and no bargaining on the deal. Upgrade from Garden view to Pool view to Ocean. • Could use a refresh in the bathroom and shower area. (Don’t expect a 5* room here, yes, it has some corners with mold, but everything is functional) • As you will probably read from another review, the room is musty, which indicates moisture problems and poor air circulation. We asked for a dehumidifier that arrived the same night and fixed the problem for us (except that it leaked the last night). • The cleaning lady was prompt and effective but never changed our bed sheets for the 7-night stay. • Ask for more beer and water, and it was not a problem (6 bottles of water / 4 beers every day). *We tip the cleaning lady 5$ USD every day. We also tip the staff the replenish the fridge. RESTAURANTS: • The food was amazing if compared to other AI resorts at that price range. • All à la carte was all good, we preferred the Mexican, which needed no reservation. • A few issues at the Blue Lagoon (adult only) for my Fiancé b-day because they booked us there and have a 10-year-old with us. (but managed to accommodate us after a brief missed communication ) POOLS & LAZY RIVER: • A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. BEACH • Windy and rocky. You don’t go to this place for the beach. PROS : Excellent food. Drinks & Cocktails were good ( I was not privileged, but 200 x 1$ USD gets you a long way. I was drinking Don Julio and Crown Royal by day 3.) Service above average Large rooms (fits a family perfectly) Lazy River CONS: BEACH. Stuff gets stolen around the resort. be careful and don’t leave anything behind. Communication among staff could be better. Don’t bother emailing the resort before, as you won’t get any more perks upon arrival (sorry, Carlos C) All-around entertainment could be better. Would I return? YES, it all depends on the price. We received an outstanding deal for this one compared to what others paid, and we would return without hesitation at the price we paid. Thank you to everyone at the Ocean El Faro for an amazing week. We might see you again ?

Occidental Punta Cana: 100% statisfaction

Everything from room,to beach,to service,to food,and all other aspects totally meet our expectations. We would not hesitate to make a return visit. A special shout-out to Lucia(Room Attendant),Yvelise (Buffet Manager and all her staff),Nelson(Bell Hop) and Rissette(Reservation Desk).

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: Excellent resort

Everything was super clean, food was great , staff were over the top friendly and helpful Fantastic in every way I wouod definitely go back and recommend to friends and family and I expect to return again

Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Iberostar Dominicana

It was a very good hotel. They have excellent Food. Buffet had great selection. Service is great. Our major complain is the beach and the pools. There were so much seaweed that you can't swim. It looks nasty. I got rashes afterwards. We had to walk a kilometer away to find a nicer beach area. The pools are not well maintained. There were some ducks on the pool the first day we got there. I kept telling the staff there to clean the pool where the ducks are since it has something fo [... read more]amy floating around and leaves from the surrounding trees. After 4 days, the other pool was closed due to bacteria. The water looks like there are algae in the pool. We didn't use the pool anymore. It was still closed when we left. The tennis and pickleball courts are good. Easy to book and the court takes provides an excellent service. Unfortunately, around the same time when the pool got closed, they had a sewage issue beside the courts so the smell was so disgusting. We couldn't play for a couple of days until the issue was resolved.

Iberostar Waves Dominicana: Worth your money

The resort is amazing. Very beautiful landscaping. Great rooms, cleanand spacious. I love the tennis court and pickleball court The gym is great. Food is awesome, although some dishes were quite salty. Negative is, pool is dirty, can be improved,

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Not what was advertised

The hotel itself wasn't to bad itself, rooms were small but the restaurants were usually closed and not free. The bars were limited, one open often otherwise most were closed sometimes open for few hours during the evening/day. Service was great when you got it but normally only had 1 person working to serve bar and snacks. Not very child friendly 3 and below, food was mediocre, and the beach was very poorly taken care of.

Riu Bambu: A great resort

Riu Bambu was a wonderful resort. The staff, the variety of food, and the entertainment was top notch. I would definitely return. The grounds are very well kept. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana: So much relaxation!

So, we had the best time. The flight there was terrible and the flight home was too, but the time we were at Live Aqua was almost flawless. We booked a swim-up pool view room with West Jet Vacations. It came with VIP stuff - which was a bonus; private check-in, private beach area, private bar and lounge area (better booze - lol), it was awesome. We also had a butler, Eric, who made our trip extra special (seriously, this was the nicest, most gracious, accommodating, and patient human being I ha [... read more]ve ever met in my life). There were only two things that I didn't like about Live Aqua - one was room service (the food was so bad I can't even) and the other was the ATL Mexican restaurant. Everything else was insanely good. We loved Chez Rose (French) and the Italian restaurants. We also loved the sports bar (the same waitress/bartender was there every time - I forget her name - and she was the best). We ate there all week for lunch. Eric brought us cappuccinos with Bailey's every morning (bless him) and set up a VIP spot on the beach. We are beach people and the beach was AMAZING. I loved the waves and the beach was huge and never busy. You can walk for miles and it's easy because it's not too squishy. Always lots of chairs and towels and great service for drinks on the beach. There is a little food window for pizza and burgers too - which was a nice touch when you wanted a lil treat but didn't want to commit to leaving the beach. The first couple of nights the wind on the each was pretty gnarly - like one night you couldn't go there without goggles as it was a legit sandstorm the wind was so crazy. The other nights we went there and watched the stars in the dark - there was security so we felt totally safe. Housekeeping was great, turndown service was a nice touch, and the mini-bar had tons of lil treats and drinks (MMs, Oreos, beer, waters, sodas). There was a bottle of wine at check in and a fruit basket which was nice too. Lots of activities! We didn't too too many, but others did and seemed to enjoy. We did do the Good Time Festival 80s, 90s, 00s party which was really fun. They had a foam party and a neon beach party but after a long day of beaching, we were too tired to go. Wi-Fi was great through the resort and beach. Thank you Live Aqua and thank you Eric for all you did to make this trip special for us. We will absolutely be back!

Sunscape Coco Punta Cana: Good resort

Sunscape was a medium level resort (IMO) We have zero complaints, but it was basic. Check in - smooth! But - I had booked a double room, we got a king bed, but the room was great very spacious, clean and comfy (very basic, but hits the basics) so we didn't bother switching. Beach - beautiful, but yea some seaweed issues, got better as the week went on! Pools - nice, basic, a bit too busy for my preference Restaurants and booking them - Yes you have to get up at midnight and book  [... read more]your a la cartes for that day. Seems daunting but it wasn't that bad once I got help from concierge to set up my app. We loved both meals at chopsticks, loved Tiera, and the one on the beach was ok Quite enjoyed the Mexican and Italian buffets. Regular buffet was good for breakfast. We absolutely loved the pizza place on the beach, as well as the window at the flip flops bar. The cafes make amazing cappuccino- but always busy, always a line up even at 6 am I couldn't believe it! This may be my only complaint...lack of staffing, making the service just meh.

TRS Turquesa: Amazing Time

This was me and my partners first all inclusive vacation. And we has such a good time! Very clean and relaxing, food was great! The staff were very friendly and helpful to answer any questions and provided us what we needed

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Aquamarine is amazing

We have visited bahia Aquamarine twice and it has always exceeded expectations. Staff are very kind and friendly (every single one of them without exception). The beach is absolutely pristine with clear waters and clean sand. The pool is huge with a section that's quieter if you like or bumping by the pool bar. Entertainment is good. The buffet is excellent with something for everyone. The al la carte restaurants are hit or miss but you can always go back to the buffet. The rooms continue to be  [... read more]updated as we speak but are clean, well air conditioned. This is a choice place for adults looking for a beautiful getaway in Punta Cana.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana: 3.5 star resort

The hotel itself was amazing. amazing rooms, incredible pools, and lots of entertainment!! Food quality, poor (often raw or near burnt) Staff extremely poor All of the extra activities were extra, not included in the so called “all inclusive” Beach was gorgeous, but red flags the entire trip (we werent able to swim a single time over the week)

Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana: Nice resort

This resort was nice. The rooms in the main building smelled very musty. The food was good but many of the a la carte restaurants were closed for dinner throughout the week. The Japanese restaurant charged $45 pp for the tepanayaki which seemed unreasonable for an all inclusive resort. The beach was very nice. There were alot of kids at this resort and most of the pools, activities and shows were geared for kids. There was always staff around to assist but none spoke any English so if you needed [... read more] anything you really couldn't communicate. They charged $15 to play one game of pool at the activity centre. The sports bar had 12 tv's but only got 3 channels amd mostly all soccer. We had fun because we were a big group there for a wedding but there were many things that were a little disappointing

Occidental Punta Cana: Occidental

Came here for my friend’s wedding and have a lot more cons than pros about this resort. I would never return. Had a much better experience at another resort. - Most of the staff barely speak English.. huge language barrier. - no 24/7 café - Food was not palatable, always the same food every day at the buffet. - room service would knock at our door at 6:30am every morning and wouldn’t come back later to clean our room or replenish our fridge. - Barely any shade on beach or in front of the  [... read more]pools. - Some staff were rude, especially if you didn’t speak their language. - People on the beach were really pushy to try to sell their items. - Rooms weren’t properly cleaned when they did show up.. cups were still dirty, sink weren’t cleaned. Not impressed with this resort.

Melia Caribe Beach Resort: Reconsider

We arrive April 18th 2025 for a full week. We are not picky at all, lets show the good and bad. The good: -we went away The bad: -AC broke, water flowing in the room in our closet, wet all the clothing -two of five became ill -only two buffet restaurants, the food is repetitive, simple things you need are not there, limited on supplies, bland. -your ala cart restaurants - limited guidance where to book and you can only book 2 days out, therefore you have to plan 3 days of going to th [... read more]e same place at 8AM to book. Mexican, Italian, Steakhouse are your choices. Steakhouse is the best option, the others are upsold -they are constantly upselling you Honestly, would not go back.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Great Resort!

We had a great time at the Majestic Colonial. Loved the pools, especially the one on the family side. Even though we had a swim up room on the Club side we spent most of our time on the family side, as the pool is huge. It starts at the beach restaurant and extends all the way down towards the main lobby. It was so much fun floating down the long pool. We brought our own floaties, but if you choose not to bring one no worries, as many are left behind. Entertainment was good, food was great, esp [... read more]ecially at the beach buffet. Enjoyed the Steakhouse and the Japanese restaurants. The beach is beautiful. If you want to find a beach chair you may have to go early in the morning or wait until after lunch. If you are a cat person you will love all the cats on the resort. Most are friendly. Bring some cat food or treats, as they are always on the hunt for food. This resort has a lot of repeat customers, as the service is great and the resort is absolutely beautiful.

Melia Caribe Beach Resort: Amazing Resort

Very good , well kept and beautiful The staff are amazing and spoke very good English, the rooms were very clean and comfortable, the food was amazing and everything was great. Everything was walking distance from our room and to the various restaurants

Ocean Blue and Sand: Best Resort So Far

+ Large beach area with lots of beach chairs available + Great a-la-carte restaurants and food options, with an afternoon lunch and snack buffet near the beach (all day if Privilege) + Great coffee shop with espresso options, donuts and sweets + Wildlife (flamingo, cats, turtles, lizards, ducks and other tropical birds) adds life to the resort + Great events and night life (you can't get bored here, there is always something going on; there is also a nightclub open until 3am) + There are ba [... read more]rs everywhere you go, including cold lemon water stands near pools + Resort "buses" go around the resort every 5-10 min, if you can't or don't want to walk + Resort premises are generally clean + Rooms are spacious + WiFi is fairly fast if you are within range; I was able to stream without issues many times in my room - Room air conditioning struggled to keep the temperature set (building 4) - Buffet food areas were pretty hot (understandable since they are cooking there all the time) There really weren't any serious negatives about this resort, which is why I plan to return in the near future. The few issues, such as room cooling may be an issue on paper, but you would always feel refreshed by the cool dry air as soon as you walked into the room even when the thermostat showed 24 degrees.

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: The resort was amazing, loved the security that they had

Our room and the walk out pool was very beautiful. We definitely enjoyed the walk out pool in the afternoons. The restaurants where great except the Italian one Portofino that is definitely not Italian food. The experience we had there was not pleasant at all. When we received the main course it was so awful that we took two bites and left it. When the waiter came by and saw that we got up to leave he did not ask what was wrong and why we where leaving the food just said bye and left it at th [... read more]at. They were too busy with one guy that I guess was more important to them than everyone else in the restaurant. The other restaurants the staff where amazing. We did not go to the bars much we would only go to the main lobby before going to dinner. The staff there went above and beyond to make everyone feel at home. We mainly saw Alberto and he is a gem. The drinks that he made me its like he knew what I liked and after the second time he remembered my husbands drink. I understand that the staff that works there some don't understand or speak English but it does not hurt to smile at the guests when they walk by. A simple smile goes a long way. Also I noticed the day that we where leaving the guests that where coming(during the day) in got better treatment than we did when we arrived at 8:30pm. The guests should get the same treatment no matter what time you come in. Overall I had a great time.

Secrets Royal Beach: Had a great holiday

Our first time to Republic de Dominica...First of all I must say the service provider by Tammy at Trip Central was phenomenal ! We flew non stop from YYZ Air Canada...great timing on the flight and arrived to a very friendly airport staff that directed us to our Air Canada Vacation rep and sent us on our way to Secrets Royal Beach Resort .Quick trip and very welcoming arrival and check in. We were given a choice of room and we went with the Jr Garden Suite...it was perfect for us! I must say [... read more] that also on arrival we were also met (we felt slightly accosted) by a representative from UNLIMITED VACATION CLUB who gave us a welcoming gift (2 refrigerator magnets) and said we had an appointment the next day with a the group. We just got to our room and the phone rang from the same rep from UNLIMITED VACATION CLUB reminding us to bring our Passports and ID to the meeting. Again we had not settled in to our holiday and felt a little pushed. Not sure why we might need our passport and ID. We had a wonderful day but the next day on the way to the coffee shop in the morning we were again cornered by a UNLIMTED VACATION CLUB rep. We did sit down with him out of curtesy and he had quit the sales pitch. To start with again they wanted our Passport and ID...the even told us they would give us a ride back to our room to retrieve such. After hearing the sales pitch and letting them know the $50,000 was out of our interest and we were trying to relax on our holiday they brought in another "closer rep" and when we turned him down he just promptly walked away without even a thankyou. We could just assume they wanted our passport and ID to tie us up legally in some way. This was the only unpleasant part of our stay. I would suggest researching UNLIMITED VACATION CLUB with Better Business Bureau for another opinion. Secrets Royal Beach Resort was overall great holiday for us. We ate at every restaurant and tried every bar and pool ...all fabulous staff and service. Plenty of bottled drinking water around every corner of the resort. HAD A GREAT TRIP....