Paradisus Palma Real Golf and Spa Resort: Amazing resort and amazing staff

My husband and I had a wonderful vacation. It was made so by the wonderful staff and in particular by Fransisco. He made all the difference and quite frankly made our stay absolutely wonderful. Our favorite meal was at the Dominican Republican restaurant and our waitress was fantastic! This was our second time there and will return!

Riu Bambu: Do not book

Worst resort I’ve been to! Food was terrible, artificial and processed. Omelet and scrambled eggs made with the artificial container eggs. Got food poisoning the first night off the bruschetta. Spoke to another couple and same happened to them off the same food. Resort not kept clean. Found female staff hiding in the washrooms, on their phones. Not a 5 star resort, 3 1/2 at best. Pool floors were always dirty, no one walking around to pick up cups or clean up. The only good thing was the rooms [... read more] were cleaned properly. However such a big resort, they put the families in the far back about 15 min walk from the main area and the beach. Beware of this resort. Will not be visiting Riu ever again.

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana - Feb 2025

This review is for Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana. Good: wrist band has a micro-chip that opens door to room; animation team (fun dancing, Zumba on the beach, aquafit, pool games, evening shows); food is mediocre between buffets and restaurants - fresh made pizza dough is delicious; can make reservations on a self-serve screen in the lobby or with Guest Service, Rodizio Brazilian restaurant was delicious! Nice beach (white sand, turquoise ocean); nice grounds with efficient trolleys to get  [... read more]around the property; self-serve coffee machines and wine/beer taps; the Village beside the hotel is useful with disco, shops, 24hr medical clinic, and specialty shows - need to make reservations for the Dominican Fiesta ($16 US). Bad: over 1 hour to check-in (after 2am, with mosquitos); no loungers available at pool or beach - many chairs sit empty with towels on them; overcrowded buffets and slow lineups for food - staff couldn't keep up with cleaning tables, plates, cutlery, making for a chaotic experience; have to pay for a fresh pina colada $5-$10US, otherwise, the bar mixed pina coladas don't taste very good. To know: big complex requires lots of walking or using trolleys to get around; my renovated room 22206 was well located near the beach but about 10 mins walk to the lobby for breakfast; gym is dark without enough weights for the few people using it, the leg press machine was unusable, I didn't see any cleaning between use of equipment. Bring: sunscreen, rain jacket and small umbrella, mosquito/sand fleas repellent, wash cloth (towels, shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/soap provided, but not cloths). Flights: Air Transat had delays on departure and return. My itinerary said "multi-meals", which means food for purchase, but Transat lacked choices. I ended up with a small, dry breakfast sandwich for supper, very yucky, for $10 CAD. Since it was a night flight (5:20pm), by the time we arrived at the hotel, there was only one gentleman to check-in a bus load of vacationers which took longer than expected. Punta Cana was 1 hour ahead of Ottawa; due to the flight delay (over an hour), the time to retrieve luggage, and the wait on the bus before driving 30 mins to the hotel, we didn't get there until around 2:30am local time. This turned into a 4:30am bedtime by the time I got to the room and found a snack (since a proper dinner was not offered on the flight). Maybe it's ideal to take a morning flight.

Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort: Great Resort

Pretty much a 10/10. Easy to book restaurants which were mostly great. Rooms were suitable for a small family. Pool was nice, beach was nice, and waterpark was great. Service was good. Lots of places for food. No complaints.

Royalton CHIC Punta Cana: resort needs alot of TLC

almost impossible to get reservations in the a la carte restaurants,,,not enough chairs on the beach,,, staff very friendly but everyone has their had out for a tip ,, trying to charge people that have already paid alot of money to travel there a surcharge to watch the superbowl in the hotel lobby (240 american) is robbery

Riu Bambu: Amazing beach

Beach is unbelievable, best I've ever seen. Otherwise the hotel is definitely not 5 stars. 4 at most. A La Carte is not really worth the time, at all. Pretty much the same food all around except for the steakhouse. Rooms are ran down. We had a big party of 20 people across 5 rooms. All rooms were ran down. With that being said, they were NOT a disaster. Acceptable by our standards. Service was statsifactory with us, all issuess adressed in a tmely manner.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Great Resort

Beautiful resort. Grounds, pool and lounging areas are well maintained. The room was spacious and staff cleaned and restocked it everyday. Played Golf at local course where they had a deal with the resort which was fantastic. Only complaint would be cold food. They seemed to struggle in this area.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Very big property!

We had to change room 3 times! My Sister got really sick after eating a hamberger on the 1st night! The service at Fish House was really poor. After 90 minutes they served our entre before our Appetizer! The buffet at Bahia Principe Grand AQUAMARINE Was really good & staff was efficient & friendly!

Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana: Amazing Resort!!

We cannot say enough good things about this resort. Our room was clean. The food was amazing. The grounds were maintained. Staff was very pleasant. Definitely family friendly. My grandchildren were ages 8-17. There was activities for all ages. This resort is not a 5 star it's a 10 star!! Wonderful memories were mad here!

Royalton CHIC Punta Cana: Nice resort

Landscape and lobby were nice, gym was just what we needed, lots of classes and activities to keep people busy, beach was nice, buffet and restaurants were good, but the individual rooms were needing some big time love. You can't put a pink light under the bed and ignore paint on the floors, messy paint jobs, drain covers missing, hair on the floor, dirty walls, etc. Wouldn't take much to make it great without having to pay for a swim out or diamond club. Music could be a little more tropical th [... read more]an hip hop in the sports bar at night. Really lovely and helpful staff though. We paid $2745 pp from Calgary and we definitely overpaid. I'd say $2200 pp max.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: We had a fun time - but not a perfect time

Overall, the resort was nice, clean and organized. The grounds are well kept. The swim-up pool in our room was amazing (and made for some fun pool parties!). With a group of 16 of us, we were always on the go. We attended many evening functions (silent disco, live bands, karaoke, etc) which were ok and fun...not over the top. Overall, the food was a disappointment. We even had one a'la carte dinner that we got up and walked out of part way through our main course. Service was horrible and  [... read more]the food inedible. The buffets were inconsistent. We did like the beach BBQ and the Paella on the grill! Bar service was good from the bar, but the pool service was slow (up to 45 mins to get a drink to your chair). The main pool was huge and the swim up bar busy, but there were several "oil slicks" of grunge floating around most of the days. Kinda gross. This was our first "5 star" resort experience and we left somewhat disappointed. We'll probably go back to cruising!

Melia Caribe Beach Resort: Overbooked and busy

Waiting, waiting, waiting...This was the theme of the week. First started with waiting close to an hour to check in, after a busy and long travel day with 2 young kids. Finally, once the rooms were ready, we were able to check in and enjoy the warm weather. We were travelling with family members (8 people total) and it was next to impossible to make dinner reservations for our party at a normal time in one of only 3 a la carte restaurants for the entire resort, only available for 8 at 8pm or  [... read more]later. To pay 60$ US per person for the japanese restaurant is absurd, and we did not see anyone in there the entire week. The mexican restaurant was a joke, literally served cut up hot dogs on a tortilla and called it sausage tacos. The italian restaurant was much better and the torro restaurant was ok. Anticipate 2+ hours for the dinner reservations. All that was left was the buffet (1 at the main lobby area, 1 near the beach). Throughout the week, lunch and dinner buffets were annoying for several reasons. It was so busy that we could hardly get a table for 8, or even a table for 4 at the beach buffet, we have to wait for plates since they were all empty, the line up for pasta / pizza station was a mess and disorganized. The Mediterranean restaurant near the beach was reserved for Level club only. This restaurant was pretty much empty the entire week while we had to scramble to find seating for our family during lunch buffets. Safe to say that after a couple days of buffet, the food got tiring and was unimpressed with the selection. In keeping with the waiting theme, all the bars were low staffed and waited on average 10+ minutes for a drink, especially near the beach bar (little shack van serving limited drinks). Another annoying thing about this resort (and probably all others), in order to have a beach or pool lounge chair, you needed to be up at 6 am to reserve the chairs since there were so many people that all the chairs were taken at the pool and beach by 8 am. Service in general was pretty poor since most staff did not really understand English that well. Our family members had asked for extra pillows in their room since they only had 2 pillows for 2 adults and 2 kids. They called the front desk several times, the spoke the reception staff several times, to no avail. What finally ended up getting them extra pillows was leaving a note for the maid along with a tip, this after 3 days of only having 2 pillows. Despite the busyness of the resort, the disorganization of the restaurants / buffets, the poor service of resort workers, long wait times everywhere, and the annoyance of the many many solicitors / vendors on the beach (I know its like this everywhere, but literally a person comes up to you every 2 minutes), our family was still able to relax and enjoy the nice weather, the beautiful beach, the shows and activities for the kids, and the company.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Excellent Spot to Relax

This hotel was amazing! The rooms were awesome and the swim up was very relaxing. Friendly staff and very accommodating. The Entertainment Team was incredible.The food was excellent at the buffets and the ALaCarts were very good! The only thing i would complain about would be the lack of lounge chairs available around the pool. People get up early and clip towels on the chairs snd leave them there all day! That was more than frustrating!!!

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Bahia Principe Luxury Esmaralda AMAZING!

Can't say enough about the resort. Room was modern and clean and bed was a pillow top with just the right softness. Food was amazing at the a la carts, and the buffet had everything you wanted. Staying at the Esmaralda gave us access to all the other Baha Principe within the complex. The only downfall about the whole trip was the mosquitoes at night (certainly no fault to the resort). Never experienced such an influx of mosquitoes while vacationing in January/February. I guess there is alw [... read more]ays a first time.

Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana: Perfect

This resort delivered on everything. Dining, service, amenities. Teen club was awesome. Waterslides and lazy river was fun. Beach was fun too. Tipping was appreciated but service was stellar regardless. Preferred had so many perks I wouldn’t go without it.

Dreams Onyx Resort and Spa: Great all around resort

The check in was quick private transfer to resort only negative was placement of room involved a fair bit of walking and on the 4th floor but the room itself was large and the shower could fit a family of 4 lol. Very clean and fridge stocked daily with turndown service each evening. Room service was free to even people like us who booked regular with no upgrade. Our opinion was an upgrade was not necessary and we usually upgrade. There are a number of pools which can get busy however we were alw [... read more]ays able to find seats just had to look around. Pools were clean and the lazy river was great. bars were situated all over the resort so no worries there. Buffet was good everything was fresh and choices plentiful for breakfast and dinner. Restaurants were good that we visited Steakhouse (Bluewater Grill) was a decent ribeye. Cin Cin (Mediterranean) was excellente and Spice (Teppanyaki) was good. The coffee shop was excellent any time of day for hot or cold beverage as well as sandwiches and baked goods. The Burger bar I must say had the best burgers in Punta Cana in our opinion given the 6-7 resorts we have visited. The ocean was wavy but nice. Kids club (Explorer) was a hit with our 8 yr. old grandaughter. The night shows for the kids good the adult ones were just ok they do work hard to put on the shows! Staff were all friendly 1st time we have never ran into not one unhappy employee. Overall this resort is the best in overall amenities and enjoyment.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great Family Resort!

Our TripCentral rep, Wendy Harrington, helped us pick the most affordable yet high quality vacation package. She had multiple conversations with us about different resorts and we ended up with Ocean Blue and Sand; which was GREAT!! It was a perfect trip for me, my husband, and my 1 year old baby. The resort has lots of activities to do for all ages and was not busy when we went. We went from January 30- February 6th and the resort was peaceful and quite, if you're looking for a party resort t [... read more]his is not it. The beach at this resort was beautiful with soft white sand and clean blue water with almost no seaweed. The food at this resort was delicious and service was exceptional, as a family that eats only halal meat there were many vegetarian and seafood options. The resort offers a privilege membership upgrade for an extra $60-75USD per person/per day which comes with access to butler service, jacuzzi in room, access to the cabanas on beach and specific area near pool. However, we did not get this option and still had an amazing time. ROOM PROS: - Rooms and washroom/shower were specious. - The AC worked great and the maid kept our room clean; even washed our baby dishes! - They restocked water bottles/beverages daily. - They also replace bedsheets every third day unless requested otherwise. The room had a nice private balcony but the view was facing the resorts side forest which we liked but you can request a pool view, no Seaview option. ROOM CONS: - The shower had 2 heads, a removeable showerhead and a rainforest showerhead. The rainforest showerhead did not work in out washroom, however, we were grateful to just have hot water so it didn't bother us that much. Also, the removeable showerhead was more useful to us. -The bedsheets didn't seem clean when we first got there, we found an earing backing in one of the beds. ACTIVITIES: Lots to do in resort such as free Kayaking, bowling alley(Some pins were missing, alley #4 was the best), batting cage, pool tables (some balls were missing), table tennis, basketball net, pool/beach volleyball nets, 2 beach soccer nets, arcade game at Overtime and lots of board game on the second floor of family lounge. The family lounge also had VR, Laser Tag and PS5 gaming consoles with 2 TVs. SAFETY: The gated resort is super safe with security patrolling premise 24/7. WALKABILITY: This resort is not too big but not too small. It was the perfect size for us to walk around with baby stroller. The beach was less than a 5 min walk from our hotel room. They also have shuttle buggies driving around to pick you up if needed. FOOD & DRINKS: The resort has 2 buffets that offer breakfast, lunch and dinner; the main buffet was our favorite. They switched up the menus daily. They do not offer halal food which we knew before going here but they had a lot of seafood and vegetarian dishes. The resort has other restaurants as well. I would recommend getting the ice cream Cappuccino from Mike's Coffee Shop and the Sweet Cake flavor from the ice cream Shop, both were 10/10. Room service was really great but the menus weren't accessible. NOTEWORTHY DETAILS: The staff was very friendly especially with our baby. Special shoutout to the lady working at the baby daycare called Daisy Club and the man working at overtime from 6pm-6am who also served us at the main dinner buffet, he was very nice and taught us about Dominican culture. The photographers Carlos and Kevin were very professional and took great family portrait shots of us on the beach. The photographs are expensive $20 USD/per picture but more you buy the cheaper. We would still recommend cause the quality and location of pictures were priceless. The souvenir shop is extremely expensive, they do have a day where vendors come to sell souvenirs for much cheaper (for us it was the Wednesday we were there). The resort is accessible as it has ramps for all entrances. I would recommend the resort the clean the daisy club sand since there a lots of rocks which is not safe for babies/toddler.

Impressive Punta Cana: Resort was just OK

The buffet was ok. The A la carts were ok. The room could have been cleaner (bathroom) The pool was dirty and had lots of mould on the walls. Francois at the buffet was awesome and so was Wanda at the pool bar. All and all the was just an average resort. I would however not go back or recommend it to any of my friends.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Fun and relaxing!

We just returned from the Luxury Ambar, this was our sixth visit. We are always pleased with the resort but it's the staff that makes it memorable. The entertainment crew are always planning fun things for all ages. Everyone makes you feel welcome. A special shout out to our sisters at the lobby bar, Anyeli and Diocelina we can't wait to see you next year ?

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Amazing beach

The resort was beautiful, with plenty of activities that we didn't get a chance to participate in all of them, the food was delicious and plentiful, the beach was gorgeous, albeit a bit windy while we were there. The only downside was the stomach bug I caught on our 2nd day that ravaged through our group all week long. The room was very nice too, loved the hammocks on the balcony, but the giant tub could've done better as a giant shower.