Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Barceló Bávaro Palace: Don’t Be Misled by the 4.7/5 Google Rating

My Personal Rating: 7.5/10 for groups, 7/10 for solo travellers or couples. My opinion: The Barceló Bávaro Palace in Punta Cana presents itself as a 5-star resort with a wide range of amenities, but guests should approach with measured expectations. While the property offers multiple pools, varied dining options, golf courses, kids’ zones, shops, and evening entertainment, it is no longer at its peak. Signs of aging are noticeable, and some facilities have declined in quality. A major draw [... read more]back is overcrowding. The buffet, for example, is extremely busy, which negatively impacts service speed, cleanliness, and food safety. Coordination between the front desk and bellmen is often poor, and at times can even feel disingenuous. For group travelers, the resort’s extensive activities and entertainment options can be enjoyable. However, couples and solo visitors may find the atmosphere too hectic and the service far from personalized. On the positive side, families will appreciate the theater, pools, and child-friendly activities. But the experience is far from the polished luxury one might expect from a high Google rating. The 4.7/5 score online is misleading—this is a large, lively, family-oriented resort that thrives on volume, not on detail or refined service. Here’s my bottom line: It’s a fun, activity-packed option for groups and families, but not the serene, high-end 5-star escape many expect. Balance your expectations before booking.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Amazing resort

The service and the staff was amazing. Best experience i had in traveling. I would recommend this hotel to my family and friends at anytime. I love the customer service i received and the hospitality from the staffs at all times.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Amazing, kind, helpful staff. Beautiful resort.

Beach has improved considerably from the hurricanes several years ago. Grounds clean and well-manicured. Public buildings and washrooms are spotless. Electric carts circle the property frequently to transport guests wherever they want to go. Food is available from early morning until late at night. Mike's Coffee is a gem. Staff are all very friendly and helpful everywhere. Entertainment and shows are available in the evenings. We have just completed our 23rd visit to this resort and wa [... read more]nt to go back again.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Great girls trip

We had a amazing stay everything was wonderful pool grounds food room(upgraded to pool room fantastic) staff was amazing entertainment staff was awesome beach was well taken care of walked it every morning The butler we had went above and beyond for my daughter’s 30 birthday and made it a birthday to remember No complaints here will return

Secrets Tides Punta Cana: Everything was perfect

Amazing resort, all is still like new, staff so friendly and the food is to die for. Rooms are super comfortable and we never heard a single noise from outside or neighbours. We will definitely go back.

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Great Waterpark for Kids!

My family and I enjoyed our stay at Royalton Splash this September 2025. We upgraded to Diamond Club and enjoyed the perks. They had a separate check-in area for DC members that had A/C, snacks, drinks, and a bar with top-shelf selections. Our Junior suite was very spacious located in building 27. We were assigned one butler which delayed services however, he did a good job. The main pool always had great entertainment and games to get everyone involved. The Waterpark was a great time for our 13 [... read more] and 8 year old, us parents had a ball as well! The waterpark has tons of seating and doesn't allow food inside which helps keep the park clean. The buffet was below mid with not much selection to choose from. I suggest shuttling to Royalton Punta Cana as their buffet is much better. Under the Sea, ZEN, and Mexicana Cantina are the restaurants we enjoyed the most. The steak at Under the Sea was better than Hunter's Steakhouse. The night entertainment at Royalton Splash was great with magic shows, Karaoke, trivia, dancing, and much more. We had a great time on our excursions and highly recommend the Monkey Sanctuary and the Seaquarium. The Shuttle to Royalton Punta Cana was very frequent however, seats fill up quick! The beach is a short shuttle to Royalton PC(2-5 mins), walk straight through the resort and you are at the beach(less than 15 mins) On the DC side of the beach, there was a lot of seaweed which we were not fans of. Overall the service should improve at Royalton Splash however this is a good resort for families.

Ocean El Faro: Thumbs down

Unfortunately, the beauty of this Hotel was ruined by the extremely unprofessional and unhelpful front desk staff. Very uninformative when being asked a direct question. I have never spent money on a 5 star before and this was a great disappointment.

Bahia Principe Escape Aquamarine: Nice Resort....but

We stayed at the Bahia Principe Aquamarine, the hotel in itself was nice. The room we stayed in was the Junior King Suite. While the room was comfortable, the bathroom could use a bit of renovation. The tiles looked dingy and the shower door silicon edge kept falling off. The towels could use some changing as well. We enjoyed some of the entertainment offered, however they seem to cater more to the Spanish guest than the English speaking guest. I wished the DJ played more of different Genre o [... read more]f music, but they mostly played Latino music. The employees seem to not want to make an effort to speak or understand English at all. Another observation I had with the employees is that they seem to be more friendly and helpful to the Caucasian and Spanish guest than the Black guest. This was a huge disappointment. Overall we had a great anniversary getaway...which was not in anyway acknowledged by the hotel even though we mentioned it at check in and all throughout our stay. We probably won't be coming back to this particular resort or probably to the DR unfortunately.

JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar: Exceeded expecations!

The resort was beautiful with pristine grounds, spotless facilities, and very friendly staff (Tobias at the pool bar, Javier always getting me to dance, Ortiz at restaurant) . The food was always abundant with plenty of options to choose from, and there were more than enough chairs available by both the pool and the beach. The only downside was the Japanese restaurant, which, despite being the only one requiring reservations, felt rushed with minimal interaction from the chef. Otherwise, everyth [... read more]ing exceeded expectations for a wonderful stay!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Grounds and hotel were great but not the vendors on site

We were at the on site vendors and they over charged me for a wooden statue by $600.00 no prices on any of the items and the prices change on a minute by minute basis. Will not go back there again. Lost all respect for this resort by not ensuring there on site vendors are capable of running a business properly. Now I am trying to get back some of my money. This wooden statue is only valued at $70.00 U. S.

TRS Turquesa: Amazing trip once again

This was our 15th trip back to this resort, almost all of them booked with trip Central. Nicole Deforest makes sure everything is just right for us. The resort welcome desk with flawless check in as usual. We went right to our room and enjoyed exceptional service for the entire week the front desk, the butlers, the servers, the graders in the bar staff were excellent.

Casa Marina Sosua Trademark by Wyndham All Inclusive: Amazing resort

Beach is beautiful.Pool maintaining well.Public area is safe.Rooms are clean and well maintain.Food can improved more.Staffs service is good.Bar reservation needs some change.Sarounding area of the hotel is very warm.Out trips like Catamaran,Paradise Island and city tour great great.

Dreams Cap Cana Resort and Spa: Toasted Together

The grounds ŵere nice the pools were very nice , one super large and the others were smaller. The restaurants were many but you never knew which ones were open and the buffet was only open for breakfast only so disappointing. The food menu’ s had very little to chose from . The rooms were very nice Would not go back for so many reasons . For a DREAMS RESORT it was so disappointing.

Ocean El Faro: Nice Resort But Need Improvements

We were at this resort a few years ago and thought it was fabulous hence we returned for a second stay. The buildings and rooms are very well maintained and in excellent condition. The entire resort is very clean! The staff everywhere were very helpful and friendly! Now for the negatives. The resort had a 32% occupancy so several things were downsized or closed. The Buffet Restaurant was closed every night for the entire week, so everyone had to eat at the A-La-Carte restaurants. This was a fia [... read more]sco with very long lineups with frustrations. Most guests were annoyed and somewhat rude to staff but it is upper management who should be held responsible. After the long lines to be seated, once you get in half of the tables were empty! Access was based on low level staffing. Better decisions and smarter choices should have been made regarding restaurant closures. There were also rotating closures of other restaurants! So choices were limited! The evening entertainment was limited and low quality. There was mostly the same Spanish music every night, no variety! The Piano Bar was closed for most of he week. The Pianist only plays 2 nights per week as compared to 6 nights in previous years. There were 3 guys "one night" who were Tenor singers and they were excellent, but this was unannounced and held in the Piano Bar with about 20 people present. This should have been in the main Plaza for everyone to enjoy!! The 70's 80's show was enjoyable. Need better entertainment with some English variety for guests! The beach was terrible and no one could swim all week with a permanent red flag. We have never seen so much Sargassum anywhere!! Yes they cleaned it but the next day it was the same. The sand was uneven with truck wheels imprint. They should level the sand daily so at least guests and children are able to walk on it.. Need better decisions by management regarding reductions of advertised features. I would never return to this resort although we like the Oceans Resorts. We wanted to leave after 3 days! Have been to several Oceans resorts in recent years! Please make better decisions to return this resort to the fabulous place that it was a few years ago. It has regressed!! Need better management!!!

Nickelodeon Hotel Punta Cana: Disappointed - Not a Five-Star Experience

I recently stayed at Nicoleadian Resort with my family, and I regret to say that the experience was incredibly disappointing. The food was poor and repetitive; it was the same thing day after day with no variation. My daughter ended up getting food poisoning, which was absolutely alarming and ruined our stay. When we checked in, the room was not clean. The floors were wet, and it was clear the room hadn’t been properly prepared for guests. We had to request a room change, which was a hassle a [... read more]nd added to the frustration. The overall service was lacking—staff were unresponsive, and we had to follow up multiple times for basic needs. To make matters worse, I have a video of a snake in the pool area, which is beyond concerning, especially at a so-called "luxury" resort.

Catalonia Royal Bavaro: Catalonia Royal Bavaro

Gorgeous, clean, friendly, fun and relaxing. My husband and I vacationed here for our 10th wedding anniversary, and it was even more beautiful in person that what the pictures showed online. We had an amazing experience, and would gladly stay there again.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana

Wow, What A Surprise...Everything Went Great...Love this Hotel...We Were At the Beach Villa...Close to The Truck, Food Area...So Many Lively Pools, 3 of Them...With Entertainment Galore too...Fantastic and Plentiful Food Options at The Lobby Buffet...It Was Such A Terrific Food Option...Took Many Pics of This Enonomous and Tasteful Buffet...Everyone was so Nice, Friendly and Attentive in The Dominican Republic...Unforgettable...And The All Day and All Night Amazing Entertainment with Nightly Dan [... read more]cing, Afterwards...Never Boring ... Also There is a Casino and a Dance Club nearby too...Lots of Shopping, Stores in the Village Nearby....Its A Great Vacation.

Riu Bambu: lots of issues

Although picturesque setting there were so many issues!! no working room phones in any of our rooms (there were 14 of us) so when things went wrong you had to walk to front desk from very far away fan not working tv always fuzzy and not working at least half the time safe not working - and it took the front desk 4 hours to address it - leaving us unable to attend a group dinner (as our stuff we needed was locked in the safe) toilet broke they did not stock our room and when we went to  [... read more]ask at the front desk they advised it was done every 2nd day and it was too late now (it was 3:00 pm) it was not restocked for 4 days the food was not what I expected/ poor variety and always COLD I have travelled extensively in DR and this was not at all my previous experience The beach was disgusting with an unpleasant odor - it was not cleaned during our whole week many / many feet of seaweed

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Relaxing break

This was my husband & my second time to the Iberostar Costa Dorada. Last visit was in 2019 just before Covid. Our room was large close to the beach. It was nice and quiet for a good nights rest and the bed was very comfortable. The pool is huge with plenty of lounge chairs. They played Merengue and Batchata music daily which I really enjoyed. The animation team had activities planned daily. They also had fitness instructors everyday that planned HIIT workouts, yoga and Pilates at the beach. T [... read more]he Interval training workouts got the heart rates up and they used the TRX straps too. The beach was perfect and well groomed twice a day. The water was clear with a sandy bottom perfect for swimming. I’d say we spent 8 days at the beach and 5 days at the pool. We had lunch at the restaurant by the pool which was good. They always had a fresh salad selection, pizza, pasta, chicken, pork chops, different cooked vegetables and lovely desserts and fruit. Plus you could get a capachino or drink. In the evenings we went to the front dining buffet which had a very good food selection. Lastly, there were 3 restaurants, Italian, Mexican, and Japanese. This resort also has a kids club with instructors that planned activities for the kids in and out of the pool. I will definitely return to the Iberostar. It’s easy to get around and a good place for all ages. I noticed they had access for wheelchairs to get close to the beach too. The resort is well laid out and there’s no tripping hazards for people with mobility issues.

Riu Bambu: needs some upgrades

Our family had 4 rooms, every one had various problems in rooms, no rooms had a working phone ,only answer was out of service, room overhead fans did not work or had to be repaired, in room fridges were not stocked daily had to get water at desk, our grandson had to get his room key replaced 4 times. Also he was sleeping and awoke to a large cockroach on his bed and saw another large one in hallway we have images to verify, and front desk did not address any of our concerns in a timely fashion.  [... read more]He almost missed dinner on our last night waiting for someone to open a locked safe it was only handled when our daughter made a noisy scene at the desk. The ocean beach was smelly and covered with washed up seaweed as we walked the beach other resorts had the seaweed removed. Bottom line is the the pool and grounds were well kept but rooms need a major update and we would never return to this one any time soon.