Grand Palladium Punta Cana: A striving 5 star resort - Flaws trumps 5 star proclamation.

We traveled as group 18 (12 adults, 6 children ages 6-9) - July 30 to August 6, 2016. Booked 6 rooms since March 2016. I've been to 5 stars resorts every year for the last 13 years. Not to bore you with details, our overall review is: **This resort might look awesome in website pictures, with the 8 restaurant, huge facility, abundance of pools, nice looking rooms, BUT IN REALITY: 1 - Restaurants ARE a daily hassle. You need to line up since no reservations is allowed. And the food are  [... read more]just fresh looking as the buffet. 2 - The Tram service to take you around is so minimal. It seems that there's only 2 train going around since the wait can be as long as 30 mins. 3- Pool are so hazy that your eyes will burn due to lack of chlorine. Its more evident if you look at the pool at night and you can not even see the bottom of the pool. 4 - Its nice to have a Jacuzzi, only if the jets are not so dirty looking. Our shower head was broken and so as the nozzle for the water to come up to the shower head. We gave up complaining about it that we have to place a YUCKY garbage can to the nozzle to shower decently. Our "clean" folded towel had black stains and questionably clean. 5- Vendors selling Jewelry and excursion on every turn. Everyday, you will have hassled. EVERYDAY!! Most disappointing of all is the service and lack of friendliness by the staff and cook. It wouldn't hurt to smile back when greeted. I truly find the cleaning ladies to be snobs. The pasta cook in one of the buffet looks like he doesn't care at all. And I have to line to him 3 times. Customer service is obviously is not a priority to this resort. With these flaws, this resort is a 3 star at its best. Will not recommend to anyone. Food will be the same all else, but its the service that counts. Room Tip: Aging resort. Rooms are terrible. Service is awful. NOBODY cares about any problem. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g147293-d292158-r402893494-Grand_Palladium_Punta_Cana_Resort_Spa-Punta_Cana_La_Altagracia_Province_Dominican.html#

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Memories splash

The airport in Punta Cana is a gong show. Long, never ending lines that are confusing and miss managed. We waited 4 hours between landing and arriving at our resort, despite being the first dropped off the shuttle bus. Next we experienced the check in, once again long lines, but this part was dog eat dog. If you can speak Spanish and you don't mind dirty looks from others you can cut the line and yell for service and get your room before others. Food was fair typical Dominican Beach too [... read more] far and too many stones Pools were nice Rooms clean enough but housekeeping was later in the day

Bahia Principe Explore Turquesa: Beautiful resort.

The hotel was absolutely beautiful and the grounds were very well kept. The food was amazing and we had no complaints with the buffet at all. The only issue was with our check-in and our maid service. When we arrived we had to wait in line to check in for one hour and not because the line was long but because several guests staying at the resort who were Mexican continually budded in front of us, slipped the counter staff some money and got served while we continued to wait to be served.  [... read more]With respect to the maid service, it was terrible. I was continually left with no toilet paper in my room and no towels. Despite advising the desk on numerous occasions, it continued to happen almost every day. Midway through my vacation, the maid took the comforter off my bed and never returned it despite my complaining to the front desk. I also did not realize when I booked this hotel that it was not on the beach and it would have been nice if the person I dealt with at trip central had informed me of that as I did not notice it on the website. As an aside, the bartenders were fantastic, most especially Jose at the lobby bar - he was great.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Absolutely beautiful!

I would recommend this resort to friends and family. The ocean is amazing and the pool was great the people you meet the employees, all wonderful! I have only one complaint and that was Mother Nature forgot to tell me about the mosquito's, remember to bring repellent. Oh and the food, well there was always something good to eat! This was a great vacation.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Wonderful vacation

This resort is absolutely one on the best I have stayed ... Everything from the room , pool , grounds, food was superb .. Would go back in a heart beat ... Loved it ... The staff at this resort was the best !

Royalton Splash Punta Cana: Memories splash

The airport in Punta Cana is a gong show. Long, never ending lines that are confusing and miss managed. We waited 4 hours between landing and arriving at our resort, despite being the first dropped off the shuttle bus. Next we experienced the check in, once again long lines, but this part was dog eat dog. If you can speak Spanish and you don't mind dirty looks from others you can cut the line and yell for service and get your room before others. Food was fair typical Dominican Beach too [... read more] far and too many stones Pools were nice Rooms clean enough but housekeeping was later in the day

Riu Republica: Amazing Resort

I have to say that I think the entire staff, no matter what position, were very friendly and eager to please.... no matter what!!! Food and drinks were good. I enjoyed the "all inclusive" part of my trip, as I've never gone on one before. I can't wait to go again. As for the swimming pool, I loved the table and stools in the pool itself. What a way to enjoy some drinks in the hot sun! As for the beach, I found there were plenty of chairs and huts, so very easy to find one. The beach  [... read more]was beautiful! I would definitely recommend this place to my friends and I will be definitely be returning. Thanks for such an awesome vacation. Dianne Rice

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Beautiful resort

Costa dorada was amazing. The staff from the animation team, to the wait staff and bar staff and cleaning staff were amazing and very welcoming. Hotel was clean and the food was plentiful and amazing. Kids Club staff were amazing with the kids.

Riu Republica: Amazing Resort

Just returning from a weeks vacation in Punta Cana. We stayed at Riu Republica Adults only that just opened in June of this year. Cannot say enough as It was simply an amazing vacation. The hotel is beautiful. The beach was just great breathtaking. The rooms were huge, large bathroom, no tub In our unit. But they do have jacuzzi rooms. We had a courtyard view. We did ask for king bed but got 2 doubles. That was my only thing that disappointed me. Maids did a great job cleaning our rooms d [... read more]aily. We were treated from staff like family. They were such friendly hard working people. Grounds were always cleaned and gardens kept beautiful. They catered to us from morning to night, from the beach to the pools to dining to entertainment. We even had fruit daily delivered on the beach and by pool and some awesome pineapple drinks made by the pool. A Shout out to Evelyn in the the sports bar, and Wandy at the pool bar for your awesome drinks you made us. Also to Ramy at the morning Buffet. Such great workers with great hospitality. Just always made us feel so welcome and catered to our needs. We left them great tips as they worked so hard to make our stay awesome. The food was plentiful and Delicious. The entertainment was non stop around the pool daily, to daily exercise classes to night time shows and parties. I have 2 timeshares that are 5* in Mexico and in Orlando and this stay at Rui Republica was as comparable as to our stay there. We loved the Rui Sante Fe in Cabo and took a gamble on this new resort. Glad we did. Not a bad thing to say, I would highly recommend this place, we have made some amazing memories and we will definitely be returning. A special thank you to Debbie Macguire at trip central for her excellent care and work helping us with the booking, your patience in answering all our questions and finding us all the ins and the outs of this new resort before booking and making this vacation a memorable one.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Amazing resort

The hotel, staff and food were awesome. The only downside for us were the beds and pillows. They were horrendous. That would be the only reason I would not return to this resort. Which is a shame because the beach, pool area and especially the food is outstanding. Best food on a resort hands down.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Wonderful Honeymoon.

Loved the beach and the grounds. We had a regular room, and it was very nice. The food was amazing, with lots of variety. Staff were approachable and kind. Our only complaint is the Circle One staff (vacation club/timeshare). They took 2 hours of our vacation time to try and force us into buying a time share with them. This was not appreciated in the least.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Very disappointed

this hotel seems to cater to a certain group and there are different rules for different complexes, depending on where you're staying. we did not receive the room we requested, we were 3 in our group and housekeeping kept leaving us only 2 towels each day, beach towels were not readily available and we had to wait 3 days to get fresh towels. There is a bar in the room that gets replenished, but they don't give you a bottle opener to open and enjoy. When we asked for one, it took almost 4 days [... read more] to get one brought to our room. The buffets do not change at all, they are the same every day. There are many restaurants on site, and you're told that you don't need a reservation, but when you get to the restaurant for dinner, they tell you that you can't be seated until the Royal Suites group has had dinner cause they have reservations. This was the same at all the restaurants on site except the sports bar that only offered hamburgers and fries (YUK). The representatives ONLY SPOKE SPANISH so it was very hard to communicate with the staff. There was no entertainment by the pool as you would expect, and when there was, it was only related to in Spanish, so you had no idea what was going on. Asked for change at the registration desk to break $100 bill and came back home to find out by bank it was counterfeit.Paid almost $300.00 to our party of 3 to take a day tour of the capital and our tour guide spoke very little english, so we didn't get the information translated as to what he was saying. So poorly organised and the tour took over 13 hours to complete, way too long of a day!. We are so disappointed with this vacation that we will never recommend this place to any family or friends. we expected so much and got so little.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Good but not a true 5*

Rooms was beautiful. Food was okay. The Italian at the hotel was not good, but at the Esmerald was very very good. The service was not the best and everything you asked was a no at first until you argue with them.

Excellence Punta Cana: Excellance All the Way!!!!

We just got back from our 7 day vacation and we loved this resort. Beautiful pools and we'll kept grounds not to mention the friendly staff. Looking forward to going back one day. The Excellance Punta Cana is our favorite Adults Only.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beautiful Resort!

The grounds are beautiful- although the rooms are a little dated. The beach area is small but nice and at no time did I feel like it was lacking anything. The great thing about the beach is there is a lunch time buffet set up everyday so you can eat without going into the hotel. The hotel is a small hotel in the sense that its only 250 rooms so at no time do you feel overwhelmed by people. The food was good and the resort was very clean. I would definitely return to this resort. Also its 30 mins [... read more] from the Samana airport and it was our own bus so no need to stop to let anyone off. All in all I would recommend this resort.

Occidental Punta Cana: Disapointing Experience

The hotel is classified as a 5 star. It was MAYBE a 3. I have never been so disappointed. Our check in was awful, it was completely disorganized there were about 15 people standing behind the counter and no one spoke to us for about 15 minutes and they were doing NOTHING. when they did speak to us the check in was very frustrating and took way too long. THen we got to our room. WE HAD NO CURTAINS... we were on the first floor and you could see right in. We spent the whole first day tryin [... read more]g to explain to someone that we needed curtains. Noone would assist us or come help. It was very annoying and disappointing. Finally after day 1 we were so upset we got curtains. The pool was dirty. There was green sludge in it and the same bandaid floating there for the whole 5 days. The food was alright.. it was not awful it was not great. None of the staff would help you with anything out of the ordinary though, if you had a special request forget it! Our shower in our room was revolting and our bed was completely uncomfortable. I am also sure that other people had bed bugs as a LOT of ppl said they were itching in the beds. I would absolutely never go back and in fact never stay at a Bavaro Again.

Caribe Deluxe Princess: Not as advertised

Hotel is extremely outdated. Staff is very unfriendly. We paid for VIP package but did not receive any upgrades, as we were told we were not staying there long enough - so why did they charge us for VIP package, take our money and not provide us with any of the benefits. The room is very old and did not have any towels, fridge was not working and was not stocked (as they had advertised). When we called reception, no one spoke English to even complain. When we eventually got to speak to someone,  [... read more]nothing was done. And it was a nightmare to try and call back - so we just gave up.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Looking forward to returning again (and again!)

This was our third time at the Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar. The check-in was super easy although I'm not sure why it takes place at the Ambar 3, where there aren't any rooms, while our room was in the always wonderful Ambar 1. The staff at every station throughout the resort, (housekeeping, gardening, servers, chefs, hostesses) are most gracious, happy and helpful. Their commitment to providing outstanding customer service is beyond expectation. The rooms are spacious and well maintained and [... read more] the bed was so comfortable! There were a few burned out light bulbs at the entrance of the room and the soap holder in the shower needed a bit of a repair, but other than that, the room was lovely. The food is delicious! We ate dinner at several a la cartes and enjoyed them equally as the buffet. The beach is beautiful and the maintenance staff work so hard at sweeping the boardwalk and clearing the sand from the lounges! Great job! The only thing that we found to be a little disheartening are the guests who save lounges at the beach and/or pool and never seem to arrive. I'm not sure the resort can prevent guests from being so non-courteous.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Disappointing Hotel

When we booked this hotel, we were sold that it was going to be great and a lot of fun, however upon arrival, it was disaster after disaster. The hotel itself was much bigger than we expected as the restaurants are not all on the same resort, they span over the multiple Grand Palladium resorts that are connected and you have to try and find them and walk far to get to them, and the map they provide SUCKS! We were even advised by our Sunwing Rep that the map sucks so don't even bother using it!  [... read more] When we arrived it took them forever to check us in, we were exhausted and hot and wanted to get to our room. Prior to coming we had requested to get a cot in our room, and when we arrived there was no cot so we requested one from the front desk. We had to call 5 times before someone came at 10pm that night. We were also only given 2 towels in the bathroom when we were in fact 4 guests, and surprise surprise, we had to call 5 times to get towels! There were also no beach towels left by 2pm when we arrived, which is not acceptable when this isn't peak season and the resort isn't booked out. The room was good enough, however the pillows smelt like sweat, they were gross. The pool was always filthy, with hair balls, cigarette buts and garbage, it was not properly maintained. Service received from the staff was abysmal. When we went for breakfast or dinner at the buffet, we would usually get there shortly after it opened and we'd have to steal cutlery from other tables or coffee mugs because no one would come around to give us any of it. When you book your excursions through the Dive Shop, you need to make sure they are not going to their buddy down the beach to book it because that happened to us and we tried to get our money back and it took a while to finally get it back. They let a lot of hagglers on the resort so you get stopped every 5 minutes being asked to buy something or buy a tour which was really annoying, we’d avoid going certain ways or places because we knew there would be people to harass us. The food was good, no complaints about the food and the bar service by the pool area was awesome, always someone walking around and bringing us drinks. All in all I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, it was definitely not a 4 Star, more like a 2 ½ star. Very disappointing.

Secrets Royal Beach: Very Good Resort

Resort staff was very friendly. Food was very good and the restaurants available at Secrets and the attached NOW Resort has nice food too. Secrets resort rooms are a bit dated, however were neat and clean.