Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Standard Resort

This was our second time attending this resort. After the first time we had said we probably wouldn't go back but we had a wedding there. There were a lot of positives, the food there is delicious and the beach itself is nice but small. The pool is extremely large and well kept as well as the grounds. The spa service was very good and professional. There were several negatives. First of all they have a tiered service system they don't tell you about until you get there. This means that if you  [... read more]want to have the nice beach beds or have breakfast at the Oceanside restaurant you need to pay an additional 70$ U.S. a day, we bargained and got it for 40$ U.S. a day. They say this extra service comes with your own Preferred Club concierge service, we didn't notice anything special they did that the front desk couldn't do. It was not worth the 40 bucks extra a day we paid, let alone the original price. In addition to this we found out that credit cards from The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) do not always work there. When attempting to pay for a spa service each time my card was declined. I attempted this 4 times. I called RBC Visa and they advised that each transaction went through so I had been charged over 1000$ U.S. On my Visa. When I tried to deal with this special concierge service They kept saying "yes, yes" but you could tell they didn't understand the situation. They said their accounting department would contact their bank to sort it out. This occurred on the Monday, I went back each day and by Friday it had not been resolved. Their response was that they had sent an email...... I notified them that I was leaving on Saturday and if my wife's credit card did not work then we would have to resolve this from Canada. This got their attention, they said I couldn't leave without settling my bill, it went back and forth and I ended up having to speak with the GM of the hotel to tell him how ridiculous it was that they couldn't get a hold of their bank over 5 days. In the end my wife's credit card ended up working but this whole situation was very frustrating and showed a lack of professionalism. The beach is nice but you can't really swim in the ocean as it's full of Boulder sized rocks full of sea urchins. One of the wedding party stepped on one and it pretty much ruined his vacation. Just next to Dreams there is another hotel under construction. So while being on the beach was nice, the constant noise of construction was distracting. Trucks beeping, heavy machinery working etc all day long and into the night. They also advertise that you do not tip here, but to be honest, if you want timely service you have to tip or else you'll be waiting all day for your drinks/food. We have been to a Sandals which was excellent, their staff said that they could not accept tips, at Dreams Punta Cana all the staff took their time with everything except when it came time to pocket the tips. I know it seems like I've got a really bad review of this hotel. For the price it was a good hotel but with so many other All-Inclusive options out there I would not return to this hotel.

Blau Natura Park Resort: Incredible Resort

Great food, clean rooms, amazing service, the most beautiful grounds, so much wildlife, perfect beach. Excellent value for the money. We stayed on floor three of building 3, 15 foot vaulted ceilings, extra King sized be, beautiful view of a pond from. Our balcony. The only downfall are the ococcasional low water pressure and the air conditioning is mediocre at best, however, the Breeze is always there, it's an Eco Resort so you can't expect them to crank the AC, we still loved it.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Pleasant, but not a 5 star

We have been to the Caribbean many times, but this was our first stay in the Dominican. The beaches were the unbeatable! Very white, soft sand and blue clear water. Very lovely. The resort rates itself a 5-star. While they have many amenities that 5-star resorts tend to have (5 a la carte restaurants, spa, casino, etc), the quality of everything was much poorer. The a la carte restaurants were a hit or miss - never order the steak unless at the specific steak restaurant. All of our party agreed [... read more] with this (there were over 50 of us). The french restaurant was probably my least favourite, with little to choose from on the menu, and the quality of food being poor again. I literally worked up a sweat cutting my steak (and I ordered medium raw). The service at the resort stood out to me as the worst I have experienced. Most employees did not even smile at you, let alone give you the time of day. They all looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. The staff barely spoke any English, and it was very hard to communicate anything you wanted. This included booking in and out, ordering room service, and even ordering drinks at the bars (even if you picked something on their small drink menu). The drinks at the bars were also inconsistent, sometimes being so strong a person could hardly drink it, to practically no alcohol at all, to drastically different ingredients being used for the same drink. Our rooms were only clean 3 times in a week, even though we were out of the rooms by 8:30am most days, and not back until close til dinner time. The mini bar in the room was only restocked once, even though it says it will be daily. We ended up having to get bottled water every day from the bars and bringing it back to our room. Even when we first checked in, the bell boy picked up our bags and said he'd have them at our room in 15 minutes. We got back to the room 2 hours later, and the bags still weren't there. When we called reception, they sent it up right away. It was very clear to us that the bell boy was not going to leave our bags when we weren't there, as we wouldn't be there to tip him. I love to tip, but I really don't like being pressured to, or getting poor service if I don't. Now onto the grounds - they were very nice. The resort is not exactly laid out to make it easy to get around, but it's small enough that the walk won't hurt you. There is beautiful wildlife throughout the grounds, including flamingos that walk along the paths and enjoy the small pond. There were also peacocks, which were breathtaking to look at - but come night time you wanted to strangle them. Did you know that peacocks squawk like injured chickens? They are incredibly loud, and squawk at people who go near their nesting grounds (lucky for us, our room was DIRECTLY beside this). They even fly up to balconies and squawk constantly outside your windows. Many guests were complaining of not being able to sleep due to this noise. And last but not least, I have never been pestered by peddlers more at any other resort. It wasn't just at the beach, where you would expect it (jewelry vendors, hats, cigars, etc). But even IN the resort, along the main pathways, and in the lobby areas you were constantly bothered. Every morning you were pressured into joining their time share/VIP meeting, and to buy cigars in the lobby, or to buy paintings and bracelets on your walk to the beach. It just got very annoying, and old really quick. All in all, we still had a relaxing week. The pool was very large, and most of the time you could find a seat beside it. We tended to stay at the pool, because there was NO shaded spots at the beach at all, unless you paid to be in the VIP roped off areas. So the pool was our vacation spot most of the time. It was clean, and large, and had a swim up bar (although with incredibly slow service - sometimes waiting almost 25 minutes to order a drink). In the end, I would not recommend this resort for anyone looking for a 4 or 5 star resort. It was much too highly priced for what we experienced.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Beautiful!

The whole resort was beautiful. Only complaint was the A/C didn't seem to be working even after we had it checked by maintenance but everyone seemed to have the same problem. Could not adjust A/C at all.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Amazing beach and resort! exceded our expectations

This was a wow resort from the moment we stepped of the bus to the day we left!..we booked in the club portion of the Majestic and were not dissapointed!..from the club checkin experiance[and it was an experiance] to the tour from our butler ''Slyvestor'' and than walking in to our beautiful room...WOW..loved having our own bar with premium alcohol right in our room and having access to 24 hr room service we felt very special. The grounds were beautiful, absolutly beautiful and travelling with m [... read more]y 19 year college student daughter on a mother daughter trip we felt extremly safe, loved loved the adults club swim up bar pools complete with bed gazebos, it was hardly ever too crowded and the sun tan lotions provided there was a nice surprise.The pool boy ''Joel'' was great there, fabulous customer service and always had a smile on his face and really went out of his way to go the extra mile to make sure your vacation was going good, and saw him going out of his way for every one at the pool!! The beach , although not kept clean very well was nice when we chose to sit at a couple of times [ we found it very windy if sitting close to the water which was cooling but we also got sand blasted too much..lol..the entertainment was actually really good..the Michael Jackson night show was outstanding! our absolute fav from any resort or cruise we have seen..very talented young man who played him, and loved the circus show too ..well done crew!..they were great at getting the guests up and going ..fun crew! Restaurants were good, lots of variaty and clean, loved the french..especially the steak..way better than the steak house! disapointed with the mexican.. the app buffet was the best thing about it.. hated the dinner we ordered, we actually left and eat at the buffet..lol..japanese was fun and tasty..you cant choose what the chef is making you but still well done..fyi the sushi is quite good too!.every thing was easily accessable and found most of the staff to be very friendly and happy . we would definatly go back and bring the guys next time!..very good value for the money! thank you Majestic for a fabulous week!

Excellence Punta Cana: Relaxing Vacation

Adults only was a huge plus, made for a very relaxing Vacation. Food was better then other all inclusives we've been to. Resort was very well kept. Staff were very friendly. Beach and pools were beautiful.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Delicious and beautiful!

My biggest fear was that the food was going to be boring! Good news, the food was delicious and there's always a ton of variety! Bonus - you don't have to reserve restaurant nights like you would at most resorts. You can show up when you want and go to as many restaurants as you want. It's nice not having to limit yourself to a schedule!

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Would go again!!

Dreams Punta Cana is a beautiful resort. It is a good size, in that there are enough people to participate in activities, but not too many to make lineups at the bars or restaurants. You do not have to reserve your a la carte meals, so you can decide daily what you feel like eating. The food was excellent at every location. The only hiccup was check-in. A little unorganized and some of our wedding guests were given 2 beds, rather than 1 king as requested. It was rectified, but a little annoying  [... read more]to have to move.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Great weather and beach

The resort was getting a bit old and outdated. The pool was amzing that it ran all the way through the resort. The food was great with the option to attend a different resturant every nights with no reservation and no limits. Unfortunately the service overall was very poor. There were not enough workers for the volume of people at restaurants and bars. Our room was wonderfully air conditioned and very quite minus the peecocks.

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana: A lovely resort

First of all this resort was wonderful. However, there were some minor irritations so I'll list those first before getting to the good stuff. The service was great although I found the greeters at the buffet a bit irritating. It shouldn't take 3 people asking to over and over how many are in your party to get a table at the buffet. Although the service at the buffet from the servers was better than anywhere I've ever been. Also, there is a cupboard in your room where you can put your wet towels  [... read more]and the staff are supposed to put new towels in. This way you can get fresh towels without them coming in your room. I put towels there daily and not once were new towels put back. A number of time we ran out of towels and had to go ask for them. Once I used a hand towel to dry off after a shower. This was my first time in the DR and I was surprised how few staff could communicate in English so asking questions (even of our Air Transat rep) sometimes left us scratching our heads. There is a kids section with small waterslides but there weren't any shaded areas so we didn't end up spending time there with our 18 month old. Music a lot at the beach played at the beach which got irritating because I like to listen to the water. Also, don't bother with the snorkelling excursion ( the $40.00 one). There was easily 15 boats and 100 people floating around one area and besides one fish and lot's of coral we didn't see a thing after an hour in the water. Now the good stuff. It was immaculate. It is a really beautiful resort and was very clean. The beds were very comfortable. Champagne daily in your room, Coors Light, Pepsi and other pops too. Rooms service if you want it. The food at the buffet, al la cartes, and beach was delicious. I miss having eggs Florentine and Nutella crepes with mimosa in the morning. I actually gained a few pounds there. The drinks were delicious too and every evening, based on the theme of the night (American, Spanish, etc.) they had a specialty drink booth so I got to try lots of new drinks I had never heard of. A live band played every night before the show started. The Irish Coffee was delicious. The pool was lovely to cool off in the afternoon after a morning at the beach. Twice that week there was a foam party and dance contest at the pool which was lots of fun. There were plenty of floaties and beach toys for my 18 month old to play with. The service was great. They really went out of their way to make us happy and are quick. It's not far from the airport which was nice. There is a good pharmacy on the resort and you can also buy things like diapers which was nice. There is a gym there and a spa neither of which we used but we were told by others that both were really good. You can get a massage on the beach or by the pool. Little things like fresh flowers on the tables in the lobby and baskets of cookies were nice. Be sure to take American money with you for buying stuff and tipping. I'm pretty sure I got ripped off at the currency counter. They only gave Dominican dollars and I wasn't familiar with the exchange rate and I think I was ripped off between $40-60. I would highly recommend this resort. It was a very relaxing week.

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Fabulous Resort

Barcelo Bavaro Palace Delux in Punta Cana, DR, is an amazing resort. It had the right mix of daytime entertainment , amazing beach, many restaurants and all were really good. Best food ever in at a resort in the Caribbean I have ever experienced. The Staff were friendly, helpful and fun . Good shopping on site . Pool Bar staff and Daytime staff, whether it be yoga, beach volleyball , water polo or poolside dancing exercise are fun and great people to be around. The beach is spectacular. We had O [... read more]cean front with jacuzzi on patio . The rooms were clean , modern and nicely appointed nice beds and great for a good night sleep. We will be definitely returning.

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Good Resort

The hotel is good. The grounds are beautiful and are very well maintained. The only downfall is that the lawns are watered with recycled water and it smells bad. Suggest they do this between 4 and 5 in the morning. The breakfast buffet was lacking compared to other resorts but overall the food was pretty good. They make the best chicken and pizza ever. Rooms are clean but do need some upgrading. Suggest they hire all staff that can speak English that have direct contact with guests. Other than t [... read more]hat the resort was good. A group of 10 adults travelled April 24 - May 1.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: amazing resort

Restaurants and buffets are very good pools are exellent and good people all around good hospitality rooms are good but only junior suites other rooms are average and not properly cleaned not a good beach to swim

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: Great resort!

Food was very good! Atmosphere was fun and laid back, service was good. Bartenders were minimal so drink service was slow. Rooms very nice and great AC. Really enjoyed the entertainment at the pool and the wedding I attended was well organized.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Great trip

Hotel was great and food excellent, pool was very warm! Needed more bartenders during day, loved the beach, everything was very close n the room was amazing very large, more people needed to pick up garbage from pool area, grounds were beautiful

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Great value - esmeralda

Overall, it was great resort for the money we paid and were generally happy with everything, and would recommend to friends/family. Pros: - beach (Esmeralda area of the resort was very close to the beach) - rooms were nice, clean, accessible (every room at esmeralda is the same so you don't need to try and change your room) - food was generally good - service (everyone at the hotel is very friendly, helpful, attentive, etc.) - golf (golf course next door was great and good value for the money)  [... read more] Cons: - for some reason, the pools were warm - Italian restaurant was not very good (would recommend the asian and steak restaurants) - wish they had better evening entertainment at the Esmeralda (more bands/singers, or just more background music to liven up the atmosphere) - tennis courts need re-surfacing, but still playable

Royalton CHIC Punta Cana: wonderful !!

We loved everything about the Chic !! We picked this resort because it was on the smaller side which was perfect for us. The food at the buffet was ok. The Steakhouse was delish as well as the Sushi and the Italian - didn't care for the Moroccon. We spent most of the time on the beach - Rosemarie was delightful and took our drink orders everyday - the dirty monkey was the best ! The beach was lovely - we loved the waves and always a nice breeze. Our room was wonderful - we were lucky to have an  [... read more]oceanview room - we were in building 8 on the 3rd floor. Everyone was so pleasant and helpful we would definitely love to go back.

VIK Hotel Arena Blanca: nice place

nice beach,the food was really different,rooms not so big but clean,area good,pools not so bad,the bar in the beach was open at 10 to 5,the lobby was nice,the mexican restaurant great foodand service.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: loved it

Awesome...very relaxing...loved the room and our location. Service was excellent... just a very good vacation. Loved it!!! Weather was awesome. Had a massage which made our vacation that much better. Lots of activities to chose if you want to. Just loved relaxing by the pool and taking long walks on the beach.

Wyndham Alltra Punta Cana: A great holiday

The pool and landscaping, were beautiful with sculpture, luscious trees and plants, including peacocks, flamingos, ducklings with mom wondering the grounds, ponds filled with fish and plants. The staff were very pleasant and accommodating.