Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Just what the doctor ordered!

Great food, no noisey kids (I do love kids) pool side activities great, rooms great. This is what a vacation is all about. Will be going back soon. Not soon enough! Enjoy the day excursions most are well worth the money. Wake up early to see beautiful sunrises

Sunscape Puerto Plata: beautiful resort

The place is beautiful,rooms are specious,furniture and bathroom are very old,need renovating . Small things were frustrating,like TV remote control and clock not working. Everywhere was very clean. Service in the restaurant was not very good. Sometimes you have to wait more than 15 min for coffee,or for the table to be set,despite of many weitres moving around. All in all it was OK for the price we paid.

Grand Bavaro Princess: Amazing resort

Grounds were amazing well kept the whole time there. Food was awesome, something for everyone! Staff was wonderful, great service. Our room attendant, Margurita, is one special lady, she could not do enough to please us. Our rooms were amazing, more than we expected. As for the beach............well what can I say. The best beach I was ever on, sand was sooo soft! Will definitely go back!

Vista Sol Punta Cana: Great value

Food was of good quality and good variety. Ground were fairly simple, but very clean and well kept. Beach chairs had to be obtained early in the day, and once one of our towels was removed from a chair while we were at breakfast, and once two (we were a party of five) chairs were completely removedfrom the others; at least the culprits left our belongings! The beach is predominantly shaded, which I liked but if you like the sun the area with rays is quite limited in size. The room was a good siz [... read more]e, beds were ok, pillows awful. The bathroom was clean but quite dated, there was no ceiling fan, so often the ceiling dripped water on the area surrounding the toilet. Maintenance however was prompt in at least assessing these issues. No less than 6 times in one week did we have to replace a key card for not working. It wasn't usually a huge deal as the front desk personnel responded promptly, however I was travelling with an 80 year old and a woman using crutches, which was a bit of a pain for them. The maids were friendly and did a marvellous job. Both some of the workers (definitely not all) and particularly most of the guests never stopped to let our family member on crutches pass before them, instead she would have to wait. Coming from Canada, I found this a little offputting, where we are accustomed to giving the pedestrian right of way to children, elders and the infirmed. However, many people were very gracious, helpful, mannerly and patient in helping us with our Spanish. Also, this resort is not huge, which was appealing for our group.

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort: Loved the beach

I had problems with the pool towels that made for difficulties as others grabbed any left on chairs. I did not like the schedules for dining. Food was satisfactory. Entertainment was amateur at best. I left for other activities

Sunscape Dominican Beach: Barcelo Dominican Beach February 2015

Beautiful beach however when we stayed at the hotel they were at 106 capacity and over booked. This meant having to line up for the buffet, lines for bathrooms, not enough seats on the beach, by the pool and in the lobby in the evening. Our room had a leaky ceiling in the bathroom. Management said that they fixed the problem however the whole duration of our stay there daily was a puddle of water left from the dripping ceiling. Additionally our room had cockroaches. I would not return to this ho [... read more]tel. Few of the staff provided excellent service. The quality of the drinks being served was poor. The hotel is run down. There is no free wifi. We were provided with a hospitality room before leaving to the airport which had not been cleaned and was full of wet towels from previous guests. I will not return to Barcelo Dominican Beach.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Best vacation in a long time!!

My husband and I stayed at the GBP Ambar from Feb 6-20th and we didn’t want to leave. I was worried when I read some of the negative reviews, but we never had a bad moment there. Rooms: We stayed in the Ambar 2 and it was bright and lovely and spacious. Everything worked and although the bed was a little too hard the extra pillows helped. The AC was perfect temperature control. We had a view over the empty field which was lovely as we had a great time watching the egrets and local birds swoopi [... read more]ng and hunting and hearing their calls each afternoon. Much nicer that hearing the less pleasant wildlife on the pool side. We liked the walk up to our room and around the property to the beach; it worked off that extra helping of dessert! If we didn’t want to walk, almost always there was a tram to pick you up. We waved them away more often than not as the walk was so beautiful. Staff: Cannot say enough about the staff in the hotel. Every single person from our lovely Anyela Calderon at the front desk, Albania in Guest services, our housekeeper, the ladies in the lobby bar area – especially the afternoon shift – even the groundskeepers was warm, welcoming, and helpful. To those who complain that the staff’s English isn’t very good, I must comment that very few have any formal language training or higher levels of learning. Food: Wow! Wonderful food at the buffets and at the restaurants. Yes there were some problems with some hot items not being very hot at the buffets, for instance the scrambled eggs were almost always cold. But hey! It’s a holiday – don’t like it? try something else. Each of the specialty restaurants that we tried had something outstanding about it. The Don Pablo – lobster; El Olivo – the mushroom soup; Portofino – the chocolate pudding cake!! We went there 3 times just for that! Santa Fe – good Mexican; Rodizo – carnivore’s dream. The only one we didn’t like was the Mikado – and I really blame lack of training for the staff. The teppanyaki was all over done – 20 minutes on the grill for the rice? And then we were re-directed to “go over there” rather than being seated or served. Again this is a training problem - the staff was friendly when we got their attention Beach: Oh my. What a lovely beach. Soft sand and lots of shade and that water. I miss it so much. Yes the towel game was well on, but there was no way I was going to get up early just to place a towel. We NEVER had a problem getting a lounger no matter what time we got there. There was always something available and the beach staff was so helpful in moving things around for us. The Ambar section was much nicer and less crowded that the other beach fronts. Other: Do bring your probiotics and electrolyte solution. We both got the travellers trots in the first week but think how differently you are eating, drinking different water, way more booze, lots of sun – all of these can and will affect your digestion. We did find the shops and the spa were way too expensive especially for Canadians as the prices were all in US dollars. Do be prepared to bargain in the shops in the Pueblo Principe, There are no prices on the items and the price you are quoted is easily double what you should pay. The excursion we took with PuntaCana Mike was fabulous. If you only do only thing while away definitely pick this one. No long travel times and great info about the island as well as chocolate and rum tasting! What could be better? All in all we loved our time there and we hope to be back as soon as we can.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great place for anyone to travel to

The resort was absolutely amazing. The layout of the resort was well thought of having the restaurants and entertainment upfront while having the villas further back to keep the noise to a minimum for those looking for peace and quite. The food was great, no complaints. Service was top notch, all the resort staff were always paying attention to your every need. The rooms were massive and updated, very clean and well kept. The beach area was of one concern, months of storms have eroded the beach  [... read more]and very little remains, though there was still room to relax in a sunbed. Pools were great. Overall this has been the best resort I have travelled to in the Caribbean and would recommend anyone to try this resort.

Bahia Principe Grand San Juan: Perfect winter getaway!

Grand Bahia Principe San Juan was the only resort for miles, which made for a nice quiet relaxing family vacation. Our family of five stayed in a "suite" which was basically two rooms with the wall cut out. We had 2 televisions, 2 full functioning washrooms (great with 3 children) and plenty of room for night time sleep arrangements. The resort was very secure and I had no fear of my children going around the resort on their own (girls aged 7 and 9). The beach was a little rough due to the high  [... read more]waves, but great for grabbing a good book and a lounge chair under a shaded palm tree. 3 pools offered activities at the main pool and 2 quieter pools for the quieter groups (infant was able to sleep on the lounge chairs for nap time). Staff were amazing friendly with the children and always willing to help with anything. Rooms and grounds were nice and clean. The a-la-carte restaurants were decent. Although the Asian food may have been a little off, 'causing a few of us to get stomach aches. Aside from that one restaurant, the food was superb. Great selection and prepared really nicely. Good variety of entertainment every night. And the range of day trips offered from the resort were awesome. Took a family day trip on the Lagoona Jeep Safari and was a great experience for our children (ages 2, 7, 9). I'd recommend this place for a fun family winter getaway. The weather is nice and predictably warm with high 20's, low 30's daily. When it did rain, it didn't rain for long and the sun was shining again. Flights were a bit of a different story. We had our return flight home changed several times and therefore had to leave resort earlier than anticipated. Communication to lobby for guests was not clear and had several of us awaiting 1.5 hours for ride to airport. Flight stopped over in Punta Cana which wasn't planned on original flight and made our flight longer by 2 hours. Not an easy task with three children and an infant that had problems with her ears.

Caribe Deluxe Princess: Nice resort - but don't fly with Sunwing!

The hotel was nice and the staff friendly. We were two adults and a five year old in our party. We had an amazing view of the water and were really close to the action (at all hours). However, our room needed reapairs. Broken light switches, broken lattice boards on the balcony, air conditioner leaked water and our fridge was dirty. We also had a hard time getting towels for 3 people. The lighting in the hallway was always out as well as on the balcony. Plus the ladies washroom by the beach alwa [... read more]ys had one out of the two stalls out of commission. The satellite TV is mostly in spanish with a few english channels but I couldn't find any english cartoons. That being said, the entertainment was great and the kids perfomance in the evening was my daughter's favorite thing. She would practice all day for her chance on stage. We loved this! There was a good variety of food selections and the food was all very good. The beach was beautiful until later in the afternoon when the seaweeed would wash in. It would clear up again later so we just avoided certain sections of the beach during that time. The pools were a bit cool. The kids pool was the warmest only becuase it was the shallowest. Sunwing was unreliable with a two hour delay on the way out and close to 10 hours in delays coming home. I booked this vacation specifically for the flight times but ended up travelling at the worst possible time (over night with a 5 year old) and there was no explanation as to what happened.

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: A Great Week

We had a great week at the Be Live Grand, reception was welcoming, rooms were fine. The pool was great, friendly staff ( shout out to Joel!!) and the wonderful lady at Building 8!! Above and beyond. Lots of activities, or time to read and relax. Food was very good, loved all the venues. We would go back!!

Vista Sol Punta Cana: Great Time

I booked a trip using tripcentral to Vista Sol. The website was easy to use and booking was easy. We just arrived back from a week stay at Vista Sol. I will try and be brief. This is a large resort but feels small. It is a short walk from the front desk to the beach and all of the entertainment. The check in process was slow...very slow. But once at the desk they took their time and explained everything so I appreciated the slowness of the check in once we were at the counter. The grounds and f [... read more]acilities were very well maintained and our room was cleaned daily. The food was average. I didn't see much of a problem with it. We went to the Mexican restaurant 1 night and it was good too. I would keep an open mind with the food. Some items they offer are: pork, pork chops, turkey dinner, seafood, chicken etc. The beach is amazing. Get there early if you want a lounger...same as anywhere else I've been to. Things needing some improvement. The beds felt like we were laying on a stack of pallets!! So uncomfortable!! Check out was disappointing. Our pick up time was 3:10 am and we had to check out at 11 am. That's a long day of not having a place to shower or rest before you leave. The staff really didn't understand English very well. All other resorts I've been to have staff that understands English. Attentiveness was weak. All other resorts had staff that would get drinks for you during dinner etc. this one didn't. Not a big deal but a difference anyway. I asked for a blanket from the front desk and didn't get it. Not a big deal but... All in all we had a fantastic time! Nice clean resort, decent food and service. I've had better for around the same price. Room Tip: Swim up rooms in the 10 block were great

Grand Bavaro Princess: Great Resort - Highly Reccomend

We’ve been to many Caribbean resorts and would definitely recommend this one. We were at the resort from Feb13 to Feb 20, 2015 and had a wonderful time. Great things: Beach – Beautiful, long beach with powder soft sand – great for a long, lazy walk Room - We were closer to the beach. Our room was a nice, clean, comfy room with king size bed, Jacuzzi tub, tv sitting area. Very happy to have the large umbrella that came with the room! Food – We only tried the buffets and snack bar at t [... read more]he beach. Both very good – lots of variety, very quick service of coffee and drinks with your meal. Love those morning omelets! Grounds – The grounds are very well kept with constant maintenance. The ecological area is a lovely, peaceful walk through a small mangrove forest complete with wildlife (fish, flamingos, peacocks, turtles, bunnies) Bars – There are lots of bars so service is usually pretty quick with not too much waiting Staff – The staff are very friendly, helpful, everyone has a cheerful “Ola!” The customer-facing staff speak good English so no worries if your Spanish is not up to par. Cons Plumbing – Not sure that the plumbing is up to the job of so many eating / drinking tourists. Toilets in public areas frequently would not flush. Chairs – Although there were plenty of beach / pool chairs, they were often “reserved” with beach towels. In my experience, this happens at all resorts – but it is still very annoying. Dominican Night vendors – This was unexpected and very uncomfortable as we tried to get through the aggressive vendors to get to the buffet for supper. Prior notice would have been nice so we could have planned another route. Room Tip: Closer to the beach.

Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: Sirenis tropical suites and casino punta cana

Very nice hotel. Great roomy and comfortable lobby. Grounds kept very tidy, well manicured and with bountiful colors of flowers. Really liked the covered walkways. Restaurants very good, great steaks and japanese and Italian meals. Beaches and pool area had an abundance of shady and sunny locations to choose from for large and small groups. Sandy beach and sport, entertainment teams kept us busy. Would like if they could offer coffee from the beach for those who like to watch sunrises and stock  [... read more]rooms with Kleenex.

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: Well maintained and excellent facilities.

We are frequented this particular resort 3 times now. We always enjoy our stay. Great service on entry. Less in exit. We had our luggage rummaged through. Glasses stollen. Don't recommend leaving luggage with them. We had only because we were denied a late check out so we were 6hrs without a room. We booked 6minths ahead. Requested late checkout multiple times. Each time we were told to come back another day. Very frustrating. They were over booked. A few people were put into a hotel for a few  [... read more]days. Very odd. Otherwise very good. A la carte restaurants are just fabulous. Food is great. Our room was awesome. The one hiccup is we asked for king beds but they had none left so we had two doubles. We moved them together. Again we requested the king beds months in advance. This wa out third visit. I expected to get what we asked for. They need to invest in a better scheduling software. It was an expensive resort.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Great Resort

The Resort grounds were well kept and public areas as well. We really enjoyed our room and the view. Food was very tasty. The wifi could have been better. The nightly shows were very enjoyable and the interaction with the audience made it even better. Great time, with no snow.

Cofresi Palm Beach and Spa Resort: Beautiful, Friendly, Authentic Experience

I visited this resort with my boyfriend over reading week this year. It was my first trip anywhere down south, but my boyfriend has been on several trips, including Costa Rico and Hawaii. He said that this resort is definitely one of his favourites. I loved the spanish colonial style of my room. We had a king bed, huge bathroom and an even bigger balcony; with a garden view. We did not have any sewage smell in our room (building 310) but we could definitely smell it when we walked around the low [... read more]er 300's. Upgrading to the Junior Suite really isn't necessary, we absolutely loved our room. The entertainment and other staff were all very friendly. The food was good, we were there for 7 days so we were able to pick and choose which foods we found we liked and which foods might upset our stomachs. The best a la carte was the Brazilian, definitely try the grilled pineapple! The resort was huge so the shuttle service made it really convenient to get around, and gave you a tour of the beautiful VIP section of the resort. We also went to the Ocean World adventure park, and it was one of the most amazing days on our trip. We also did the paradise island tour and the monster dune buggy excursion; all of them were really fun in their own way and gave us a look at the Dominican culture outside of the resort. In all, the resort was huge so we were never bored. The pools were cool, the adult only pool was a nice thing to have on the days when there were too many kids in the main pool. The resort is built on a hill so there are a lot of stairs, but it really isn't that big of a deal. It also gives the main pool area a beautiful view of the ocean because it is so high up.

Riu Bambu: Good Value - Amazing Beach

Just returned from this lovely resort. Punta Cana has an exceptional beach and the Riu Bambu has one of the best locations. Some of the other resorts were experiencing some sea weed issues but the Bambu seemed to have little to none. The beach is fantastic, you can always find a lounger but we would head down in the morning and put our towels on our desired spot. The resort is very nice, it is well maintained and the staff are very friendly and helpful. My only complaint would be the smoking – [... read more] people smoke EVERYWHERE and as a non-smoker it can be quite overwhelming. The food is fine, you can always find something to eat however, AVOID the steakhouse. It is absolutely awful verging on inedible. We would return to this hotel.

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Fantastic Esmeralda!!

The rooms, the grounds, the staff, the beach, the pools, and the food (except the desserts) were all fantastic. The Esmeralda has a very hard working and friendly team who worked long hours to make our vacation wonderful! The beach snack bar (which is really a great buffet) at the beach has fantastic food and a staff (William, Orlando, and others) who really seem to enjoy their work and are super welcoming. Santos at the front desk also did a great job!!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: great people, great resort

The whole resort was just massive. We stayed in the Ambar 2. It was eerily quiet, but had newer rooms. The adults only portion was very good. My suggestion would be to walk around the entire grounds (all four resorts) the first few days to get your barrings. The room was always clean and the bar stocked. Turn-down service was on time too. My one suggestion would be to get a larger variety of music. By the third day I'd heard enough "Stand By Me". The staff are very friendly and always helpful.