Ups and Downs

For the week of March 15th to March 22, 2018, myself and 9 friends stayed at the IFA Bavaro Villages Resort. We occupied 5 rooms total. This hotel definitely had many positives, however, there were also negatives. Lets start with the positives: - The rooms were beautiful and very clean - The resort was kept very clean - The beach was beautiful and well kept - One waitress in particular at the Pizzaria (Snack bar) made our trip extra enjoyable...shout out to Estephanie! - This pizza at t [... read more]he snack bar is OUT of this world good! - The lunch buffet by the beach was also AMAZING! Some of the negatives included: - On several occasions, the maid only came to clean our room after 5pm (at which time we were usually in our room for a nap) and didnt come back... - A decent amount of the staff were unpleasent and seemed to expect a tip for doing the bare minimum (often not saying thank you or even acknowledging you left them anything) - One of the 5 rooms we occupied had their water shut off for 3 of the 7 days we were there and were not given another room - Another of the 5 rooms had a strong smell of mold and mold in the sink - The main buffet is only mediocre and i would suggest sticking to the pasta bar - Though the resort claims to be all-inclusive... there are some loopholes... ie. you must pay 3$ a day for a lock for the safe.... the lobster at the a la carte is an additional 30$ - I don't like that you had to wake up early to make reservations for the a-la-cartes instead of being able to book one shot upon arrival and no longer having to worry about it - There is a lot of renovations going on that are visible All in all, I did have an amazing trip and I loved the resort itself, however, there are of course some aspects I think they should work on.

Pro’s and cons

The resort was beautiful. The food was great. The service was amazing, except some of the staff were rude. Some barely acknowledged us, and other staff members would look at myself and my friends as if they didn’t want to serve us. What was unacceptable- was the maid service and how they either did not clean our rooms at all, or they were cleaned late in the afternoon/evening. Other than that, the room was gorgeous. Another thing that was a con was there was some mold in my sink fosset. As sai [... read more]d previously the resort was beautiful and everything included as well. What I didn’t understand was how the wifi was not included and had to be paid by device. Once again, I would come back to this resort, except I’m hoping some things can be changed to make it a more enjoyable stay

Worst experience ever!

Grounds were beautiful, beach was lovely, food was great. CUSTOMER SERVICE was the WORST I have ever experienced. We had to change rooms because our shower door fell off! New room? Toilet tank leaked all over bathroom, patio door ( we were on the ground floor) did not lock, door to our room did not work properly it took 3-4 minutes of jiggling to enter and leave our room. Then the toilet clogged, after 8 calls to front desk and then demanding to speak to manager they unclogged the toilet and B [... read more]LAMED us!!! Toilet clogged again sane day and they did nothing, we had no FUNCTIONING TOILET FOR LAST TWO DAYS OF OUR STAY, not to mention the unsafe slippery bathroom floor! At 3pm check out time they were actually at our door at 2:59 pm telling us to leave!!! I have never been so happy to leave a resort.

Another Great Week at IFA

We have returned from our 5 time at IFA. It’s been upgraded and looks great. Wonderful weather and refreshments made for a great week. We took the free bus ride to the mall and enjoyed looking and shopping at the grocery store then filled up at Burger King. IFA is relaxing and beautiful it feels like home away from home to us! We will definitely return in the future!

Fantastic place

The hotel was beautiful, the grounds were very well kept, the rooms need a lot of improvement, there were no bath towels in the room I took a shower and had to dry myself with the bath mat, In the two weeks we were there they change the towels twice, the glasses were never replaced, the bed creeked every time you turned. we cleaned the table there was a rubber stuck in the middle so if we played cards it would get stuck. the beach was beautiful, but there was a deisal fumes that was very irrit [... read more]ating wheather it was from the the construction or the boats you couldn't tell. there were no bathrooms close to the bars, wifi was free only if you paid 40.00 dollars for the password.

A three star experience at IFA Bavaro

We did visit IFA Bavaro Village from Dec. 4 to Dec.14'2017 When we came to our room first evening, there was a dirty feminine pad in the sink, doors to washroom and bathroom were not clean. During our stay, the entertainment program wasn't posted anywhere and when someone printed us a schedule of entertainment in the resort, many events did not match the evenings, while daily night shows were only 3 times per week and 45 minutes or shorter. Food was good, serving in the buffet by men was mo [... read more]re professional that by women.

Great Resort! (Good bang for your buck)

-Great resort, lots to do. -Construction is not disruptive -3 Restaurants you have to call in or wait in line to get into or your stuck going to the buffet. (Call in around 9 A.M -Food is good, but dont expect anything fancy, your going to Dominican for the weather/beaches. -Tip, tip, tip - gets you very far in this resort. -Pay for the renovated room, there closer to the guest services. -If your on the beach get ready to be bothered by vendors trying to sell you excursions (Never pay by  [... read more]credit card) -Don't read into other reviews when they say that the staff isn't friendly. They work long hours (probably over 14 hours a day. (A little side story - We noticed that one younger female worker was working at 8 A.M and noticed she was still working at 11 P.M, so be courteous of that, because a lot of them do work 15+ hour days.) -If they don't greet you with a smile, or aren't overly enthused with an English greeting, please realize that they work hard, they're probably exhausted. You may note that they'll be "rude" if you don't tip, but from their perspective, you have enough money to travel to an all inclusive, you can spare a dollar. And they do really appreciate it. -at the airport they may be very persistent in taking your bag and grab it without you begin able to get a word in edge wise. be firm with your no. they will demand a tip otherwise. -Overall great trip, my girlfriend and I had a great time and definitely worth the price you pay for.

Relaxing, great beach

The beach was beautiful with lots of loungers and natural palm trees for shade. The drinks were fantastic. The food was ok, we enjoyed the buffet more than the a la carte restaurants. The lunch buffet at the beach was fantastic. The staff was friendly and tried their very best to understand english and our very limited spanish. There were not very many other Canadians or americans at the resort during our stay. Our room was nice, great water pressure in the shower. The air conditioner kept the r [... read more]oom cold but it also leaked. You have to ask the staff for bottles of drinking water if you want some for your room. I highly recommend the couples massage at the spa!!! If you want to buy souvenirs go to the vendors down the beach to barter. Offer half of their first price or lower, walk away if you still don't like the price. They'll let you know if your price is still reasonable.

Needs some upgrades

The Beach was so beautiful!! The rooms were very dated and are in need of some major upgrades. 2 out of 3 couples had issues with their air conditioning. One couple might have had 4 days out of 14 which they had air conditioning in their room. The pool was always really dirty with garbage. One day the pool fountain shot out black stuff that smelled like sewage.

Not the best resort in the area

Staff were not overly friendly..front desk was not a welcoming group for sure. Too many sales people on the actual resort....rooms were fine. The all night pizza spot was right outside our room so that was loud at times. If you go to this resort you may want to be, if possible, selective of your room as the layout of the resort has entertainment areas very close to the rooms.

This resort was only "Ok".

As we arrived at the resort - we found out that our luggage was rummaged through (my husband and myself) and theft happened to the tune of approx. $125.00. This happened at the airport (either Halifax or Punta Cana) - but it set the mood upon arrival. RESORT / HOTEL ROOM – This resort is no longer a 4 star resort. 3 would be the max rating! The rooms were substandard (mold - particularly in shower and toilet area & also light fixture hanging) The front desk staff were less than friendly. We r [... read more]equested a king size bed as we booked our reservation. We asked for it upon arrival and they said “maybe tomorrow” – we discovered the staff at the resort (in general) say “maybe tomorrow”. Night one in the room – up with anxiety issues (because of the theft) and saw a cockroach and it scurried out of sight. More upset. Next morning my husband saw another cockroach. We were able to kill this one. Back to the front desk and asked to be moved. Was told come back at 4pm. Did that and was told “Your room has been fumigated – you are not moving” I was upset to say the least – and after much hassle – involving front desk staff, bell men… and finally the manager – we were moved to a king room. This room was in better shape, with less mold issue. RESORT – General comments about the resort would include: (a) It appears old. Broken chairs in the outside bars, torn cushion covers in the lobby, broken beach loungers, could use paint. (b) just about impossible to get a lounger near the pool. Despite signs saying no reservations – towels were put out by 6:30/7:00 in the morning and there all day – lots of hours no bodies in those chairs. We did not get a lounger at that main pool the entire week. (c) Could name a handful of nice, friendly staff. For the most part, staff seemed unhappy, unfriendly. (d) Sales persons – it would not be exaggerating to say that we were approach up to (8 – 10) times a day to book an excursion of some sort or a massage. There were approx 3 different companies that had Reps all over the resort pushing their company trips. (e) told to get change (American $1.00) at front desk to tips for staff – This proved to be difficult as they rarely had change, come back later. (f) the pictures on line for some of the areas at the resort are not currently accurate. They were taken it better days. One pool in the pictures is now a cemented seating area outside of the theatre. (g) there is an all night bar (with snacks) center of a bunch of rooms...and the main concert stage was center of several more buildings that had rooms. Not a great layout...considering the hour things went on. Positives: (a) some friendly staff (b) food was decent (c) all 6 of us enjoyed nice couples massages (d) sun (e) beach was an easier place to get loungers (f) 2nd pool / known as quiet pool – seemed to have better turn over and ability to get a lounger (not for everyone in our group at once, but we could share). We thought that the price paid ($2800 - $3000) was not what we consider to be a cheap vacation - and it did not meet the 4 star rating, not even close!

Excellent service

The grounds were very cleaned. The staff was particularly polite and friendly. The food was good and plentiful. The only drawback is that the resort doesn't clean the beach in front of the hotel, therefore, there was a bit od seaweed on the beach.

Vacation still good

The pools were beautiful and food was very good. We had issues with the rooms one of our boys had a leak in their room and it took some doing to get it changed. The beds were hard-like the flintstones. not kidding. House keeping didn't leave fresh towels for us. We made the best of it and had a great vacation. There are areas that aren't quite finished. If you are interested in local shopping that is definitely close by. There definitely was a communication barrier with the hotel staff.

Hotel room is not up to standard

As another customer review had pointed out, there were also bug issues with our hotel room (namely bed bug). My husband came back with severe bug bites. The resort itself needs renovation work as the hotel room facility is old and some are not functioning well.

Needs many improvements

The grounds were lovely and well maintained. The rooms were dated and our lock broke 4 times in one week. The main pool was closed down for construction which made it difficult to get a space at the ocean or smaller pool. Too much smoking. Entertainment started at 10 which was too late.

The worse resort I have ever stayed in.

The resort property was very nice even though they shut down the main pool without notice half way into our holiday. The hotel was the worst. We had bugs in our room and I reported it and thought they were gone, but back again next day. I have been home for 5 days and I'm still suffering the effects of the bug bites. The air conditioning did not work (also reported) and the problem was not fixed when we left. We had to go to our friends room to get cool, but sleeping was a problem Our friends we [... read more]re next door to us and they also had problems. They either could not get in their room or could not lock their door to leave. At times the whole lock would fall on the floor. That was fixed, I think, a half dozen times

Great Resort

This hotel is very well located, I was in the Village side. The room was very nice, with 2 double beds, there is no possibility to have a third bed in any rooms. There is no balcony but opening the doors give you a great view and the breeze of the warm air. There is a mini fridge full of water and soft drinks. The cleaning has been done everyday. I have been to the buffet and at the restaurant at the beach. Food was good and wine too, to my surprise. The beach was cleaned of algas everyday. Its  [... read more]still a large resort, you can walk to the beach or there is a shuttle also. I have been also at the pool, a see through water. Entertainment was great too. The people at the reception were very kind, smiling at all times and very respectfull. Walk-by there is Palma Real Shopping Mall or in a cab ($20US) Plaza San Juan.

Very nice resort!

The entire staff was absolutely awesome, friendly, professional, happy, the best ever! The food was very tasty, the drinks were very generous. The rooms were huge, comfortable and stylish. The resort was very nicely laid out. Although the beach was breathtaking with the many palm trees adorning it, the beautiful white sands were often marred by the seaweed that continuously washed up. We noticed that other close-by resorts had tractors to keep this at bay, but IFA just had a small group of men w [... read more]ith rakes and wheel barrows...very hard to keep on top of it. The nightly shows left a lot to be desired. Same old let's-embarrass-the-audience games, every night. It would have been nice if they had brought in some real entertainment. All in all, wonderful vacation!

Awesome place

The area was great people were fantasic rooms were clean. enjoyed the peace and quite. Shortly after this trip went to 5 star in Dominion Republic needless to say we really enjoyed our stay at the IFA

You get what you pay for

Overall a good experience...stayed from January 19th to the 26th. Grounds of the resort are well kept and enjoyable for walking which you have to do a little bit of to get to the pool, beach, restaurants, etc... Stayed in the village rooms closest to the beach and theater. Our room was always cleaned and stocked with no issues. Food not the greatest but what do you expect for the price you pay. Tried every A la carte...Enjoyed the Caribe and Mexican the best. People have complained in reviews ab [... read more]out getting sick...That's what happens when you aren't cautious with what you eat in a different country. Stick to all general food that are cooked and religiously wash your hands...I had no issues. Staff are friendly, accommodating and work their butts off to make nothing compared to what we all do back home. Be gracious with tips when good service is provided! Disco was not the busiest but still fun and open till 4:00 am with hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, etc... available till 7:00 am at the pizza bar for the walk back to the room. Had a couples massage on the beach and went tubing in the ocean. Enjoyed both experiences. To sum it up...paid 1023.00 a person and got what I paid for...would prefer to always try new places in the future but would recommend the resort to someone looking for a fun, laid back week for sun, drinks and great weather.