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 Catalonia Bavaro Reviews
Catalonia Royal Bavaro
(Adults only section adjacent to Catalonia Bavaro)
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Catalonia Bavaro Resort - Punta Cana 
Location: Beach front - Punta Cana - East Coast - 20 mins. from Punta Cana airport
All-inclusive - 711 rooms and suites - 48 Non-Smoking rooms - 2 Handicapped rooms
Description: All rooms equipped with A/C, direct phone line, hairdryer, cable TV, minibar, coffeemaker, safety deposit box, Free Wi-Fi Internet access,. Day and night entertainment, watersports, casino, tennis, children’s club, shops, excursions. Golf course on property. Main buffet-style restaurant surrounded by lakes and greenery - Italian, American Steakhouse, Mexican and Japanese specialty restaurants - several bars where you can enjoy a wide variety of snacks, Caribbean cocktails, juices and refreshments - Huge Pool with islands and fountains, swimup bar. Separate children's pool.
 ~ Reviews posted on this page — 32
 ~ Map of Resort
 ~ Reader's Vacation Photos ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
 ~ Reader's Catalonia Bavaro Resort Wedding Reviews
 ~ Dominican Republic Travel Forum
 Have you stayed at this resort? Share your vacation experiences with others.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Tracey ~ Scarborough, England |
May 2009
Arrival: 15th - 29th April
Transfer took about 25 minutes. Wow!! Well impressive reception area. Check in took a while, and no drink offered.
Rooms:
Spacious room, huge bed! Middle floor, so nice secluded balcony with hammock. Overlooked pool. Small fridge,topped up daily. Maid service was excellent.
Restaurants and Bars:
Choice of Mexican,Japanese, Italian and Steak house. One visit to each allowed. Recommend Japanese and Italian. Main restaurant average, got a bit repetative after 2 weeks. Service excellent. Bars busy,but a small tip assured table service!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Gorgeous white sand! Everywhere spotlessly clean. Gardeners working 24/7.
Other Comments:
Our first holiday as a couple without children!! Very relaxing. Plenty going on if you want to join in,but they leave you alone if you don't! Very good value for money. Will be visiting again!!
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Stacey ~ Canada |
May 2009
Arrival: November 2008
We arrived on schedule with no problems. We were a little taken aback by
the men grabbing our luggage (my husband thought they were stealing it) and
by the blatant request for tips. We tipped the first couple of times but
quickly realized you can't tip every person so we tipped when we felt it
was
deserved.
Rooms:
We stayed in a building near the main pool on the first floor. We had no
problems with the room except the hot water ran out a couple of times.
Housekeeping kept the room clean and went to great lengths to design towels
in different ways every day. Our fridge was always restocked.
Restaurants and Bars:
Main bar near the front was good (although my maragarita was made without
ice so it was watery and not good). Staff were always friendly and we were
served quickly.
Main buffet offered many options. I learned quickly not to eat any bread
since birds would fly in and sit on the bread and eat crumbs - this grossed
me out. Food was pretty good - I am a picky eater so I didn't try a lot of
it, but overall we didn't go hungry.
The pool snack shack had awesome pizza - we loved it and ate some almost
daily - so delicious!
We went to the steakhouse which was alright but nothing to write home about
- portions were tiny too so we ate again an hour later. Mexican restaurant
was good and atmosphere was great. We had trouble booking our a la catres -
system is awful and my husband stood in line well over an hour, to be told
the only times left were at 9 pm or later. We took them, but then showed up
early (7:30pm) and both times they were able to accomodate us which was
wonderful.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach was amazing - lots of chairs and shaded areas - we did go early to
leave towels on the days we knew we'd use the beach.
Pool bar was wonderful and the pool was huge - we spent more of our time at
the beach though.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Recreation staff were great. We participated in a couple of things and had
fun. Went on a tour - swam with sharks - it was amazing and although I left
the shark area early ( I started to get freaked out) the trip was awesome
and drinks were free flowing. Lots and lots of fun!
Other Comments:
I didn't love Punta Cana - I like being closer to a city and it was too far
away and secluded for me. I also found the resort a bit too large - the
walk to the buffet daily was very long, and when it rained we got soaked!
Otherwise though, it was a beautiful resort and we truly had a great time!
The beach was incredible and we would recommend it to anyone.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Ron ~ Toronto |
May 2009
Arrival: March 27 to April 3
We flew Air Transat, excellent flight and staff. Trying to find our bus to
the resort at the airport in Punta Cana was confusing as there was no one
there to direct us to a little booth where a lady told us the bus number. A
lot of people were standing in line. I think having someone with a sign held
up for directions would have helped. We had to wait for our room as we
arrived before 3 p.m. which was expected.
Rooms:
The room was large and clean, top floor in a 3 story building which was
located half way between the beach and front of the resort, very convenient.
Excellent service from the maid. I found the shower stall a little small and
water pressure was low but not a problem. The power was out for a few hours
one day, again we were out so no problem.
Restaurants and Bars:
The two buffets are in buildings with open air access and have a great
variety of food. My only gripe was that at the buffet located in the front
of the resort there were black birds flying in and out of the food area and
helping themselves to the food and I never saw any of the staff try to get
rid of them. My concern was that with the flying around there might be some
bird droppings in the food. I think that there should be some type of
doorway between the food area and seating area to prevent the birds having
access.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Excellent beach but get down there early to reserve a seat. I don't believe
in people putting there towels on chairs all day and not using them hardly.
The pool was big and inviting but we never used it as we are beach lovers.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We booked an all day catamaran trip through our agent Nolitours at the
resort which we took the day before we left. The trip was called Tropical
Storm. We enjoyed the trip thoroughly and the staff were great. One staff
member was video taping the trip and you could purchase a video of the trip
and it would be sent to your resort the following day. I told them I was
leaving the next day in the morning so didn't want to buy it. They said no
problem, we can mail it to you . So I paid the $35.00 U.S. plus $5.00 for
the mailing and looked forward to it's arrival in the next week or so I
figured. We arrived back in Canada on April 3rd. On April 23rd I called
cvustomer service at Nolitours to find out where my video was. Today is
April 30th, still no video or word from Nolitours customer service so I
called and was told it would be another two weeks before I would recieve my
video. No one told me it would take over a month to get it. My thinking is
if they can get it to your resort the next day then they should stick it in an envelope on the way to any
resort they were delivering one to and send it off to Canada. Makes sense to
me. So be aware that having a video mailed to you by Tropical Storm could
take...? Best to ask before purchasing one, they don't volunteer any info
to that regard. I'll let you know "if" I recieve it.
Other Comments:
Over all our vacation was great and would recommend this resort as well as
the Tropical Storm tour on the catamaran. One other thing is bring lots of
sunscreen or other personal needs as they are expensive at the little store
on the resort. I bought a 125 ml. bottle of sunblock for $22.00 American
which equates to about $30.00 Canadian.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Daryl ~ Vancouver |
March 2009
Arrival: Feb 8th - Feb 15th
The flight was fine a little too long for my 5 and 2 year old.
Arrival was on time but late in the evening as we got to the resort at about 12:30 AM. The line was a little slow getting our rooms. It was dark so we had a hard time finding our room. Some of the company that came with us had help with staff and carts to their rooms. Since it was so late there was no food to be had except for hotdogs.
The lobby was big and open but since it was dark it was hard to get a good look at the resort.
Rooms
The rooms were adequate very typical. We had asked for one in the middle of the resort so that it would be quieter for the kids to nap (not that they did) and we ended up in the middle on the 2nd floor. The building we were in was quiet the whole time we were there. The 2 year old found the walk to the main buffet to long.
We ended up with a crib in our room and not the extra bed as we had asked. The staff were very quick about getting us the extra bed. We had several requests at different times of the day including 1:00 AM and the service or response was within 15 minutes each time we had a request. GREAT THAT WAY.
The shower was small and was in the same room at the toilet and we always had hot water. The main bathroom was OK in size with a big tub and adequate hangers and shelving. The room had a fridge with beer, water and pop stocked. This was filled when the rooms were made up. there was also a coffee machine and coffee. One complaint was the horrbily lumpy pillows.
The balcony had a hammock which was a nice extra touch. The TV was great for the kids at quiet time to watch the english cartoon channels.
Restaurants and Bars
Main Buffet - We ate breakfast here most days. The food was mostly the same each day but it was good. The omlette bar was great and it usually had a small wait. The service the first few days was great. Durning the last few days we were having to flag staff down to get water or juice.
The dinners were good they had different food each night of the week. Two nights they had crab and shrimp which were both good.
Beach Buffet - Only ate there once as lunch was mostly at the snack bar. It seemed OK less to choose from then the main buffet.
Snack Shack - this was a great place for lunch. It is right beside the kids pool so we were usually very close. The kids and I both loved the pizza and we snacked there most days for lunch and snacks. The pizza staff even made my 2 year old a special no cheese pizza in the shape of a heart. They also had rotisserie chicken, burgers, hotdogs and fries.
A La Cartes
The A La Cartes in general were not great for my 2 kids. If we had a late seating they were way too tired and cranky to eat their meals and we could not enjoy our meals. Most portions were small so we usually ordered a plate for the person that was not there.
Steakhouse - Most of our group of 12 ate here and the reviews were mostly just satifactory. My ribeye was good. The steak kabobs were tasty. Most others meals were OK. The service was OK. This was the only meal we were childless so that was a plus.
Mariachi- All of the group ate here and this was probably the least favourite of the group. It was a casual atmosphere and again the portions were small. The service was OK. This was a late sitting for us so the kids didn't do well here.
Tuscana - For the italian restaurant we moved our seating to an early one for the kids. So there was just the four of us. The atmoshere was nice more then just casual. The kids like pasta so the meal went well. I had the fetticini and I enjoyed it. It was better then what my wife had. The restarant was quite and ther service was good. Portions were better here.
Mikado - The Japanese was my favourite. Its not often that I have sushi and I enjoyed it. I had the shrimp dinner and it was good. The rice was really good. This was another late night sitting so my kids barely picked at their meals. This was fine as I ate most of my son's beef dinner. My wife, not a big sushi fan thought the meal was OK. The service was good. The salmon apparently was great.
The Bars
We spent some time at the main lobby bar it was usually busy. The drinks were good and the staff were friendly. The pool bar was great we had the bartender making some strane drinks for us. I never wnet to the beach bar.
The drinks were all strong and I did not notice any of the bars watering their drinks down. We found a quite little bar close to the board walk by the a la cartes. This was nice as it was quite. The bar had a better selection and the bartenders were very generous with the alcohol.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was very nice. White sand and warm water. Most of the week was very windy on the beach so we didn't spend a lot of time there. The one day we stayed on the beach all day the kids had a blast playing in the sand and going in the water. One thing I did not like was the people who would take chairs and leave stuff on them but never actually use the chair. Meanwhile we were scrambling to get one chair for the whole family. This happened at the pool as well.
The pool was HUGE. It wrapped around a large area and had the swim up bar at one side. I spent a little time in it and enjoyed the volleyball and water polo that the staff gets going.
The kid pool was where we spent most of our time. The kids LOVED the pool and it was not too deep. They would hang out there all day and play with the other kids. We brought water toys and beach toys that they all shared and had fun.
The resort itself is quite nice lots of water and ponds. The kids loved the birds, fish and turtles that could be found around the resort. The trees were nice. The covered walkways everywhere were great when it rains. The resort looks older but well cared for.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Some of our group went on the tours and had mixed reviews. We did not go on any as most were full days and we did not want to take the kids on these.
The resort has a kids club which was for 4 year olds and up. I was not expecting much and was slighlty impressed with the club. Are 2 year old also played and did crafts there. They had a decent swing set and some toys to play with. They had a room where you could do crafts, watch some TV or play some games. There was always a friendly staff there with the kids. The club was gated but most kids could come and go as they pleased. The staff was not really watching this so we did not leave the kids unattended. There was a small eating area across from the kids club where us parents could sit eat and drink if we wanted to. The kids enjoyed the club frequently. My only negative comment was when the staff was allowing my 2 year old to throw real darts at a dart board.
The resort has all the typical water sports that I usually try but had no time. They also have an onsite 9 hole golf couse and quad tours for a fee. I brought my tennis racket nut never had a chnce to use it on the courts they have.
Other Comments
There was 12 people in our group and we all had a good time.
I was not expecting much as this was our first family vacation of this kind with both the 5 and 2 year old. My 2 year old was a little high maintenance but we all had fun and are looking to do it again.
The resort itself was great. The price was right. The staff were friendly and I would recommend it to others. If you have kids the pool was great and kids club was OK. All the staff were really good with the kids smiling, talking to them and giving them hi fives.
Is this 4 1/2 star? I don't think so but it was an upgrade from the two 3 1/2 star resorts I have been to before.
Would I come back? If the flight was not so long or if I went without my children I would. I would probably try a different resort just to try something different but do recommend this one.
CHEERS
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Margaret & Bogy ~ Ontario |
February 2009
Arrival
We just returned from Catalonia Bavaro Resort and found it be an excellent resort. It is a great value for your money.
Check-in was easy and quick. The staff was competent and friendly.
Entrance facilities to the resort are very well designed, very modern and big in scale. The reception, lobby, Caribe restaurant, main bar, 4 a la carte restaurants, big theatre - open concept style and very inviting. All sitting on the reflecting pools. During the evening and night hours all of them transforming to an entertainment centre. In case of strong wind or rain, cotton walls can be rolled down adding nice, warm touch.
We have got room #23 in villa #4 - #0423, on the 3rd floor (there is no elevator).
It was the 2nd villa from the beach near the swimming pool.
There are 2 rows of the villas on either side of the resort with paths going to the beach. In the middle additional path going to the swimming pool and the beach. All villas are hidden in the tropical paradise.
Rooms
The room - clean, large and comfortable with the balcony. We loved the hammock on the balcony and enjoyed the rocking chairs. We did not have a problem with the room. The bathtub was huge and separated from the shower. Water pressure could be better, but the water was very warm everyday.
There were soft drinks, beer in the fridge and lots of drinking water supplied everyday.
King size bed was very good. Air conditioning was very quiet.
Room was bright and sunny.
Restaurants and Bars
The food was very good. In the morning we used all bars close to beach. For dinner we used the buffet restaurant Caribe and 4 a la carte restaurants. The Caribe Buffet was very good. From the a la carte restaurants we really liked the Italian restaurant and the Steakhouse. We also enjoyed pizza bar and the Creperie for an afternoon or evening desert treat.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was amazing! Wide and long. Big sandy area between the last villas and the water, lots of palm trees. There was always enough shade available under the palm trees. Lots of loungers so there was no problem getting a chair. Water was calm, shallow, greenish blue.
Swimming pool - big, clean and well maintained. Lots of loungers around. There was a side swimming pool for the kids.
The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. Mature, well landscaped resort with lots of tropical vegetation, small ponds and water fountains.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Catalonia resort has a very good animation team! This was our 13th trip to different resorts in Dominican Republic, most of them 5+ star resorts. We can say honestly, this was the best animation team from all of the visited resorts.
Lots of activities on the beach and around the swimming pool and lots of Spanish music. Lots of fun if you want to participate but there is no pressure. Evenings: mini-disco for kids, live band playing Latin music and then live shows. Almost every day live shows were very exciting part of live entertainment. Very interesting choreography and costumes. All dancers were bringing cascade of energy and passion to each show. Thank you!
Other Comments
We are not strangers to the Dominican Republic. We stayed in different resorts, lately 5 times in Riu Palace Macao. We had a great time at Catalonia and we are definitely coming back at the end of this year.
Advice for people complaining about communication barrier with the staff:
In Catalonia resort few hundred people of the staff is exposed to at least 4 different languages all time. This is not easy and extremely stressful, so help them, respect them, smile and be nice. Learn a few Spanish words and you are going to have more fun and a relaxing vacation.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Mary |
February 2009
Check in was 'normal' = had to wait about 1 hour to get into the room
Minimal hot water and no pressure at all from the shower in room 706. Managed to get around it by using the hand held shower located in the tub itself. Water leaked from bathroom ceiling - not sure of the source since it rained nearly everyday and seemed to leak worse when raining, but we were on the first of 3 floors. beds were ok, pillows are lumpy, so get over it!! The rooms are quite big and were definitely adequate.
Food was edible most of the time - had some scrambled eggs that definitely had a very sour taste. Glazed ham had a very strange taste also. little hard some mornings to get a cup of coffee, they seemed to almost ignore us - we are american and this resort if primarily european and canadian. Buffet food was usually plentiful, but quality was just so-so. 4 speciality restaurants had really good food and very good service. Japanese restaurant was the best as far as food quality and the 'show' provided. They cook for you right at the table, very fun!!
The beach is simply spectacular!!! Wide and long and covered with palm trees, no better beach as far as I'm concerned. Some seaweed washes on shore, but what can you do about nature!!! It did rain for about 4 of my 5 days there and did have sustained 40mph winds for most of that time too, kind of a shame, since we really didnt get a change to use the beach or pool as much as we should have.
Landscaping was fabulous - tons of tropical plants and trees - large variety all manicured to a tee!!
we have stayed in the dominican before, different resort, and this resort did have a lot of employees that did not speak english either at all or not very well, so some basic spanish wouldve come in handy.
overall, we really enjoyed this resort and would consider going back - but we usually like trying different locations vs. going to the same place again. This place is very nice and wouldve been even better had the weather cooperated just a little!!
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Kathy ~ Illinois |
February 2009
Arrival: 1/28/09 - 2/4/09
check in was quick no locks for the safe until the next day
Rooms:
rooms were clean enough, but hot water or water pressure was a problem
Restaurants and Bars:
buffet was ok. the snack bar by the pool was very good. went to the mexican rest. the service was the worst. food took 90 min. italian was the same sercvice was very bad, but food was ok when we finally got it. the steak house was by far the best sercice and the best food.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
beach was clean and nice. pool area was very nice. the grounds were well kept and clean
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
four wheeling tour set up by our fun jet rep was terrible. on a truck for more than an hour then rode on the black top road for 1 hr and back on a cattle truck for another hour. set up our own through the hotel and it was great and cost much less. it was four wheel ride through trails and did not have to ride for an hour.
Other Comments:
very dissapointed. staff was not very friendly. had a hard time with restaurant staff they only know the words coffee (which was hard to get) and beer. we felt very confined on the resort. will not go back. we were all ready to go home after 3 days. the entertainment was awful. to bad as they appeared to have great talent, but the show were a disaster.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Jason ~ Kingston, Ontario |
February 2009
Arrival: January 24 - 31
Arrival at the Catalonia (standard- not Royal section) was faily uneventful. We emailed a week prior to coming and asked for buildings 2-4 which are closest the beach and pool. They hadnt responded to the email nor did they give us our requested building. "Impossible!!!...99 percent capacity" was the standard line. In the end we were kind of glad we didnt get buildings 2-4 due to noise from the pool and beach stereo. Noise likely to interfere with afternoon Siesta
Rooms:
We stayed in building 15 and room 1515 which looked nice from the onset but once you got settled in you could see the age of the resort, buildings and rooms. DO NOT get room 1515. There was a large wooden frame for the curtains which we noticed 3 days in was barely hanging by 2 screws (the other 2 screws were rusted in half. The 2 screws still in the wall were halfway out. It would have either seriously injured or killed someone had it fallen. People complained about the water pressure but I found it great on the 2nd floor. Our friends stayed in room 1525 which was above ours. Appparently the 3rd floor has virtually no water pressure.
So there I am trying to enjoy my luke warm shower...aaaahh..what great water pressure..then I turned off the water...yup, still great pressure! Thats when I looked up and realized that the water was pouring down on me through the vent which in turn comes from the drain of the shower in room 1525. YESSSS..I was showering in my neighbours umm..previously enjoyed water (no lie). This was reported to the staff and they did get to it. (the day before we left). We just made the best of it and coordinated showers with ours friends above in room 1525. The room had a fridge that was barely cold and a tv with most of the channels fuzzy.
The day we left the shower top broke off and sprayed all over the bathroom...yikes! Oh yeah...the water from above also leaked through the hallway potlight (still lit) into our room when they showered. I believe the leak was eventually fixed though. The bed and pillows are also quite uncomfortable but the room is air conditioned..noisy fan though!
Restaurants and Bars:
Buffet- not bad but the staff were the main issue. There could be 30 people standing in line and they would throw on only enough food for 5-10 people. The rest of the grill was bare??? Couldnt figure that one out.
Beach restaurant- terrible for breakfast but the lunch was really good. They do chicken on the rotisserie which is EXACTLY like Swiss Chalet--even the same fries..mmmm A-la Cartes:
Japanese- definitely the best. I dont like Sushi and that kind of stuff but they had chicken and steak too. Probably one of the best meals I have had anywhere. Everyone agreed it was amazing. they cook it Tapanyaki style where you are all seated around the grill---totally awesome!
Italian- very good food---really hot and stuffy in rthere though with no windows. The food seemed legit italian though.
Mexican- Really not very good...thumbs down and a waste of time--not much more to say there.
Steak House- kind of rude staff and the smallest portions...really quite funny. The one gal in our group went with chicken fingers because she wasnt a big steak eater. We all laughed at her until it arrived. Her chicken finger platter was bigger than all our meals combined. Until of course she bit into her hugemongous nugget and realized it was just batter with not one morsel of chicken hidden within....hahahahha- Fun meal for a laugh though!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Pool-The pool is awesome,pretty warm too. It is quite huge with a swim up bar. The drinks are really quite good with nicely made pina colads, daquiris etc (frosty, not watered).
Beach- Very nice long stretch of beach. I didnt really see any probs with coral like others reported. it seemed like a normal white sandy beach. The odd coral I guess on the north side. As the day progressed the seaweed startes to come back in again but it is raked out waaay early in the morning (I'm sure like 5am). When we leave at 5pm it is still fine...just starteing to roll in...really no problem at all. Great animation team at the beach..playing games and music etc. They arent so much at the pool though which kind of sucked.
Grounds- really very nice...getting old but they are always in a state of trying to maintain it. I like the older resorts because of the growth of the palm trees etc.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Excursions-
We did the zipline tour which was really quite cool. My wife is deathly afraid of heights but after some coaxing she did it. there are 10 zip lines with the longest being 275 meters (I believe 275 feet high). It was fun but it made for a long day. I was a bit ticked off because they said it was only 45 minutes from the resort (thats a huuuge lie). We were supposed to be picked up at 1:30 but werent until 2:30. Then off we go to stop at 4 resorts along the way which takes forever then it was like an hour past that. we were told we would be back at 5:30. We arrived back at 8pm...after suffering a flat tire. Its no surprise since the guy drives like a maniac and the roads are terrible. It really was a hellish trip there and back but the ziplining was great fun and fairly easy. That cost $89 each.
Plaza Bavaro- We took a city bus to Plaza Bavaro to do some shopping. Great deals there for sure. It was a little scary at first but we met a local who worked at one of the resorts. He kind of told us where to stand to catch the bus back and how EXECTLY to get to Plaza bavaro. The cab was $20-$25 each way so we (being cheapy cheapy haha) took our chances. We hopped aboard a truck that took us to the main road outside the reosrt. we then waited about 15 minutes and hoppe aboard the city bus which took us to a main intesction. we got off and waited once again for 5 minutes and caught another bus which dropped us near the the plaza (total cost- $2 one way). we shopped for about 2 hours and traded stuff from home--they love to trade anything for cologne by the way! We then traded 2 bottles of cologne along with some Pringles, water and pop to one of the cabbies down near the Plaza for a free ride back to the resort. We were quite proud of ourselves for striking that deal. Glad we made the trek...well worth it!
Other Comments:
All in all it wasnt a bad trip. We didnt get too stressed over the room issue. I know some might have gotten angry over the condition of the rooms but they were well cleaned daily. It was just a matter of age getting the better of them.
A friend checked out the Royal section which was supposedly very nice but VERY quiet. No offence to some but even some elderly folks refered to it as the "Dinosaur Museum" haha. It is the never section though with top notch food and extremyly nice rooms. They apparently try to charge $20 extra per person/per room/ per day. Some one we talked to got it for $15 extar per person/per room/per day. Maybe worth it..maybe not?
I would rate this resort a solid 3.75- 4 out of 5. Definitely not a 4.5 but not so bad its a 3.5.
Hope that helps those in search of a resort!
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Gary ~ Illinois |
January 2009
Arrival: January 18th through 24th
We arrived in Punta Cana on January 18th. When we left Chicago, the temperature was zero degrees (F) and there was a foot of snow in our yard, so when we stepped off the plane into the Punta Cana sunshine it was quite an eye-opener. Otherwise, the arrival at Punta Cana airport was fairly uneventful. We each paid our $10 entrance fee, were each given a card and then took a few steps and promptly handed the cards to another person. This is a business I wish I would have thought of starting years ago. As for getting to the Catalonia, thanks to information on this board we chose IBK Servicios and we're glad we did. Even though he was a few minutes late picking us up, we were finally on our way to fun in the sun. Check-in was relatively quick, although the desk clerk said he wanted to check with housekeeping to see if the room was ready, so we went to the bar for a Presidente or two. As it turned out, this would be the first of many Presidentes. Upon arriving in our room we noticed that we were not given a lock and key to the safe and the rules sheet said that if the lock and key were not returned at check-out we would be charged $50.00. Since I had better use for my $50, I went to the front desk to ask for a lock and key but was told I would have to return the next morning at around noon, since we could get one from someone who was checking out. This same scenario repeated itself the next couple of days as locks and keys never seemed to be available until our third day there. I suppose I can't be too upset about this situation because the first two days we were there we somehow managed to lose our room key...twice. A new key was given to us each time with no questions asked, which come to think of it may or may not be a good thing, since I could have said I lost my key to any other room and would have been handed one to someone else's room...twice. Oh well...
Rooms:
We were in Villa 24 on the second floor. We had e-mailed the resort a couple weeks earlier asking for something close to the beach, non-smoking and on the second or third floor. Well, one out of three wasn't bad, I suppose, as the only request that they honored was the second floor. It's a good thing we weren't on the first floor as the lock on our patio door was broken, but being on the second floor we felt reasonably certain nobody would be climbing the wall to get into our room to steal our dirty underwear. It turns out that Villa 24 was perfectly situated in the middle of the resort, so walking to and from the beach...and to and from the activity areas (main bar, main buffet, shops, etc.) was easier than being on one end or the other. The room was pretty much how most people described it. A bit dark, a bit old, but not too bad. The soaking tub was huge...the shower wasn't. Actually, the shower was an okay size, assuming we had hot water, which was probably only about 70% of the time. But since the shower curtain left a gap of about eight inches at the bottom, keeping water inside the shower became almost impossible. Extra towels were needed to mop up the floor following every shower. A couple times the power went out and not only was the room dark at night, but the toilet wouldn't flush and the water wouldn't run. I was shocked that the electric would affect the water like that, but I guess that's how it's set up. In the bathroom there always were a number of tiny, almost microscopic ants scurrying across the vanity top and in the sink. It became sport to see how many I could kill with one tissue...I think my record was 57. Other than the ants, there were no other bugs in the room (that we could detect, anyway). The beds were sort of an adventure. I have read reviews where people said their beds were soft. We must have been staying at another resort because our bed was not soft...far from it. It was almost rock hard and slanted to one side. I'd say the pillows were a joke, but they weren't funny...they were just lumpy and small and extremely uncomfortable and nearly non-functional. Our maid did a decent job...we tipped her a couple of bucks every day and she did the towel creature thing and generally cleaned pretty well. She did have a habit of barging right into the room every day around 3:00 to replenish the water bottle supply, which was just about the time we got back from the beach each day. A couple of times we were in the shower, napping or in various stages of undress, but she seemed to think nothing of it. I guess when you're a maid in Punta Cana you've seen it all.
Restaurants and Bars:
The food was one of the things we were most looking forward to, but ended up being disappointed by the most. The buffets were generally mediocre. Breakfast was pretty bad, as the bacon was barely cooked, the pancakes and french toast were sitting in bins and both were always cold and dry. Getting coffee was hit and miss...some days they were right there with coffee, other days you could sit for 15 minutes or more waiting. And some days the coffee was hot, others not. We did think the selection of bread was outstanding, particularly the many loaves of french bread, which usually was my standard breakfast along with a chocolate croissant and some yogurt. Lunch was usually a trip to the pizza and chicken stand by the pool. The pizza was okay, but the way some people have raved about it I was expecting the best pizza in the world. The chicken was good and the self-serve Presidente poured into our insulated mugs was a bonus. Dinner in the buffet was only slightly better. The selection of food was large enough, but much of it wasn't the most appetizing stuff. Although, the grilled shrimp was outstanding. Not so outstanding was the fact that the girl who was grilling the chicken and beef would use a set of tongs to pick up the raw chicken and beef and then immediately grab a grilled piece of chicken or beef and put it on some unsuspecting person's plate. I'm thinking this may be the source of so much illness I've read about in recent reviews of the Catalonia on Trip Advisor. Another may be the numerous birds who fly through the buffet area and land on tables to consume bits of leftover food. They really need to consider putting up netting (or something) to keep those birds out, as they also carry disease. Luckily, the only illness we suffered was self-induced after a long afternoon at the pool bar with multiple Presidentes and "mucho rum"...a phrase coined by fellow Debbie's poster Geronamo, who as luck would have it, ended up right next to us at the pool bar one fateful afternoon. It was a fun afternoon, followed by a not-so-fun evening...I'll spare you the gruesome details. But Martin, the pool bartender was great...he kept the drinks flowing with a smile on his face. We didn't have smiles on our faces later that night, but as I said, I'll spare you the details. One hint...when sitting at the pool bar with your back to the sun, be sure to put on sunscreen. Yours truly didn't heed that advice and I'm still paying the price. Another bit of advice, when ordering a slushy drink from the machine, they have no alcohol in them. Be sure to say "with rum" if you are so inclined. A number of reviewers have said that they felt short-changed since they didn't think there was much alcohol in those drinks...turns out they were right. As for the ala cartes, we only tried the Japanese (which was generally pretty good) and the Mexican (which was generally "okay"...although the tequila shrimp was excellent). Also, the margarita in the Mexican restaurant was far superior to any we had in the main bar...mainly because the main bar didn't put ice in theirs. A warm margarita is not too tasty. Although, that was fixed by a trip to the bar for a cup of ice. One pleasant surprise in the main bar was the popcorn machine, which served as an adequate appetizer on more that one night. One night we went to the Creperie for dessert and it was okay, but the requirement for long pants in the evening is ridiculous in a Creperie/Ice Cream parlor, for gosh sakes. I didn't see the dress code actually enforced in the Creperie, but in the handout you are given at check-in, it clearly states that long pants are to be worn in the Creperie in the evening. They've got to be kidding. We also went to the beach party on Tuesday night, and it was okay. Again, most of the food was merely passable, but they sure did go to a lot of effort to set up that whole event.
People who had been there before knew how to circumvent standing in line and would grab plates and cut in front of people who had waited for 20 minutes in line. These people are probably the same people who are chair hogs (see below).
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The grounds were impeccably kept. Lots of palm trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, ponds, etc., all in beautiful shape. I wish my yard looked one tenth as nice. The beach was also beautiful with the numerous palm trees. We never had a problem getting a palapa. In fact, most days we were able to get the same one, arriving around 8:30 each morning. But the reports of chair/towel hogs are not an exaggeration. Upon arriving at the beach, it's towels as far as the eyes can see. People? Not so much...they're all off doing whatever chair hogs do while their precious chair sits unoccupied (other than by a towel) for hours at a time. There was one group of Japanese tourists who came to the beach one day about the same time we did, took a palapa and put four white room towels across the chairs and then left. By the time we left at 3:00 they still had not returned. The next day the same thing happened. The following day we noticed the white towel thing happening again and nobody occupying the palapa until about 10:00, when only one woman of their group finally came and sat there for most of the rest of the day by herself, texting her buddies back in Tokyo. It's people like this who ruin it for everyone else. The ocean water wasn't quite the crystal blue that you see in other places like Playa del Carmen or Jamaica, but it certainly looked a lot nicer than Lake Michigan. As for seaweed, it's true that there is seaweed that washes up onto the beach, but they generally do a pretty good job of keeping up with it. Although one day there was a particularly huge amount of seaweed both on the beach and in the water. It may be due to a rainstorm that happened overnight, but the seaweed was especially bad that day. Walking along the beach that day wasn't too pleasant...although most other days it was fine. Speaking of rain, we were lucky in that regard as the rain generally only came overnight (with the exception of one early afternoon where it may have rained for about 15 minutes, if that). People on this board say to bring bug repellent for mosquitoes. We can say we did not see one mosquito. What we did see were wasps...they seem to love the beach. One comment about the beach restroom: There was always a woman in there cleaning up the place and placing flowers on all the sinks. I found it odd that they had women cleaning the men's restroom and men were going into the women's restroom to stock the toilet paper and towels. It first it was strange standing there peeing in front of a woman, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. Of course, there's always the ocean...not that anyone would ever do that, would they?? We walked over to the "Royal" side of the beach and honestly it was very small...nowhere near the size of the huge "regular" beach. It also seemed dreary and kind of gloomy, like nobody there was having a very good time. Other than escaping kids (which there really weren't that many on the "regular" side when we were there) I can't see paying extra for the Royal side. Being from the U.S., it's kind of funny to be in a place where Americans are a minority. The bulk of the people were from Europe or Canada and you heard a whole United Nations of languages everywhere you went. I also noticed that the vast majority of guests were smokers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but living in Illinois where smoking in public places is now illegal, it caught us a bit off-guard.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We stayed on the resort the entire time...didn't do a tour. Our plan was to lay on the beach for a week and in the immortal words of George Bush, "Mission Accomplished".
Other Comments:
Check out took about 10 seconds. When we got into the IBK van for the ride back to the airport, one of the security guards came after us wanting to see our check-out ticket. Nobody told us we needed to show it to anybody before we could leave. I almost threw it out...good thing I didn't or we would probably still be there trying to get home. As for the airport, we realize that airport food is generally high-priced, but almost $10.00 for a value meal from the airport Wendy's was a little much. Also, they never did post our flight at our departure gate...they only had a flight to Montreal listed, so a number of us who were trying to get to Chicago where just a little confused. But we eventually worked it out and were soon winging our way back to the frozen tundra.
All in all, the trip was a nice getaway to a warm climate, with the chance to lay on the beach. Would we go back to the Dominican Republic? Possibly. Would we go back to the Catalonia? Probably not. It's a decent place, at a good price, but you really do get what you pay for. We're really not all that fussy when it comes to food, but there would have to be some major improvements in that department before we could ever consider returning.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Monika ~ Ontario |
January 2009
Arrival: Dec 18, 2008 to Jan 1
Check in was easy and quick. The staff was competent and friendly.
Rooms:
Clean and comfortable, lovely balcony, hammock a great extra touch. We did not have hot water the first day, but after advising the front desk, they fixed this problem.
Restaurants and Bars:
Buffet restaurant was amazing. The selection and food there was fantastic, especially the fish. We were there between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and especially enjoyed the grilled lobster tails, shrimp, sushi, cheese variety, proscuitto and more. Mexican restaurant was a disappointment. The food served in the al la carte restaurants are mostly the same as you would find in the Caribe Buffet. The wine was below standard, both the red and the white. We mostly drank beer and international liquors. The service was great, our dirty dishes cleared away quickly and drinks refilled. The pizza by the pool was freshly baked in a stone oven and delicious. The Creperie a great place for an afternoon or evening desert treat.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The grounds were beautifully designed and well kept. The swimming pool was huge, the water clean. Difficult to find a lounge chair under an umbrella unless you reserved early in the morning, both at the poolside and on the beach. However, there always was enough shade available under palm trees. The beach was fine sand and one could walk for miles. However, we saw bits of glass and would recommend rubber beach shoes.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
The activity staff were wonderful. Always up-beat, friendly and cheerful. Lots activities available, especially for the younger crowd. Nightly entertainment was average, what you'd expect to find in the islands, although the dancers were amazing! The free golf clinic/lessons were short and amateurish, however, golfing on the course was great, a challenge, more suitable for experienced golfers.
Other Comments:
I would definately recommend this hotel. Great value for your money. A beautiful resort, wonderful staff, amazing food, lots to keep you entertained.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Ronald ~ Ottawa |
December 2008
Arrival: 6 to 20 Dec. 2008
We just returned from Catalonia, and mainly found it an excellent resort, worthy of 5 stars. All the facilities, the beach, swimming pool, gardens are first class; even the food is as good as possible. Weaknesses are noted below.
Facilities -- well designed, big in scale, in very good condition. Huge reflecting pools around the entrance and dining. Rooms are large, round bathtubs plus a smallish shower; even include a big umbrella. No elevator to third floor. Slight smell of rotting in the drainage channels affects a few rooms. Some main floor rooms lack privacy on their terrace. Housekeeping is normal, has its random glitches, but maids do try.
Dining -- much choice, many extras, from 5 kinds of cold cuts to vodka for a breakfast Bloody Mary, to multiple meats ready to fry on request. Blended breakfast juices are popular. Meats are fried and put out hot, but sometimes big grabbers claim the supply; bacon can be scarce. As anywhere, the menu looks familiar after a few days, but many choices. Staff is very obliging. Self-service for drinks is prevented for some reason. The big problem is birds in the dining area, quite unpleasant and could even cause disease. One must never leave food at one's table unattended. At least the food pickup area is more closed, almost no birds. By the pool, all-day pizza and hamburgers and chicken are popular. The Italian a la carte restaurant is fine as a change. Tuesday is Beach Party dinner, an over-ambitious idea in which they go to great trouble to enable you to eat a reduced-choice buffet dinner in the wind on the beach, with over-determined noisy entertainment.... some do find this romantic, no doubt. Four bars have many choices of drinks, cocktails, liqueurs, a surprise table with irish coffee or some such, plus bottled beer in the room.
Swimming -- pool is big and clean; only problem is the interminable animation: there is no quiet pool. Can be hard to find a seat, since crowds go there all day. The beach is the real Bavaro, with a very wide sand area going back from the ocean, loungers always available in shade of trees (if not uder a cabana). Seaweed is minimal. Still only entices up to twenty swimmers at a time. Quite a few topless sunbathers.
Activities -- everything from archery to kids club to tennis. Even has an acrylic painting class daily (not much teaching, but all the supplies to make memorable tropical paintings). This activity is only accorded a run-down shack. All sorts of land and sea outings available at high prices. Did not enter the small casino or the disco.
Walking -- there is a golf course, pleasant at sunset when golfers are done. Beyond that, a road with just scrub bush for miles. The beach is good for walking in both directions, although has no special features; lot of seaweed, and you need shoes for thorny grass areas. To the left you reach the messy Club Nautico in 45 minutes and then more resorts. In the resort walking is pleasant; there is a very large, beautiful garden area (trees and bushes, not many flowers).
Other -- Shopping is about 6 shops, usual choices, not large. Internet is now $5 per half hour, and free WiFi. Junky art markets await 3 minutes along the beach in both directions. Handicraft tables are set up in the reception area on Friday evenings. Evening entertainment is energetic and loud... and maybe higher quality than other resorts.
In general the resort makes an excellent impression, feels like an excessive attempt to present well. Reception staff is professional and solve most problems.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Ed ~ Pennsylvania |
December 2008
Arrival: November 13 - November 17 2008
We arrived in the Punta Cana airport and the first thing they did was take our pictures with two of the locals, which they want to sell to you when you go home. Don't forget to take $10 per person for what I call an extortion fee, which they charge you before they will allow you to pass thru customs. When you pass customs, you will be acosted by the locals wanting to carry your bags about 30 feet to your transportation. I suggest keep walking and don't stop until you find your transportation. The ride from the airport to the resort is only about 15 minutes.
We arrived at the resort and checked in with no problem. The bell boy took us and our bags on his golf cart to our room.
Rooms:
Our room was on the second floor of the villa, which is only 3 floors high. The room was in very nice shape and was clean. I always left 5 dollars for the cleaning personnel every morning. I never had a problem with the room. The only thing I did find as odd was the fact that they don't leave wash cloths for showering or bathing?? They did leave a sponge which reminded me of a sponge you use to wash your car. Best to take a wash cloth with you I guess.
Restaurants and Bars:
The restaurants, in my opinion were very good. If you are looking for the most amazing food in the world, you won't get it here. Remember, your in the Dominican, and won't get the best Italian dish you ever ate here. Some people forget that and seem disapointed if the food doesn't make their head spin! The pizza they served by the pool was actually very good. They use a wood fired oven to make it. The Grand Caribe buffet was HUGE. Hard to find something you don't like there. The swimup bar was good and is a nice place for starting conversations with the other guests. The bars in all were very nice a well maintained. The only draft beer they have is Presidente. The in room bottle beer was Brahma.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The beach was nice but, seed weed would land on the beach every morning but, the staff always cleaned it up every morning. The water was nice also. Something to keep in mind if you are traveling with children or don't have an open mind is that there are European women there who like to sunbath topless by the beach and the pool area. The pool was very big with lots of room. There is always someone walking around cleaning something.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
I didn't try any of the activities they have on the beach, but they looked neat.The casino is small with about 45 slot machine and one table for each kind of card games. We walked around the little shopping area they havether also with no real deals. On Friday nights, they have local people come to the resort to sell there jewelry, paintings and other knic knacks. They are very aggresive in trying to sell you something! If you are interested in anything they sell NEVER pay what they are asking. My wife picked out some jewelry she liked and they gave her a price of $390 dollars, after she haggled with them, she got them down to $35 dollars!
I would suggest going on the half day snorkling trip they offer. It cost $89 a person but lasts about 3.5 hours. It's more of a party boat than anything which if you like that kind of thing is very enjoyable. You get to snorkle with nurse sharks and stingrays they have corraled in a big holding area. After that you cruise along the coast and get to see other resorts while music is playing, beer and sandwichs are being served. Dancing soon starts also.
Other Comments:
All in all not a bad way to spend a couple bucks. It was well worth every nickle i paid for it. I would definatly go back and would recommend the Catalonia. The people here a very nice and always try to please. Some of the workers don't speak english so if they look at you funny when you ask a question, you'll know why.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Bernardine ~ Toronto |
December 2008
Arrival: November 28 - Decemebr 5, 2008
We arrived at the resort well before the 3 pm check in so we had lunch at the Grand Caribe buffet and then explored the resort. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained, there are fish, turtles and birds in the ponds. At 3 pm we went back to reception to get our room key.
Rooms:
We were in villa 22, near the pool and beach. The room was large and while the resort is on the older side it was well maintained and clean. There is a shower stall which I had heard was very small. I am a large woman and I didn't find it that bad. I am used to the showers on Cruise ships and the one at the Catalonia was a little bit bigger. The bathtub is huge! They place fresh hibiscus flowers around the bath daily and made swans out of the towels a couple of times. My mother loved the hammock on the balcony and I enjoyed the rocking chair. Not that we go on vacation to watch tv, but there were a number of English speaking channels available if you so desired.
Restaurants and Bars:
The food was ok. We loved the snack bar at the pool which serves the most delicious pizza and rostisserie chicken. We ate at the buffets most days and we were always able to find something to eat there. We didn't try any of the a la cartes, we had decided that we didn't want to get dressed up to eat and so either had the buffet or ate early at the snack bar. On nights when we ate early there was always the hot dog and popcorn stands if we got the munchies later on. I love popcorn and visited the popcorn stand nightly.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The beach was beautiful but we spent most of our time by the pool. The week we were there the water in the ocean was very murky and there was a lot of seaweed. We still went in for a dip nearly every day and spent some time walking along the beach - though we only ventured to the end of the Catalonia resort. The pool was great. I have mobility issues and had no problem getting into and out of the pool. You can walk into the pool at 3 different areas. It was great for me, not having to manage my way up or down steps. Visited the jacuzzi every day and also spent time at the swim up bar. I tried every frozen drink they had and must admit that I loved the Banana Mama. We met a lot of great people and would see them most every day at the swim up bar.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Went to the casino a couple of times. It is small and there were not very many people in there the two times we did go.
The animacion team were great! They were all very friendly and everyone that we spoke to spoke english enough to converse. We also tried to speak to them in Spanish with the limited words we knew and they do appreciate that you try. Two of the animacion team stood out in our opinion, David (Mickey Mouse) and Clarabel were the warmest, friendliest of people we had the pleasure of meeting. They always had big smiles and called us by name whenever they saw us.
Other Comments:
All in all we had a great time at the Catalonia and couldn't find anything to complain about during our stay. We are hoping to make it back again next year.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Robert ~ Toronto, Canada |
December 2008
Your Arrival:
good service , skyservice
Rooms:
excellent
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
very nice
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
i took bus tours and hotel had some evening shows
Other Comments:
very impresed better than veradaro cuba
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Lorna |
November 2008
As seasoned cruisers, this was our first time staying at an all-inclusive, as well as our first time in the Dominican Republic. I chose the Catalonia Bavaro based on the many positive reviews here and on other sites, as well as the reasonable cost. Since most of the resort’s amenities (food, rooms, beach, pool, etc.) have been discussed extensively, I’ll just briefly comment on them. However, I’ll offer more information on our experience traveling there with a small child, as well as a comparison of the resort to our typical cruise experience.
Since this was our first all-inclusive resort, I can’t comment on anything compared to other properties. However, this is our experience based on many years of traveling and cruising.
Things we liked:
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Beach – lots of chairs and shade, very well maintained; not the clear turquoise waters we’ve seen on other Caribbean islands but very nice and warm
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Pool – always spotlessly clean; beautiful design; lots of shade and sunshine depending on your preference
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Animation team – plenty to do if you like to participate, but no pressure if it’s not your thing. They also kept the volume reasonable so you could still relax if you didn’t want to play.
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Grounds – truly a tropical paradise; gorgeous flowers and plants; meticulously maintained
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Pool snack bar – great burgers and super rotisserie chicken. While the pizza didn’t live up to the hype, it was still very good.
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No up-selling – this was a truly all-inclusive vacation; no one was trying to sell us photos, excursions, premium drinks, etc.
Things we didn’t like:
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Main buffet – I never went hungry, but there was a lot of food sitting under heat lamps for a loooong time. The omelet station in the morning was quite good, and the crepes would have been a bigger hit if they had better toppings (squeeze bottle chocolate???). Also the fresh squeezed juices were quite good. Desserts were a total disappointment. They all looked far better than they tasted. Pastas were good at dinner. Everything else was pretty much a disaster.
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Service - While everyone was extremely friendly, it was awfully hard getting a cup of coffee in the morning! DH would get our water, juices etc himself, but we had to flag people down to get coffee – and often remind them again after our initial request. Also, our room was never made up before 5:00 PM. This was only a problem for us on the night that we had a 6:00 dinner reservation.
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Lack of air conditioning – I love to eat outdoors, but it is HOT out there! It would be good if there were some indoor seating available at the buffets. Also, while the a la cartes did have ac, it was never cranked up enough for my taste, particularly in the Mexican/steak house. The only air conditioned areas were the a la cartes, individual hotel rooms, and the shops.
Traveling as a Family
We traveled to the Catalonia with our dd, who is nearly 4yo. She had a fantastic time, and I would definitely recommend the resort to families.
There is a kids club on the property, with a small Step 2 swingset, picnic tables, and sandy play area. There’s also a little building (no air conditioning) with a restroom. Indoors they have a small TV playing Spanish language cartoons and a video game system, as well as child-size tables and chairs. Some kids seemed to float in and out all day.
As a mom of a younger child, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving her there without a parent for a few reasons. First, most of the staff speak little to no English. Secondly, they don’t give you a pager or cell phone or anything, so there’s no way they could contact you in case of emergency. Finally, there didn’t seem to be any real activities. They had a box of broken crayons and paper, as well as a few board games, but that was really it. There were guests there with many different languages, so that obviously affects their capacity to organize any activities, so it’s understandable. But I still wouldn’t leave my young child there on her own. This was just a nice place to stop during the day, where she could play on the swings, color, and get out of the sun for a little while.
Every night there is a Mini Disco, usually starting between 8:20 and 8:30 (though the sign says 8:30). DD absolutely loved this. It was the hit of the vacation for her. They play common children’s songs (chicken dance, hokey pokey, etc.) and all the kids go on stage and do the dances. It’s exactly the same thing every night, which seems to make it even more fun for the kids. At the end of the show, there’s usually some kind of game that the kids play, and the winner gets a small prize. The songs are in a variety of languages, but the hand motions/dances are easy, so all kids of all nationalities enjoyed it.
Meals were easy. There was always something that she could find to nosh on, but she’s not too picky. She adored the pizza and chicken at the snack bar, which is where we lunched every day.
As the resort caters to a largely European clientele, there is a great deal of topless sunbathing. I kept waiting for DD to comment, but she never did so neither did I! This was not a problem at DD’s age, but I think I’d be less comfortable traveling with an adolescent boy (or even girl) since this really isn’t part of our cultural norm. If you are considering the resort with older children, know in advance that the topless sunbathers don’t put their tops on to swim, stroll the beach or join the aqua-fit class (ouch!) so it’s quite noticeable.
Comparison to Cruising
I will definitely visit another AI resort in the future, but I’m not ready to write off cruising just yet. I enjoy the food far more on cruises, and the surroundings on a cruise are definitely more luxurious. However, what could be more luxurious than rolling out of bed and strolling to the beach?
It was great to just hang out and never look at my watch at all. Who cares what time it is? I love cruising but going to the beach can become work when you have to walk down the long pier, deal with a mob of aggressive cab drivers, rent chairs/umbrellas, and then keep an eye on the time so you’re ready and dry when the cab returns. The AI vacation took all of the work out of going to the beach. I did feel less pampered at the end, but I definitely felt more relaxed!
Another positive of the Catalonia vs. cruising is the ability to manage costs. As I mentioned, they didn’t try to sell us anything else once we got there. No one snapped our pictures, hustled drinks, or lured us into the casino. We didn’t have to walk through the shopping area to get to dinner. Tips were given at our discretion, without any sob stories of starving families in third-world countries. This made me want to tip more generously at the Catalonia. And while the service was certainly poorer at the Catalonia than on the typical cruise, I never had the sense that the staff was being falsely friendly in the hopes of a larger tip.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Hlywud/the Warden ~ Ontario Canada
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November 2008
We flew out of Toronto on Skyservice A320 in Row 23, very short of leg room. Uneventful relatively smooth flight arrived 5 minutes ahead of schedule time at 10:25 am, customs was very quick, luggage quick and onto bus to resort with Grande Presidente in hand within about 20 minutes of arrival, 10 minutes later we arrived at the resort.
Check in at the resort was very efficient, we were greeted by Assistant Guest Service Manager Laura, who registered us, we waited in the lobby bar to indulge in a couple of cold Presidentes for an hour while our suite was prepared and then the Bell Captain ferried to our beautiful 2 room suite #1823 with a wonderful pool and ocean view from either of the 2 balconies. Within 15 minutes we were back at beach bar for lunch. I previously emailed resort requesting a room with an ocean view on an upper floor. We got exactly what we requested and more, a beautiful 3rd floor Master Suite, with magnificently polished tile floors; king sized bed, lovely sitting area, two balconies with hammocks, a large bathroom with an in bathroom Jacuzzi and separate closet for toilet and shower. Quite a pleasant surprise for us was the beautiful basket of fresh fruits and bottle of Gran Anejo on the sitting room table along with a fridge stocked full of water, pop and ice cold Brahma beer. One word describes these accommodations “Excellent”; while not as modern as the suites in newer resorts it was impeccably clean and comfortable.
There was plenty of shelf space and hangers in closet with a key lock safe available at no charge. The dressing area had two sinks and supplies of shower caps, sewing kit, face cloths, and lots of towels, body lotion, and body gels. We even had a supply of beach towels available in the suite.
The balcony was a good size with two chairs and round table as well as rack for wet bathing suits, as well there wonderful hammock where a person could relax and look over the ocean, the second balcony off the bedroom had 2 chairs and a hammock that afforded a decent view of the pool area.
Maid service was excellent—usually cleaned by noon. Each night we came back to find a turn down service has been provided and a fresh supply of towels.
This resort which is one of the oldest resorts in the Punta Cana region is very nice, and is very well maintained and manicured; the workers never seemed to stop keeping the place spotless.
As far as layout the resort is very easy to get around. Grounds are lovely and have some beautiful foliage and plants with a family of egrets and ducks and geese wandering around their own ponds.
The beach was also better than I anticipated as I had read there was a lot of seaweed in this location, the seaweed present very little problems and was raked up and hauled away early every morning as well the entire beach area was lightly raked to remove any debris that may have been left from the previous day by the guests. One must be made aware that towards the northern end of the beach there are some coral formations in the water and we would recommend surf shoes in the area from the beach bar north to the property boundary.
There were plenty loungers available at the beach and the pool with adequate shade available.
We had been notified that the pool area was construction before we departed but were pleasantly surprised to find it was completed and very well done, with new decking and new tiles around the pool area. Service at the pool bar and swim up bar was quite good and all empty glasses and food plates were picked up by staff quickly, so there was no debris or garbage laying around in the hot sun. The pool was a popular spot in the afternoon especially if any the sand started to blow on the beach but it was very hot and one had to avail themselves of the water frequently to stay cool. Temperatures for the week ranged between 30C and 34C with a light breeze blowing at all times.
Food and service was excellent in all the a la carte restaurants on the Bavaro side of the Catalonia complex.
We tried the Italian (Toscany), the Steakhouse (Rodeo), Mexican (Mirachi) and Japanese restaurants and enjoyed them all immensely. The wait staff was very attentive, courteous and polite; it is our opinion that these were some of best a la carte restaurants that we have visited in our many visits to the Dominican Republic and rate close to any 5 star restaurants we have used previously
The Gran Caribe buffet always had something to suit everyone’s palate but was consistently the same everyday. It was situated adjacent to the beautiful lobby and the fountains which afforded wonderful views while eating in the cool outdoor breeze. The service and buffet area was air conditioned and impeccably clean and well maintained.
Entertainment in the evening didn’t really impress us it also started at 9:30 pm and I am an early riser and generally to bed quite early. We stayed for one evening performance, they worked very hard to do their best and entertain the guest but personally I found it too loud.
The magnificent lobby bar (Palmareal) and court yard was the place to gather/hang in the evenings for a few evening cocktails under the stars and the table service was definitely second to none.
Sports equipment was available for all ages at this resort, shuffleboard courts, tennis courts, volleyball, wind surf equipment, hobie cats, kayaks, sail boards, table tennis, pool tables, and of course the 27 hole Catalonia golf courses and a 9 hole par 3 which driving in looked like they were in fine shape.
In the afternoons the animation team led the games at the beach and around the pool everyday, they would come a politely ask if you would like to join in, if you did not want to they moved on.
The resort while it is listed by most tour operators as a 4.5 star, in my opinion does meet those standards very solidly.
We definitely would return to this Catalonia Bavaro resort of course if the price was right.
While there we took our own walking tour of the Catalonia Royal,
I will give you a brief summation of what we saw. Construction of new buildings near the beach which caused no concern to any of the clients, a lovely spa with outdoor Jacuzzi’s, a beautiful pool with built in waterbeds, a lovely outdoor patio deck off a smaller air conditioned lobby and an a la carte restaurant (Thalassa). Everything is very well kept and maintained. We also tried the restaurant one evening and the bar a couple of times as we were allowed by management to visit these facilities.
The restaurant was beautiful inside, table service was generally very good with multiple waiters looking after us, some obviously were in the being trained mode as they did things just a bit different, for instance we ordered coffee and dessert, we had our dessert and after waiting 15 minutes left for an after dinner cocktail and had the waiter chase us down in the lounge to deliver our coffee, strange but a bit too late. Also while I had a decent meal of lobster, the pork sirloin my wife ordered had to be returned to the kitchen as it was almost still walking, so remember that when you order meats make sure you say “very well done”.
Pictures can be seen here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v126/hlywud/Catalonia%20Bavaro/?albumview=slideshow
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Andrea, Kevin, Courtney and Travis ~ Brampton, Ontario, Canada |
October 2008
Tour Company: Nolitours
Flight: Skyservice
Pictures: http://travel.webshots.com/album/568169858surVMc?vhost=travel
Travel and Arrival:
My boyfriend and I and his two children (Courtney and Travis -15yrs old) stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro from Oct 5-12, 2008. This was the children’s first time to the Dominican Republic and they were very excited.
We flew Skyservice from Toronto to Punta Cana on a mourning flight arriving in Punta Cana around 10:40am. Customs and Immigrations went smoothly and retrieving our luggage was quick. Once out of the terminal we found our Nolitours Rep to see what bus we were on. The transfer to the resort is only 15mins.
Check in/Rooms:
Once at the resort we were directed to a separate area to check in. Check was quick and our rooms were ready when we got there so we had the bellboy bring the luggage to the room.
Our rooms (913 and 914) were in building 9 on the second floor about half way to the beach or lobby. We all liked our rooms and found them quite nice. The few problems we did have were attended to quite quickly with what they call service express. The maids were just excellent keeping them clean and well stocked with coffee, water, pop, and beer.
Grounds:
The Catalonia is a mature well landscaped resort with lots of tropical vegetation and little ponds and rivers running throughout the resort with water fountains in most of them. It is well maintain and is quite beautiful.
Beach:
The beauty of Punta Cana is Bavaro beach and you won't be disappointed at the Catalonia. The beach area is large and gorgeous with lots of beach loungers so there is no problem getting a chair.
Each day the activities team would arrive around 10:00am to do their beach games and aqua aerobics in the ocean until 12:00pm and then they went off for their siesta. They apparently work from 9:00am until late into the evening when they help in the show and then off to the disco. They were just great.
Pool:
We don't spend much time at the pool since we prefer the beach but we had a chance to spend some time at it the first couple of days and it was well kept and clean. Beware that half the pool was drain on the third day we were there and was under renovations. They had a partition wall cemented in so the other half could be still used. It still left plenty of room to use the pool. Not sure when the whole pool will be done. You might want to find out from your travel agent if you are a pool person.
Bars:
We enjoyed the pool bar and the lobby bar the best and felt they made the best drinks. The beach bar drinks always seemed watery even if they were a frozen drink and we did not like them. A couple times a week the resort puts on a Coco Loco and Pina Colada bar next to the beach hut. They serve the drinks in a coconut or pineapple and are blended on the spot. These were just yummy. Make sure to check everyday to see if they are there.
Restaurants:
We ate mostly at the main buffet (Gran Caribe) and at the pool side grill snack bar. The buffet always had plenty of variety and the service there was excellent. The pizza was excellent at the pool side grill. Have to be quick though because it is always eaten up first. We did not bother with the a la carte restaurants because we found the main buffet food to great.
Show:
They do a children show from the kids club from 9:00 to 9:30pm every night and then Karaoke until 10:00 when the show starts. We watched three of the shows and they were good.
Staff and Activity Team:
The staff and workers at the resort were just great. Always smiling and always say Hola to you. We were very impressed with the activity team at this resort. Unlike other resorts I have been to this team is made up of people from around the world. When we talked to Shane who is from Canada he told us the resort is an international resort so the owners of the resort felt it would be in their best interest to hire people from other countries to help communicate and make guest more comfortable at their resort. Well for us it did, and made us feel more welcome at the resort.
Conclusion:
We got a really good deal for this resort and it was worth every penny. The kids just loved it and will never forget their first time in the D.R. Because of the Catalonia with its friendly atmosphere and its beautiful resort.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Steve and Judy ~ Toronto |
October 2008
My husband and I took a weeks vacation to this resort on October 3, 2008 and it will be the last.
On our third day of the vacation, we woke to find that half of the pool area was under construction and the other half was barely waist deep.
This was not told to us before we booked our trip and had we known the conditions, we certainly would have gone elsewhere. Over a 3 day period, the pool bar staff consistently had the volume of the music so loud that we could not have a conversation with people 3 feet away without yelling. And even after asking them time and time again to please turn the music down and complaining to Guest Services, we were ignored. This is appalling.
On the last day of our trip, we attempted to enjoy the pool again as the music was toned down at the time...but soon after "up it went again". Finally my huband and several other people went over to to the bar area to have the music returned to a tolerable level and were laughed at by the staff. Again Guest Services was called but nothing was done.
This is totally unacceptable. People pay good money to go on vacation to relax. Not to come home miserable.
The food we found to be OK but the same thing every day. We were disappointed in the advertising of the restaurants when we arrived as the interent said there was Parisean which we were looking forward to but when we asked about it, we were told it doesn't exist anymore.
The resort is listed as a 5 star. It doesn't even match the little resort we first stayed at 2 years ago which was a 3 1/2 star and much better run.
We will never return to this place and others we spoke with both younger and older than we, have agreed they would never return either.
If you're planning on booking a trip here, you might want to reconsider this one.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Sadna |
September 2008
August 17 to August 24 2008
I got a last minute deal all inclusive $1155 to Punta Cana. Went with a cousin and my son who is 11yrs old.
The trip was wonderful. Air Transat is good.
The check in was only 15mins and they took our luggage to our room.
The room is very neat and clean. The room has everything. We love the jaccuzzi and new washroom.
The weather was perfect from 30 to 35degree. No rain and no hurricanne.
The food, there was a large variety of them to choose from. We all enjoyed the buffet, restaurants, the pizza and the bbq.
On Monday they had beach party and it was the best.
The entertainment oh my God the staff work very hard to please everyone. Kids have the kids club, then live entertainment which was amazing. The dancers are very good. We danced after the show.
The kids love the magic show and the clown. The michael jackson show was wonderful. Good job!!!
After the entertainment we had live band music. Sometimes they play merengue and salsa and other slow dance.
Was okay.
The nightclub was good. Nice music. Good environment. And guess what the guys are very sexy, flirting and hot. I enjoyed dancing with them ahahha
For my son, there was a babysitter in the room. $10 per hour which was not a bad idea.
The staff speaks, english, french and spanish. The visitors were from all over the world, England, France, China, Italy, Germany, Canada and more........meet many people, made new friends.
The activities on the beach were amazing, we did running, jogging, yoga, meditation and learn dancing salsa and merengue.
If you are single no worries there are plenty of guys there lol lol
The check out was quick and we were very sad to come back to our home land Toronto. Felt sorry to leave the luxury and come to our routine work and school. Anyways thats life.
Conclusion:
Yes, I will recommend family, single and kids to this resort.
I will go there again.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Holly ~ Toronto |
August 2008
My husband and I (24 and 23) stayed at Hotel Catalonia from June 29th-July 6th 2008 for our honeymoon, and we had an amazing time.
Arrival and Flight
Everything went well, and check-in only took about 20 minutes.
Rooms
They were very nice and clean. The air conditioner was great, a little noisy sometimes, but it worked really well. There are no clocks in any of the rooms, so make sure you bring a watch.
We left 2-4 dollars everyday and had no problems with service.
Restaurants
We went to 2 a la carte restaurants, the italian and the steakhouse. Both were fabulous, probably our favourite meals! The main buffet was great too. Tons of selection, you can always find something you want. The omelet buffet in the mornings was phenomenal, and the pasta bar that you can get at lunch and dinner was awesome.
The little cafe by the pool was great too. Burgers, fries, chicken, salads, bacon, pizza and nachos. We ate lunch there most of the time.
Neither of us ate something we didn't like all week.
Bars
The pool bar had the best banana mamas of anywhere. We went to the lobby bar for a few drinks, they were good, ususally pretty strong. We didn't go to the disco or the casino.
Beach and Pools
The pool was amazing, we probably spent most of our time there. It was huge and clean and had a great swim-up bar.
We were a little disappointed with the beach. There were no waves, and the water wasn't all that nice. The sand and palm trees were beautiful, but we were expecting a little bit more because we heard punta cana had the best beaches.
Grounds
Really nice. Fun to walk through, they always had people working on things and cleaning.
Activities and Entertainment
We played basketball or tennis everyday, and we took dance lessons on the beach. The beach entertainment staff were great. The water aerobics and dancing are perfect if you don't want to sit around. We only went to one night show. It was entertaining, but nothing special. They really can dance though!!
Departure and Check Out
It went fine.
Conclusion
We had an awesome time. Neither of us had been to an all-inclusive before so we thought it was amazing. The food was fantastic, and overall it was just relaxing and fun. I've already recommended it to my parents and friends. We wouldn't come back here only because we really love waves at the beach. Everything else was really awesome though.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Julie ~ Michigan |
May 2008
Arrival and Flight
We flew on USA3000 out of Detroit on a 6:00 a.m. flight. The Apple Vacation check in at the terminal was quick and organized. The flight was direct to Punta Cana. Comfort was normal, in flight movie was nice to pass the time.
We love the open airport facility at Punta Cana. I am thinking they have made additions to this airport since we were last there. Terminal 2 is all fancy, fancy and air conditioned, with shops and food.....nice. Transportation to the resort was quick.
Rooms
We checked in around 11:30 a.m. Our rooms were not quite ready, but by the time we found lunch and came back, we were able to check in. Our rooms were very nice. We asked for a building near the beach and it was very convenient Villa 4). We loved the big bed and the big round tub. Our maid service was great. She always took care of us. Sometimes she cleaned in the morning and sometimes late afternoon. No matter. It was always cleaned; we always had fresh towels; we always had water and beer in the fridge!
We were travelling with our whole family including a daughter and son-in-law who were flying in a few hours later out of San Francisco. The staff were very helpful with our request to have rooms together. We loved the way the rooms are grouped together at the ends of the building instead of a long hallway. We felt like we had our own wing!
We all had small issues at times with facilities, but we were all also in the same mindset. Vacation!!! Who cares!!! One cold shower, a plugged toilet, one roving bug, a scary hammock (watch out, they can fall down:) but none of it made a dent in our fun. I've traveled to many countries......that is just life!
Restaurants
We really enjoyed the food and drinks at this resort. This is our third Punta Cana resort. Good food. Remember that these people are trying to please hundreds of people a day. I think they did an amazing job. We ate at all of the specialty restaurants, buffets and snack bar. We especially enjoyed the Italian (used to be French) and the Japanese. The Mexican was also very good. We rated the Steakhouse the lowest, but it was still fine. Steaks in D.R. are a little different. I ordered fish.....it was great. In fact, eat fish as often as you see it on a menu or in a buffet. It is always grand. We had shrimp, lobster, mahi, tilapia, salmon.......then move on to fruit! The fruit is glorious! Try mango, passion fruit, pineapple, banana dishes...... Another tip: all of the breads and pastries are made fresh. They are to die for. We ate lunches most often at the beach/pool restaurant. It was so convenient and the menu was just as good as the big buffet. Okay....another must? The pizza. Unexpectedly, we ate pizza every day from the snack bar. We watched the chef roll out fresh dough and bake it in a stone-fired pizza oven. It was better than any here in the states.
Last but not least...breakfast!! Don't miss it. Okay...enough on food.
Bars
We enjoyed all of the bar environments. Our favorite, however, was the little tiny bar hut north on the beach. The bartender, Martin, was the best and friendliest man ever. What a great friend! The lobby bar is fun in the evening. You can play pool there and even check out games, such as Scrabble, to play. The pool bar was always quite the party. We only stopped there a couple of times later in the week after a long day on the beach. I think the poor staff at the swim up bar have to deal with lots of people having "lots" of fun. They still remain patient, although stoic.
Beach and Pools
The beach is beautiful! We snorkeled right near the swim area every day. The fish are awesome. The water is calm because of the reef area near there. It is a lovely greenish blue. Huge sand beach with lots of chairs. We did go down as early as possible and drank our coffee on the beach so that we could have a shady palapa. It's not that hard to find one, as some people have stated. Pool is large and nice. We didn't spend much time there.
Grounds
The grounds are well maintained and beautiful. Take time to enjoy all of the different flowers, trees and bushes. Look closely for the little lizards, turtles, frogs, birds, ducks, etc. It is wonderful. I watched hummingbirds dive all around. I watched these cute little birds building a nest in the palm tree. So cute! Truly don't miss all of the little magic.
Activities and Entertainment
The shows are very nice and the staff works very hard. When do these people sleep!!!? We enjoyed the water sports, such as the kayaks and the catamarans. We played some of the beach games and we love volleyball on the beach.
Tours
We did two snorkelling trips, but we don't bother with the organized tours. Just walk down the beach and find a fella with a boat and they will take you out to a good area. (No, we really are not nuts....we love these guys!) I'm not sure why people hesitate to get to know the areas up and down the beach.
Departure and Check Out
We hated to go. Departing stinks :) They made it easy and we had no problems, except that they didn't beg us to to stay another week....free. :)
Conclusion
I highly recommend the Catalonia. It was a bargain and we had a great time. We have enjoyed all the resorts we have visited in D.R. The people are wonderful. Take a shot at their language. They appreciate it, I think.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Geoff |
May 2008
My wife and I stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro from Jan.10-24 2008. Overall the holiday was fine, but beware... something seemed a bit off about the whole thing.
Flight & Check-in:
Our flight left Winnipeg right on schedule and arrived at Punta Cana airport around 4 PM. I'm stunned at how quickly you're able to whisk through here! We pulled into the Catalonia about twenty minutes later. We were very impressed when we got off the bus. The main lobby is huge with lots of places to lounge about. The main bar, restaurants, and shopping strip are all located close by.
The guy at the front desk was a smart-ass and very condescending (first of many). He told us someone would take our bags and give us a ride to our room in fifteen minutes. We got sick of waiting so after an hour we walked off on or own carrying our luggage with us.
I’d emailed the resort a few weeks before arriving and begged for a room near the ocean. We were happy to see our building was closest to the beach! This resort is HUGE and the grounds are very well maintained. Our room was WWAAYY down at the far end but we never minded the long walk.
Room:
Our second floor room (#116) had a view of the ocean which was really nice. The balcony had a relaxing hammock that I used daily. The bed was GREAT! Soft and comfy. The bathroom was huge with a big round Jacuzzi style tub (which we never used). The shower was tiny but the water was always hot. Air conditioning never let us down.
Maid service was atrocious... We'd leave our room early in the morning and come back late in the afternoon and it still hadn't been cleaned. There were two days it was never touched at all! We left $2-3 on the pillow every day but it never made any difference (is that too cheap??).
Pool & Beach:
The Catalonia's big, twisting pool is its high point. The water was always clean and cool and there were always plenty of loungers close by. We spent a lot of time around here.
The beach was nice, lots of sand between the resort and the water. There are no resorts on either side for miles so walking wasn't too good. You quickly ran into washed up seaweed and garbage as soon as you stepped off resort property.
We couldn't see what was so great about the Royal side. The beach area was small and nowhere near as nice as the normal side. We saw a lot of red (royal) wrist bands all throughout our part of the resort.
The ocean was shallow and very calm, no waves at all. Very warm.
Food & Drinks:
The main buffet food was...unique. It wasn't really good, but it wasn't all that bad. After a couple of days we knew what was safe and what was best left untouched. Needless to say, weight gain from overeating wasn't a big concern. This is important to note in my opinion because I'll eat ANYTHING. I have a stomach of iron but this place made me think twice. My wife got terribly sick on the last two days and she was convinced it was a bad wiener (don't laugh).
We were really impressed with our one meal at the French restaurant. Fantastic food and service! Too bad we couldn't eat there every day.
The beach restaurant was more of what the main buffet had to serve except the service was a lot worse. We ate there three or four times then gave up on it altogether. Take your own travel mug and help yourself to coffee here or you'll never get one!
The pool snack bar was the best! They made fresh pizzas, hotdogs, burgers and fries here. All fantastic! There was also a soft ice cream machine and hot nachos.
The main bar in the lobby was too small to accommodate a 700+ room resort. If you didn't get a seat by seven it the evening, you'd have a tough time finding one later on. Drinks were just okay, lots of variety but nothing special. Coco Locos were the most popular.
The pool bar was pretty busy all the time and sometimes it was just better to get a waiter’s attention with a nice tip. He’d serve you the rest of the day right at your lounger.
The Swim-up bar was nice and shady.
Staff:
Here's where things seemed the most off. Most of the staff didn't smile, and completely ignored you when you walked by them. They almost seemed put out when you tried to talk to them and one waitress even rolled her eyes at me when I gave her a dollar tip for bringing me a drink.
I have a feeling the bad service was a result of poor management.
We met one waitress who worked at the small crepes and coffee place at the end of the shopping strip. She was the nicest person on the resort and we looked forward to seeing her every night after supper.
The animation team worked hard and the nightly show was first rate. The dancers are great!
Misc:
Internet service was pretty good. The girls that worked there were friendly and forgiving with the time that was given to you.
The shops were well stocked but once again the service was lousy in most of them.
There’s a nice little golf course attached to the resort but we never tried it out.
The disco was fun but a little smoky at times.
Check Out:
We asked for the late check-out option three days before leaving but they said the resort would be too busy to do that for us. That was unfortunate because check-out was at 11AM and our bus didn’t pick us up until 7:45PM. My poor wife was too sick to do anything but writhe and run off occasionally to vomit. We were stuck staying on one of the lobby couches while I looked after her for the entire nine hours! I was a little surprised that no employee came over and asked if everything was alright.
Overall:
Food - not the best but tolerable
Staff - same as the food
Grounds - beautiful, A+++ pool and snack bar
Beach - nice but limited walking
I would go to the Catalonia again only if I saw a REALLY good deal. I definitely wouldn't put it on my short list of resorts to revisit
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Karen ~ Toronto, Ontario
|
April 2008
Arrival and Flight March 6-13, 2008 Air Transat . The flight was pleasant. Arrival was smooth. The check in was great considering it was March break and there were many people with us on the same flight going to the Catalonia.
Rooms The rooms were clean and spacious. The fridge was stocked daily with beer, pop and bottled water. The showers were small but fine.
Restaurants We tried all the a la carte restaurants and all were very good. Our favourites were the American and the Japanese. The buffets one by the beach and one by the main entrance were enjoyable. There was plenty of good food, fresh fruits and theme nights. You will not go hungry they have something for everyone.
Bars The bars were hopping and the service was good.
Beach and Pools The beach is just beautiful and the pool is huge with a great swim up bar and a fantastic snack bar that serves bbq chicken, wood oven pizza, fries, natchos and cheese, burgers and hot dogs.
Grounds The grounds are beautiful and kept clean.
Activities and Entertainment There was lots to do the animation team had plenty of activities going if you so wished to participate!
Tours Many tours to choose from. We went to Saona Isand and had a fantastic day. We went on a catamaran to the island. We drank, danced and sang on the way. Had a great beach bbq on the island. Enjoyed the great weather and on the way back we stopped to swim on a sand bar in the middle of the ocean and drink some more. Saona Island was a great full day trip.
Departure and Check Out The departure and check out was smooth and quick. We didn't have any problems at all.
Conclusion The Catalonia is not a 5 Star hotel. I would give it 4-41/2 Stars. For the price it is an excellent holiday that I would recommend to my friends and family.
We had a great time and would go back again. The fact that the weather was amazing really made our stay that much nicer. The staff are friendly and helpful and we never had any language barrier issues during our stay.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Zachary |
March 2008
Just returned from Punta Cana and stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort...definitely not a 5 star!!I would give it maybe a 3 star. Buffet food basic and less than cafeteria fare.Rooms basic , our shower had no walls and we didn't have a tub , just a square in the floor.I asked for an upgrade but was told all the rooms looked the same.Pools ok but could use some paint. Found the desk staff very disorganized and not at all helpful, I guess they figure once they have you there you are at their mercy.When I saw that they call themselves a 5 star I thought I should write a review so that some poor unsuspecting couple doesn't spend their honeymoon there thinking it is like the other 5 stars.I am glad for these websites now I always check before I travel.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Pat |
February 2008
Just returned from a week (Feb 15 - Feb 22) at this great resort. Before leaving, I read the reviews and was a bit apprehensive as to what to expect because of the negative reviews. My suggestion to you - ignore the negative reviews. This resort is great. Remember, you are on "Dominican" time and 15 minutes can mean an hour. Relax and enjoy your holiday - don't sweat the small stuff.
The flight was at 6:20 am on Air Transat out of Pearson Int. and it was a smooth, uneventful flight. Nothing special but that's okay. Once in Punta Cana we went through very quickly and without too much hassle. Men will come up and ask to carry your luggage but just say "No Gracias" and they are fine and will usually leave you alone. You are only a few feet from the bus anyways. Check-in at the hotel was painless and you receive 2 keys, 2 towel cards and a safe lock & key. This is free, except, if you lose the key to the lock it is $30 or the towel cards and room keys also have cost to replace lost keys. The towel game was apparently on at the hotel, we didn't experience it to much. Once someone picked up one of our towels at the beach, but we were able to call them on it and got it back right away.
We stayed in Villa 2 which is right on the beach and close to the beach buffet restaurant and pool. The room was very spacious and had 2 twin beds, which were very comfortable. There is a hammock on the balcony for relaxing after a long day. Each room had a huge round bathtub (which fit 2) with a separate shower. Water pressure was good and usually had lots of hot water. Sometimes around dinner time it may not be super hot because everyone was using it at the same time.
The beach has lots of palm trees and a nice breeze. You can walk for miles. The sea grass on the beach is cleaned up every morning. If you want to reserve a palapa with your towel, you need to be at the beach by 7:00 -7:30 am. People reserve, even though there is a sign on the beach saying this is prohibited.
If you walk on the beach to the right of the resort, you will come to some vendor shacks. Make sure you barter - you can usually get what you want for a quarter of what their starting price is. We got the best prices from Alex,who has the last shack not attached to the rest of the "mall".
The pool is huge and has lots of lounge chairs, but if you want one under a palapa, you need to be at the pool between 7:00 and 7:30 am with your towel. Martin at the swim up bar makes a great Miami Vice!
The animation team always has some activity happening at the beach or pool. The shows in the evening start at 10:00 pm and are very repetitious, but they do try very hard.
The food was very good. The main buffet and a la carte restaurants are about a 10 minute walk from the beach & pool, so we usually ate breakfast at the beach buffet and at lunch time, we ate at the pizza & hamburger stand, which also had rotisserie chicken and fries. We ate at all the a la cartes except the Mexican. They were all good, with the Steakhouse being the best. I had lobster at the French restaurant and it was good, but not like in Cuba. Make sure you try the creperie that is in the Shopping Plaza by the lobby. They serve great banana splits and caramel crepes.
The Royal side is not worth the extra money from what we could see. They have a very small private beach, which didn't have very many people. They also have a private pool and a la carte restaurants. Looked very stuffy and boring!!
We went parasailing. That a rush! It is only $85 US for 2 and is well worth the money. You book at the watersport hut and they take you down the beach a ways in a speed boat where you meet another boat that will take you parasailing. It is beautiful.
All in all, it was a great vacation and I would go back to this resort. Go for it, and have a great time!!!
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Debbie ~ Barrie,Ont. |
February 2008
My family and I just returned from Catalonia Bavaro in Punta Cana, we have travelled 4 times to this same resort because we loved it there so much. This visit things have changed, I understand the ownership has changed hands and in my opinion it shows. This trip we almost had to begg for water daily, we were given 2 small bottles daily in our room. Our 3 children in the other room were given 3 bottles. It was not from a lack of a tip because we tipped both rooms daily. In most cases we had to call front desk more than once to get more water. My children had 3 twin beds in their room 2 had comforters on and 1 didnt, the day we left my daughter still didnt have a comforter, we also asked daily for that. The plumbing system in their room was so horrible we had to have it fixed twice in 3 days, and also I noticed a tremendous amount of cock roaches. We were also not given enough towells daily for each of us and we had to call front desk one night because my kids didnt have any towells to shower at all, the housekeeping took them out but didnt supply new ones. While we were on the bus to the resort the guy who try to make you laugh said this is a 5 star hotel, I laughed I thought 4 at best, after this visit I am not sure I would rate it that. I have been to the Royal Side also, you are treated little better there perhpas a 4 star. Needless to say we will not be going back, it was decided this trip, which is sad because we enjoyed to vacation there.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Derek ~ Niagara |
February 2008
Arrival - We arrived on Feb 9th. We were lucky enough to have our rooms ready. We received a drink and our room package. We then took a quick golf cart ride to our room.
Rooms -
The room was great. An interesting design but one of the best I have ever stayed in. We had a junior suite, with a king bed. The mattress was great not to hard or soft. We had a sitting area and a hammock on our patio. The shower could have been a little bigger.
Restaurants -
The main buffet was good. This is the one area where I think the resort can improve on. However i never went away hungry and could always find something eat. At the main buffet, look for Willian. He is great, took very good care of us. We never had to ask for anything he was always there!!
Mexican not to great but okay
American or Steakhouse was great we enjoyed the steaks and took the leftover fat and bones to some of the dogs who hang out up the beach from the resort.
Persian Great my wife and I had Filet Mingon(spl)? and Lobster! Both really good.
Bars -
Great never had any issues with getting drinks. The main bar at night had a problem with keeping up with specific drinks. People are always ordering Bannana Mama's so the mix was always running low and there was never enough time for the mix to chill properly. Not the resorts fault. People just like those drinks.
Beach and Pools -
The beach was great we never had any issues getting chairs. There are numerous trees and huts for shade. There is only one beach bar. Sand was great and so was the water. Great snorkling.
Grounds -
Lots of vegetation and well taken care of. Lots of fish, turltes, ducks around the resort.
Activities -
Many to choose from and no pressure to participate. Fernando on the animation team is great, very friendly and a lot of fun
Conclusion -
This is the first resort that my wife and I would go back to. We like to go to different resorts everytime we travel. But we would definately go back.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Stephen and Margaret ~ Ancaster, ON
|
January 2008
Our first trip to the Dominican Republic and Punta Cana.
Flight was okay. Wish we had known there were seat upgrades available at the airport before departure. I would definitely inquire next time. (if the extra cost fits our budget)
Arrival and bus to the resort went smoothly. Check-in went smoothly, except for a key to an already occupied room. Fellow that came To the door was in good humour, though another chap who came back to the front desk had a less than cordial encounter.
The rest of our experience was great. The room we eventually got, around 11:30 pm was excellent. The bellboy was very helpful And eager to make up for the earlier miscue. Management also called the next morning to apologize.
I would also check for an earlier arrival flight next time, in case of any late night miscues.
The front lobby was large, very nicely designed for open air breezes, nicely connected to a lounge and bar, with adjacent access to the grand carribe buffet restaurant, casino, shops, internet café, and entertainment stage and disco.
I am a non smoker but the open air design prevented any smoke build up and was no bother at all.
Excellent snack bar near the large, clean swimming pool.
The grounds were very nice and very well kept. The food was to excellent. Though some have expressed a preference for the Cuban Menus, we found the food here much better than the 4 ½ star resort we stayed at in Veradaro. And the grounds much better and cleaner.
The beach was beautiful and well kept. Though the water was a little nicer at Veradaro.
The staff was friendly, and helpful. Did not feel pressured to tip, but the tips were always well received.
Room was clean, lots of space, inside and a balcony with a hammock and rocker outside.
Golf course was expensive for ($65. for 9 holes) and not that nice. Suggest somewhere else if you like to golf.
Recommend dining at the Grand Carribe buffet or the beach buffet. The a la carte restaurants were okay, but we enjoyed the choice at the buffets.
For the price we felt it was well worth it and would definitely go there again.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Canada |
December 2007
We have just returned from a weeklong stay at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort. We travelled with two teenagers from the west coast of Canada (8 hour flight). Before booking this resort, we read many review from this site - they were mixed so we felt like we were taking a chance. We have lots of experiences at all-inclusive resorts (7 resorts) in Mexico (all 4.5 star and 5 star) so we have plenty to compare this one to. This was our first trip to the DR and we were nervous.
FLIGHT: long but this has nothing to do with the resort.
DR AIRPORT: arrived on time. Given very little direction once off the plane as to where to proceed. Basically forced to have your photograph taken before you can enter the airport building. Very windy. Waited in a hot and humid area for luggage to tumble on to an inefficient conveyor belt (keep a close eye because luggage fell off easily). Once you gather your belongings, you start to head for next section and all of a sudden you are accosted by locals who want to carry your luggage (they expect tips and will not take "no" for an answer). Tip: hold on to your luggage, don't let go, say "no gracious", have your hotel reservation documents ready, proceed to your tour provider's kiosk and get the bus number that will take you to your resort - proceed quickly through the locals that want to take your luggage 50 feet or so to your bus. Once you get to your bus, watch and make sure that your luggage is placed in the lower part of the bus. Show your hotel reservation documents to the rep and off you go onto the bus.
BUS RIDE: air-conditioned bus. Not a bumpy ride as others have said. It is a 15 to 20 minute ride to the resort.
ARRIVAL: leave your luggage to be removed by the hotel staff and proceed directly to the lobby desk. Again, have your hotel reservation documents and ID ready. There is then a strange three step procedure: (a) reception representative checks documents and ID (make sure all members of your party are present there at the desk when you do this; (b) move to your right and obtain the "all-inclusive" bracelet and then go get your luggage; and (c) stay in the lobby area with your luggage [one or two could go get drinks for all from the lobby bar] and eventually they will start to call out names and pass out plastic envelopes/pouches with your room number, one room key, 4 ala carte reservations, 2 towel cards and a map. You can leave your luggage with a porter to bring to your room or, as we did, just carry your stuff to your room. Rooms are numbered with the first number being your Villa. Example: 102 is room #2 in Villa 1. Tip: just ask one of the porters to point you in the direction of your room - there are signs and rooms are easy to find. We were right at the beach which is the farthest from the lobby - great rooms! Once you check out your room and you like it, or find it acceptable, go back to the lobby and they will make another key (or 2 or 3). That is the procedure.
POOL: large with a swim up pool bar. Unfortunately, lots of intoxicated guests who are loud. Games are played in the pool, such as water polo and volleyball. Same music played over and over - you get used to it. The pool is clean and the water is a nice temperature. There is nice vegetation throughout. Only issue: if you have kids they will be exposed to topless European women sunbathing (aged 55+). One gets used to this after awhile BUT seems out of place in a family oriented resort. The hotel does not care one way or the other. I am not a prude but there is a time and place......
ACTIVITY STAFF: excellent. They are very friendly and motivated to make sure that everyone who wants to participate has a chance. There are countless activities - check the activity board: pool and beach volleyball, darts, bocce, archery, beach basketball free-throws, beach soccer, tennis, etc. The sad part was that the tennis courts are run down (there are only 2) and need resurfacing and filling of the pot-holes. We all like tennis and play year round at home. This was disappointing. We only played once.
BEACH: the true gem of this resort. The water is quite clear. There are large patches of sea grass (brown) which house sea-life. The water is blue-green and beautifully warm. It was warmer than the pool. The sand is truly powdery white sand. The weather was quite hot (27 to 30 C) but your feet did not burn on the sand. There was always a nice cool breeze so the heat is not offensive - it was perfect. Lots of pallapas - but it is a good idea to get out there by 8 am to "reserve" your hut for the day. Lots of clean beach chairs/loungers. Again, for families with kids - there are topless European women sunbathing and walking the beach. We were at the beach all day, every day.
WEATHER: it can get windy. Our first 2 days were quite windy on the beach. Some stacked loungers up to break the wind. On those days, catamarans are not allowed out. On those days, it is best to be pool side (much less wind) BUT it did not bother us that much on the beach. Clouds come in and depart fairly rapidly. It rained once for 5 minutes and then stopped. On the 4th night, it rained hard all night (we were in bed) but the sun was out early in the morning and that was the end of that.
ROOMS: basic, clean, no bugs (except for a few on the bathroom counter which the maid took care of without us asking). Nice ceiling fan. You get either a king size bed and a side twin guest bed OR two twins and a side twin guest bed. The beds were comfortable, not hard, and the bedding was clean. The pillows were variable in size and firmness. Blinds have "blackout" layers which is nice. Rooms are on the dark side. There is a small sitting area and mini-fridge stocked daily with soft-drinks water and beer. We never ran out of bottled water. Terrace/balcony has a hammock and rocking chair - very relaxing. There is a large closet to hang your clothes and a large dresser. The bathroom only has one sink. It has a large soaker tub BUT a small shower. The shower could be bigger but did the job. We were not in the room much except to bathe, sleep and change clothes. We liked the location of our room because we hung out at the beach every day. We were on the ground floor and were very happy with the locations. It did mean a longer walk to the lobby and restaurants - no problem for us - we liked the walk.
EXCURSIONS: we planned on the Senoa Island tour BUT it is an all day affair. We decided to pass as we liked the resort so much. I think that if we were staying for two weeks, we would have ventured out more.
BUFFET RESTAURANTS: there are two main buffets. The larger one is next to the lobby called the Grand Caribe. There is a smaller one next to the beach - it has virtually everything that the larger one has for breakfast and lunch. We preferred the beach buffet. Also there is an excellent snack bar next to the pool with burgers, hot dogs, pizza (very good) from a wood oven, fries and roast chicken.
ALA CARTES: from best to least favourites - French (excellent lobster and filet mignon), steakhouse (excellent T-bone and rib-eye steak - stay away from the ribs), Japanese (just OK) and Mexican. We all agreed that we felt rushed at all of these restaurants. None of the restaurants were full but there was this urgency to get you in, fed and get you out.
BEACH BBQ: every Monday night. Food was same as buffet - stay away from the ribs - but cold. The entertainment was poor. The kid’s entertainment went on forever. Wish we had skipped it and gone ala carte.
BARS: beach bar was excellent but no premium liquor. Lobby bar is big, but the bartenders need an attitude adjustment. Tip: don't go to the bar, just sit at a table and a waitress will take care of you and it will be faster. There is also a martini bar - occasional - we did not try it. We were disappointed that the hotel did not offer top shelf brand names. All of the liquor was local, from vodka to scotch to rum. The rum is quite good but gets old fast. I asked for different Brands, but was told that they did not have it. I took a look at the shelf myself but could not identify any premium liquors.
DISCO: it was fine. Lively. Activity staff does their best to make it fun. The disco also has 2 full-time dancers that are pleasant. Our 16 year old took a liking to Carolina - she danced with many guests and tried to get everyone involved. Try it - as far as all-inclusives go, this was the best disco I had seen.
CATAMARANS: a must do. You can get lessons for $25 - not much instruction though, but they require this before you can go solo (unless you can prove to them that you have the experience). Well worth taking these out. You have to book the day before and get there early (10 am).
SHOPPING: as you face the ocean, turn right and walk past the Royal section (which looks dead and boring) and walk past the protruding palm tree - takes only 5 minutes and you end up at a string of 15 shops. Good bargains. BUT beware, the vendors are not all the same. Go to store #1 (they are numbered) and deal with the guy running that. He speaks 4 languages and is very pleasant - no pressure sales and good selection. He will take US$, C$, Euros, or Canadian Tire $ (that was his pitch - so the next day I brought him some and he had a good laugh). His sales pitch is "Deal or no deal, but we stay friends". He trusted us such that he wanted me to take this very large painting (I did not have enough $ the first day with me) and to pay him later. I went back the next day, bought the painting and thanked him for trusting a stranger - he said that in 4 years no one had ever stiffed him - I doubt that would happen here.
GOLF: very expensive - $65 for 9 holes and $80 for 18. Course did not look that great.
CHECK OUT: if you have a late flight (ours was at 11:45 pm), with a noon check out, spring for a late check out ($45) for 6 pm. It is worth it. When you are ready to leave, call the lobby and they will send a bell-hop with a golf cart for you and your luggage.
TIPS: we tipped regularly. We were never pressured (except by the locals at the airport) by the hotel staff. They were genuinely surprised by the tips and almost reluctant to take the money. We tipped the maids daily ($2 to $5), bartenders daily, towel lady (very nice) at the end of our stay, waiters each time (ala carte) and the buffet waiters that brought us drinks. We even tipped the dancers at the disco because they put on great dance shows, were polite and shared their life stories with us about growing up in the DR. Unlike Mexico, the staff did not seem to expect tips and tips did NOT bring better service. They work very hard and we wanted to show our appreciation. Simply put - they are very nice people, genuinely concerned that you have a good time and honest to the core.
SPANISH: now, it would help to learn a few phrases just to let the staff know that you are trying to get to know them. They truly do appreciate it. The resort also offers lessons.
CONCLUSION: sorry for the long review. I felt obliged to do so as we relied heavily on the earlier reviews when we booked. If you are considering this resort, don't put much weight on the negative reviews. No place is perfect. I would recommend this place to friends and family and, yes, I would go back. This is a beautiful area with a beach that is amazing and some of the friendliest people that you will ever encounter. Overall, I prefer the DR to Mexico now that I have seen for myself. This area lacked the "tourist" feel that you get in Mexico and, again, the beach is spectacular - photos do not do justice.
Enjoy your stay if you go. If you are on the fence, give it a try - you won't be disappointed. We just loved it and loved the area – Punta Cana is a must see.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Erika |
December 2007
We stayed at the Catalonia from December 14-21. Arrived with Air Transat and everything went smoothly, minus a delay getting our bags. We had a fantastic week of sunshine, relaxation, good food, music and made many new friends, both fellow guests and the staff.
Very spacious room, it was showing it's age a bit but the mini bar and hammock were nice touches. King bed was awesome, slept very well.
Favorite food was the wood fired pizza next to the pool! Amazing! All of the al-a-cartes were very good. I went against advice and tried the steak at the french restaurant and it was delicious and tender. Rotisserie chicken at the pool restaurant was also very good. Breakfast omlettes were excellent.
The lobby bar does carry some premium liquor, but we only saw it being served a couple days of the week, I think because it would sell out first. Favorite spot was the beach bar (hut) on the far right side of the beach (opposite end from the water sports). Beer was available in the room also.
We spent all our time at the beach, between sun and shade. The palapas were all reserved by about 9am, so if you want some shade, get there early. Right out front of the resort there are plentiful fish, some very shallow and others deeper, but within the swimming area. Feed them some bread from the buffet, they will swim around you. You don't have to go deeper than to your knees.
Beautiful landscaping, constantly being groomed/trimmed. Large ponds with fish, turtles, birds. Many tree varieties are identified. I noticed a mango tree and orange tree with fruit!
There is much to participate in, if you wish (volleyball, soccer, aerobics, stretching, dancing, spanish lessons, painting lessons). If you don't wish, no one will hassle you to. I would have liked to take advantage of the catamaran lesson for $25. Once you have been trained, you can take the catamaran, once reserved, for an hour a day for free. We didn't attend the evening shows, and I know many people have complained about the shows, but all I can say is, 'don't go to them'. Instead we would go down to the beach and look at the stars while enjoying an after dinner drink. Or lounge in your own private hammock.
We participated in the 4-wheeler half-day excursion. It was fun to see a bit of the Domincan countryside. See Benny near the towel pickup window. $60 for a double (two people per machine).
I would recommend this resort to couples and families. The beach is the best I've seen (above Holguin and Mayan Riveriera, in my opinion). Staff just want to please you, they attempt to communicate in MANY languages, the restaurants accomodate all taste preferences and eating styles. We made an effort with some basic spanish and they really appreciated and encouraged it. We gave small tips to staff that offered easy smiles, quick service and even cracked a joke or two. They really out do themselves at the al-a-cartes! Think of what you would tip for a multi-course dinner in a beautiful restaurant at home. They really appreciated the tip, but wouldn't withold service if you didn't tip. It was the best caribbean vacation we've had, defintely the sunniest and hottest (for this time of year over the last 4 years)!!! Enjoy! They love Canadians!!
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Ron |
December 2007
My wife and I just got back from the Dominican Republic, where we spent a glorious week staying at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort. After reading some of the negative reviews by others prior to going, it was very apparent that the people writing the negative reviews could be satisfied anywhere they would stay. Sure, some of the quirks of the service will frustrate you but you have to remember when in Rome do as the Romans. Remember you are on “Dominican” time. The hotel is a complete package that will meet the needs of most. However, I would not recommend for singles but any couple or family will love this self contained resort. The food is plentiful and selection adequate. However one thing to remember is when going to one of the ala carte restaurants is they do not always have a fully stocked bar in all of them so be prepared for a limited selection (if that is what matters to you). The room we stayed in was clean and well maintained even for North American standards. The beach is beautiful and sandy. They clean the sea weed that washes up constantly and is only a minor nuisance. The grounds are lush and manicured with birds all over. We found most of the staff friendly (some of the cooks at the buffet could smile once and awhile) and willing to please. If you are going down do yourself a favor and learn some Spanish it will go along way in getting better service. We would both definitely recommend the Catalonia Bavaro Resort.
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| Catalonia Bavaro Resort |
Lynn |
September 2007
Our trip was very last minute. We booked on the Wednesday night and flew out of toronto on the Friday morning.(Sept 7th) Flight was your normal sardine can with iffy food, but what the heck…gets you there. We flew Nolitours and landed first in Puerto Plata where we went thru a totally useless customs check, and promptly reboarded the plane. I think that service here could be greatly improved if they just had a holding area for in transit customers. Not sure why we had to get off the plane as they did not clean or re-fuel.
Arrived in Punta Cana after a further 40 minute flight, to beautiful sun and warmth and the pretty PC airport with its thatched roofs and stone interior. Baggage came off quickly and we exited the airport to find our “personal chauffeur” Sign and everything!! Our good friend Mike from Sunscape was there to meet us.
This review is the first that I have written that is about a vacation experience instead of just the resort experience so please bear with me . Mike loaded his trusty little mazda with our bags and I took my spot in the backseat and let the husband ride up front. Of course as we were three hours early for check in at the Catalonia Bavaro..Mike suggested maybe a drink…or two..and drove us past our resort to a little bar, that I immediately knew must be the much talked about “Corner Bar” We had some beers and talked to a few of the staff there with Mike and of course the shoeshine boys came…the little one did a great job of Greg’s sneakers! He was rewarded with a few pesos and a brand new basketball jersey…We were rewarded with a huge smile. Mike bought the boys a sprite at the bar and they were happy campers. So to the resort we go
Now we have been in the country for 3 hours and just getting to Catalonia. Mike took us to check in which was quick and painless and a bellboy drove us to our room
Upon entering the room we noticed how clean and well laid out it was. It had a small room in marble that housed the toilet and a small shower. Very clean and well maintained. Across the hall was a larger room with no door. It had a large vanity with sink…large mirrored door closet with safe (no deposit) and a huge 2 person round tub. Lovely.
The main part of the room had terra cotta tile floor with large (comfy) king size bed with very clean sheets and comforter, a chair, and sofa, end tables and a dresser with mirror. Coffee maker was on the dresser with coffee and all the fixins and mugs. Decent tv with lots of english channels and a movie channel. On the porch was a nice rocking chair and a little drink table as well as a wonderful hammock.
My husband Greg and Mike immediately decided I needed to go to the bar and bring them some beers. Hmm. Sounds just like home. I went and got them and to my surprise they had the right stuff for my fav martini’s. Frangelico and Baileys. At home I would mix an ounce of each over ice. They filled a cocktail glass! Oops. Oh well I loved it.
Mike stayed at the Catalonia and had dinner with us. No one seemed to mind and to be honest I think a lot of them where hoping that Mike was looking for help at Sunscape the Beach lol, but alas by 7 or 8 we were done. So tired.
On the Saturday we explored the resort..found the pool and beach and booked our alacartes. Found all the staff to be friendly with exception of the managers that drove around on golf carts. They looked miserable and wouldn’t even give you an hola.
Pool was large and had deep areas to it. Big fountain in the middle in a secluded area plus a large jacuzzi in an alcove. Could use a coat of paint but no problem. People were always cleaning it. Plenty of lounges and palapas around the pool. Oh and of course a pool bar. Service was ok there but not great..However they hung fresh bananas to eat and they put fruit kabobs out on covered trays which was a nice touch. The only problem that we could see at the pool was that the whole pool deck is painted in a dark red brick colour. While it looks nice it is HOT and you need to take your flip flops to the edge of pool or run like heck.
Pool had a great snack bar with fresh rotissere chicken from 10 am to 6 pm. They also served hotdogs, hamburgs, natchos with cheese sauce, french fries and many different types of pizza. Lots of shade to find to sit and eat your lunch. They also had a self serve icecream machine.
Beach was fabulous. I thought I would never beat the beaches on the south coast in La Romana but I was wrong. Crystal clear water and very calm..lots of snorkling right at the shore. Soft cool white sand. This is one of the only times I have spent much time on the beach. Normally I stick to the pool but this beach was too nice to miss. There was a buffet at the beach which was open at 8 for breakfast and then had lunch..closed at 5pm.
Food. Fantastic.
Caribe buffet is the main restaurant and was pretty good. The service for coffee in the morning could be a little slow but as the week went on we made friends with William and he was fantastic..Variety at all meals here was decent but not as much variety as we have had at other resorts, however you could always find something nice to eat.
French! My favourite alacarte. Lobster was large and grilled to perfection. We had the good luck of having William here and that added to the experience. Chilled wine at the table was a nice touch. Greg was a piggy and had the steak entrée and the lobster! They were great about it.
Mexican Gregs favourite alacarte. I had chicken tacos for app but they were more like a chicken roll up deep fried…but they were very good. Greg had a pork chimichanga for his starter and said it was excellent. For main we had the fajitas. I had chicken greg had steak and they also were very good. We were very happy to get bottles of corona with our meal. Very very nice
Japanese was very good with the chef putting on quite the show while he cooked for you. Starters were sushi and miso soup. You got both. I ate neither. But Greg said it was nice. You have the choice of 4 entrees and all looked good. I had the fried rice with chicken on the side and it was good. While it was very good this was my least favourite restaurant, a lot to do with how hot it was and uncomfortable.
American Steakhouse was also good. Potato skins for apps were good and I had beef tenderloin with mash, asked for med rare and it was perfect. Didn’t have dessert because I was too full but greg had the cheesecake and said it was very good. You can get Bud on tap in this restaurant.
All in all I was very pleased with dining experiences in this resort. Last year we travelled to the Rius in PP and found their ala cartes to be a major disappointment. This was a lot better than the alacarte food at the rius.
Grounds are beautiful with covered walkways thruout and ponds down the middle of the resort with lots of ducks and geese. And a rooster. A very loud rooster. Take earplugs if you like to sleep in. ..lol
Now we spent a couple of days off resort. One was a little bar hoping day with Mike and also Simon from Tropical Storm. What a nice guy he is. Ladies if you are single …well you might want to book this excursion lol. My husband drove Simons 4 wheeler down the streets. Quite frightening for me to watch from the comfort of Mikes Mazda,,but greg had a blast. Next time we go apparently he has to pick up the speed lol. We met several lovely locals. Spent the early evening at a little outdoor café having fantastic chicken kabobs and a few drinks and playing dominoes with locals. One thing about dominicans and dominoes. If they are losing, they just change the rules of the game!! We had a blast.
On the Monday we went out with Mike for the whole day. We went up past Higuey and into the mountains around Miches. What a wonderful day. We went to places with pot holes that could swallow a car, and roads washed down the mountains. We stopped at a little place on the road for beer (surprise) and it was there that we met three little girls. They were obviously not used to tourists being around because the didn’t know what to do as we offered them toys and shoes…but they were very happy. Somehow several other children appeared!! Then we found a school. This teacher had no clue that we were trying to give him supplies. There was nothing in the school but some little desks and three books and a blackboard. No decals on walls or counting charts…Nothing. He was VERY surprised when we carried the supplies up the hill. Next time we go I am taking Counting Charts and alphabet Charts and maybe an abacus…a nice colourful one to bring colour to that drab little one room school. The children were beautiful and very shy. We then went to a hotel in the mountains for a little liquid refreshment where we could view all of miches…I do not KNOW HOW mike found that place as you go up dirt roads and among houses down alleys…you get the picture!! Then we went to Coco Loco down on the beach in Miches for a wonderful lunch. The restaurant was up on stilts overlooking a quiet beach. The people that own the restaurant are from switzerland and have nice little cottages that are on the property that you can rent for overnight. They are under 30 us and includes breakfast!
Sadly on Friday we packed up…and checked out. Another easy experience. We had breakfast and then got one last drink in at 10am!! The bus picked us up and we were on our way home. Darn.
We are looking forward to returning to Punta Cana in November so time to start saving again!!!
If anyone would like any more info feel free to PM me.
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Catalonia Royal Bavaro - Punta Cana
Location: Beach front - Punta Cana - East Coast - 20 mins. from Punta Cana airport
All-inclusive - Adults Only resort
Description: All rooms equipped with A/C, DVD player, coffee maker, slippers and bathrobes, direct phone line, hairdryer, cable TV, minibar, safety deposit box, Free Wi-Fi Internet access, 24 hour room service, spa, Jacuzzi, private beach, day and night entertainment, watersports, Restaurante La Thalassa, plus guests can use all services, restaurants and facilities at the adjacent Catalonia Bavaro Resort
~ Reviews posted on this page — 9
~ Dominican Republic Travel Forum
Have you stayed at this resort? Share your vacation experiences with others.
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Debbie and Pat ~ Ontario, Canada |
 December 4 2009
Arrival: November 9 - 22, 2009
We flew to Punta Cana through Nolitours, on Air Transat. Due to late booking, we were not able to get seats in Club Class, but Air Transat has a new program called Option Plus. It costs $99.00 per person roundtrip this includes advance seat selection, an extra 10 kg baggage allowance per person, priority boarding and baggage handling, plus a free snack and a few alcoholic drinks and free headsets It worked out pretty good and we would use it again if we could get seats in the two-seater section near the back of the plane.
We opted to take a taxi to the hotel, which is only about 15 minutes away.
Royal Catalonia Bavaro has its own lobby and checkin. We were given a welcome drink and package containing a map of the resort. The room they had reserved for us was a first floor room, but they were very accomodating in changing that to a third floor room.
Rooms:
There are several room categories at Royal Catalonia. We had the standard junior suite, which was very nice and had everything we needed. Being on the third floor, the ceilings were high, which was nice. It overlooked the Catalonia Bavaro side and was nice and quiet. We were in Villa 40, which is halfway between the lobby and the beach, so central to everything.
They did not have an iron in the room, nor was there any kind of clock radio. If you wanted an iron you could get one from housekeeping, and they also had DVD players available. The resort has free wi-fi. Although some people didn't get a good connection in their room and had to go to the lobby, we had no problem.
The room was spacious, and had a beautiful large soaking tub in the corner of the room. Beach towels are provided in the room. The first couple of days we had great turndown service in the evening, but that dwindled to the maid knocking on the door around 9:30 p.m. and handing us clean beach towels.
I had a chance to look at the other types of accommodation they had. The deluxe junior suites were a little newer and a little closer to the beach, although you still didn't have a beach view.They were basically the same layout, just a larger bathroom, and I think the room may have been a couple of feet wider and longer. They were offering upgrades to the deluxe junior suites for $15 US per person per night, we didn't see any need to upgrade.
Their Loft Suites are on the righthand side of the resort, opposite the infinity pool. They are two levels, with the bedroom up in the loft area. There is also a 2 piece bathroom up there. Not nearly as large as they look from the outside. Each loft suite has it's own pool and deck for sunning, but there really isn't any shade there. There is a Presidential suite at the end, closest to the beach. It was occupied, though, so I didn't get to see it.
Restaurants and Bars:
The Royal Catalonia has two restaurants Thalassa, which is off the lobby, is open for an a la carte/buffet breakfast, a la carte or buffet lunch, and a la carte dinner. We would order our eggs a la carte and then go to the buffet to get our toast, bacon, etc. The menu basically only had egg items on it, they had pancakes at the buffet, but they were cold the day I tried them.
They usually had a barbecue buffet for lunch, along with salad items. We ate there a few times.
We had dinner here twice. A lot of fish on the menu, which we don't eat, so had the American rib eye. It was pretty good, but the second time we ate there service was very very slow for the main entrée, and when we finally got them they were cold.
The other restaurant is Cata Tapa Spanish cuisine with tapas specialties. Lovely restaurant and great food presentation, not something I would go to more than once though.
For lunch there is the Sea Blue snack bar near the pool/beach. It was very good, they served a variety of sandwiches and salads.
You can also go to any of the restaurants at the main Catalonia resort. We ate at their main and pool buffets a couple of times, it was just okay, except for the chicken at the beach buffet, it's very good.
There are 4 a la carte restaurants at Catalonia you can go to Japanese Mikado, Mariachi Mexican, La Toscana Italian, and Rodeo Steak House. They were all very good, and reservations are no longer required for any of the restaurants at Catalonia or Royal Catalonia (won't even be required in high season I'm told). We really liked not having to decide in advance where we wanted to eat.
La Bretone Crepes at Catalonia is a great place to go for desert, I loved their Crepes Suzette.
Service at the resort was great for the most part, but sometimes inconsistent. Friendly staff, no complaints there.
Lots of bars throughout the resorts, you don't have to go far to get a drink, and they do come around periodically to take your order at the pool and/or beach (again, inconsistent, some days they came around every half hour, some days not at all). They offer a wine list a dinner at extra cost. I found the white house wine offered at Royal Catalonia and at the a la carte restaurants at Catalonia to be good, didn't like the white wine they had at Catalonia in the buffet restaurants at all.
There is also the Malao Juice Bar on the beach they make great drinks with different combinations of juices, etc.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
There are two pools at Royal Catalonia Bavaro, one up near the lobby and one down by the beach. It is fairly quiet, there are no activities going on here, you have to go to the main Catalonia resort for that.
Being a newer resort, the vegetation hasn't had a chance to grow, but in time I'm sure it will be as lovely as the grounds of the Catalonia. right now it looks a little barren.
The beach is very nice, we were usually able to get a palapa with no problem. The water is very calm here, no waves, and you can walk out quite a distance before it gets deep. There is some seaweed, but they clean it up every day.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
They have a nice spa at Royal Catalonia. Went for a facial and a couple of massages. You can also get massages at the beach.
Other Comments:
When we booked this trip, we were just looking for a place to go and completely veg out for two weeks, and Royal Catalonia Bavaro had everything we wanted.
If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at: ddowney@computan.on.ca
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort | Sailorgirl23 ~ Regina SK, CANADA |
February 2009
Arrival: Jan 28 - Feb 11
We touched down in Punta Cana at around 5:00 pm on Jan 28th. It took a while for our bags to come around, but once we had them, getting through "security" was a breeze. The guys who grabbed our luggage for us took us directly to the correct bus with no trouble at all. (On this - I know a lot of people find these guys annoying, but I'm on vacay and I don't pack light. I'll happily tip anyone willing to lug my bags around!) I was surprised to learn that the bus didn't have cervesas on board for sale as in Mexico, but we fixed that in a hurry by having the Sunquest guide take one of us back into the airport for beer. Then, we were on our way!
The ride from airport to the lobby of the Royal was only 15 - 20 minutes. A lot of people were commenting on the craziness of the drivers on the highway, but after being in Puerto Plata in 2003, I thought that the traffic was extremely tame and unintimidating. Funny how perceptions change! We were greeted at the Royal and our check-in was quick and efficient. There were only 8 couples checking in (3 in our group, and one other couple), which was really nice. No line-ups here! The guy who pointed us in the direction of our rooms was really nice, and made sure to remind us that, "This is the Royal side. Here, you are the kings!" I liked the sound of that!
On other resorts, they have whisked us off in golf carts to our buildings, but as there are only 4 villas right now on the Royal side, there was no need for that. We walked out by the pool, and we were in the closest villa (#46) to the lobby.
Our room number was 4641 - top (third) floor with our balcony facing the Catalonia side. We had the corner room, so from our balcony we could actually see the pool and swim-up bar, look down the path towards the beach, and a bunch of the Catalonia villas. At first, I was a bit disappointed not to be on the pool side, but I soon realized that I had the best of both worlds where I was. Our friends were in rooms 4648 (top floor, mid-villa, poolside), and 4626 (second floor, far corner, gardenview).
I have read a lot of recent reviews on Dominican resorts that say that only 1 key is distributed per room. This was the case in Puerta Plata when we were there, and it was a pain in the butt. I can happily report that we were issued 2 keycards at the Royal. SOOO much more convenient!
ROOMS - The rooms themselves were EXCELLENT. They were large and airy - the top floor rooms have vaulted ceilings. In addition to the air conditioning, there was also a ceiling fan, which was really nice. Along with the sofa and 2 chairs in the seating area, there was also an upholstered stool under the desk, and a long wicker bench, along with 2 wicker chairs on the balcony. We don't ordinarily spend much time in our rooms, but we had poor weather the second week, and ended up with a roomful of guests more than once, so the extra seating came in handy. Our fridge came stocked with ice cold Brahma beer, water, and pop. In a cupboard in the desk there was a coffee maker with 2 packets of coffee, a large bottled water, a package of 6 Oreo cookies, sugar, and packets of spoons and napkins. The bathtub was huge and also had a hand-held showerhead. This came in really handy in cases where one person was using the washroom and the other person wanted to start getting ready for supper. Also, I did a load of laundry (bathing suits) in the tub, and found it quite handy for that. All of the plug-ins in the rooms were for 110v plugs, and had the third "ground" hole. I know there has been speculation as to whether these are just for show in the DR, and I certainly didn't test it. I can say that no one got electrocuted
Trouble to Report - We were all supposed to receive a welcome plate of fruit and a small bottle of Brugal rum (part of an upgrade we'd unwittingly paid for when booking), and although we didn't receive this in our room, both of the other rooms for our group had them. When another couple of friends arrived the following week, they didn't receive their rum and fruit either, so it was 50/50. Also, Our friends in 4648 had trouble with their a/c the first 2 days. They reported it right away, and someone came out to fix it the next morning. However, all they managed to do was get the fan inside the a/c unit working - it still wasn't blowing cold, so their first and second nights were uncomfortably hot. The second morning, they complained again, and by the end of the day their room was cool as a cucumber.
T.V.s - I don't know why, but people tend to want details about the television. There was one. It had probably around 40 channels available, and they seemed to come in just fine. We did use the music channel during our "room parties", and a couple of times we caught movies at night after the disco. This was interesting, as they tended to be in English, with Spanish subtitles. We used this to try to improve our Spanish.
Trouble to report - none. Who goes on vacation to watch TV???
CLOSET- The closet was a good size for a hotel room. On one side there were large shelves and an electronic safe. (Again, a nice change after the keyed safe at our prior Dominican resort.) On the other side was plenty of hanging space, and about 10 hangers. There was an extra shoe-shelf on this side as well. We managed to store all of our shoes and 2 weeks worth of over-packed clothing, as well as all of our luggage in the closet. All of the shelves had been well dusted, even the top one, so there were no issues with dusty clothes.
Trouble to report: none. It's a closet, for crying out loud!
BATHROOMS - The bathrooms were big, and had a cushioned stool to sit on, and an adjustable close-up makeup mirror. There were plug-ins for both 110v and 220v plugs, and a built-in hair dryer. The shower was large, and had a corner shelf for toiletries, and a hand-held shower head. In terms of heat and pressure, the water worked like it has in every resort I've stayed at. At 7:30 am and 6:00 pm, the water was warm with reasonably light pressure. At all other (non-peak) times of the day, the water got good and hot, with good pressure. I have heard others complain about not having shower curtains. Well, we didn't have a shower curtain either, but this was certainly not a problem due to the setup of the shower. I have trouble understanding why this is a point of contention for some people, but to each their own I suppose. There was plenty of counter space in the bathroom for our massive assortment of toiletries and vast array of stomach medicines (don't leave the country without them!), which we really appreciated after cramped bathroom counters on previous trips. Trouble to report - I didn't even notice this until the end of the first week, but when I plugged and filled the sink to do a little laundry, then pulled the plug, half of the water ended up on the floor. It was strange, as we'd been running the sink all week to wash our hands and stuff, and it had never dripped before. It wasn't until the drain was dealing with a full sinkful of water that it leaked. I investigated, and found that where the elbow-joint thingie is, the pipes seemed to be attached by packing tape. I thought this was stupid and funny until, 2 days later, I accidentally lost a large lime wedge down the drain while cleaning out my travel mug. I could see the lime from up top, but couldn't reach it. The water was still draining slowly around it, so I wasn't too concerned. The next day, the lime was gone and there was fresh packing tape holding that joint together. Now it all makes sense - they're protecting themselves from dummies like me!
BALCONIES- On the website, I had read that each balcony was equipped with a hammock and a rocking chair. This is true on the regular Catalonia side, but all of the balconies on the Royal side had a small wicker table and 2 chairs in place of the rocking chair. The hammocks were there as advertised, and I spent many a wonderful moment lounging in mine. I wish I were in it right now! I had read in a previous review that they "pulled out of the wall" and fell down. I can say honestly that, on more than one occasion, my boyfriend and I were both in ours at the same time, and it held both of us. There is also a drying rack on each balcony, and they were well used. The way they are well designed, and you can hang a lot out there at once. At one point, ours had 3 bikinis, 3 pairs of trunks, a couple of shirts, and a large frog.
OVERALL - We were very happy with our room. It was lovely, and for the most part, issue-free. We were in the farthest building from the beach, but we didn't mind the walk at all. It made us feel a little better about being in our bathing suits after the buffets, and the first thing you get to at the beach is the bar, so you always knew there was a cold coco-loco waiting for you!
Restaurants and Bars
We made use of every restaurant, and most of the bars on the entire Catalonia. We arrived on a Wednesday evening, and went on Thursday morning to book a la cartes. We had read that the Royal guests had priority at the Catalonia side a la cartes, so we were surprised to learn that there was no space available for us at any Catalonia side a la carte until Sunday night. (This may have been due to our group size of 6 in week one, 8 in week two.) We decided then to book all of our restaurant suppers for the entire 2 weeks right then. Thelassa, the only restaurant on the Royal side, required supper reservations, but these were easy to get even on the same day that you wanted to eat there. The service at Thelassa was always impeccable.
Here are restaurant reviews:
Thelassa - This restaurant, for Royal guests only, is excellent. There is a large indoor dining room, as well as tables on the terrace, and another large palapa style outdoor dining room.
At breakfast, the dining room is open from 7 - 10:30. There is table service for water and coffee, as well as a girl with a cart for Bloody Marys and Mimosas. There is menu service for omlettes, bacon and eggs, etc. The scrambled eggs and omelettes are delicious, just remember to order your eggs well done! Otherwise, they tend to be rather runny in the middle. Along with the menu at breakfast, there is an extensive buffet with breads and a toaster, pastries, crepes, french toast, hot and cold sandwiches, yogurt, fresh fruit, sliced deli meats, and smoked salmon. With the exception of one day, we had breakfast at Thelassa every single day, and after 2 weeks we were still not tired of it. There is so much variety that you can have something different every day.
Lunch is available from 12:30 until 3:30. There is strictly menu service at lunchtime. One side of the menu is condisdered "snacks", and never changes. There are hot dogs and hamburgers, chicken, spaghetti, salads, and beef. Most of these things come served with fries. The other side of the menu changed half-way through our trip, and had larger portioned items and a pretty big selection. We didn't eat lunch there that often, though we really enjoyed it each time we did. On Sunday, they do a special BBQ buffet, which is incredibly good. The second Sunday we were there it rained, so they couldn't do the BBQ, which was really disappointing, but understandable.
Supper - The first reservations for supper start at 7 or 7:30. They really go for a "fine dining" feel here at night. There isn't a whole ton of selection on the menu, but they did change the menu a few times during our 2 week stay, so that wasn't a problem for us. If you were eating supper there every night I think it would get old, but we mixed it up, and were quite happy with it. One thing that we learned was that it is extremely important to specify how you want your food cooked. If you don't specify, your meat (pork, chicken, whatever) will likely come out rare. I ordinarily eat steak cooked medium-rare, but in the Dominican I tended to order medium to mid-well. This usually ensured a mid-rare steak. There was one supper in particular where 3 or 4 of the people in our group were served very undercooked meat. We mentioned this to the manager, who had new meals prepared for us right away. This aside, the suppers were very good.
Pool Bar - First of all, a big "Hola" to Domingo and Victor, our good Amigos from the swim-up bar! The drinks here were superb. The bartenders were friendly, and no one went thirsty. We went through pretty much the entire drink menu, and found very little that we didn't like. There was certainly no "watering down" of the drinks, and we found some new favourites. (Caipirhinias, Brandy Alexanders, and PassionColadas, to name a couple.) We loved the swim up bar! In the afternoon, there were always plates of sandwiches on the bar, which was nice if you weren't hungry enough for lunch at Thelassa and too lazy to go to the main buffet or snack shack.
Beach Bar - Again, this bar was great. It is the first thing you come to when you get to the Royal beach, and the service is fantastic. Special mentions go to the Rum & Iced Lemonades, and the Coco Locos were great too. This bar had a sitting area with a thatched roof and ceiling fans, which came in handy when it rained. The beach bar served tappas in the afternoons, which were fantastic. There were several bruschetta selections, breads, and meats. These just sat on plates on the bar. There were not little plates so you couldn't load up and go back to your beach seat, but they probably avoided wasting a bunch of food because of that.
A La Cartes
Steakhouse - You almost have to see this place to believe it. It's the "Americano" restaurant, and the decor is the tackiest thing ever. It's actually comical. Atmosphere aside, we gave mixed reviews on the food here. The first time we ate at this restaurant, most of us were disappointed with the steak. The only really good steak on the table was the tenderloin, which was perfect. Others were rib eyes, sirloins, and new yorks, and they were just okay. This is the one restaurant where the "order well cooked" rule does not apply. If anything, they overcooked the steaks. The appetizers were good - the potato skins got all the rave reviews, and you can order 2 side dishes out of a list of about 15. The sides are VERY small, so be sure to order 2. The corn on the cob was about 400 years old, so I'd avoid that for sure! Desserts were tasty. The service was sketchy - excellent when we first sat down until we had our main courses. Then, we sat with empty plates in front of us for at least 30 minutes before they cleared the plates and took our dessert orders. This happened both times we ate here.
Mariachi- The Mexican restaurant was excellent. The presentation was lovely, and everything we ate there was good. I liked my first meal there so much that I ordered the exact same thing the second time around, and I never do that! The atmosphere is much better than at the steakhouse, though the service was about the same.
Tuscana - The Itallian restaurant was divine. There is a beautiful, upscale atmosphere, and the menu is much more extensive than at any other restaurant. As far as I know, no one at our table of 8 had a single complaint. The service was excellent from the time we got there until we left.
Mikado - The Japanese had mixed reviews. We were scheduled to eat there twice, but ended up changing our second reservation to Thelassa. The sushi at the beginning of the meal was delicious. The rice was really good, but the vegetables were not. I enjoyed the beef very much, but most people complained of it being too salty, and I found the chicken to be really, really tough. The people who had the prawns seemed to like them. The Teppanyaki style of serving is entertaining, but I think that our chef that night was inexperienced. Everything was really salty, and he seemed a little unsure of himself, but we all start somewhere! After we finished eating, we were escorted to another room for tea and a dessert cart. It was an unusual setup for a resort restaurant, but I enjoyed that about it. Several people in our group were sick through the night that night, and they all blamed it on the dinner, so we never went back.
Main Buffet - We ate breakfast here only once. The food was alright, but not as good as the breakfasts at Thelassa. There are a lot of tables, but not many that I could handle sitting at for breakfast or lunch because of the birds. I am fully aware that those birds live in Punta Cana and I do not, and that it is no fault of the resort that they inhabit the dining area of the main buffet. However, I have an intense fear of birds, and I find it difficult to eat when I keep having to shriek and throw myself to the floor with my arms over my head. My problem, not theirs! At any rate, there were few tables at the main buffet during the day that were relatively bird-free, and I found nothing about the food selection to be worth the terror of eating there. We did have supper there a few times. The service was just okay, though the food was good. I was happy that we didn't have to eat there more than we did ~ I enjoyed it while we were there, but wouldn't have wanted to go back more often.
Beach Buffet - Just don't! We ate there twice, and were unimpressed both times. The food was fine, but the lineups were insane. The chefs who were cooking the hot food could not stay on top of the pushy, hungry people, and had stopped trying. You have to have shoes on, and men need to wear shirts. I totally understand this in the other restaurants, but to me a Beach Buffet should be pretty casual. This restaurant is open only from 12 until 3:30.
Snack Shack - this was our favourite place for lunch. The rotisserie chicken was delicious, the pizzas fantastic, and the burgers made-to-order. This is the one truely casual place to eat on the entire resort. When they had nachos they were fantastic, though they seemed to disappear the entire second week. My only complaint about this place is that it wasn't open in the evenings, and they tended to run out of food a lot. It's right in the middle of the resort, so it's handy from wherever you happen to be, which is also nice.
That's pretty much it for the restaurants. We enjoyed the food, and weren't too tired of anything, although I think I'd be singing a different tune if we hadn't been on the Royal side! The added option of the Thelassa restaurant made all the difference.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
This beach is unbelievable!! The sand is like white flour, and the water is gorgeous. There is quite a bit of seaweed in the water, but that's because it's pretty shallow and warm. The water out there is generally calm, and there are tons of fish to see if you bring your snorkel. Because the water isn't busy that far down the coast, you're not in any danger if you leave the designated swimming area. (the worst thing you'll get run over by is a kayak or hobiecat) We snorkeled way out past the buoys, and saw sting rays and 3 octopus, as well as many other fish. It was awesome. There are plenty of loungers and a lot of palapas. There were a few days when we got down there fairly late, but we still didn't have trouble finding seats.
Pools - The Royal pool was where we spent the majority of our afternoons when we were done at the beach. In the second week, it was getting harder to find loungers, but for the most part that was okay. There is a rule against reserving loungers, which was followed in our first week, but not our second. The good news was that, if you were having trouble finding a chair, the guys in the white uniforms would just pull off a towel from a lounger that had been sitting like that without anyone on it for hours and they'd give the chair to you. I have always loathed the people who play the towel game, so I found that very satisfying. We used the hot tubs a lot, and really enjoyed them.
We never used the pool on the regular side, but it looked nice and there always seemed to be chairs open there as well.
The grounds were beautiful - on the "regular" side especially. The Catalonia is one of the oldest resorts in the area, so the vegetation is quite mature. The grounds on the Royal side were well kept, and the planting of the vegetation had been well thought out. When everything matures, it will be breathtaking.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
There aren't really any activities on the Royal side. They say that, being adults only, it's geared for a more relaxing stay. Several people in our group played beach volleyball on a few days, and I ended up buying a big rubber ball from the mini-market so we could play water volleyball in the royal pool. There were quite a few of us, so we never got bored, but if there'd been just my boyfriend and I, I think we likely would have. The animation staff were never over on our side, but we could have easily gone over to the other side to join in on the fun - there always seemed to be something going on on the beach. My one complaint was that, unless there was something scheduled, there was never any equipment out. There were ping pong tables with no paddles or balls, and pool tables without cues. The one day that our friends wanted to play beach volleyball past the hour of scheduled time, they had to plead with the girl running it to get her to leave them the ball. I thought this was all kind of weird, but it wasn't the end of the world. I love sailing, but found it difficult to get my hands on a catamaran. You have to book a day in advance, so even if there are 3 boats sitting on the beach with no one scheduled to use them, you can't take them out. You also can't book 2 days in advance, which meant that when we were going on excursion one day, we couldn't sail the day after because we hadn't been on the resort to book our sailboat. The Aquatic centre is only open from 10 - 4, so this made it impossible to run down before we left, or after we returned. There were also several days when I had a boat booked, but they had a yellow flag up so they wouldn't rig the boats. The wind wasn't even that strong on many of these days, but they wouldn't let even an experienced sailor go out. I understand that this was likely a liability issue for them, but it was frustrating nonetheless. The times we did manage to get out were fun though, and the boats were in decent shape for resort boats.
We used the Aquatic Center to book a glass bottom boat/snorkel trip to the reef. This cost $25/person and lasted 90 minutes. It was a fun trip, and since it was just the resort's boat and staff, we didn't waste any time on a bus driving around. Well worth the money. We were also going to book their 2 person speedboat tour, as it was $50 US cheaper than one we'd found online, but we were saving that for our second week, and the weather was too bad all week to do it.
The animation team tried their best, but the shows were brutal! Really, the worst I've seen anywhere. The one exception was the Michael Jackson show, which I quite enjoyed. The resort did an excellent job with the kids shows though - it looked like the kids were having the time of their lives, and were thrilled to be included.
We did 3 excursions - the Outback Jungle Safari , the Zipline Adventure tour, and the Tropical Storm Catamaran trip. All of these were excellent! The zipline tour ended up being twice as long as we'd been told, as we were the first pickup resort and last drop off, but despite many hours on a truck, we had a fantastic time. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I really recommend taking a couple of trips and getting off the resort to see a little of the country you're in!
Other Comments
Overall, I would give the Royal Catalonia a high rating. There were some problems, as with any resort, but for the most part it's an excellent resort. I'd say it's a solid 4! We were peeking at the new part that's under construction, and it looks as though that is going to be really incredible when it opens. It looked to me like they're builng some 2 story townhouse style suites with their own private pools. There is one (maybe 2) big new pools going in really near to the beach, and at least 1 restaurant. I would love to check that out when it's done! The only problem I can see is that they are adding many more rooms, but no more beach. This could cause trouble with beach crowding, but I am sure they have a plan for that.
We chose the Royal because we wanted a small, adults only resort with good amenities. We were not disappointed! We knew the staff by name, and they knew us. We got to know a lot of the other guests, and had a really fun and relaxing vacation!
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Chris ~ Edmonton |
January 2009
Arrival: Dec 2-16, 2008
Easy as could be. We were welcomed with a drink and smiles. We were in our room within 15 mins of arriving. Our room had a fruit basket and bottle of rum on arrival.
Rooms:
We stayed in room 4443. View of the pool. There are no views of the ocean at this time from any of the rooms. But they are building two new buildings which will be close to the beach and will be open within a few months. The room itself was great. The bed was a king and firm. The bathroom was private and a decent size with a shower, except for the soaker tub which was in the corner of the living area. The water pressure and temperature were not the best, but it was not bothersome either.
The balcony was nice and had a drying area for bathing suits as well as a hammock. You could close the sliding door without locking yourself out. But I cant say if this would be the case in all rooms, so test first! We had an issue with our A/C which was fixed right away. On the last day, my husband locked us out of the safe and the maintenance guy came up right away to fix it. On our previous trips to the DR at another adults only resort, it took a long time to fix any problems. Not here. The guest services staff were at our disposal almost any time of the day or night.
Restaurants and Bars:
All of the restaurants are al a carte, with the exception of two buffets - one for the Catalonia and one for Royal guests. Our favs were the mexican and the Japanese. The buffets were well stocked and presented. I never tired of what was offered. We were very impressed with the selection and quality of the food at all of the restaurants.There is also a great place on the catalonia side at the pool that has great pizza. The creperie is a very good place to finish the night with an expresso and a lemon crepe. We enjoyed the bar at the Royal lobby. The drinks were well presented and not watered down. Trust me on this one!!!!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The beach was good and not so good. There were always loungers and shade. I never had any sand flea bites as at other beaches, which for me was a real treat. The water was shallow, which at high tide was pretty churned up.
The construction was noisy, but that wont last much longer.
The real gem is the pool. Loungers were very comfy with the pads. They came around every day with fruit kabobs and we even had drink service at the pool, but it was not official, just one of the great staff being nice. Towels in your room, no towel card. They were beautiful towels as well. There were many times were we had two each for the day. We never had trouble finding a place at the pool either. Didn't matter what time we got up
The grounds were well manicured and tended to all the time. The place was spotless.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Never participated in any activities, there were none to speak of on the royal side, but thats what we wanted, quiet....
We did the Tropical Storm Sunset tour - good but I would not do it agai We did the Outback Jungle Safari trip - We got to see a good bit of the country side and Maco Beach was great. Be prepared for stiff legs the next day from all the jarring on the truck.
Other Comments:
This resort was all and more. A great bang for your buck. Great staff, great food. it is a great place to just get away from it all.
Happy travels
This is our 4th trip to PUJ and stayed at another resort's adult only side on the 3 previous visits for way more money per visit and wished we had spent our money here.
We will definitely go back again.
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Jacques & Marie |
November 2008
We have been to the Catalonia Bavaro 3 years ago. We had found it an honest 4 * and were reasonably satisfied for the price, enough to go back.
This time we booked for two weeks at the Royal section.
Arrival was without pains: instant check-in, with the exact room request. Air conditioning was good as well as all services pertinent to the room.
Cleanliness was outstanding everywhere, even in common washrooms.
The staff was always smiling and trying to fulfill your requirements before you asked.
The Royal section was relaxing with its pool and poolbar, without noise, screams and yelling. Ongoing construction did make some noises that at times were objectionable.
*Food:*
The Thalassa restaurant offered interesting food but being the only one yet on the Royal side, became dull very fast as the menus were the same day after day. We had access to all the restaurants on the Bavaro side (more on this later)
*Gardens:*
Royal side still under construction, so that there were little gardens to enjoy.
*Drinks:*
Good variety, good quality, very good service. The house wines were acceptable and in general better than what we had 3 years ago.
*Beach:*
Dedicated to Royal guests without children and quite relaxing. The beach bar was very good (see drinks).
There was a lot of weeds but there was an army of workers to remove them. The water was warm.
This was the Royal Catalonia Bavaro.
We had access to the Catalonia Bavaro side which does not offer the same quality as in the description above.
*Gardens:*
Outstanding, one hopes that the Royal side, when completed, will be as magnificent as the Bavaro side in that respect.
*Beach:*
Similar to the Royal, larger, beautiful, with far more people than the Royal beach and loud animation.
*Food:*
À la carte restaurants offered a nice variety of food and environments.
We found the Japanese restaurant very disappointing, as much for its bland food as for the absence of a visual show. (noise was present, as the cook was banging his spatula to simulate a show) and the in-meal sake was very watered down.
The main buffet was limited in choices and quality but we could always find something to eat.
The beach buffet offered a view to die for and again we always found something to eat.
The pizza and chicken grill was informal (beachwear accepted) and the food was good.
*Drinks:*
*/Wow!!/* the comments on drinks for the Royal section DO NOT APPLY to the Bavaro section.
The wines in the buffets (beach and main) are served from a tap, and taste like sparkling bad homemade wine, /they actually make pink wine by mixing red and white wine./ The ones served in the à la carte's are from the same source except that they have been transferred in a bottle (the labels on these bottles are frayed and old).
Hard liquors are strictly house alcohols even if the bottle shows a brand name label. It even is very diluted and in some cases sweetened if required (like rhum) and very few people get drunk. The tropical mixes are made with these alcohols and little wonder that they do not pack a "punch".
That applied to all bars on the Bavaro side.
My way around this was to get a plastic bottle of Royal side liquor or wine and carry it over.
The hotel should offer regular brand alcohols on both sides and charge extra for these brand names to the non Royal guests.
*CON:*
One very annoying rule almost ruined our vacation.
This rule applied to both sides except that the Royal side was less narrow minded in applying it.
The rule: Enclosed shoes for men (not women) at all the à-la-carte restaurants.
We have been to more than 20 all-inclusive resorts, many with 5* rating
like: Paradisus, Princess, Valentin, Bahia Principe, Iberostar, Barcelo, Sandals, Beaches and many more.
This the first resort that insists on controlling beachwear at the à-la-carte's this way. It is funny to see enclosed "Croc" shoes and fluorescent running shoes being accepted while elegant leather sandals are refused. As I had not brought enclosed shoes they told me that I could buy enclosed shoes at their private shopping center. And yes indeed they SOLD enclosed shoes(choice of around 15 to 20 different styles for men and none for women)
Alleluia ! the light came on, nice business $$$, go figure!!!.
I will not buy another pair of regular shoes in a Carribean resort.
To the credit of the Royal side manager, after I was refused once, he fixed it so that I was not annoyed by that rule for the rest of my vacation.
I think people should know about this rule in advance so that they do not forget to bring enclosed shoes.
Compared to 3 years ago, the Bavaro side has reduced the quality of its offering. Luckily the Royal side compensates for this loss in quality so that we might go back when the construction of the Royal is completed notwithstanding the shoes rule.
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Andrea |
August 2008
For those of you looking for a fun, romantic and beautiful destination wedding - this resort is it. My husband and I had worked with the resort for months prior to our visit during the week of May 17 - 24th/08. The staff and the wedding co-ordinator went above and beyond to make our day a dream come true.
We (my family) were amazed at the friendly service from our driver and hotel concierge upon arrival. We were offered cold champagne at the desk, and check-in was a breeze. However, after checking into our original rooms, we asked to be transfered to rooms on upper floors of the pavilions. We found the lower rooms a little more musty with the humidity and it was not as private as the upper floors; people would look in when walking by. Simply because of the climate - it is really nice to be able to open up the doors and let the breeze in during the evening.
The food and restaurants are quite nice. We really enjoyed the Thelassa which is exclusive to the Royal side. The food really was top notch here - and half way through the week we ate here all the time. Thelassa also offers outdoor lunch dining; same fantastic menu, only in an outdoor cabana. Simply lovely. The Italian restaurant is fabulous too - this is where we were booked for our wedding night meal. If you dine at the steak house, you might be a little dissapointed with the food. The meat portions are not as generous and not quite what we are use to in North America. I noticed a few larger eaters ordering two main meals. However, the Mexican place would be an excellent substitute for Tex Mex; with great food and solid portions. I am not a large eater, but some of my family have healthy appetites - so I realize this can be important for some. If you are a breakfast person, the main buffet offers everything - but again - the Thelassa is the place to go. The service, white linens and the food are second to none. It is what you would find in a 5 star hotel in a major North American city.
The rooms are nice. Very clean, firm beds and marble bathrooms. The large tubs in the main part of the room CAN be a nice touch - some how us little newlyweds were able to make it work! But if you are a private person who likes a bath, you might not like this set up.
The beach, the sprawling gardens and overall set up was beautiful. Everything was lush and immaculately kept. The whole resort was clean, the beach sand was white and fluffy as promised, and water . . . ahhhhhhh. If you do not like the beach, there is the private Royal side pool and the main resort pool. Both are great for a dip to cool off. Anyone who complains about this resort is nit picking. I am not sure if these people considered there are wild animals on the grounds, there is fish, cranes and live turtles in the ponds, and we are in a lush tropical place. There is bound to be some algae in pond corners - but the tiles, rooms and main areas were spotless.
Finally the wedding. The co-ordinator, the staff and the entire day was the best day of my life. I was looking for something relaxed and intimate. I got the wedding I always wanted by the water. . and I have the Catalonia to thank for this. The bouquet was simply stunning and the centre pieces and beach set up was something out of a movie. Every picture was magazine quality. We did not hire a photographer, and there really was no need too. Anyone who can aim a camera properly will have superb shots. The cake was delicious, and the cozy table and special meal of fillet mignon and lobster tails was beyond expectation. Our room was decorated and special invites and congrats letters were presented in the room upon our arrival after the ceremony. The co-ordinator (Katiusca) and the hotel as a whole really went all out. Thank you.
Overall, this was a magical vacation. We would return in a heartbeat - and maybe we will on our anniversary.
Thank you Catalonia!
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Paula and Greg |
April 2008
We just returned from the most amazing vacation at the Royal Catalonia Bavaro. Flight from Moncton NB to Punta Cana was fabulous without a hitch, going through the airport in Punta Cana went very smoothly. Bus ride from Airport only took 20 min at most. Once at the hotel bellhop gathered our luggage at Reception they greeted us with champagne, we were travelling with another couple and requested ahead of time to have a pool facing room with rooms in same villa and floor which was accommodated for us, reception service was smooth and very friendly, once in our room checked everything over they were so clean and sheets were very fresh not sure where other people saw bugs or cockroaches did not even see a mosquitoes, maids cleaned rooms twice a day with lots of fresh flowers and fresh towels no shortage, lots of hot water only thing water pressure wasn't the best but that did not bother us at all. JUpon arrival in our rooms we received a chocolate sculpture of a palm tree with shaved white and dark chocolates with trifles. Also all of our Al-a-carts were already made for us which was a bonus. Food at the Thalassa was ok I would say about at 3 out of 5 the breakfast was the best we loved the Mimosa girl, did not have to much of a problem with communication much of their front end staff spoke English to some extent.
We ate at the American Steakhouse , Mexican, Parrisean (French Restaurant) which were all very good, they mixed up our reservation for the Asian but that did not bother us at all we just ate at the grand buffet that night, During the day we ate at the Pizzeria which also served nachos, roast chicken, French fries, hot dogs on the Catalonia side very, very yummy.
Now onto the beach, we are early risers so we always went for a walk around 6:45 and 7 am there were plenty of Plapas( spelling?) to choose from, it gets so hot during the afternoon it is nice to get some shade, one afternoon I counted 15 beach chairs vacant so no problem to find them on the beach. Beach bar is very close on the royal side we also had butler service a few days on the beach. Sand was nice and white, others spoke about lots of seaweed on the beach but really there was hardly to speak of when we were there, they cleaned the beach at least twice a day to pick the seaweed up. Water was very warm easy to just jump right in.
Each night after supper we walked around the Catalonia side and looked at all the shops and took in 1 night show which was Grease, it was good, if you are looking for a Vegas style show I suggest you go to Vegas, they really did a very good job entertaining, We also went to the Casino but did not make it to the Disco so cannot comment on that.
The ground of this resort are just gorgeous, lots of birds and turtles and fish, the grounds are lush with plants and vegetation, the ground keepers are doing a super job.
Excursions
Did the Quad 1/2 day in the am was fun to get off the resort for a few hours, not sure if I would recommend this to any one.
Saona Island was the highlight of our vacation seeing the country side of this country and how people live was truly an eye opener. Once we arrive to Saona by speed boat they had a large buffet which has something for everyone and lots of rum, after about 2 hours on this beautiful Island they board you on a catamaran and then the party starts more rum and cokes (lol) just amazing I would recommend this excursion to anyone,
To end this review I would say the workers at this resort really do go out of their way to help you, just remember you are not in your own country so things will not be the same, go with an open mind and don't sweat the small stuff and you will have the most amazing vacation
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Kim ~ USA |
March 2008
Just returned from a 7 day stay on the Royal side. We had an awesome time and would definitely recommend this resort for the price, service, extra large pool, large beach area, and staff friendliness. Detailed and lengthy report below by category so you don’t have to read everything.
Airport: Arrived from Chicago on United airlines, air steps down to ground. They take your photo with colorful natively dressed Dominican girls upon arrival which can be purchased when departing. We had to pay an airport tax of $10 pp cash before entering the immigration line (separate booth). The baggage claim took a while and was crowded. Had to stand in line at the Apple booth to find our transfer driver. The ride was short (less than 15 minutes maybe) but crazy fast and scary at times (lots of passing and getting close to oncoming traffic.
Arrival: We arrived around 5pm and were dropped off at the main entrance not knowing any better and check in was confusing. The royal side has a separate lobby. They had to drive us and our bags to the other side and then take our bags to our rooms so we tipped three different people for check in. If you arrive between 11 AM-1PM, make your dinner reservations for the week then otherwise you’ll have to wait until the next day. Beach towels are in the rooms already and the maid brings new towels daily (no towel card on the royal side). You get a plastic pouch with two room keys, a schedule of daily pool and beach activities and some excursion brochures. We booked through Apple and had our orientation the following AM. The lobby has a free internet area with two computers, cigarette machine ($5 per pack) a bar and a restaurant that faces the royal pool with an outdoor seating area also.
Rooms: There are four buildings along the royal side of the resort 40, 42, 44, 46. We stayed in villa 44, had a corner room facing the pathway to the beach/garden view. Villas 44 and 46 are closest to the royal pool and have rooms that face the pool if requested. The rooms are a good size, four poster canopy king bed, two person tub (not Jacuzzi), living room area, electronic safe, stand up open marbled shower, patios have hammock and table/chairs. They supply shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, nail file, comb,shower cap, sewing kit and tooth picks. Frig was stocked with Brahma beer, coke, water. There was a coffee maker which we used every late afternoon before dinner and oreos/peanuts. Nice flat screen TV. No dresser but closet had shelving. We left our clothes in our suitcases mostly. Lots of mirrors in the room. Our air conditioner did not work properly and room was musty and the bathroom sink was leaking underneath but as soon as problems were reported, a maintenance person was up to fix them in less then 20 minutes (great service!). We had them bring us a dehumidifier which I highly recommend you ask for. It greatly reduced the musty smell. I also brought a plug in air freshener which helped a little. Hint: if you open the patio door, the air conditioner stops. Need to close door tightly for it to come back on. There was not an iron but I think you can get one if you need it. We did not have any bugs except for one large cricket in the closet and a few small ants. My husband got one mosquito bite. We did not use bug spray the entire stay. You have 24 hr room service on the royal side which we did not use so can’t comment on that. Looked like mostly salads, cheese trays, and sandwiches.
Pools: The Royal pool is secluded from the rest of the resort and guarded for trespassers. It is a good size for a 2nd pool. Nice sturdy padded lounge chairs with palapas and swim up bar. There is also a spa area which I think offers spa treatments (did not get any but I smelled the herbs) and also has a gym and saunas. I discovered this on the last day.
Outside the spa are two Jacuzzis, one hot and one cool. The pool also has three cement built in loungers. The Main pool is huge! The hugest pool I’ve ever experienced at any resort. It has an island in the middle which you get crawl up and get to the fountain area or Jacuzzi are (not hot just bubbly). There’s a volley ball net, swim up bar, and kid’s pool. There are several palapas and lounge chairs (plastic and not very sturdy). Both pools were very clean and had good water temperature (not too cold).
Beach: The main beach area is huge. The royal beach area is just south of the main beach. It is kept roped off with a security guard in place. You are allowed to walk on the beach past the royal side if you want to and there is a shopping area (not affiliated with the resort) about a five minute walk down. The water is pretty clear with some seaweed or sea grass but workers are constantly raking it up. It wasn’t as turquoise in color as I had expected but it was still beautiful. There are no beach or pool floats so you’ll need to bring your own. The water is very calm and shallow with breakers in the distance. You can take our kayaks anytime. You need to pay $25 for a hobie cat lesson to use those. Resort staff are available to purchase excursions for snorkeling/deep sea fishing/RV tours etc. Photographers wonder around with parrots and monkeys to take your pictures with which are available for purchase in the lobby area after 8pm ($10 each). There are lots of palapas to get shade under if you reserve them with your towel or beach bag or flip flops or whatever early in the morning (7am is a good time before breakfast). The royal beach bar is very close to the royal beach. We wandered over to the main beach and they also have a beach bar, a hair braiding hut, a painting area, ping pong tables, basketball hoop, massage hut, and dive/water sports hut. I didn’t see any beach butlers around but they did have some at the main pool (none at the royal pool). There is always music playing, lots of palm trees, and cool breezes.
Drinks: Yummy frozen drinks specials listed at bar-The Coco Loco, The Blue Hawaiian and the Banana Mama were the best. Also try a shot of Mama Juana, an aphrodisiac drink, tastes like red wine and brandy. The fruit juice doesn’t taste as good as here so didn’t like any of the mixed drinks. Good Bloody Mary’s too. The bars server El Presidente Beer which is fairly good. The steakhouse serves Budweiser if you need a change.
Restaurants: You don’t need reservations for breakfast or lunch at the Royal Restaurant Thelassa. You can make reservations there for dinner anytime. We had dinner there and don’t get the pork dish, too overcooked! I had lobster which was good but they served it with some strange egg thingy. Ugh. Breakfast was good and they serve it with baskets of bread, pastries and a fruit plate. Dominican coffee is delicious.
Men don’t have to wear long pants at the main buffet Grand Carib and you don’t need reservations. They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The first few nights we ate here since we didn’t book our reservations on time. They have a huge selection of food, mostly cater to the Europeans, but you could always get pizza, pasta, and bread that were very good. For the ala carte restaurants, there is a French one, a Mexican one, an American steak house, and a Japanese one. We had the best food at the Japanese (sushi and miso soup appetizers) and had an open hibachi style cooking grill. We had steak and shrimp and both were very good (also have Salmon and chicken available). Everyone else at the table raved about the food. They move you to another area for dessert which we did not stay for. The Mexican one had chips and salsa, fajitas, burritos, tacos, quesadillas which was very good. We talked to someone who had the fish there and was not happy.
We had Filet at the French restaurant which was RAW, staff re grilled it but was still chewy. French soup was delicious. I had the lobster which was grilled and decent. We ordered the tenderloin and the sirloin at the steak house. The tenderloin was overcooked and the sirloin was super fatty. They don’t get the best cuts of meat there so don’t expect the Outback steakhouse. The potato skins were great and the baked potatoes were small round balls, but good. It was our first ala carte restaurant and the best food we’d had compared to what we ate at the buffets (kinda picky eaters but not food snobs). The new york cheesecake was the BOMB!
For desert, there is a crepes diner, get the cinnamon and rum/almond crepes-THE BEST!
They also have banana splits (no strawberry though) and other sundaes. We ate here three times after dinner (open late til 11pm) we liked it so much. Do not get the Caribbean Dream or the Cylinder (has weird pink flavor like pepto-bismal).
Beach/Pool Food: There is also a smaller buffet located next the main pool overlooking the beach for breakfast and lunch. Not sure if they are open for dinner. There is also a pool side grill snack bar with wood fired pizzas, rotisserie chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, guac and melted cheese or chili. This was our usual lunch hangout. The pizza is thin crust and so YUMMY (I usually prefer deep dish but I loved it). Pepperoni pizza goes fastest. You can pile up your plates and take it back to the pool or beach.
Activities: The resort offers several dance lessons, pool sports (water polo and volley ball) beach volleyball, and water aerobics. Check the menu they give you at check in for times so you don’t miss out on any fun. The dance lessons on the beach were so fun!
Monday night they have a huge beach party/BBQ with dancing. They had ribs, hotdogs, roasted pig and fish. So if you want to go there, don’t book dinner reservations that night. We ended up going to the main buffet afterwards because the BBQ food was not that good (again, picky eaters) but the atmosphere is worth going for. There is also a casino which we did not go in. There is an open area next to the main lobby bar with pool tables and other tables open for you to play cards or games.
Excursions: We chose the Marinarium snorkel catamaran party. We were picked up
by a tour bus, stopped off at a few other resorts to pick up other guests and were taken just a few miles to the park. The trip was $83 pp through Apple tour rep. The guide for our trip was very energetic and was multilingual (Joseph). We cruised to the park which was just an enclosed area with two nurse sharks and one sting ray. We snorkeled inside the caged off area and then snorkeled outside over the reef. Did not see anything spectacular but swimming with the sharks was pretty cool! They mostly swam around the bottom of the pool and did not come too close to you. The best part of the trip was the party on board the huge catamaran. Joseph made authentic Coco Locos with Rum and we all drank many beers and rum and cokes. Then we danced on board with the crew and one of the female staff actually got my uncoordinated, non dancing husband to dance with her!! Then they dropped us into a shallow swimming area where we all got drunk with the floating trays of drinks available to us. Then back to the boat for more dancing. The trip was only a ½ day so still plenty of time to enjoy the resort. You can leave either in the AM or PM. If you want to just snorkel, you can pay $25pp and take a boat out with the resort staff.
Grounds: The landscaping is beautiful and well manicured. There is a lake in the middle with swans and ducks and little bridges. The front main lobby has huge fountains that light up in various colors at night. The main lobby area is open and airy and relaxing to hang out in and have some drinks. There are several flowery bushes and trees everywhere. I think the maids pick from these to decorate your room. There are covered pathways that lead to the beach/main pool to protect your sunburn from more sunburn.
The beach is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the lobby depending on your speed. To the right of the main lobby (?South) down boardwalks are some shops and casino. There is a 24hr medical center, a pharmacy, a few souvenir shops, a jewelry store, a music store and a gym over here (much smaller gym than on the royal side). The Japanese, French, and Crepes restaurants are over here too. There is a large open theatre area just beyond the main lobby that had nightly entertainment which we could not seem to stay awake for. I know they had karaoke one night and some shows other nights. The disco opens at 11pm which we did not visit. There’s also a golf course and tennis courts to the front and left of the property which we did not use. Staff zip around in carts which could stop and give you a ride if needed but we walked everywhere with no problem and we are not in great shape.
Some Things to Bring:
First aid kit (antibiotic ointment, peroxide, band aids)
Water shoes (sharp coral and rocks in ocean)
Dental floss (meat is really chewy)
Pool/beach floats
Insulated Mugs (We had Bubba Kegs)
Overall we had an awesome time. Compared to some of the other resorts we’ve stayed at in Antigua and Mexico, we would rate this almost a 4/5. It was about $180 more pp for the royal side which I’m not sure is worth it. The massage is not included anymore and we did not get the robes in our rooms. It was nice to have a more private beach area though with better loungers. We rarely used the royal pool since the main pool is so big and spectacular. We did not order room service. We only ate at the Thelassa restaurant three times and it wasn’t as great as all the reviews really. We did get to eat at all four specialty restaurants which I’m not sure if they save more reservations for the royal side or not. The royal rooms are much further from the beach and main pool than any of the other rooms if you like to be close to those areas. There are no ocean front rooms here either. You might be able to see the ocean from some of the rooms on the far edge of the property (I would pick building 18 if I came here again), but not on the royal side.
On the royal side beach, you miss out on some of the beach activities if you’re not paying attention since it’s a big beach. Please contact me if you have any questions.
kimmielt@comcast.net
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Jacqueline |
January 2008
Amazing Trip.. We stood at the Royal Catalonia for 5days returning Jan 27th. This Resort is so relaxing, well worth the extra $$ to stay at the Royal side. You get the best of both worlds by doing this. During the day our Royal pool was great, if you like to party it up and are looking for that fast pace party then I recommend just staying at the regular side, there always seemed to be a party going on that side of the beach and pool. We basically were looking for a relaxed romantic time so the Royal side suited us just fine. The ala cartes were good. The Rodeo Steakhouse was my least favorite. Never went by the buffets for dinner so I cant comment on that. For breakfast the large Main buffet was great. They have EVERYTHING you could possibly want for breakfast. We are already looking into booking to celebrate new years eve nxt year. It is true VERY FEW Americans at this resort and the English is EXTREMELY limited.
Everyone that we met were very nice from the other tourists to all of the staff. No complaints at all except I expected the beach to be a bit more bigger it was ok I loved the pool and spent most of my time there anyway.
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
Lena |
January 2008
We stayed at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro Jan10-24 and felt it was worth the extra money for the very nice room and being able to get away from the hustle & bustle of the other side. Punta Cana is very beautiful and is a very nice resort . We do have a few negatives.......the cigar & cig smoke......can't get away from it ,the language barrier and feeling kind of stuck there.....too far away from anything else. The buffet food was good but were not impressed with any of the specialty restaurants, entertainment was good .......the sun ,sand and being in the tropics made the 8 hr plane ride worth it .
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| Catalonia Royal Bavaro Resort |
John ~ Ottawa |
January 2008
We stayed on the Royal side in January 2008. The rooms are the strong point of this resort, huge, clean, and well-designed, best I've ever seen. The grounds are beautiful as well, with lots of birds (especially Hispanolian woodpeckers by the dozen) and trees. The third strong point is the beautiful beach. All the staff try very hard, as well, and tips don't seem to sway their level of service (although I'm sure they appreciate them). However, it's not a five star or even 4 and a half. Food at all the buffets and restaurants is fair to good, but not great (honestly, in Cuban resorts the food is way better, so I never understand what people are talking about when they say don't go to Cuba for the food). Snorkelling is alright, but better in Cuba (although we did see 4 Moray Eels and an octopus, my wife's first). If you don't like kids and huge crowds, stay on the Royal side (it was cheaper when we booked through Selloff Vacations than the regular side). The Royal side is very quiet; however, the restaurant on the Royal side seems to have consistently terrible service. As well, this seems to be smokers' resort, so leave your lungs at home (not to mention the constant pesticide spraying, stinky and carcinogenic). Finally, no all-you-can-eat lobster night, unlike Cuban resorts . A solidly good resort, but not great. I'd give it 4 stars.
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