Background: This was our third trip to Punta Cana in 5 years. We have stayed at another resort the last two trips but chose the Barcelo Caribe to save some money and stay with two other families. Used Apple Vacations flying from Detroit. Left Michigan at 6:00am and at resort by 10:30am.

Resort: The Barcelo complex is huge. There are five resorts within the complex. Only three are on the beach (Palace, Beach and Caribe). The other two (Casino and Golf) are a good walk from the water. May not seem like a big deal at first but it's amazing how far that may seem after a long day in the sun. There are several trollies/ shuttles that run 24/7 that will transport you between the resort lobbies. If you want to visit the three resorts on the beach, it's just as easy to walk along the water. We stayed at the Caribe for our entire week. Check-in went smooth and rooms were ready by 2:00pm. This was springbreak so the resort was packed. The staff seemed hurried but there were so many people to attend to. As others have said, it's amazing how a smile and "Hola Amigo" will helps everybody (quests and staff) deal with the big crowds. Only 20-25 min ride from Punta Cana airport.

Rooms: Smaller but okay. Seemed to be newly decorated with fresh paint and wall hangings. Air-conditioner worked fine. No bugs noticed in the room the entire week. It had a simple balcony with a partial view of the ocean. The other two families staying at this resort had similar rooms but theirs faced away from the beach so they didn't get any breeze. I sent down a request for an ocean view room a month in advance and we were very happy with our location. Water pressure and temperature were fine. Did seem to go down a little just before dinner as everyone was probably showering from a day in the sun. Minibar has a few beers and Cokes inside. Note: if you want something different, you may want to place a note IN the mini-fridge. It appears on this resort that the maids don't stock the fridges. That is done by a separate person. Rooms a little musty but a small candle or room deodorizer does the trick.

Beach: Very nice. We've been to quite a few beaches in the Caribbean and think you'll be hard pressed to find anything as nice. The Barcelo complex is south on Barvaro Beach. We found the water to be smoother and shallower then farther up north. It was very windy the first two days but then calmed down the rest of the week. In the evenings it got quite still and calm. To the south of the resort is a small cove/shallow area. Not many resorts or people nearby. If you wanted some privacy, this would be the place to go. Just bring some water. It's sheltered from the wind and hot in the sun. There is a nice path that will take you around the point towards the Natura resort. I walked it twice and saw a police officer each time patrolling the area. Beware of mosquitoes. When the wind died down, they came out in force. Unless you were inside a lobby or bar, you needed to have some repentant on. We put some on before heading to dinner and were fine the rest of the night.

Food: Okay but not great. Still plenty to choose from. Great desserts and ice cream. What more do you need? We tried the Italian restaurant and Steak House. Both very good. Excellent service. Casual dress fine for restaurants. Casual shorts were okay but no swim suits.

Disco: My daughter and her friends went most nights. It didn't open till 11:00am (past my bedtime). No air-conditioning. All men had to wear long pants. Jeans were fine but no shorts for men. Being an early riser, it was easy to see who had been up all night because they still had their long pants on, doing that "walk of shame"back to their rooms.

Excursions: We went on the Mariarium tour. It was a half day trip on a large catamaran. Actually had more fun then I thought I would. They were very safety conscience. Everyone had to wear life-jackets when the boat was moving. They took us out on the reef to snorkel for 20-30 minutes then went over to an enclosed area to swim with nurse sharks and stingrays. You could swim over the sharks and rays without coming too close. They took away the swim fins so nobody kicked the animals. Cost: $65-70/ person. Very entertaining staff. Lots of fun and only gone 1/2 day. We did hear that some excursions were unavailable due to Holy Week (starting from Thursday thru Sunday)

Drinking: On our arrival bus ride our Apple rep actually said there was no drinking age in the D.R. I think it was tongue-in-cheek but if there is one, it's not monitored. There were no under-age bracelets for minors. You may need to lay down some ground rules for your teenagers.

Holy Week: You could tell a definite change starting on Thursday. Seemed to be less staff on site but nothing that made things difficult. Water sports - only change was the boat traffic. No big party boats or the small speedboats. Actually quite nice if you liked being on the beach. Quieter for sure. We were still able to swim, parasail and snorkel.

Tipping:
$1-2 tip goes a long way. We left a tip for every round of drinks and for housekeeping every day. Always appreciated by the staff. I gave my Detroit Tigers cap to a Security guard one evening. Never seen a bigger smile.

Beach Chair Saving Game: I will start by saying that I am guilty of saving chairs with towels. I'm an early-riser (5:00-6:00am) and love to watch the sunrise or go for a morning run. I usually take some towels with me to save a spot for my wife and a few others. Note that we're always in our chairs by 8:00-8:30 and usually gone by 2-3:00pm. If I've saved more then we need, they are always offered to the first person does need them. But my wife and I watched something very disturbing that has changed my views on saving chairs. On our third day on the beach, we were laying about reading and dozing when all of a sudden we heard some yelling and screaming behind us. Because we only speak English, we didn't quite get the point of the argument until we watched one man pick up a nearby rock and slam it down on a chair. It appeared that two families were fighting over chairs and a small shade tree. I had been on the beach all morning and had watched both families come down and get chairs. The man with the rock actually had arrived after the man he was screaming at. I'm not sure if someone took a chair or encroached on a location, even though the man with the rock did most of the yelling. It didn't take long for a crowd to gather. A third man and his wife came storming down the beach and pushed the man with the rock down (they evidently had a run-in the previous day at the buffet). The man with the rock flung it aside and in the direction of my wife and me. It never came close but it did get my attention. This brought security running. This all transpired in about 1- 2 minutes. Security took the rock but surprisingly didn't escort anyone away. Security lingered nearby for the rest of the day. My brother-in-law tried to lighten the mood by trying to get everyone to sing "We are the World, We are People" but to no avail. Note: We were impressed with Security's response. They were there in force when needed. As the week went on the man that threw the rock built up quite a reputation. My wife over heard some people talking at breakfast the next day and caught "…..and then that guy almost hit an American couple with a big rock" at they pointed him out. What a way to be noticed, eh? Take-away Lesson: Is a chair worth a fight? Do you really want something like this to be part of your trip? Not me. I'm done saving chairs. And remember if you do save chairs, you may want to remove any nearby rocks.

Things we're glad we had:
Lots of $1 bills. You don't need many bills larger then $5 or $10. Took $500 total, brought back $100.
Bug Spray
Lots of sunscreen. I used SPF50 and still got a good tan.
Snorkel equipment. Much better then stuff at resort or on excursions.
Some different sandals to wear. Helped if you developed a blister or sore spot on your feet.
Great weather. 85-90 F and sunny every day.

We would be going back?
To this resort? Probably not. Main reasons were it was so big and a little dated. We liked the smaller resort with better access to everything. But the price was great and we got what we paid for. No big surprises.

My wife and I and two other couples spent the week of March 23rd to 31st 2007 at Barceló Bávaro Beach Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with an all-inclusive package. This is our fourth consecutive year in Punta Cana, while one couple was on their fifth visit, and the third was visiting for the first time. Our prior stays had been to Sunscape Resorts, and we were thoroughly satisfied.

I need to emphasize that none of us are overly critical. We fully understand that in the Dominican we are a small percentage of the travel clientele; Europeans make up the majority of the visitors. However, we all found our stay quite disappointing, with our criticism focusing on service and food. Following is my personal assessment of Barceló Bávaro Beach Resort.

Reception
We got off to a rocky start. Check-in was chaotic, although there were only a few people arriving. Records for one couple in our group were not in the computer. We had reserved ocean view rooms close to each other. Our objections were met with an “oh-well” attitude. Finally we were told it would be a couple hours before the rooms were ready. Upon entering our rooms, one had an inoperable safe, which had to be replaced. Air conditioning was not functioning in one unit, and work was performed at 10:00 PM to resolve this. A couple light bulbs were burned out, and it took until well into the next day to get replacements.

Service
With the exception of the maintenance personnel, staff was not overly friendly. We realized the language barrier here was far greater than other resorts we stayed at in the past. This barrier was prevalent everywhere; in bars, restaurants, etc. We missed the friendly dialogue with native workers; learning about their culture, and generally having fun with them.

Accommodations
The rooms we had were about what I expected; adequate, but not fancy. The hotel is in need of some upgrade, but overall OK. Each room had a TV, but one of the couples could not get any reception. I didn’t want any pay-per-view channels, but I realized the only thing we could watch in English was CNN. I called the desk and found we could get English speaking channels for $5 / day ($20 / week) ……just to watch network TV. (I wish I was fluent in Spanish.) This was a first for us. At night you needed to keep the balcony slider closed, as there were no screens, but plenty of mosquitoes. Air conditioning work was performed on all three adjacent units again. When ceiling panels were removed, you could see various objects like fully-wrapped rolls of toilet tissue jammed into the duct-work, apparently to prevent vibration noise. The beach is beautiful, but we realized there were no palapas (palm-roofed huts), and none at the pool. There were no covered walkways between buildings for rainy times. There is no swim-up bar, and no floats allowed in the pool. Grounds are attractive, but far from spotless.

Food / Dining
Again, we’re not overly critical, especially when it comes to food. I had read some negative reviews on the dining at this resort, but honestly thought these were comments from the overly-fussy, nose-in-the-air type who can never be pleased. The Buffet is open for all meals. As with other resorts, we found this to be adequate, with a reasonable variety of foods which we found palatable. As for the restaurants, read on.

The Mexican Lindo was our first try. I had barbecued pork ribs (they’re chops) which were OK. Three folks ordered fajitas that came as a pile of boiled, dry chicken on a plate, with fajitas wraps in the center of the table. There were no condiments – refried beans, salsa, onions, peppers, etc. brought with the meal. We left a gratuity (Why??) and headed for the Buffet for some pasta.

The Steak House was our next, and we were generally pleased. On the third night we went to Los Pinos Italian Restaurant. Three folks ordered veal scallop Milanese, which came as a highly-breaded, super-tough-to-chew entree with a fried egg on top. I could sense the tension rising, and we were off again to the buffet. The fourth night we returned to the Steak House, due to our first experience and the fact we we’d run out of sit-sown restaurants to try. We started with a round of drinks; 5 red wines and 1 margarita. The 5 wines came quickly, followed several minutes later by a Margarita Pizza! I had a sirloin, cooked medium rare, and found it to be OK. Several others ordered exactly the same thing, but got paper-thin steaks cooked half to death. They sent them back, got replacement entrees (improved, not great), and we finished our meal. We left a tip, and went to the Buffet for desert. I could continue, but you get the picture.

Security
We’ve never had a security issue in the Dominican, and we didn’t experience one at Barceló Bávaro Beach either. However, on our final night my wife lost her room key (card). We went to the lobby desk and notified them. We were charged $5 for a replacement, and that’s fine. What isn’t fine, however, is the only question we were asked was “What is your room number?” We were handed a new card, and never asked for any ID whatsoever – not even a Name. This raised serious questions in our mind.

must say we had a grand time at this resort, this was the first time in the DR, so we have nothing to compare to, but we did enjoy the scenery, I keep looking at my pictures over and over again. There was plenty to do, but most things come with a price, so you have to prioritize and stick to it or you could run into alot of money. We had planned a full day Outback Safari trip, which I reccommend to everyone, as you get to see the real RD, NOT WHAT YOU SEE IN THE RESORT. We had a great tour guide "Luis", whom was extremely knowledgeably in the history and he sure held your interest. The BBQ half way throughout the tour was well worth the money we paid!

We did a snorkling trip to swim with the sharks and the rays , and I who have a phobia about putting my face in water, got over that real quick, the fish and coral etc. were spectacular.

We also did the KonTiki Party Boat, which once again I highly reccommend, it was a blast, you will only have fun though if you participate!

The resort itself was good, clean, and kept well stocked, all one needs for a wk, after all you are going there for the sun, not to sit in your room! The one downfall, I must say was the lack of English speaking receptionists, the other workers were courteous, all you need is to smile and say "OLAH", but you do sometimes need to be able to converse with the front desk, and it is frustrating if you cannot make them understand you! We found the entertainment good, alot of personal interaction with the guests, a great way to make them feel welcome., and no one should go away without being able to do the "MERENGUE".

The food was good, I heard alot of complaints, but one must remember you are in their country to experience their ways, and food is also a part of this, you can eat your own food at home, and save money!

I rarely write to complain about anything, but after my one week stay at the Barcelo Beach Resort, I feel inclined to do just that. I traveled with a group of 8 and 1 room lacked both air conditioning and power for TWO days. The hotel refused to move us, and repeatedly assured us the problem would be fixed in "a few hours". When they sent a "technician" to repair it, he jammed a piece of cardboard in the power unit and left the room. 5 minutes later, the power again went out.

Hi Debbie & all other Vacationers:

This review is going to be a long one, because I have so much to say about this resort!

Our group of 4, ages 31-36 just returned from an excellent one week holiday at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort, Feb. 26th - March 6th 2007. We had a lot of fun and had a wonderful vacation that we thoroughly enjoyed at all times. There was nothing wrong with this resort as far as we were concerned. We had excellent weather, hot and sunny with a slight breeze everyday, and had tonnes of laughs and and just an all around great vacation. Now mind you, we went the frame of mind that we were going to have fun, and probably could have had a great time at any Punta Cana destination. But we picked this one for the price, and for the stay at one, play at 5 feature. And we were not sorry, and would go back tomorrow if given the opportunity.

This resort is, as others have mentioned, a bit older so the decor in the rooms and the lobby was a bit dated - but who cares, you are only in them to sleep and change. On the other hand, the grounds were lush and mature and beautiful, and kept spotlessly clean by the dedicated, hard working gardeners. You were tuely in paradise. Take a minute and stop to give them a cold drink every now and then if you can, they really appreciate it. The security at night also loved it when we stopped to give them a battle of water or Sprite. they stand there all day long in the heat. Even a beer every now and then! Ha!

The crowd at the Beach resort was predominantly spanish speaking Europeans, most of which were students on spring break, which at times got annoying and frustarting, but we didn't let it bother us. The spanish students partied all night and slept all day. You would sometimes hear the hooting and hollering on the way back to their rooms about 6am, and they made so much extra work for the employees by littering a lot, and not caring for towels and things of that nature. But we tried not tolet them bother us. Ther were also many italians, french and dutch people there. Very few canadinas and a few yankees.

The beach was absolutely beautiful!!!!! Soft, fine white sand lined with swaying palm trees - beautiful and shady, and nice blue, green water. Shallow and clear and wonderful for swimming, especially for children. Hardly any waves though, good for some people, a minus for others. There were always speed boats zooming by, or party boats going, or snorkelling excursions heading out - it was just a hub of activity. Dolphin Island was just off the shore of our resort actually, as was the pen where you swam with the sharks and stingrays. Nice that they were close by, less travelling time. There was also deep sea fishing, sailboats, hobby cats, paddle boats, etc for your use - many cost extra though, and helicopter rides available, snorkelling excursions a plenty, scuba diving, para-sailing,a dn so on. You could do as much or as little as you want.

The pool I found at the Beach Resort was a bit small, all though it was never crowded. We spent the mornings lazing on the beach, jsut down a bit from all th ehub-bu for some relaxation, and the afternoons were mostly spent by the pool, as we preferred swimming in the pool, and being close to th ebar and buffet for lunch. There was always music playing by the pool, which some people would like, others would hate. Depends what you are looking for. Dance lessons and dance contests were a daily occurance as well, as well a beach volleyball, pool aerobics, beach aerobics, pool rugby, and so much more. You could do as little or as much as you wanted.

There was plenty of places to shop between the 5 resorts, gift shope, 2 beach shops, plus a little plaza of shops right in the middle, and a flea market and plaza just up the beach about 10 minutes, where you could do some good ol' bartering if that was your cup of tea. There was also a hair salon, medical center, beach front massages, hair braiding, a jewellery shop, an internet cafe, and so much more! All at your fingertips!

The Palace was the spot to be if you were a more mature couple, or were looking for peace and tranquility. The Beach resort was more the party resort. The Craibe was the other beach front resort and looked to be great for families, or anyone at all really. The casino and the golf were not beach front, but it was only a short walk to the beach - and a train went throughout the 5 properties continuosly, taking you anywhere you wanted to go. So much fun just to ride the train and look around and find out where everything is.

The rooms were very clean and more than adequate, for all the time you spend in them. The beds were the most comfortable I've ever slept in in my 3 visits to the DR. The rooms were small, the a/c worked great, the safe was free and worked fine, there was lots of water pressure and hot water every time my husband or I showered, the mini bar was stocked daily without fail, and the maids did an excellent job tidying up each day, usually in the morning. Only one day did we have to wait until after lunch until our room was done. Very friendly ladies, an "Ola" every morning from them, they are all so hard working. The tv programming sucked, but who really watches TV down there. We found out later in the week that you can get satellite TV for 5.00 day, but we didn't bother getting it. If you did turn your air conditioning off at night, you could really hear a lot, as the walls were very thin - but agian who cares about that???? Nobody knows you, so who cares if they hear you flush the toilet, cough, or......whatever? Ha!

The fitness center was down at the palace, but we never even visited it. Walking was our exercise for the week, along the beach and around the complex. The casino was alright, my husband made a few "donations" on a few nights. FYI there was a bank machine in the casino, but it only dispensed pesos, and there was one in the Plaza Dominicana too. In this plaze there is also a pharmacy if you should need anything, although it is all very expensive.

I must say though that the evening entertainment at 10pm every night was a joke, but we didn't really care anyways. I only saw 3 shows, and didn't care if I saw anymore. They were corny audience particpation type shows, and the audience was so multicultural that every thing the mc said was siad in spanish, then english, then french, then dutch or something - it took so long for the show to move along, you just got bored. Wedensday nights are Dominican nights, at the buffet and on stage, so that music was nice and the dancing nice to watch. The others were a bore and were corny! So we just played crib back at our room on our balcony, read, and just talked and made our own fun. Man did we have some great laughs!

The food was more than adeqaute for a thrid world country. We never went a bit hungry. Breakfast was the best, with food such as omelettes, fried eggs, boiled eggs, french toast, bacon, pancakes, sausages, toast, fresh fruit, and a smoothie bar. Lunch was pizza or salads, pasta, or just about anything else you could imagine. There was a carvery every night at the buffet at the beach resort, roast beef and turkey were my favorites. They also cooked steak, pork chops, chicken breasts, and various fish fillets to your liking on the grills every meal, next to the pasta bar. Sunday night they serve dominican lobster for you to try. Cool! The steakhouse was good as well. The desserts were yucky, but that was probably a good thing - or I'd be eating way more than my fair share! Clara was the maitre'd at the buffet, and she became one of my favorite employees, what a sweetheart! She works 14 hour days, 11 days on, 3 days off. Bless her heart. All of those people work so hard, so cut them some slack if they seem tired or cranky. Hi also to Leonardo, our bartended at the pool bar, and to Roberto at the snorkelling shop, next to the tattoo booth. Katherine was our tour rep with Air Canada Vacations and she was a big help, for booking excursions, answering questions, and assisting you in any way needed.

We took the 1/2 day Outback Jungle Safari and it was all english speaking participants, with an awesome tour guide, Omar, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip - I recomment it to everyone. We went out snorkelling for 2 hours too, which was also agreat experience and alot of fun. We also took a 2 hour horseback ride one evening 4-6pm. The horses were very healthy, and Johnny our guide was awesome too. It was partly trails, partly along a private beach and partly in the water - awesome too! I just can't say enough about this place! Just go and have fun!! You will enjoy yourself! If we had of had more money and more time we would have done more.

My mother and I have not been to DR, our country of birth, for many years. In many ways, this trip was supposed to help us fondly reminisce about our native land and also help my mother psychologically and emotionally heal from several years of multiple medical crises. You see, my mother is 83 years old and is a cervical and uterine cancer and stroke survivor. This trip meant so many things for us and now all we have to remember of this trip is the complete fiasco and horrible experience at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach resort.

I had made a reservation at the Casino hotel, which is one of the five hotels in the resort. Even before we pulled up to the hotel, the van driver told me to verify at the front desk if I had actually made the reservation in the right hotel. Why would he even question this? I was immediately suspicious. Sure enough, when I went to check in, I was told that I was “upgraded” to the Beach hotel. When I asked to remain in the Casino hotel, I was then told the real side of the story. They had in fact overbooked and a room was not available to us. This was a classic tale of “bait and switch.”

As we were heading to the Beach hotel, the van driver told me that it was customary for guests to be “upgraded.” Once we got to the Beach hotel, I was very clear and angry that we were in fact downgraded. The Beach hotel was nothing like the Casino hotel. It also made me realize that when I researched this resort, all hotels were described similarly but in reality, every hotel was distinct. This was a prime example of false advertising

When we finally got to the Beach hotel’s front desk, I became even more anxious when I saw a group of angry guests who had already been waiting to get their rooms for the past hour. And sure enough, as I tried to check in, I was told that it would be at least an hour to get into our room. After two hours of waiting, I asked to speak with a supervisor or a manager (and by the way, the guests that were there before me were still in the lobby, just even angrier), but the front desk staff had the audacity to state that there was no supervisor. Then the front desk staff hid in a separate room to avoid further complaints and angry glares from all of the awaiting, tired, sweaty, hungry, and angry guests. Finally, all guests were eventually told that their rooms were available at the same time. Hmmm, did the cleaning personnel magically and simultaneously prepare all rooms? Why did all of us have to wait in the lobby at the same time? It just didn’t make any sense.

When we got to our room, we were greeted by the lovely sounds of the toilet flushing….in the next room.

Well, we hoped that our experience at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach resort would get better. Surely, things couldn’t get any worse. Could they? As a matter of fact, they surely did. For example, when one thinks of Dominican food, mouths usually water. How can Dominican food ever, ever taste bad? Well, it apparently can. When we arrived to our first meal, the Mexican buffet, the presentation of the food was not as enticing as compared to other resorts I’ve been to. Was this even Mexican? What was it? My mother chose the fish and she ended up getting sick right away. She spent her first night, of a long awaited vacation, vomiting and experiencing diarrhea.

And by the way, the subsequent meals did not fair any better. The Italian restaurant was a disaster… I had to spit out a biteful of shrimp (was it even shrimp?). I was hungry that night, and a few nights after that.

After a few days of going hungry and scared of eating anything, my mother’s legs began to swell up. I went to the public relations office and asked for a wheelchair. She told me that there was only one wheelchair on the premises and it was already out on loan. She directed me to the doctor’s office and he had the nerve to ask me for $400 American dollars as a deposit and $10 American dollars daily for use of the wheelchair. Since I couldn’t get the wheelchair, my mother and I were restricted from getting around the resort in search of and hope of finding some edible food.

I also hoped that the entertainment options would somehow help me forget that I was hungry. But, this got me even more upset and at times bored. The disco “DJ” was very talented. He played the same music in the same sequence every single night. It didn’t matter which night I went to the disco, it was the same music, same sequence, same nonsense. What entertainment! But, I was excited about the fact that there was a burger joint next to the club. But wait, it closes at 3am when the disco closes at 6am.

I’m sorry for sounding so negative. I did meet some lovely tourists from Canada and Switzerland. There’s nothing better to help guests bond than a common suffering. We were all hungry and disappointed. I was even sad to hear that many of my new friends claimed that they would never go back to DR. DR is beautiful (the beach by the Barcelo Beach resort was no exception) and other resorts that I’ve visited have been perfect. No complaints whatsoever.

Honestly, I was trying to search for the positives. Anything, anything at all. I had hoped that the staff would somehow make up for what was lacking in the resort. Yet, they too were a big disappointment. The restaurant staff were not friendly at all. One pregnant staff member had an extremely bad attitude. She ignored my greeting and when I had to ask a question, she responded with a blank stare. And remember, I speak Spanish. There was no language barrier and thus no excuse for staff to pretend to not understand what I was saying or asking. I also saw some of the same employees work during all shifts. One woman served me breakfast, lunch, and dinner, AND served me drinks at the disco until 5am. These employees are overworked and it is no wonder they are not the friendliest. Also, I left some money for the maid as a tip to service my room, but the money was taken but the beds were not made. One afternoon, I returned to the room shower following a morning on the beach, and found that the room was not serviced. The room was finally cleaned at 5pm.

And another comment about false advertising….why were drinks not included during one of the entertainment shows (“Tropicalism”). What an embarrassment when I was given a bill but my wallet was in the room. Who carries a wallet in an all-inclusive resort?

So, we get to our fond farewells….I called for the bellhop to assist with my bags and the operator could not locate a bellhop. What? What do you mean you can’t find the bellhop? Do you only have one for the entire resort? Long story short, I took my bags down and the bellhop was nice to make his appearance when I had already done all the work. Nice….

This is long overdue.....I was married February 2006 at the Barcelo Bavaro Princess. Overall, my experience was great. Before I get into my review, I just want to say that planning of a destination can be stressful, but once you finalize the location and buy your tickets it's a lot of fun!

My husband and I looked at a ton of resorts before deciding which one to go to, and I ended up picking the Barcelo chain because it gave a lot of options to our friends and family. There are a few resorts located on the complex and they all have various price ranges, which we wanted to offer. I also got very quick response from the wedding coordinator and I am an event planner myself, so I like detailed feedback. Our coordinator was Illanney and she was absolutely wonderful, I knew before we arrived that things would run smoothly.

We ended up with 30 people total, some of which flew in from Scotland, others from the United States and the majority from Toronto. Once we arrived at the hotel with the large group from Toronto we were informed that half of the group was getting upgraded to the Palace and the other half would remain at the Barcelo Beach. apparently, they had overbooked the hotel. This was rather frustrating because we had booked as a group and being at two different resorts made it difficult to find people, it also meant that those staying at the beach could not join the others at the Palace restaurants or bar. In the end, it all worked out fine, but just not exactly how we had planned.

All of the resorts on this complex were nice, there are lots of options for dining, several a la carte restaurants and several buffet restaurants to choose from. As far as I know, none of our group got sick the entire time.
The beach is amazing in Punta Cana and we never had any issues with getting towels or lounge chairs throughout the day.

Now for the wedding.....The day after we arrived, Mark and I went and met with our wedding coordinator, Illanney. This was a quick no stress meeting. We gave her copies of all of the documents that we needed, and she reviewed the final details with us. I had previously communicated with her through email, so most of the decisions had already been made. Then she showed us the different locations where we could get married and we decided that the beach was it. We did not have any kind of rehearsal, she just showed us where to walk, and where we would be standing and the rest was pretty self explanatory. Illaney will arrange everything you need! She arranged our flowers, and we also has a musical trio playing while I walked down the isle and after the ceremony. This is definitely worth the extra money, that little bit of music made the day that much more perfect.

We did not plan on getting a photographer, just thought that friends and family could take pictures, but after we arrived we just decided to hire the guy on the resort. He took pictures throughout the entire ceremony and then did a fairly short photo session afterwards. I'm sure he would do more, but we wanted no longer than 15 minutes. This may be hard to believe, but the pictures are the most beautiful wedding pictures I have ever seen. I don't have them posted on the web, but if you would like to see please email me and I'd be happy to send some. (noler5@hotmail.com) Also, he said that it would cost us $400us for 40 pictures, but we ended up bartering with him and got the entire cd for $300us, which was over 150 pictures.

After the ceremony we had a group reservation at the steakhouse. Nothing private, but it was great anyway. We just got up and said our speeches in the restaurant. I think the other guests enjoyed it.

After dinner we did not have anything official planned, but ended up all going to the small bar/disco located at the Palace hotel. I took in a CD that I brought and the bartender played it for us, so we had our first dance, and I got to have a dance with my father. Then we had a private reception for the next couple of hours. This just worked out perfectly, but was not planned before. Finally, we all headed to the hotel disco...I think I finally got to sleep after the sun came up the next morning. A night I will never forget!!!

To all readers deciding to go to any of the Barceló Barvaro Beach, Caribe, Golf, Casino or Palace.

Opening Comments:
My buddy and I are going for our 6th year to the same resort, Barceló Barvaro. We have stayed in all hotels except the Palace. I decided to write because I seen a lot of comments and I am happy for the ones that had a great time and sad for the ones that found their time unpleasant. To me I guess It depends totally on your attitude, expectations, stress levels, why you are going and what you want to do when you are there.

What I have experienced and believe me we have experienced allot but for the most part its all in your attitude going there. We have found first of all their culture is much different then ours, secondly they are very happy people and when they are treated with respect they will totally respect you and your needs.

Arriving:
When you land they take a picture of everyone coming to the Island. When you leave you can purchase your picture at the airport. There will be a place for you to do this. When you proceed to the loading area you will be greeted by bus boys. They will want to take you luggage for you and help you. If they do you do not have to tip them allot. 1 or 2 dollars USD is worth it.

Transportation:
After passing through customs you will pick up your luggage and then proceed to the back of the airport where you will meet your travel agent which will greet you and get you on the destination bus you need to be on. You could be leaving in a van or a bus and the ride is about 15-20 minutes tops. Barceló Barvaro is the first stop. If you are taking a van they are polite and like to have a great time. They will stop if you ask them for what ever you need. We decided to take a taxi one year to beat the bus but the taxi broke down and it took us double the time. We could of got up set but there is no reason to. We knew we would get there eventually and that we are on holidays. You make the best of your circumstances and we did.

Hotel reception:
You have to keep in mind when you are there that yes the Agencies may over book and this is not the persons fault at the front desk. These people have enough stress with what the agencies dump on them and they do their best to accommodate you. I am sure if you slip them 5 or 10 bucks the receptionist will work some wonders for you.

Hotel rooms:
From my experience the rooms are pretty much the same except the palace which is a little bit better. I have been in the rooms of the palace and for the extra money I don't find it worth it. You will receive access to three more restraunts and your own small disco tech and bar in the hotel building. You will have a safe in the room which is easy to use. We normally keep all our documents and money in the safe. If you need to have extra money on you for tips find a water proof holder that you can keep with you. Check every thing out when you get into the room so if there is a problem you can get on it right away. Now remember they are not in a hurry and some times they may need to be reminded but they will get it done. Just carry on with your day and enjoy it. For the Maids we bring Packs of gum you can get at the dollar store and leave them a 1$ tip and a gum each day. Your room will be well taken care of. For the fridge they normally put some water, pop, and beer. If you want more then what they normally put in leave a note and a couple of dollars and you will be well taken care of. Tell them you want it full with beer or pop or water what ever your choice each day and it will be done.
You can also get an iron and board if you ask the front room. Don't be in a hurry because they are not. You can also send your clothes out to get dry cleaned. Its priced reasonable and they do a good job.

Pools /Lounges / Bars:
All the hotels have a bar, pool and a lounge area. We have made a lot of friends in these areas. Also something to keep in mind, if you tip the waitresses at the bar and lounge area you will be remembered and severed very well. Actually because we are friendly with them and tip them they remember us and it makes our stay that much more pleasant. The first couple of years we tipped a dollar every night.. so what we have found is that if you are in the same lounge or bar time them 5 or 10 dollars for the week and tell them that and they will treat you very well. Most of the people there make 125 usd a month. Some that get tipped make more then that but most do not make a whole lot.

Attractions;
There are many things to do. We have played ping pong, badminton, kayaked, battled boot, snorkeled, beach volleyball, water ball and many other activities. You can also get excursions, such as Para sailing, horse back riding, snorkeling, and many many more. We have not done many of the excursions because we normally go for the golfing, disco and the beach and relaxation.
The casino is a good place to go as well. If you didn't receive any vouchers in your package you can ask the front desk and they will provide you with more vouchers.
At night you can arrange to see some shows. They have free shows every night which involves the audience. These are very funny and well done. During the day around 3pm they will do interactive games to get the vacationers involved and help to meet other people. They are a lot of fun even if you are watching.

Restraunts:
There are 8 restraunts unless you are in the palace and by staying there you get all the restraunts included. Out side the palace, you have a Steak House, Mexican, Italian, (open for lunch and dinner), Seafood (its on the beach and open for lunch only) 3 allacarte's which are open for lunch and dinner and one is open for breakfast. Around the pool area and the golf course you can get limited breakfast and lunch as well. At the allacarte's they have allot to chose from. If your a really picky eater it doesn't matter where you go in the south you will have a hard time. I think they accommodate every ones tastes with their selections.

Disco's
They have two Disco's. One is an American disco where only the vacationers can go to. The other disco is a Spanish one and if you want to meet some of the people that work on the resort they will be there. The music is great in either place. In the American disco place has air conditioning and the Spanish disco is supplied by fresh out side air. At the American disco if you go to the back which is the right side they have a place where they make grilled cheese sandwiches and hot dogs as well drinks. Also near the beach at the Italian restraunt they have a pizza available most of the day. You can bring these on the beach along with your drinks.

Market
If you are looking for trinkets, cigars, alcohol, etc they have decent selection. Go to the left walking down the beach for 10 minutes and you arrive at the market. you can also get braids done, massage, etc.

Off the Resort
With a 20 minute taxi ride you can go to some discos which are allot of fun, Mango's, is one of the favorite places to go. Carry enough money for drinks, and cab fairs and leave your wallets and purse in the safe in the hotel room. Taxi's are 15-20 dollars each way.

Golfing
I am a pretty good golfer and the course is a good course. Its not a great course like Augusta, or Pebble Beach. If you are looking for this type of course you will find a few with in a 30-40 minute drive out side the resort. One is a PGA course that you can play on the ocean which is really nice. You can rent a caddy if you wish. Also they will supply you with a cart. if you get a package with golf included you still have to pay 25$ for the cart each time you go out. The course is not full and your rarely waiting for any one. If you drink beer they will supply you with a cooler and beer for your cart. For a small tip they will clean your clubs and take you to your room. Its worth it.

Final comments:
Seriously, how you treat the workers on the resort is how you will be treated back. I don't think if you are complaining it will be the first complaint they have heard in the day or in that hour. Every year and only because we have fun with the local people and treat them well they treat us even better. Just from saying hi to managers and stopping for a chit chat with them we have unexpectedly received restraunt vouchers with some of the best foods in the Spanish restraunt. We have received the best Rum on the island as well invited to their homes, fishing, golfing out side the resort. So its all in the attitude and respect you show the workers and also other visitors. Last year we where invited after the second day of being there to a wedding on the beach. We didn't even know this family and we where invited just because we made friends. How nice is that. This may not happen to every one but because we have come with the right attitude and we aim to have fun we find our selves being treated very well and they remember our names from year to year which is really nice. It completes the relaxing time we have and makes the stay very enjoyable.

I would have to say that when my parents told me that we were going away to Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort i was very excited, and mesmerized by the beautiful pictures i had looked up of the resort. However, when i read some of these reviews i was kind of scared to go as not allot of what people had to say was positive. Needless to say...most people in my opinion either had a huge amount of bad luck hit them or...they were just the type of people who complain no matter where they are.
I myself am a very picky 19 year old and bad is bad however, i have to say that the time i spent at this resort was by far one of the best weeks ever. I'll try and split my review into sections so that you can read what u like and disregard what u don’t care about.

~Beach~
Beautiful!!! Don't even look at pictures before you go because they don’t do it justice! The water was very pleasant, not too deep (unless you go in past 20meters), very small waves that barely reach your ankles, and if you go in far enough you can swim to the bottom and find starfish that are the size of your head...fascinating! (Just don’t take them into your room because even though you think they are dead when you take them out of the water, they are still alive and will climb all over the dresser at night:S). Also when i read that there was a constant breeeze i didnt think that would be too great but in fact it is excellent. The breeze enhances your tan, and u dont feel your skin burning (even though its obviously not good if your skin is burning so wear lotion). Also, it just feels nice when you are lying on the beach...very relaxing. The sand is the nicest i have ever seen...and i have been to a few beaches, but this one was #1 by far...not allot of rocks..at least not anywhere near the hotels but if u walk further along you may find some...didn't bother me. All in all the beach was gorgeous...you really have to see it for yourself..there are no local people that try to sell you things. The odd person working at the resort will OFFER and not FORCE a message, or a hair braid but that is all. OHH! Annnd everyday they have a proff photographer and an assistant walk along the beach w the most adorable and friendly monkeys, parots, iguanas etc that they offer you to take pictures with. The great thing about this is that you have your own mini photo shoot...you get to hold the adorable monkey or whatever animal it is and you don’t have to pay on the beach. If you would like the pictures they are all developed at 6 oclock and are on display in the main lobby....if u wish to buy them its $8 a photo but you can bargain sometimes (like with many other things) if you buy many.

~Food and Drink~
I definitely couldn’t get enough of the all inclusiveness..it was amazing.
Let us start w the food. The food at all the buffets were very good i think.
However, the buffet at the Caribe resort (next to beach resort) had more variety and was better. There is a wide variety however, in each buffet of vegetarian, seafood etc. I also highly recommend the Steak House and the Italian ( Steakhouse i think was better and they are both included in the price). There is also a pizza place right next to the Steak House which had mediocre pizza...but it was alright. The service however here was slow on some days and fast on others. Make sure you stay there for your order...but sometimes i left it because i had been standing in line for 45 minutes..too much to do to wait that long. Now as for the drinks..i highly recommend that you try the pina coladas ( as with anything you want alcohol in you have to say "Con Ron"), and the strawberry dacaries are amazing:P Now i know these are girlie drinks but I was told that their beer "Presidente" is pretty good (although i am not a beer drinker so i cannot tell you how good it is compared to Canadian beer i only heard). The bar service is very good in my opinion, i encourage you to tip occasionally, or at the end of the night the bartenders will serve you with greater pleasure and they will appreciate even $1. I heard that they would not put allot of alcohol in the drinks. As for my experience i would have to disagree. There were several occasions where i was at the Discoteque (ill say more about that in Entertainment) and i had to ask for "mucho coke, or mucho orange juice" because i could taste the alcohol too much. The drinks are great though...lots of good times:D

~Entertainment~
A lot better than i expected! Keep in mind though that i am 19 and so my expectations are that of a partying university student and so my opinion will be quiet different than those of others:) To start, the resort really is made to entertain any age group...my 10 year old brother had just as much fun playing pool, badminton, and ping-pong as i did playing beach volleyball, and going to the discoteque every night. There is a very well designed, decorated, and maintained stage that has a different show going on for the audience every night. It starts at 10 and goes usually till midnight. They were histerically funny at times...and throughout the show there are waiters walking around taking orders for drinks. After the show most people went to bed...however....I and many others went back to the room for a quick change and headed to the discoteque which is not even a 2 minute walk from the main lobby. The disco was awsome...( dont go before 12 though becasue it gets full around 12:30-1 ish) it was not exactly as grand as some of the bigger clubs downtown like the guvernment or republik but it was fairly sized....and had 2 long bars at either side of the club. It was great though! The music was awsome...they played a variety of euro, hip-hop, r&b trance, and latin. Overall, great times! The crowd was 18 and older (18 is the age restriction) but you did have the odd older couple who didnt bother us, they were just enjoying some nostalgia amoung the young crowd. So much to say....the entertainment overall was excellent...no matter how old you are and what you like you will find things to do that you will love guaranteed.

~Activities~
Great! They had blow up mountains in the water that you had to pay for and you could climb, i went horse back riding with a single guide on a secluded beach which was phenomenal. I am a huge equestrian freak and needless to say the horses were not pure bred andalusians but they were pretty well kept and it was cheap. $30 american for 2 hours....and it was very relaxing. I couldnt help but as i was cantering i was staring at the water (we were right on the beach) and it was gorgeoussss. The staff arrange a number of activities for you as well...water aerobics, water polo, dancing lessons etc. You can arrange for scuba lessons, and snorkelling. Too many to say...moving along…

~Rooms~
Our room was in tip top shape...i don’t understand why people got themselves so angry over the rooms....you are in there for like 6 hours a day!! Including the night! I guess some people are too picky...complaining about broken tiles…..but our room was fine. Housekeeping was decent, the housekeeper came everyday and made our beds etc, our air conditioning was up and running. All in all it was perfect to sleep in and change, take a shower in.

I booked my vacation to stay at the Punta Cana Barcelo Bavaro Beach resort during mid December. I started reading the reviews on this web site in November and was frightened to even go on this trip in December. I told my wife that we made a big mistake. Well, we just returned from Punta Cana on December 17th and I have a lot to say. I will start by saying that I did experience a lot of what others have said, but will disagree with most of you by saying that my wife and I hade a very wonderful time. The big mistake I made was reading the complaints that many of you wrote.

There are several things to keep in mind. The most important is that you are leaving our soil and island life is a lot different than our life. We go to the islands to relax and rid ourselves of stress. It seems that reading some of the reviews here that you stressed out people have unresaonable expectations. Most of your rants here are so misplaced.

One person complained that she could hear someone in the next room. Yup, I heard a lady talking in her bathroom when I was in mine. I laughed because she was speaking in a language that I could not understand. I also laugh at the review of a person complaining that it took 35 minutes to get checked in at the desk. It too me about 2 minutes. I did see a big crowd checking in on Saturday. I'm sure it took them longer.

There are ways to do things on the islands. For instance, the remote control in my room would not work. My choices were call the desk and wait until someone had time to bring me two batteries, or seeing we are contstantly passing the lobby, take the batteries with me and ask the front desk to exchange them for me. Well, taking the batteries with me saved my needing to complain about waiting. There are many ways to get around things intead of just complaining about it.

My mini bar had 2 beers, 2 1.5 litre bottles of water, 1 club soda, 1 sprite, 1 coke and 1 coke light. Ok, complain about not having enough stuff or get more stuff. I left 1 dollar and a small cigar on the mini bar with a note asking for a third bottle of water to be left. What happened? I had 4 beers, 4 1.5 litre bottles of water, 2 cokes and 2 coke lights plus the other stuff. Little things go a long why when you travel. I left 2 dollars on my bed each day. My maid had the room swept, mopped, new towels and smelling wonderful.

Sure, the hotel is older, the TV is small, the shower is older and the decor is a little outdated. I didn't pay twice as much for a big name resort with new rooms because I do not plan on spending my vacation in the room. The bed was comfortable, the air conditioning worked great and the room safe was big enough to hold my valuables.
The people are friendly and warm, want to take care of you and are always willing to have a discussion with you if you give them a chance. Dominicans love baseball. I wore my Red Sox cap all week. "Hola, Boston Red Sox, Big Papi, Manny......." is what I heard. If you allow the people there to open their arms to you then you will have a wonderful experience. Sure, some of the workers don't speak English. Well, you are in their country so maybe we should expect to try to understand a little Spanish. Finding English speaking workers there was not a problem. We had no difficulty at all with language. In fact, it's fun trying to cross that barrier when you need to.

One of the nice things is that we were able to eat in 5 resorts. We did not eat in any of the pay for restaurants. We ate in the buffet restaurants. The food was fine and plenty of it. We ate dinner at the Caribe buffet on Saturday evening. We had breakfast one day at the Casino buffet. We had several meals at the Beach buffet. The food was very good in all. I saw many complaints here about the food. I love food and have no complaints about it. There was plenty and a great variety. I ate everything offered and did not get sick. Once again, a little can go a long way. These waitresses work long hard days for 11 days in a row and then they get 4 days off to back home to be with family. They make about 15 dollars a day. My wife and I watched. We did not see anyone giving them a tip. One dollar bought me attention and service. My coffee cup was never empty, my dirty plates were removed promptly and I was met with smiles and friendly attitudes.

I felt extremely safe there. I read a review where the person stated that with these guards walking around with those clubs shows how unsafe the place really is. I must be missing something. They are there for our safety. Look around North America. There are police everywhere. The guards mostly looked bored and every one of them returned our greeting. I would imagine that they are mostly there to pick up the trouble making drunk tourists that are the real unsafe element. The resort is perfectly safe.

I'm an early morning person. I was on the beach at 6 AM every morning. That's when you see the real workers. There were about 20 men raking the beach and picking up the debris left by the tourists from the day before. There was several women hosing and mopping the pool area. People were busy preparing tables in the buffet and workers were sweeping the lobby. I read these reviews and just don't understand how all we can do is complain about everything. They are up before dawn for us to enjoy the sun drenched day.

There are plenty of activities on the beach if you need extra. I read a review from a person complaining about being pressured on the beach by vendors. I've seen much worse. We were mostly left alone and once we said, "No Thank You" then we were not approached at all. The vendors on the beach work on the beach so it's not annoying as it has been on other trips.

I read the reviews on your website, and wish I had have listened. Last year we stayed at the Carabela in Punta Cana, we loved the island and the people, the hotel rooms were not great but we had got such a good deal, and the food and drinks were great, that we really could not complain. The hotel staff and food were wonderful. So we planned our wedding.

In March I contacted the hotel for a wedding in July, just 20 people. We stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro, trust me do not go to this hotel, and do not have a wedding there. Myself and my husband arranged our wedding in this resort, the wedding coordinator assigned to us was ******** Jiminez. From the beginning it was difficult to get a response from ******** unless we were looking to purchase something. I will try and not bore you with all the details!

We purchased a boat trip around the island with music drinks and appetizers as part of the celebrations. ******** forgot to let the security know some of our guests (who were staying at another resort) were coming, and it took her 1.5 hours to show up to correct the problem and let them into the hotel. They were sitting in a minivan with no air conditioning and the security would not let them off the bus. Eventually they had to return to their own resort as the children were getting sick. Hotel said she was having lunch. Then she insisted we eat the appetizers on the boat, even though they were sitting in the sun for 2 hours.

There was no wedding coordination whatsoever. 3 Days before the wedding she told us the justice of the peace cannot speak English and ******** will be the interpretor. Apparently this was the only judge on the whole island according to ********. She forgot to bring the photographer, DVD, or restaurant manager, to our one and only meeting as previously agreed. She told the photographer, DVD guy and restaurant manager the wrong time of the wedding and dinner. Therefore both the photographer and DVD guy had to leave early as they had other appointments. I went myself and talked to the restaurant manager (very nice) we give him $120 for himself to guarantee everything went well for the dinner (and it did). Our wedding flowers were the wrong color, ******** the wedding coordinator was seen on the beach the morning of the wedding for a few minutes, did not coordinate with myself or my husband. The groom, best man and guests were waiting on the beach for 1.5 hrs (85 degrees) and the justice of the peace was 1.5 hours late. To top it off, the photographer LOST - yes Lost all our wedding pictures. His name was Gigio. He told us he used a memory card, put the pictures on the computer, deleted them from the memory card, and then the computer crashed. The DVD was completely amateurish. It was awful.

I know previous reviews stated how bad the hotel rooms were, trust me I thought it may have been an exxageration. They were correct. It took 3 days to get a manager to state our grievances to about to the wedding. As they just kept hoping we would go away. Finally he agreed on a discount, but when we got the final bill on the morning of checkout, the overcharges covered the discount. It was once again so difficult to get the manager, our bus left for the airport. In the end we had to pay and get a taxi to the airport as we were just getting the run around.

my husband and i spent our 2 week honeymoon at barcelo bavaro beach resort and let me tell you that i regret it!!! now...where do i begin...

rooms: the rooms in block 5 need renovations. our room the air conitioning was not working very well and they always said that they would send someone to fix it and they never did. the room was hot and humid. we had asked to change room the day after we got there but they always told us tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow until i got so fed up that i started yelling at the reception because they were making us false promises. i was there on my honeymoon i wanted it to be romantic with an ocean view unstead i got a room with no air conditioning and a view of the mexican restaurant. they finally changed our room the day after i made a scene which was 4 days before we left. i was sooooooo mad. a word of advice... if you want your room changed, be persistant from the first day you arrive and don't believe them when they tell you tomorrow. by the way...the bathroom vents are connected to the other room so you always hear your neighbor going to the bathroom. one morning i woke up because my neighbor had diarrhea and i was hear her farting...no joke!!

food & drinks: the buffet restaurant always had the same food. breakfast was the best meal. the pasta was surprisingly better than the italian restaurant. the steakhouse was good thats where we ate most of the time. they served amazing sirloin steak. i never found the 24hr snack bar but they have a pizza place where you can take the pizza "to go". the pizza is disgusting. it looks like its on a pita and the cheese tastes like plastic. basically the food is not like home!!! bring your own munchies because pringles cost $5 american. the drinks never tasted the same. coca-cola was watered down as well as the other drinks. never ever drink the tap water. use bottled water even to brush your teeth. by the way their water stinks of eggs.

beach: the sand is white, the water is beautiful but the was sea weed at times that made it dirty. but it was still beautiful. palm trees all along the beach. i suggest to be very careful when walking on the sand barefoot because we found a lot of broken glass.

service: i was disappointed. luckily i am italian and i speak a little spanish but i saw a lot of tourist from other countries trying to communicate with them in english and they would tell them "i don't understand" in spanish and then just ignore them. the service is slow. dominican people take their time to do everything. the maids tend to slack off at times. the towels didn't always look clean. but they always fill up the fridge with drinks.

nightlife: it was kind of boring. there is a disco/club which is always empty and the music was not the greatest. there is a casino if you like to gamble, golf course and the tropicalissimo show which was not that great. there are shows everynight at the hotel by the animation team which was "ok" but got boring at times. the hotel has a little train that takes you around the resort we enjoyed the ride at night before going back to our room.

activities: during the day there is quite a few activities like: volleyball on the beach, ping pong, dancing lessons, aqua gym, stretching, water polo, water volleyball, pedal boat and canoe...etc. you can also take excursions. my husband and i went to santo domingo which was interesting, we went to the dolphin island which was expensive and we also went to saona island which we don't recommend because they always made us change from boat to boat although it was beautiful.

inconclusion: this hotel is not made for honeymooners. if you go with a group of friends i am sure you will have a better time. also, there will be times where the hotel will be jammed packed because they make special for the local people. remember when you leave the resort you will have local running after you trying to sell you something. things are expensive there. just the tanning lotion is $45 us. if you need to buy cigars make sure they are from republica dominicana and not from cuba. they are fake.

I just returned from my vacation at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I would like to say that the beach was beautiful. The staff at all restaurants were very friendly and helpful.

Food at the Steak house & italian was ok, rest of the restaraunts were not good. The concierge, customer relations and management at the resort was not helpful nor apologetic. We arrived on Wed, May 17th 2006 and we enjoyed the 1st few days at the resort. Friday around 3pm and for the rest of the weekend it was nothing but chaos. There was garbage tossed all over the place including the ocean. A kayak was tossed in our pool. The lines to the restaurants at times exceeded a 2-3hrs wait.

November 2005
My boyfriend & I are in our mid-30's, live in downtown Toronto and run our own businesses. Our lifestyle is pretty modest, and it's a real treat for us to kick back and take it easy for a week in the sun. We travelled to the Dominican Republic for the first time last November after doing a lot of research on Debbie's - what a great site, super helpful. We always book last minute, because we're always scrambling to get away, and in the end it came down to a choice between the dates we wanted or the resort we wanted. Figuring we always make do wherever we are, we stuck to our dates and booked with Air Transat Holidays for one week at the Barcelo Bavaro resort in Punta Cana.

We were a bit nervous because some reviews we had read spoke of it being an older resort and that the staff were not very friendly to English-speaking guests. Niether of these worries turned out to be a problem.

The Resort:
Yes the resort is older, but that meant the gardens were well established; the trees were full and lush - we've been to resorts where the grounds were so newly planted that the palms looked like toothpicks with a fern on top. Our room was in the Garden section of the resort, on the second floor with a lovely view of the gardens. I loved the balconies that ran between the different buildings, very romantic to step out of the room into the open air, although I lost my bearings once or twice trying to stay on the balconies and navigate between buildings.

The Room:
Straight up - if you have never lived in a home that was less than perfect, if you have never lived without cable TV or designer sheets - you will not find these accomodations up to your standard. Since at home I live with the realities of dripping taps and running toilets and neighbours who yell at their kids, the standard of room at the Barcelo was no big shock for me. Adequate sort of sums it up. Not sumptuous, not breathtaking, just adequate. In the afternoons the hot water turned tepid; we heard our neighbours through the walls a bit; the fridge leaked a little. All minor irritations. My advice: bring your own music to set the mood, to drown out the neighbours, or to give yourself a little privacy when you want to make noise (well, what did you come on vacation for?) We brought a small tape player (I left my expensive mp3 player at home so I wouldn't have to worry about losing it) and it was a life saver as there is no radio in the room, just the T.V. Actually, there was some decent programming on the TV, always some movie that was watchable. Also invaluable were some coloured scarves to drape over the lamps (just don't set let them fall on the bulb and scorch) to tone down the lighting which is too harsh for romance otherwise. Lastly, bring a universal bath plug if you want to take a bath, there was none supplied. Even when the hot water was scarce I could fill the tub and wash off all that sunscreen.

The Staff:
These people do not fawn all over you like in some vacation destinations. They seem to have a lot of pride and self-respect, and they will give as good as they get. We always tip when we make special requests, like the extra blanket in the room, extra soft drinks in the fridge, special ingredients in our breakfast smoothie, and in return the service was courteous and professional. I'm sure it would have been more cordial if we spoke any Spanish, but the staff made every attempt to accomodate us in English. Basically, if you keep your patience and sense of humour they will too.

Food & Drink:
I'm afraid the food is nowhere near as appetizing as the food we had in Mexico, which was our previous resort experience. Yet there will always be something you can eat and plenty of it. As a rule of thumb - get there right at the beginning of the dinner hour! You will get the best & freshest selection that way. I mostly avoid meat and I definitely avoid dairy that is sitting out in a buffet and I mostly suspect seafood that comes in indefinable goulashes. I avoided getting sick by being really picky. Steve gets creeped out by meat that is still on the bone. But even so we found some favourites in the selections offered. My absolute favourite was the pizza at the Italian restaurant, which you can get made to order for take out so you can eat it by the pool or on the beach or in your room! Best anchovy pizza of my entire life. The steakhouse was excellent, and the fish everywhere was very good - don't miss the shrimp barbecue on the beach - Grill La Uva - at lunch! We often walked over to the Bavaro Beach Restaurant because they had hot chocolate for breakfast, plus at dinner they had an ice cream bar and an excellent grill. Best were the desserts - the lemon tarts and pudding flan and prune! ice cream.
Drinks seem a little weak. We don't drink much as a usual thing, but we do enjoy getting merry while on vacation. For a couple of light weights we just couldn't seem to catch a buzz. We met a fellow Canadian who had been to the resort before and he had bought a bottle of premium gin in the duty free and was making his own drinks the whole time. I may do the same next vacation, as it seems a waste of calories to suck up four banana mama's and not even get tipsy.

The Beach and Beyond:
Wow. Gorgeous beach as promised, that's why we came. Never a shortage of beach loungers, although shade was at a premium. At the far southern end of the beach are gorgeous palms that bend out over the sand, perfect for perching for a photo op. I felt blessedly comfortable enjoying the freedom of being topless, and the creepy ogle factor was at a minimum. The beach bar was often understaffed, one bartender vs one dozen tourists. I brought my own insulated mug so I could get my drinks at less crowded bars and then take them wherever I was going.
Make use of the kayaks - you get free rental every day and they are the most fun! Also fun is lounging and watching the newbies try to make it onto their rental sailboards, not in a mean way, just appreciate the slapstick.
The Casino was a big disappointment. Steve & I love our Texas Hold 'Em poker, but the casino had none of that. Slots, black jack and roulette were the main offerings - and when they say 24hr casino they mean 24hr slots, the other games shut down after hours. The poker they did have was ridiculously in favour of the house. The promised finger foods were most unappetizing. I won some at the slots, and that was enough for me. Happily, the bar outside the casino was one of the nicest.
We never made it to the disco, because it opened so late at night! We just couldn't keep awake long enough to get there. We only saw a smattering of the entertainment offered in the resort and were underwhelmed. I'm a big theatre snob and would rather read a good novel than sit through a limp performance. The animation staff were very low-key and not obnoxious. Conversely there was little incentive to play games to meet fellow guests, so I guess that has its good side and its down side. We made some new friends when we tried to sail our stunt kite on the beach, they were the people who didn't mind when our kite landed in their laps!
Of all the pools, we enjoyed the main Garden pool all day, then went over to the Golf Pool which had the best sunsets in the evening, plus tv and games in the poolside bar.

Excursions:
We nearly missed our orientation with our travel rep on the first day because we hadn't set our watches for local time! With her advice we booked a trip to Saona Island, and a shopping trip to buy jewelry, coffee and cigars. The trip to Saona Island was the highlight of our vacation. It takes all day but it is completely worth it. We saw the local countryside from the comfort of the bus and arrived at the launching point ready for a day of adventure. The speedboat ride was thrilling, the rum was strong, the sandbar was divine, and the island itself was fun to explore. The catamaran trip back was leisurely and friendly. The bus stopped at a tourist shop on the trip back, but there was no pressure to buy, so it was a pleasant experience. Unfortunately this is when Steve threw caution to the winds and ate some dubious food, so he spent the next couple of days near the hotel room toilet. Since it is a long day out and you only get fed once I advise you bring some snacks and bottled drinks to keep you fueled on the road.
Our shopping trip was in a minivan, over some really really rough roads. The prices were good, and we got to see cigars being made on ancient-looking rolling machines, very cool. I didn't see any jewelry I liked much, so we bought some unset stones and brought them home to have set by our favourite jeweler. The larimar stones are gorgeous and so unique.

Hello Debbie,

We just wanted to offer you a review of Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort -

1. Apple vacations did a great job with "pick up and delivery" Angel, the representative at the resort did a good job..our TV was broken and he had someone to fix it within 10 minutes. Flights were no problem..the usual stuff..We rode first class on the way home! :)

2. Service-Everyone was friendly and very hardworking! We always try to treat people with respect and you get the respect back! We only tipped a dollar a few times at the buffet to the waitresses and cooks..they were delighted..The maid did a very good job keeping our room clean and supplied..We left her a dollar every day and a little gift, makeup, pencils, stuff...I think it paid off. We asked for a refill for beer and it was received within 10 minutes! You got good service without having to tip!

3. Food- We thought that the food was very good and a good selection..We really liked the pasta bar and the chicken fingers at the Steak house and breakfast..Unfortunately, my stomach did not agree with me since Tuesday, so I really wasn't able to eat or drink as much. Very important to take Pepto, Imodium and such..However, it did not put a damper on our stay! We heard people complaining about the variety and quality..but then again we are not picky and we realize the difficult task of pleasing thousands of people.

4. Room- typical hotel room, nothing fancy, small fridge, safe, blow dryer, coffee maker with coffee, good view, (wish we were a little closer to beach), great AC, very hard mattress, good hot water.

5. Entertainment-Okay..so we are no fun..we did not go to the casino, the disco, or watch any shows. We ate dinner and then went back to our room, watched DVD''s on the porch with the breeze and went to bed early..Just what we wanted to do! We did not do any tours. We went snorkeling for 30 minutes for $30..that was worth it! We also had a massage for 30 minutes for $50 total..That was worth it too!

6. Beach-Spent from about 7 am to about 5pm on the beach...water was great, beach was really nice. We were able to find shade and spent most of the time there. We really just wanted to lay on the beach everyday and either sleep or read and that's exactly what we did...It was perfect for that! We had really nice weather. It sometimes got a little chilly with the breeze..I put on a jacket once :) my husband thought I was crazy!

Just got back from the Dominican Republic after a week stay. Bavaro beach was fabulous.

There were a lot of sick people, so if you go, don't forget the pepto, gravol, Gatorade. I felt the hotel staff were resentful of tourists, bordering on hostile, they were not friendly, and I was! Be aware "all inclusive" means you are stuck at their mercy in the "compound". Day trips were very expensive, as was everything else you might want to buy. Suntan lotion is $46.00 USD.

Even if you know a little Spanish, they act like your speaking Swahili. Bar tender doesn't understand "no alcohol"? Speaking of alcohol, if you don't drink beer or rum drinks, your outta luck. It seems you get what they give you regardless of what you ask for. Generally a total disregard for tourists, besides being the brunt of their jokes. Service was good if you could get it. Food service at certain times of day, so don't get hungry outside of those times, it will cost you $8.00 USD for a bag of chips. I found even the locally made stuff was priced high.

The maid arrived around 6:00pm daily except checkout day when she arrived at 1:00PM. We stayed in the hotel room from checkout at 12:00 noon till 6:00pm (bus pickup) and they charged us $50.00 USD for the privilege. I have no idea what they expected us to do, they made no suggestions.

We have just returned from Punta Cana and before the tan fades, thought we'd share our opinions as this site was well used by all of us before we left Canada. We were a group of 5 in our early 30's looking for a relaxing vacation. We got exactly what we paid for.

We travelled wtih Sunwing from Ottawa and Toronto, and besides awful flying times (arrived at 2 am and flew home at close to 3am) we were happy with their service. The Barcelo Bavaro is in need of an update, but the issues we had didn't ruin our vacation at all. Check in was slow and they are understaffed at the front desk. The rooms could use some work, but were very clean. Unlike other reviewers with complaints about the lack of drawers and soap dispensers that are dated, these weren't issues worth giving too much concern for us. Comparing it to a 5 * I've stayed at in Punta Cana, there were very few differences in the rooms.

The food was good and provided choice to everyone in our party. A few 'musts': calamari at La Uva grill in the beach (make reservations as it is really busy), The Steakhouse (worth the wait in line), pizza and hot dogs at the Pizza Snack takeout windows, and the buffet at the casino. Everyone should be able to find something to eat at any time of the day! We were very generous with tips, which paid off with great service everywhere we went. A few dollars wasn't a lot for us, and seemed to make the staff very happy and helpful. Even without tipping, we found people to be friendly and quick to serve.

The beach is incredible and the sun is hot. We did have some wind for the first couple of days which blew up some weeds, but the garden crew was on that as much as possible.

We just returned from our vacation at the Barvaro Beach and must say that we had a great time!! I honestly cannot see how someone could write a horrible review on this resort. Yes, it's not 100% perfect, but really, what in life these days is??? We had a few issues, but nothing that I will ever remember when I look back. I'm a true believer that you have to make the best of every situation, and trust me you won't need a lot of effort to make your stay at this resort close to perfect. Just remember what you're there to do, rest and relax…don't sweat the small things.

The beach is endless and beautiful, the grounds are immaculate, the rooms are small but clean, the staff is great (except for the odd grumpy sole - but remember we get those in Canada too!!!), the drinks are plentiful, the food....I've had better, but it's far from horrible. The Steakhouse by far has the best food-the steak and the chicken fingers are the best, the buffet at the Beach resort has the most selection and a smoothie bar, and the calamari on the beach is tops in my books.

I was a little worried after reading all the reviews on this resort both here and on Trip Advisor. We've stayed in the Barcelo Maya in Mayan Riviera which is a 5*+, this is why we chose this resort chain, and trust me….this hotel is comparable. Its a little more dated, but still a beautiful resort. No reason to worry if you have booked your tropical get away here....you will have a very enjoyable stay.

We did 2 excursions off of the resort, which I typically shy away from because of costs, but the 2 we did were absolutely incredible and I would highly recommend them both. Excellent value for your money.

Cave Fun Fun - you go horseback riding and hike to the cave, repel down ropes into the cave, and then tour the under ground caves. It includes a small breakfast and a big lunch. The guides were great. The only drawback is it's a 3 hr drive there and 3 hr drive back (Dominican time!!) to get to the ranch, but you do get to see 3 Dominican villages and some really neat things along the way. 105$ USD- a little price, but very fun and well worth the drive and money.

Saona Island - this trip was INCREDIBLE!!! Again, it's a 2 hr bus ride to get to the departure destination, but again, really neat sites along the way. Once you’re off the bus, it's a speed boat trip to the island with a small stop along the way so you can snorkel and another stop at a natural pool to hang out with the starfish and wet your whistle with a few Rum and cokes in the water. Saona Island is probably the most beautiful place on earth!! Once on the island you get 3 hrs to do what you want. You can swim, suntan, snorkel, learn to Salsa, drink as much rum as you possible can, and a lunch is also provided (you can order lobster on the beach for 20$ USD-so bring some cash because it was yummy!!)....then it's a nice relaxing catamaran ride back to the main land...absolutely without at doubt the best bang for your buck down there....78$ USD....does that even cover the cost of the gas in the bus and on the speed boats to get there???? You won't be disappointed with this one.

Just came back from the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Hotel & Resort in Punta Cana with my wife. We flew with Air Canada Vacations from Toronto. Here's my review of the hotel resort:

Arrival: The Lobby itself is clean and typical of a four star hotel. The Front desk is severely understaffed. There was only one person, (believe it or not), checking people in and dealing with hotel guests.

Accommodations: We found Our room to be more like something you would find in a 2+ hotel. The room was very small, it had two double beds. There were no drawers, just shelves to put your clothes on. Some of the shelves were in a very old double door desk. There was also a sliding door closet with shelves. The closet was around 7 feet long, with three sliding mirror doors. The narrows doors made it very difficult to access the shelves on which you lay your clothes.

The bathroom was awful. There was a rusting bathtub, broken marble counter, broken ceramics, a toilet that didn't flush properly and a soap basket that should have been replaced in the 90's.

Resort: The entire resort itself is very nice, consistent with a four star rating. The gardens & grounds are well maintained, The gardeners do a good job. There are many Coconut and Palm Trees throughout the grounds. The exterior of the all the hotels within the resort are also well maintained. The Beach hotel pool is not that big, but it is also nice. If you want a bigger pool, you can also go to any of the other resort pools.

Service: We were not very pleased with the service. It was really hit and miss with the staff. There is definitely a shortage of staff there. When you do manage to get someone to help you, most try to be nice. My wife speaks perfect spanish , (This helps very much by the way), and she says the staff confirm there is a problem with staffing levels. I guess the staff shortage occasionally results in staff rudeness to guests, because some of them were testy. We found a lot of people weren't tipping, so I can see why a lot of the staff were slow. We tipped regularly, but found three or four different staff, doing the same tables. What I mean is, one person would bring your water, another would get your drinks, another would take your order, and someone different would bring your food. It was very difficult to establish a "one on one" relationship or "buy better service" through tipping.

Beach: The beach is beautiful and made the trip to Punta Cana worth it. It has to be one of the nicest beaches I've been to. It is lined with Coconut and Palm trees so there is plenty of sun and shade. There were plenty of beach chairs. We reserved our chairs first thing in the morning, so we had no trouble getting good spots on the beach. The beach has beautiful white sand. Some weeds wash up overnight, but the gardeners rake it up regularly. Not much snorkeling off of the beach, but we took a boat trip to a location for $25 US/person and saw some colorful tropical fish.

Food: The food ended up being good and typical for a four star hotel. It so happens our first lunch buffet was terrible but that seemed to be a "one of", because the rest of the stay it was actually good. Something for everyone.

Entertainment: They had nightly shows, however we only went to three of them. The Tropicalissimo was ok, the others were a little below average, compare to shows we've seen at other resorts. There is also a disco within the resort.

Drinks: Of course the booze is watered down, you don't want the average guest drunk. You can also ask for double rum or alcohol in your drink, if you want. The local beer, "Presidente" is good, but has very little alcohol content.

Overall: I have to give this hotel a 3+ rating. It is not a 4 star, as rated by many travel operators. They need to upgrade their rooms and get more staff. I would have given it a three but the resort, beach and food are good.

P.S Do Not use the pay phone in the Lobby to make international calls. We asked the front desk what kind of charge we could expect. We were told there's a $5 US connection fee and reasonable per minute fee. When I got home and checked my online Amex statement, I found I was Charged $40 US for one call less than 5 minutes and another $40 US for a call less than one minute. Apparently it is $5/minute, with a 5 minute minimum. What you should do, is get yourself MSN Messenger, establish or setup a time to communicate with loved ones and use the internet they have setup in the beach lobby. $3 US for 15 min, $5 US for 30 min, $8 US for 1 hour.

Went to the Beach the week before Christmas with my husband and three friends.

Hotel – Grounds, pool, and beach area are kept very clean. We were in the 4000 building, 2nd floor which is the building that is the closet to everything. The rooms are good but defiantly need to be updated but are comfortable. The two sliding doors to the closet didn’t work smoothly and one didn’t at all. We had some minor problems with our toilet that we learned to work around. Beautiful lights illuminate the palm trees among the buildings at night

Service – Communication for us was a bit difficult because of our lack of Spanish and their lack of English but was expected. There were some workers that seemed eager to help even with the language barrier and others seemed not to care.

Beach – Was kept very clean, seaweed/needles are raked up during the day and there were plenty of lounge chairs. One morning we saw the gardeners out early cutting down all the dead palm leaves…was really neat watching them climb up the tree staying up only by a rope around his waist!

Pool – Very clean and a nice temperature to cool off. We used the Caribe pool the most as there was a lot less people than the beach and it was quieter.

Food – Overall food was good. There was usually something for everyone to eat. A couple of the buffets had pasta that they made in front of you as well as all had some fish and meat that would be cooked up for you. Breakfast was good when we would make it in time…otherwise they had some nibbles at the pool bar that were out between then and lunch. WE enjoyed the Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Ate at the Steak house the first night and two steaks were great and the other two were tough. I went back for lunch one day and found it to be good. LOVED the Restaurant that was on the far end of the Caribe on the beach, it’s only open for lunch and has ruined calamari at home for me because it was SO GOOD! Service at the buffet or restaurants sometimes we had to get our own water and hunt down someone to get other drinks.

Three of our group did the Marinium tour. Had a blast and it was the perfect half day tour. The other 2 did the Outback Jungle Safari and the also really enjoyed their tour. We also chartered out one of the boats for deep sea fishing…didn’t catch anything except for some sea sickness…lol…only two of the five did. The view when you were out was amazing. Though we felt like we were being tossed around in a washing machine with the waves..ok no quite but nothing like the ocean behind the reef!

One of the best things of the trip was when one of the gardeners saw us looking for a fresh coconut he ran and got out group three which he cut open for us to drink the milk and eat the flesh!!!

A great family vacation – went with my husband and daughters (ages 17 and 20).

Hotel – Grounds, pool, and beach area are kept very clean. Beautiful lights illuminate the palm trees among the buildings at night. We were in the 4000 building, 3rd floor – this is the building closest to the main lobby and pool area. We were satisfied with our room but would agree that it needs to be updated. Honestly, I’ve been in worse hotels in the states. The rooms aren’t big, however, it was clean. We had four in one room and wish we had planned for two rooms. The bed was comfortable. The sliding doors to the closet and patio didn’t work smoothly but did work with a little extra push. The air conditioner worked fine. There is only a sheet and thin bedspread on the beds, no other blankets – we turned the AC down at night so we stayed warm while we slept. We had plenty of hot water for the shower. The cold water was shut off a couple times in the afternoon, not sure why?

Service – We found the staff to be polite but not eager to serve. They responded when we approached and asked for something but generally wouldn’t come up to you and initiate a discussion or ask if they could help. Don’t be shy or you’re likely to be frustrated by the wait, approach a staff member and ask for what you need. We left two US dollars a day for the maid, sometimes with something small (perfume, lip gloss) and a note of thanks – just something that said Gracias with the maids name along with the money. This resulted in a very clean room and patio, four towels and face clothes. There’s a second person who fills the mini bar, we left two US dollars for him each day as well along with a note requesting mucho cerveza (beer) and cola lite (diet coke) – this resulted in a fridge full of beer, cola and plenty of water. $35 US in tips for the week and we were very happy with our room.

Beach – was kept very clean, seaweed/needles are raked up during the day and there were plenty of lounge chairs. This resort and the other Barcelo properties take up a great deal of beach front so if you don’t find the right beach spot directly in front of your building, just travel a short distance down the beach to your perfect location! You have a choice of shade or sun. There are areas near the buildings to rinse the sand off before you go into your room or to the pool area. Topless sunbathing was common.

Snorkeling – fish and starfish right off the beach, water wasn’t as crystal clear as in some locals however it was still fun.

Pool – area was clean and the water was refreshing.

Food – Overall the food was good. You’re not going to find anything fancy but there’s something for everyone. We went to the Mexican restaurant only once, it wasn’t that great. The main dishes at the Italian restaurant were okay, the desserts there were very good. The Grill “La Uva” (part of the Golf Resort) was quite good, service right on the beach. We liked the Steakhouse, I had the grilled chicken and baked potato a couple times. Also good were the Medallions of Tenderloin and the Salmon, although the Salmon could easily be overcooked since the cut was thin. The salad bar was good as were the pina colladas! I don’t recommend the hamburger. For dessert you could always get ice cream, some of the other desserts were very good as well, try a variety at the buffet. The Ambar buffet offered a good selection at all times ranging from an omlet made to order to a muffin and cereal with fresh fruit. Lunch and Dinner were similar in that fresh cooked meats (beef, chicken, pork and fish) were available along with their standard selection of cheese, potato, french fries, fruit, smoothies, etc. Service at the buffet or restaurants varied – as with the other service staff some were not eager to serve, sometimes we had to ask for water or other drinks rather than having someone offer to get those for us.

We took a day tour with the Outback Jungle Safari and would highly recommend it. It was a great way to see a little bit of the country and learn a bit more about the culture and people.

I just got back from a 1 week trip to Punta Cana Barcelo Bavaro Beach resort. We left Friday Nov. 11 from Toronto.

I thought the trip was totally fantastic. I went with my best friend and my parents. My friend and I are in our early 30s. My mother has been visiting the resort for 9 years.

Weather/Beach:
It was a bit windy the first few days, but that did not prevent us from enjoying the beach and lounging around the pool (where the sun lasts longer.) The last 3 days of the trip were perfect weather. You know that kind where you get so hot you jump in the ocean, then dry off in the sun for ½ hour before going back in again. I saw some beautiful fish just in the shallow waters swimming out to the flag every day (a good 10 min swim out). The beach was practically empty, so there were dozens of empty loungers all over the place, and privacy wasn’t an issue.

Food:
In addition to eating like kings in 3 different giant buffets and in the Amazing steak house, we drank some wonderful frosty bevies that kept us smiling the entire trip. I recommend asking for ‘mixed fruit’ with ‘mucho rum’. It’s the best, freshest fruit drink you can get on the beach. At the buffets, the fresh grilled food is by far the best to get. I had a fluffy omlette every morning, and a wonderful pork chop, salmon steak, or beef steak every night. The Mexican restaurant is a write off. We don’t recommend it.

Entertainment:
Every night is a cute/fun 1 hour show at any one of the hotels. The dancers and hosts at the Beach resort were full of energy and very funny and friendly. One night my friend and I even ended up on stage in a hilarious dancing competition. The “tropicalissimo’ show is not recommended. It’s quite long.

Disco:
The best part of our trip was going to the disco every night. Because it’s the only one open until 5am in Punta Cana, by 3 the club is packed with people from all over the area. The crowd is a real mix of people, most of them young and out to dance and have a good time. We met tons of fun Canadians too!

Service/Staff:
The front desk staff comes off a little disinterested and slow, but if you’re persistent and patient, they will help you find the best room no problem. A couple of $$$ helps too. The bar and restaurant staff were so sweet. Very polite and friendly, as well as accommodating, always with a smile. We were so pleasantly surprise at how some of the staff would sing while they worked (unheard of in Toronto!). A friendly ‘Ola’ when greeting a local always resulted in a ‘Ola!’ back. We often left 1$US when ordering a few drinks.