TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Big. Toooo big. Beautiful. Clean. Pools are great. However, the food, the service, the Miserable employees and the attention to maintenance (outlet over sink and surrounding drywall hanging into sink) all suck. Go elsewhere. If you’re a hostess at the steakhouse tonight? You suck more, the most. These chicks HATE their jobs ??

Been a wonderful time thus far, Frankel has been a great help!

Fun place. Excellent beach and pool. Our family of five stayed in a junior suite. We all had enough room. Two separate bathrooms. Easy walk to the beach. The beach was sandy and the water was blue and turquoise. Lots of outdoor activities. Food was good. The service at the Japanese place was very slow. We were seated an hour after our reservation. Reservation at 7:30, left at 10. Waited for desert but left because we waited too long the whole night. Other than that we loved this place. Great mid level resort. The entertainment was decent but we’ve had better in Mexico.

I just came back from Barceló Bavaro Palace with my boyfriend and our daughter (12 months old). Overall I guess you can say we had an “okay” stay but in detail this resort wasn’t great. Our check in process was pretty smooth but keep in mind everything is done by paper so it is a little longer than your typical check in process. This definitely needs some upgrading. The look of the hotel is nice but it also needs upgrading the colors of the hotel are dark looking. It’s not ugly just definitely not your modern vibe. We got to the resort around 1pm and was in our room by 4pm. The resort is pretty big so there are 6-8 buildings I believe and we got building 6 which is extremely far from all the pools, beach, lobby, food, etc. Also since the building is pretty far away the WiFi doesn’t reach, so when you get to your room service is terrible. This building wasn’t ideal for us because we were traveling with a baby so the constant back and forth was super annoying so we did ask for a room change. Also the elevator near our room didn’t work so going up and down stairs wasn’t great with a stroller. Inside of the room wasn’t bad, we got the junior suite so keep in mind the bathroom isn’t separate it’s basically one space with the bathroom in it. Then you get a balcony / patio area with a jacuzzi. The room also comes with a fridge but keep in mind the fridge isn’t truly cold so if you have anything that needs to be cold that fridge in the room won’t do it. We switched to building 5 which is the building right next to the beach and pool area. The best buildings in my opinion in close proximity to everything is 3, 4, and 5. However even when we switched the fridge still wasn’t cold. The new room also did feel cleaner then our first room. They also provided us with a crib for both rooms. Unfortunately our second to last day room service didn’t come to clean our room so we had to call to have them come clean it which was a bit annoying since we were coming back to shower and get ready for dinner. Now on to the food which is what makes my rating so low. I feel like most resorts are pretty nice look wise but food is definitely a make or break when it comes to someone choosing whether they’ll stay at a hotel or not. I feel like when I was looking at reviews there wasn’t enough reviews on the food. They have two main buffets at Barceló Bavaro palace which is near the pools. They are horrible. First day I got there I ate a burger and got sick later that day. I kept trying to be open to trying the food but everything I tried was terrible. Even the soda was flat straight out the machine. We had to opt to sit outside whenever we ate at the buffet because the smell was BRUTAL. They did offer high chairs for babies/toddlers. I would recommend bringing the disposable placemats though because the high chairs were a little dirty. There’s a sports bar that has a buffet as well but honestly the food quality isn’t that much different. The soda was probably the best here though. None of the buffets offer natural juices like passion fruit juice, they did offer lemonade but it wasn’t great. They offered orange juice in the morning and that was pretty decent. The best thing at the buffets was the pasta station, bread and butter, chicken breast, and the tostones. It was pretty difficult to feed my baby as well because I was worried of how things were being prepped. The buffet wasn’t really the cleanest. Now the restaurants we ate at there steak house Santa Fe, Hoya, and hibachi. So reservations are super annoying because everything is always booked. Santa Fe is a steakhouse the meat was okay but I’ve noticed all the meat from buffet and these restaurants have a weird taste of charcoal like it’s cooked on a grill that isn’t clean. They have a station at the buffet that a guy cooks beef but it had the same charcoal taste literally because the grill is dirty. So I’m assuming it’s the same at the restaurant. The sides it comes with aren’t horrible but definitely not great. It’s a potato with ham and cheese, broccoli, and corn. Also wine in all the restaurants cost extra and they’ll add it to ur room for when you check out. Now Hoya was pretty good and probably one of the nicer restaurants. I got a honey chicken and pasta and it was pretty good. The flavor wasn’t really out of this world but it was on the better end of the food at the resort. Now if you can book hibachi this is the hardest reservation to get because it is THE BEST there. Idk if it’s cause it’s being cooked in front of you but the quality and taste is just so much better!! But if you don’t eat well when you get to the airport in Punta Cana going back home there’s always those options they have Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Nathan’s which was probably my first real meal in five days so definitely a highlight lol. If you’re looking for authentic Dominican food this resort is NOT that. I live in NY where I have Dominican food all the time so trust me I know the difference. Also my bf is Dominican his parents were born and raised on the island and we know the difference. It was disappointing to see they didn’t even have frituras. The beach and pool is great only thing is get there early to secure chairs because they go fast!!! Also it was cool the beach offers free non motorized water sports but you have to reserve early in the day. Overall the resort isn’t horrible minus the food. It is a nice resort and location but if food is a priority to you which it most definitely should be I wouldn’t stay here again to be very honest.

Hotel/Resort was well appointed. Staff were friendly, food was excellent, room was clean. Best stay EVER!