TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This was not my chosen destination as the sister resort in La Romana, which I had initially booked at had oversold their rooms, and I was forced to go to Bravaro. That was only the start of many negative experiences, first of all when entering the resort I was approached by a man who claimed to be our concierge, instead he was only a salesman attempted to force us into a five hour long presentation on essentially a timeshare. This experience was high pressure sales tactics bullying into buying something we did not want at all. After we had purchased the so-called amazing and upgraded experience with the Catalonia hotel, our experience continued to decline from that point forward the room provided, which was a significant downgrade from the room I had purchased with the previous/original resort was in disrepair and unclean. Although these issues were brought to the attention of staff on multiple occasions, a continuous string of excuses as to why these issues could not be rectified began wearing on both me and my partner. Although I will admit the food selection was decent and a very small handful of staff were pleasant and accommodating. It did not take me too long to realize that the staff were lazy and inattentive and all too willing to ignore any frustrations or issues that I was having. Not only were the staff at the Catalonia resort unfriendly and unhelpful the resort itself allowed multiple vendors on the property who were both pushy and demanded exorbitant amounts of money for poor quality items or half assed services. On multiple occasions, many individuals intentionally scammed both myself and my partner out of our money. The entirety of our seven day stay at the Catalonia hotel, and our encounters with many locals have insured that I will be very hesitant in ever returning to the Dominican Republic. This should’ve been very apparent when I had arrived in their country and multiple taxi drivers had approached me offering marijuana or cocaine or other illicit drugs. This country and the entire Catalonia hotel chains are most definitely a place that I will not be willing to travel to again P.S. If you have the unfortunate circumstance of being roped in to their ridiculous timeshare presentation, which by the way was only promised to be 90 minutes and extended to over five hours. Run. D exclusive traveller package is garbage and saves Little to know money, both the company itself, and their employees are only there to scam, hard-working men and women out of their money. I would advise never get roped into that.

This is my first review of this hotel I will add more when we check out If you are thinking of coming here think twice, poor service and they charge you for items that you don’t get,y wife and I were to have a romantic dinner for two on the beach and it rained today so I went to the front desk to make sure it wasn’t going to be charged to my room but they already charged my credit card, and we hadn’t had the meal yet I ask them to remove it from my credit card and they told me NO, so criminal hotel

The resort is absolutely beautiful and very well maintained. Gorgeous lush greenery and tropical flowers. I brought cat treats from home to give to the cats wondering around the resort. They loved that. So if you are bringing kids, it’s a great way to keep the kiddos entertained by allowing them to feed the cats treats. If the resort sold cat treats and dog treats at the resort shops, they would make so much more $$$. The beach is not the greatest. Lots of sargassum so we mainly stuck by the pool. I noticed they played music at the bar by the pool and they would also play music at the exact same time at a small stage located only 20 feet away from the bar which made absolutely no sense since they sounded like they were drowning each other out with loud music. A suggestion would be to have the bar shut off thier music while the djs by the pool stage do their games and music. Now to the food. You will always find something to eat. It’s your normal resort buffet food. Lots of options. As for the restaurants, don’t bother with the Italian or Tapas place. Both were horrible. Lucky I made reservations early because I had to go to the buffet after we left those places. The Steakhouse and Ayami were really good!!! Steakhouse was definitely the favorite for my husband and I. The room we got was great and clean. Building 3. Loved the double showers!!! There was always hot water. I would suggest the hotel switch from an iron to a small steamer. The iron is not the greatest and the ironing board makes it really difficult to iron anything. At least with a small handheld steamer you can just steam the clothes as they hang in the closet. That would be much more convenient. So if you have a small steamer, I would suggest bringing it if you like to get the wrinkles out of your clothes. The phone in our room didn’t work so it was really inconvenient that my husband and I had to take our own luggage to the front desk the day we left. 2 drivers went by us and didn’t stop for us. Just drove right by. Also heads up to anyone staying with young kids. You might want to avoid buildings 1,3,5,7,,9 because there is a place called Pearl club where they host events and the music will be loud all night. Didn’t bother us but I did hear of a few families complaining that it was difficult to get the kids to sleep because of the loud music. The coffee shop by the shops is great!!! I find they had way better desserts there than at the buffet. The cheesecake is so good. The entertainment was good. We especially loved the Michael Jackson show. Overall, it was a fun time and great to get away from the cold in Canada. It’s great budget friendly resort. Would I come back? Probably not. But I’m the type of person that likes to try new resorts and not get stuck on just one place. Avoid the people in the white shirts, they will try to sell you some timeshare and waste your day. Just firmly tell them you aren’t interested.

I don't usually write a review while still on a resort but thought it would be helpful for those folks desperately trying to get a vacation booked after Cuban flights were cancelled. We did not choose this resort, we chose Catalonia Royal La Romana and were sent here (to the family side) at 10pm upon arrival as they overbooked. Then they brought us in a van without seatbelts to the Royal Bavaro and we were told also no rooms available. Third time's a charm as we were put in the family side of this hotel around 11:30pm. With the fact that this is not the resort we selected and paid for out of the way, will try to write a balanced review, our experience has been as follows: Food and Drinks: Good, no issues finding something good to eat except don't bother with room service. Buffet is good and restaurants were even better. Restaurant reservations were tough as we were booked into this hotel but supposed to have access to the other Royal side. Took a half day of our vacation to sort it out but at least we were able to try the reservations. The Tapas restaurant and BLoved were the best in our opinion. Cute little bars everywhere and a fantastic coffee shop up near the shopping area. Staff: They are lovely and helpful, especially if you tip. Super nice in the restaurants, ready to help you with anything you need. Tour desk staff were so nice, we had to change an excursion time and it was no trouble at all. Rooms: Regular rooms are absolutely atrocious. We had a standard Superior Room and the AC didn't work, toilet didn't flush, fridge didn't work, window wouldn't close and lock and lots of maintenance needed. We had to get someone to clean immediately as there were hairs in the tub and on the toilet. We have been to the front desk several times to request help, the AC was fixed so we tried to live with the fridge and toilet having given up enough of our vacation already. How this hotel charges the prices they do with such sub par rooms I don't understand. Finally three days in we broke down and complained to the front desk again about the toilet not working, my wife was almost in tears trying to make our case. They transferred us to a Privileged building reluctantly. Thankfully this room is much better, still no working fridge but we were thrilled. Beach and pool: Lots of spots on the Royal side, we didn't need to get there at the crack of dawn but there is a lot of sargassum and water isn't clear. I realize it's natural but the resort could do more to remove it from the beach at least. They cleared it maybe twice this week, we at least sat on the beach everyday. I went in once and couldn't see my feet, and pulled up my foot to find garbage (plastic netting) stuck to my leg. Sadly not like the Cuban beach we are used to. The pools are very nice but space is limited so arrive early. Pool on the family side is loud, but lots of activities happening if you're so inclined. Grounds: Really fantastic! Grounds are well kept with lots of spots for sitting, reading, hammocks etc. Overall this is not worth the price of this hotel (we paid almost double as we're supposed to be at a different hotel) so definitely not worth it to us). I've been to 3 stars in Cuba with rooms more maintained than this. Read the reviews: some people don't have hot water, or can't use the AC, others like us couldn't use the toilet or fridge. Not how you want to spend your vacation. I'm confident there are better resorts for your money in Punta Cana.

Lissette y Manuel fueron muy amables en y nos dieron un servicio incredible en el restaurante de Ayami. Lissette and Manuel were fantastic and they served us wonderfully in the Ayami restaurant!