TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Just returned from our 2nd visit to Punta Cana. Our 1st trip there started out quite rocky but the staff turned it around quickly and we had a fabulous time. We wanted to try a 2nd trip to see if it was just a hiccup we encountered on the 1st and I have to say this is becoming my favorite resort. The staff is simply amazing! Gabriela, Maritza and Edward with PTC are the dream team! There are not enough words I can use to express how wonderful they are. The bartenders at the Members Beach Club, Kimbel and GiGi, are absolutely amazing! The housekeeping staff at the Beach Club are friendly and want to engage with the guests. Please don't overlook them. We had such friendly conversations with them. We did dinner at the a la carte restaurants and can honestly say we did not have any bad meals. Bhogali was actually our favorite. I think a lot of guest don't like the Indian restaurant due to the spice but we're from New Orleans so spice is right up our alley. However, our best meal was at First Wine. We went there twice. I think a lot of people shy away from there because you have to purchase a bottle of wine. It was by far our favorite! We were the only guests in there and the interation with the chef (Thomasino), sommelier (Santiago), and waiter were top notch! The chef even amended a few things on the menu today suite our taste. They were funny, engaging and professionals in their chosen fields. We had a blast with them. I encourage all guests to have at least one meal there and PTC members can use the Palladium dollars to pay for the wine. The newly built section of the resort is beautiful! Like I said, this is quickly becoming our favorite place due to the beautiful beach but mainly because of the staff. I don't see them as servers but as friends who happen to be at work while I'm visiting with them. We learned so much about their families and their lives outside of the resort. I can't wait to get back in October for a birthday celebration and just booked another visit for November on yesterday.

okay place for a getaway however not the best because for a 5 start hotel it needs a lot of improvements.

Carlos is on the Ball!!, Friendly, Fun and hard working. Also Charleny helped me out with my Mosquito Bites, also asked me the following evening if I was feeling better. BIG thanks to all the Xtra Time Staff

Carlos was great! He was attentive and very friendly! Would definitely go back!

This is not a 5-star hotel, but before getting into the bad, I’ll start off with the good. The resort is beautiful with so much potential. It’s clear the grounds crews work hard to maintain the landscaping and keep it looking top-notch. The check in experience was also wonderful. We were greeted as we exited our vehicle and escorted to the check in counter, where they brought us a welcome drink and brought us to our room early, which was beautiful and brand new. Everything after is a story of inconvenience and disappointment. My wife and I booked a Romance Suite for my birthday weekend. The room was advertised as being adults-only. That doesn’t mean the room next door is adults only, only yours is. This is misrepresentation at its finest. The maintenance team also starting sawing and hammering in the room next to ours during our stay. While we get that maintenance is necessary to upkeep the property, it should be planned for minimal impact to guests. For example, during checkout of the impacted rooms, close the villa, etc. We were also, as Romance Suite guests, told that we would have concierge service provided by a butler, who would reach out to us on check in day to help us make dining reservations and anything else we might need. This never happened and, in fact, we never heard from or saw our butler our entire stay. We mentioned it to another butler, who said he’d find out who was supposed to be helping us, and still never heard anything. As far as dining goes, it’s a huge disappointment. The best meal was the lunch buffet, somehow, with the reservation-only restaurants for dinner being a huge disappointment with sushi made from canned salmon and pad thai with more soy sauce than peanut sauce. The restaurants are also impossible to get into. You can’t make a reservation until after you check in, and by that time, everyone who checked in the day before you has already taken all the time slots over the next few days. We were left pleading to get into one of the restaurants one night because we had planned to go to the buffet since it was looking like the best food. The buffet never opened for dinner our entire stay, despite both the app and signs in the lobby showing it would be open. If you want something for a snack after the lunch buffet closes, and especially after 6PM, forget about it. The only option is to go to the sports bar, which offered very low quality American fare only. Overall, the resort is beautiful, but service and food quality miss the mark. I would not recommend staying here if you’re looking for a 5-star experience. This is genuinely a 3-star experience at best.