TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

If you bring your own alcohol, food, bug spray, entertainment, and positive attitude...it will be great. The lower your expectations are, the better it will be. I hear Ambar is great. Turqueaa is the lowest you can go here at the Bahia s in Punta Cana.

Spent one weeks at Turquesa, check-in was not smooth, one person ahead of me but it took almost 20 minutes. Check out ok. Room and housekeeping was good at all times. The food at the buffet was very good with lots of sea food available on daily basis. Specialty restaurants not readily available, always seem to be unavailable. Pools were ok but the beach was very crowded with very little space. Grounds are well kept but mosquitoes seem to be a problem. Pool and Lobby activities were ok.

Very disappointed that when we ordered drinks upon arrival at lobby bar we were told we had to pay for 'premium' alcohol!? Many resorts all over the world include this service in their "all-inclusive" package, which is what we thought we paid for!!! Not having staff able to communicate in English made it extremely difficult when asking for information!!!!! Also the beach was too far from our room. You could walk, but if you forgot something it wasn't that easy to just turn around and go get it!! The beach was always packed and chairs taken no matter what time you went. I've been to many resorts and I rate this resort overall 6 out 10.

The Pros - Good food & drinks are plenty, very nice landscaping, pretty buildings, great free wifi, even on the beach, very nice pools, very nice staff, golf carts drive you everywhere, always available, great price for a all inclusive including airfare, The Cons - Extremely LOUD MUSIC (99.99% Hispanic) music that sounded the same everyday, everywhere, even on the beach, not many quiet places, too many mosquitoes, old hard mattress, tired looking plumbing fixtures, no hand sanitizers, my husband & I both got stomach virus, on day 6 & 7 of our 8 day vacation, that lasted 3 days, ( diarrhea, nausea, cramps ) still sick as I write this review.

The first thing I would mention is that Suheidy in Guest Services was the best. We did not have any major issues, but she solved any minor ones with ease. Simple stuff like changing a reservation, or swapping our towels out but it was a big help. I could write a book about our trip, and hopefully I can remember the salient points. A little background: This resort is part of a complex of 7 resorts, with hundreds, likely well over a thousand rooms. It may depend on which one you book with, but we had access to most of the areas. We had a child with us, and at least two of them are adults only. We are Americans, and my wife has been to the DR before, but I have not. This was my first all-inclusive experience. Good stuff: The evening entertainment was great. There are multiple shows happening everywhere, every night. Each lobby has something, with larger theaters in addition. The discoteca was surprisingly great. I have been to some of the best clubs in the world, and while not on that level, very good for the setting. We enjoyed the buffet quite a bit. We are not really buffet people per se, but it had a good variety of food, and the vast majority was delicious. The food was more warm than hot, which bothered my wife a bit, but my daughter and myself really liked it. Great Spanish-style food. There is also an a la carte restaurant by the pool that seemed under-utilized. Good food there too. The house salad was great. The Brazilian restaurant is very good. The Japanese one (Maiko at least, there are several), was not. After thinking about it, it makes a bit of sense as people from the DR likely have a good handle on Brazilian cuisine, Japanese less so. The pools are great. There are a ton of them. They are all very clean , swim up bars at each one. This resort is furthest from the beach, which means it is less crowded and you can usually get a good seat. They made paella poolside which was 10/10. The pool closest to the beach is very crowded, as is the beach. We did manage a good spot at the beach but it took some work. Once we learned to use the trolley system, getting around was easy. You could walk, but with the heat, the sun, and the distance, most people would be worn out quickly. The people were great. Our plane was filled with American college students, and I was concerned there would be drunk twenty-somethings everywhere. There were very few. Mostly Spanish-speaking families, and some older couples. It is a nice clientele and a good environment. I had read before we went that it was crowded, but only by the beach. Needs improvement: The room needed some TLC. It may be up to the standards of the area, but there are lots of dings in the walls, and the cleanliness was middle of the road when we arrived. The more luxury resorts I think are better. One person mentioned they just renovated one by the beach. This one may be due for renovation. One positive is that it is the furthest away from the beach, and it was quiet. Other than the aesthetics, which we got over, it was comfortable, and the AC worked great. Do note that there are literally 3 plugs in the room. For Americans with 1 million devices to charge, it was challenging. I unplugged the TV and used the USB ports to get some more charging spots and that worked well with some management. A clock with charging ports like hotels have in the US would be a relatively cheap investment that could fix this. The beach snack bar is crazy. It has self-service alcohol which is nice. However, it is insanely busy during the day. Not their fault, there are hundreds of people there. At night, it is less busy, but that is where the drunks are. This part will not be news to veterans of the DR. You need to bring at least $200 or more in US dollars in small bills for tips. The service can be hit or miss, but when you tip, and tip well, it becomes VIP. The taxi from the airport is $40 in cash. I think it can be done cheaper, but we were not well versed, and we just wanted to get there and back. Do not go to the timeshare presentation. It is a points-based club of some kind, but the sales tactics are...unpleasant. Other veterans could have told me so. We did get a gift certificate for the gift shop, but it was not worth it. I am certain it is not specific to this resort, but someone is trying to sell you something at all times. It gets tiring after a few days. In summary: It was a good trip. I had a lot to learn about the DR. As I have not been to the other resorts, I cannot compare it, but at the end I definitely remembered the good things and not the others. We purchased through Expedia, and due to the time of year we paid a lot for the flights. If you looked at the price of the resort on it's own, it was definitely worth it.