TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Resort staff is very friendly. Food is awesome (expect a few flies over the places to eat; it's the Caribbean so we were OK with it). We only drank bottled water and didn't have any stomach issues. Bartenders know their drinks. Overall great couple experience. Not many activities, which it was exactly what we were looking for (peace and quiet). Watch out for EVERYONE with a XPAND uniform. They'll trap you into a sales pitch for their vacation club. The'll appeal to their family situation and say that if they don't get some people to go to the presentation, they'll lose their job. First, they will offer you a gift, in our case a "free" massage. Turns out it was a $50 gift card for the spa, which have to be applied to a Spa package of at least $190 (so much for the gift). We put an end to the XPAND presentation when the manager came to us aggressively with lies and half-truths about their business. I know some things about the hotel industry and call him on various half-truths. He simply got up and left the conversation, leaving the salesperson totally embarrassed. We lost over 2 hrs in this deal and were very annoyed to say the least.

We have just returned from an 11 night stay at the family side. Upon arrival, first impressions were pretty good and then we finally got to check in...We had booked two swim out rooms and emailed a few times in advance as it was very important to get 2 rooms together for us and especially to get the most out of the swim out rooms. We were given paperwork with 5127 and 5128 but then quickly told that the air conditioning was broken in 5128 (that was a lie!) They attempted to allocate the second room in a different block and after complaining they gave us a room a few doors down. Upon arrival in the rooms, we were quite pleased with their overall size and cleanliness. The only slight criticism would be that they felt a little bare compared to dreams resorts but no big deal. Bags arrived quite promptly, so we were happy with that. That night was late so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the sports bar and we were quite surprised when we asked for knives and forks that there were 'no more' so trying to eat a rack of ribs was somewhat challenging! Day 2 - The couple in 5128 had left (so no issue with ac!), and very rowdy neighbours arrived with a very large speaker blasting out some quite inappropriate songs. After 12 messages to reception, nothing was done. They were disrupting the whole block still at 2am in the morning, arguing, fighting, and playing music. This really wasn't good especially with a disrupted 3 year old and a 16 year old scared in another room. Eventually security 'sorted it' The next day I went to see the manager who asked us to complete an incident report (waste of time btw) and immediately told us that they would be removed-they weren't! On top of this, I would not recommend block 5 as it's directly opposite the sports bar, so don't expect much sleep!! The food quality was just passable, and the ala carte was okay but not consistent. Drinks are very sweet and taste watered down. The buffet is disgusting and a lot of the food is cold. Fortunately, we managed to get into the ala carts most nights due to having the two rooms. Pool areas were clean and tidy, although the chlorine levels must be very high as all of our swimwear was ruined! The beach did have some sea weed but all credit to the hotel as they did their best every day in reducing it. Overall, we expected more for the money than we got. It's apparent that the hotel lacks strong management, which is annoying because it has the foundations to be much better.

I stayed at the Serenade Punta Cana - Adults only between July 5th and July 11th and I would give my stay there a 4 star review overall. I will start with the cons and then proceed with the pros. Cons: - The main reason as to why I didn't give the hotel a 5 star review was the horrendous experience we had with Xpand Travel Club, which is affiliated with the hotel. You will see representatives standing/sitting in the lobby and I would AVOID these people like the plague. They will essentially try to sell you expensive membership deals with high interest rates that make absolutely no sense, however their sneaky, misleading and manipulative ways of doing so are what really got my blood boiling. A representative greeted us on the day of arrival and showed us around (particularly signposting the different restaurants) to try to build rapport with us. Then after a couple of days the same representative offered us a $50 discount on an excursion in exchange for our time. It was said that they were going to give us a presentation and show us around their new premises. This is just a hook. What followed was a 2.5 hour long, very stressful and unpleasant meeting where the Xpand team were trying to get us into buying a very expensive membership deal which we were not interested in (close to $40 000 including a 10% interest rate). On top of that, the sales person overinflated the numbers which added to the perception of deceit. In the end, the stress experienced was not worth the $50 - you're better off booking excursions through the sellers on the beach or through websites like Expedia (it works out cheaper). Bottomline: AVOID XPAND REPRESENTATIVES AT ALL COSTS! I made two formal complaints to management about our experience and the feedback that I got was that I was not the first one to complaint. One travels to Punta Cana to relax and enjoy their vacation, not to be pestered by unethical sales people. Absolutely atrocious! Apart from that, these were the pros: - The hotel is newly built which means that the room was clean, modern, beautiful and spacious. We opted for the room with the swim-up pool which was wonderful - The food was tasty and really varied. They have a range of restaurants to choose from, including Caribbean food, buffets. Italian food, Brazilian style Rodizos and even Asian food. - Service was for the most part great! The majority of staff members are very service minded, friendly and accommodating. For instance, when I had issues with the internet in my room, and had to deliver a webinar for work, they offered me to use their board room which typically only is used internally. - The beach by the hotel is clean and relaxing (white sand beach) and safe, as they have security present. I would stay again if the opportunity arises, however, I believe that senior leadership should really consider getting Xpand off the premises as their presence has such a negative impact on people's vacation experience. .

My wife and I stayed at this resort for one week in the end of May and we really enjoyed ourselves.We stayed in the preferred club and our room was exceptional,also the food in the buffets and the majority of the a la cartes was good. I wish I could remember all the names of the resort workers who made are stay totally enjoyable but two people I cannot forget are Jose and Luis from the rooftop bar were both amazing we cannot wait to go back and hopefully see them again. Warren and Mimi

This hotel is infested!!! With flies and nobody cares about it! The flies here and the smell is so bad, I had to hold my breathe while walking past. Almost nobody speaks English, and they’d rather serve the Spanish speakers first! The drinks (alcoholic and others) are watered down and at some point don’t even taste like the drink it’s supposed to be. For example the Coca Cola tasted like grape flavored water???? And the apple juice tasted like.. I’m not sure but it was NOT good. Back to the flies, the workers do not care about them, and just let the food be eaten by flies— I can’t even count how many times serval flies have eaten my food. The food is okay?? But the flies just throw it off. The only good part about it is that you don’t have to pay for the disgusting food they have.