TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I have been to this resort several times. Other than some smoking in the show area, we really enjoy it. The beach is wide, there are lots of food options, and a small food area near the beach where you can grab a snack mid day in your bathing suit without having to get your clothes on. The rooms are spacious, and comfortable. There seems to be more european customers on the selection side, and many of them smoke around the pool area etc.. But its not a deal breaker.. Having been here several times in the past, it seems cleaner than last time, and management is doing a better job in my opinion. Entertainment during the day always has some things to do around the pool area.

Pros: Beach: water was warmer than the pool. Soft sand. No shells, stones or corals. Minimum seaweed. Lots of shade and beach chairs. Pools: lots of shade and beach chairs. Big pool. Towels all day available. Food: plenty of varierity. Others: I liked that they had umbrellas in the room as couple days rained. They also have USB ports to charge phone. Smart TV that you can cast on from your phone. Water stations to fill the glass bottles in the room. Cons: The AC was blowing, but it didn't get cool in the room till the 3rd day. We ask front desk to send someone to fix it, but they never send anyone. We asked for body wash refill, which also didn't come. Asked for an extra umbrella, which also didn't come. AC tip: seems if you lower ac 1 degree at a time works rather than setting it low temp at once.

Great value overall - for what you pay, you get a lot. The service is great and the staff friendly. Our third time here but not our last. Food - We were here in September 2021. The food was OK, and the a la cartes disappointing. However, we chalked it up to resuming business post COVID. We were very happy to see that it had recovered well. The steakhouse was phenomenal and Kabuki surprisingly good. We also tried the Mexican restaurant, which wasn’t as good but fine. The buffet has a lot of options and is overall pretty good for an all-inclusive. There’s definitely something for everyone and the food is fresh. Housekeeping - Absolutely fantastic. So much attention to detail. Stephanie cleaned our room and was amazing. When she learned it was our son’s 2nd birthday she made a beautiful design on the bed. She was fantastic. The resort is kept up well. They are redoing some of the villas and the grounds are very well-kept. We were impressed by the cleanliness throughout. Family friendly - high chairs available, cribs (we brought pnp but a mini crib was brought without asking), the staff is engaging with the kids and they have an active kids program. Our son was too young but we loved the shows in the evening for kids. Sustainability - there’s a focus on sustainability and educating kids and guests which is great to see. Pool - There are a couple choices, including a kids pool. The main pool has a lake style entrance which was perfect for our toddler. Beach - Clean and beautiful. Minimal seaweed when we were there, but the hotel really can’t control that. One of the people in our group saw a lifeguard helping a disabled person enjoy the water safely, which was above and beyond and speaks to the quality of the staff.

If I could give a 4.5 / 5 I would! Overall the resort was really great, and I would go back. The grounds were very pretty and well maintained. The room was spacious and clean, and we had no problems with our AC. Our room was close to everything (villa 56). The beach was amazing! Lots of space, super clean, and always chairs available. The pool was clean with lots of chairs as well. There were vendors set up one day along the pathways on the resort which was a little difficult to walk through as the sellers would stand in front of you and sometimes put their products on you - like bags, necklaces etc. One tried to charge $125 USD for two cheap bracelets and earrings not worth more than $10. Gave it to us for $20 after we started to walk away. The earrings broke as soon as I got home. There is a shop by Coral Level that tried to charge us $40USD for a pack of cigars which we ended up getting for $25… only to find out at the next shop they were selling the exact same thing for $10. You expect some inflated prices on resort but those were both negative experiences. There are sellers on the beach that approached you as well, but they were generally good if you told them you weren’t interested. They were only set up on resort one day. Food was great, the buffet was always good with lots of options and the a la cartes were good as well. The Japanese and Steakhouse restaurants were great! I was disappointed by the Mexican restaurant, which I found lacking in flavour and the service was not good. They gave me a letter requesting gluten free options in Spanish for me to give to the restaurants which was really nice. They also let us reserve 5 instead of 3 which was great! We played tennis and went parasailing which was fun, and got massages at the spa. The spa was beautiful and the messages were amazing! We both found the entertainment to be lacking. They could use some work there for sure. Overall it was a great visit!

2nd time at this resort with my son, daughter in law and 2 granddaughters and we love it at the Bavaro Suites. I like the Suites better than long hotel hallways, less noise. We stayed 8 nights in 2 different rooms, but Isabela at the front desk was great that she got 2 rooms right next to each other, she worked a miracle. We were there over Valentines Day and as a family we passed out little Valentine pins mainly to the staff that were so good to us. They also had a Super Bowl party that was a blast. The kids corner(?) play area is now located near the Dominica, different than last time we were there. We were all very happy that Mario was still there in the main buffet, he took good care of us both times. The buffet is open air but there are no bugs, but maybe a visiting crane bird. The actual buffet food is behind closed doors. Jorkey(?) is a bartender by the pool and she makes great drinks. The rooms are big, clean and comfortable. I really liked the new way they have your room key around your wrist. Very little seaweed in the ocean. Nothing really has changed since IHG and Iberostar merged. I was sad that the shopping area street next to the RIU is closed down and I did not see the hut/tents that were on the beach that you could walk to to shop were also gone. There were a few shops near the Coral Level rooms to shop. Lots of walking vendors on the beach offering excursions, clothing, jewelry, etc.