TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We just returned from 5 nights at Bavaro. This is an honest review of our personal experience. After reading the Trip Advisor reviews… we were ready to cancel. I am so thankful for finding these couple of FB groups dedicated to this resort complex. So many honest reviews and excellent, helpful information!! Our overall assessment is we had a lovely time. The weather is beautiful and really… how can you not enjoy your time. With that being said, we would not return to this particular group of resorts. We are seasoned travelers and this resort is just to big for us along with other items that were dissatisfiers. We prefer more food options and a smaller more intimate setting. It was a long walk to anything and everything. Most of the Bavaro and Punta Cana resort is old and in need of repairs. We were in the Junior Suites, not updated. Building 77. If you are looking for a “budget” experience and can only afford these rooms… You can’t go wrong (keeping your expectations in check of course). It was not OUR favorite. The room was not very clean, the sliding glass door did not lock, it was actually broke off. We had no working room phone until the last day. We gave up trying to get it fixed and miraculously it was replaced on the last day. Our biggest issue… our toilet would not flush and was completely plugged. It took 3 long walks to the front desk again… no phone… it was finally fixed 48 hrs later. The buildings are in serious need of updating. They are dirty and falling apart. The upgraded rooms closer to the beach looked much nicer. When we needed extra drinks in room, we would leave a note in Spanish and $5. Another issue we found, a significant language barrier prevented great service. We can speak very basic spanish and always use the words we do know to communicate. I acknowledge English is their 2nd language, however we have never struggled like we did at this resort. I would say a large majority of the staff we encountered spoke very little, if any English. For example, when trying to order beverages, you would not get what you asked for because the staff just didn’t understand what we were saying. When speaking with guest services to make dining reservations we had to use the maps to communicate our choices and then there was an error with one of our reservations, they only made the reservation for 2 and not 4. The food: the lobby buffet was surprisingly tasty with so many options. It does smell like sewage. Bad. We found sitting to the right side better. With that said, that is the only option for breakfast. We are used to resorts with a nice sit down breakfast option. Same for lunch. Buffet at the beach, lobby, or the truck with fried foods and sandwiches. That’s it. And for 5 nights stay we got 2 a la cart restaurants. So… a lot of buffet dining. The drinks: not great but you can make due. The bars by the beach and the pool always have long lines. And most days ran out of lots of items. We learned to order multiple drinks at a time to avoid long lines. The swim up bar by the beach frequently only had 1 bartender. The walk up beach bar only ever had 1. Many people we spoke with were not happy. Pro tip… bring a large insulated cup! Keeps drinks cold and lasts longer. Lounge chairs: we were a group of 4 and could always find something together. However, if you want any shade… you have to play the game and reserve early. I honestly don’t know why the resort doesn’t add more palapa’s. Most people want the option of shade… The entertainment in the theater between Punta Cana and Bavaro was always very good. We found the evening entertainment like karaoke and dance party better on the Punta Cana side. We tip $1-2 for each drink order. We would leave the same for buffet meals (we had a heck of a time getting anyone to bring drinks like water or coffee most meals). The a la cart we would leave $5-10 per couple.

Grounds are absolutely beautiful. Resort is huge. Pools are nice and clean. Beach was great besides the fact that you are harassed every 5 mins to purchase an excursion/souvenirs etc. It's literally non stop! Drinks are delicious. Food was good as well. Lots of options but most food not very hot and fresh. Best to go to the hot stations like the pasta station, omelette, meat etc where it's all cooked fresh for you. The buffet area smells like mould. We ended up going to the hotel Punta Cana's buffet which was right next door to our hotel and it was much better. "The truck" which is the food near the beach was always quite cold and not fresh. A La cartes were nice and had good food. Rooms were nice but we did have 2 leaks in our room from the ceiling and our AC wasn't the greatest but worked for us since we had the fan on all night. Entertainment was mediocre. Staff didn't really try or care. The fire show and circus show were the best. Fun things for kids. Water park was nice for our daughter. Most importantly the staff were horrible. I'd say 85% of the staff is rude, gives you attitude, they make it very clear they hate their jobs and they are miserable and don't want to be serving you. It became very apparent the first day. No one speaks English so good luck if you don't speak any Spanish ( my husband is fluent and mom and I can absolutely get by but but even when ordering in Spanish half of the time out order was wrong or we got attitude) Due to the ignorant staff we will never return to this hotel. It's a shame because it really is beautiful.

Would definitely go to same resort again. Proximity to beach was excellent, service and people are great, felt safe n free, food was tasty and plentiful. Lots to do if you want to stay busy or for those that want to go back n forth between the beach, food and drinks only.. this place answers the bell.

The beach that this hotel is located at is fantastic! A MOST SEA! one of a kind!! The hotel is nice, a la carte restaurants are amazing with lots of options and buffets were good with plenty of varieties! The service was great. We were very grateful with the trolly service that buses you to and from the beach as the hotel is quite big. The Employees are friendly and very accommodating. Estarlys at the swim up bar in Pool 4 was simply the best! Me and my family (10 of us) loved this vacation! We only have 2 complains. 1. A lot of the hotel is reserved for “privilege club” only and you couldn’t upgrade without changing hotels. It included large sections at the beach’s that were empty most of the time. Leaving limited room for everybody else. 2. The rooms are outdated and need some improvements and renovation. I would also suggest they open the beach buffet for breakfast as well! All in all we recommend this hotel!

It's a typical South America all-inclusive, nothing special, ok food, great ocean, nothing special, however if you get into accident - you are screwed! Just want to be clear - I was completely sober, coming back from the beach, planning on going for lunch. I had a fall incident from the trolley/golf cart (the ones which take you around the hotel/to the beach), where I asked the driver to stop, he slowed down to almost a stop and when I started stepping off the trolley - he did not wait until I fully stepped down started driving off pretty fast, which caused me to fall badly dislocating, fracturing and breaking my shoulder (4 fractures, displaced bone), requiring emergency hospitalization. By the way, the drivers of these carts often drive around pretty reckless. So I fell and immediately realized I am in big trouble as my arm no longer felt like my arm and the pain started coming in, which was unbearable. Until we waited for another golf cart with the stretcher, the workers of the hotel were very confused not knowing what to do. After a while - couple of nurses (or whoever they were) came in, 1 out of which started bending my arm towards my chest.... I have never felt such excruciating pain as my shoulder was broken and out of place (you could clearly see a big bump on top of my shoulder as it was really out of place), but she kept bending saying "this is the procedure" - I nearly fainted couple of times from the shocks of pain, but somehow managed to bend my arm so they put me on the stretcher and moved to the local medical post. At the medical post, once they brought my phone and passport - they kept screaming "WHERE IS YOUR WALLET AS WE NEED CREDIT CARD", it was very hard to explain that my phone - is my wallet as they don't speak any English and making sure credit card is right now with me is the most important thing. By this time, still in medical post office - I was already crying-screaming asking to give me something from pain, one of the nurses responded "It's not going to help!" - I seriously forgot about my broken arm for a moment, WTF do you mean by "it's not going to help"??? Anyways, I got no painkiller of any kind even when the ambulance came in and even at the hospital. They moved me to the ambulance on another stretcher, never secured me to it and then there was a long and painful 35minute drive to the hospital as I was rolling around the stretcher with a broken arm. At the hospital - they took me to xRay and 2 dudes started getting my shoulder in place, which actually gave me some sort of relief as while it was still very painful - it was not super painful and I could finally have my arm rest somehow. They did put in the IV and gave me some medicine, not sure what it was, but thanks for that. Then, the long long wait where at least 20 patients with various minor injuries got processed and I was just waiting, contacting my family and friends letting them know what happened to me. I started asking what is going on and why this is taking so long, I am at pretty bad shape, I only had my swimming shorts on and nothing else (was coming back from the ocean), after 3.5 hours they finally gave me a bottle of water and kept saying to wait... I literally started going into different rooms telling them that I will fall and faint right there, I need to know what is going on, or at least get out of the hospital (my family helped me move my airplane ticket for next day already), they finally explained that they were preparing an estimate for a surgery and finding a doctor who could do that. I had to convince them - that I will be doing a surgery at home and to let me out, so I literally waited for like 4-5 hours in very cold hospital in my swimming shorts for nothing... At checkout they charged me: $2776.45, I am not kidding (attached receipt). I did translate the receipt in English and more then half of it is complete BS, I am already working with the bank to reverse partially the charges. I was in no condition to challenge the costs as I was ready to faint out and just fall and die there, so I paid with credit card so I could get to hotel and start packing up for next day painful journey. Now besides overcharging me + charging me for BS they never did - the way they treat you is something beyond anything... like you are another nuisance on their hands... I know they did put my shoulder in place - but that's about it! On my way out they said I should take a a bus to the city to a store to get painkiller medicine myself! After charging me nearly $3K - you could at least give me some painkillers! Absolutely horrible hospital and people who work there. Here is the name of the hospital: Hospiten Bávaro So I was finally back to the hotel, I packed somehow with 1 hand and after painful sleepless night (I could not get any painkillers as I was in no shape of going to the city, nobody could help be at reception and local medical shop was already closed.. was like 8PM or something) I started calling reception to help me get to the lobby with my carry on and backpack as now it was very problematic for me. While they called me fine the evening before - nobody picked up the phone so I had to walk to the reception and started asking for help - everybody would literally point finger to go somewhere else, it was unbelievable! Until I started screaming to help me out please now as I am in very bad shape and I just need someone to help be bring my crap to the lobby and drive me to the medical shop so I could get something for the pain as I had a drive to an airport and 5 hour flight ahead of me... After screaming and swearing at them - finally 1 dude started helping me out, got me to the medical shop so I got some painkiller medicine thank god (it did help a lot!) and was take to the lobby where I checked out. Now I had to switch my transfer, which I did that same morning and I told like 5 times to the greeting person or whoever it is to make sure I do not miss it as he told me to just sit and relax and he will call me when the transfer arrives and guess what? He just lets the transfer leave without calling me... When I asked what I should do now - he told me to talk to the guy who is responsible for transfers, so I went to that guy and he is like - "it's your fault, you should off got on it", so I called the guy who greets those damn transfer vans and then calls for passengers to board them so they could both talk as this is not my fault at all and I NEED to get to the airport, I cannot run around it with my arm messed up alone with a carry-on and a backpack. They literally said they can't help me, sorry sir, bla bla bla.... This was super unprofessional as I did not ask for any special treatment even though I was clearly injured and in pain - yet since I am checked out - I don't deserve any sort of service or anything at all. Once again I started screaming at the dude who missed my transfer to get me a taxi and that I do not have any cash anymore, I need a taxi with credit card machine (the transfer to airport already probably arrived at the airport by that time as it was 45min since my transfer pick up, so I was losing it... if I would have miss my flight - that would be a disaster as I needed to get to a NORMAL emergency room and further treatment!). So he finally called a taxi - it arrives, I get in, sit down and guess what - this taxi does not take credit cards... I was honestly ready to just run to the ocean and drawn myself as I was exhausted, in pain and it felt like these people who work for the hotel literally having fun there finding a stupid injured American boy in despair very amusing. Second taxi finally arrived, which took credit cards and I made it to the airport and made it to my flight - thanks to the security people who kept letting me through ahead of the line! It has been 2.5 weeks since my fall now, I am home safe, still suffering from pain, but in much better sate of mind. I went through a surgery, I got titanium plates in my shoulder and hopefully the bones will re-attach and heal (I won't know about it for next 5 weeks or so). If all goes well - there is a LONG therapy ahead on getting my arm back to the most useful condition, it will never be the same as before, but with time and therapy it should get back to 80-90% working arm... I have reached out to the hotel already 2 weeks ago asking to at least refund my money, as I had almost 3 more days of stay and the fall was not my fault and so far they are just quiet, not responding at all... So, - This is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced - If you are going to these all-inclusive hotels, especially in countries like Dominican Republic - be very careful, as if you get hurt badly - you are on your own - Bahia Principe hotels suck, you can clearly see how they treat their guests, once guests are check out or after an accident, no response, no nothing.