Bavaro Princess All Suites Resort

We have been to Punta Cana/Bavaro for the last 3 years and found this hotel the best so far.

Beautiful grounds always being so well tended and wonderful staff in the restaurants (Especially Francia in the Hispaniola and Starlin at the Gaucho lunchtime.

Great sized clean pools and beautiful soft white sand with warm inviting sea's (just like the pictures we all dream about visiting)

The Teppanyaki was also very enjoyable and worth 1 visit but as the buffet was so good with varied menus and great service we stayed their for the majority of the holiday.

The Entertainment is good but very similar to the other Dom Rep hotels we have visited. The live band and singer played well and was worth staying up to hear.

I was a bit disappointed with the behaviour of some of the Russian tourists who don't tend to wait their turn for service,

they are also up very early claiming beach towel space (the Germans have been pushed into second here).

The Americans are friendly tourists who all enjoy the atmosphere but what is going on with those drinks coolers?

The first year standard cup sizes were seen, the second year they had doubled in size and this year they seemed to be holding a who can bring in the largest (1500ml capacity) cooler before going above their baggage allowance (they looked a bit silly but totally harmless) Gave us a good laugh anyway!

Make sure you haggle with the traders inside and outside the hotel as their prices are inflated often by four times the correct value.

Take plenty of single dollars to tip the great staff as they work tirelessly for very little money whilst their families live miles and miles away. (They never stop smiling though).

The Casino was ok (would have been better if i hadn't lost)

All in all a wonderful holiday and so sad to be home to this grey wet weather (i will never moan about the Dom Rep being too hot again).

Forget any negative reviews just go and experience this wonderful complex for yourself.

My boyfriend and I traveled to Bavaro Princess from June 13 to June 20, 2009. I am basing all my opinion below on my other experiences to all-inclusive resorts in both Mexico and Puerto Plata. I think it is only fair to compare apples to apples.

FLIGHT – We traveled with Sunwing Vacation from Toronto to Punta Cana. This was my second time flying with Sunwing and I was yet again impressed with the airline for the money we paid.

TRANSFER FROM AIRPORT TO HOTEL – it took us 25 minutes to get to the hotel and about 35 minutes on our way back to the airport (we had to go to more hotels)

CHECK IN/OUT – There was many people there ready to check in I found check in very fast and very organized. We arrived there around 11:30 and to my surprise they already had our room ready. The bellboy took our bags and we took the trolly and we all met at our room.

GROUNDS – The first thing we noticed was how beautiful and grounds were and how well kept they were the whole trip we always saw gardeners out

ROOMS – We stayed in a bungalow suite Room 267. It was about a 2 minute walk to the beach/pool and it was a 5 minute walk to the lobby/main buffet. We were very pleased with our location. Our rooms were very spacious, clean, bar fridge was restocked daily; when you leave a $1 tip at your fridge they will leave you extra water and beer. We really liked the set up of the suite and loved the patio. Both my boyfriend and I agreed that it was the nicest room we have ever had at an all-inclusive resort. Although it may need a little touch up paint here and there I would still rate it a 5-star for an all-inclusive resort. Compared to the Ritz Carleton then I would only be able to give it a 3-star.

MAID SERVICE – They worked very hard and kept the rooms tidy. We would tip them $2-$3 per day. Our room was consistently cleaned the same time of day around 2-3pm. There is one thing I would complain which is the maid would leave the doors to the outside open when they are cleaning and then mosquitoes get in the room, then you have to spend the rest of the evening killing them. One time they only left us 2 shower towels after we had asked for 3 not a big deal at all though, when we called and asked for another one they were there within 15 minutes. Everyday they put clean sheets except for the last day. I wouldn’t usually complain about this but my boyfriend was sick the night before and we really needed fresh clean sheets. Again we called and within 40 minutes they gave us all new sheets and fresh towels for the morning. So any troubles we had they made it better within a very short period of time.

STAFF – All the staff there are very friendly, always have a smile on their face and say ‘Hola’. They try really hard to make your vacation great. We always got fantastic service at all the restaurants/buffets and all the bars. We usually left about $1 tip at the buffet restaurants and $3 at the a la carte restaurants. We also tipped the bartender $1 for about 80% of every drink we ordered.

BARS - Great service at the bars. Drinks I would recommend Bavaro Princess, Coco Loco, and Mamajuana. All the staff members get very excited when you take a shot of the mamajunana and if you want to make a new friend ask them to take a shot with you. My boyfriend mainly drank rum n’ cokes, everyone made it with a different amount of alcohol and every customer likes a different amount of alcohol in their drinks. If you feel that they put too little or too much in your drink just let them know they won’t mind fixing it for you.

BUFFET – We loved the main buffet at breakfast I usually got the omelet that was made in front of you and some fruit, a croissant and one of the fruit smoothies. Lunch was usually the same however the main buffet had more options than the beach buffet. If you couldn’t find something you fancied you could always get pasta, pizza, fries, or nachos, salads and fruit at both restaurants you would definitely not go hungry. We ate 4 nights at the main buffet. Whatever they had on Saturday night was delicious (I am not sure what nationality it was), but they even served lobster, my boyfriend tried it and said it as good, not the best he had, but loved the fact he could have as much as he wanted. Sunday was Italian night not the best night for the buffet but I still found something that I liked. Thursday was Dominican night and again the food was delicious. Friday night was Mexican Night, everyone we talked to agreed that the veggie/been tacos were better than the chicken or the beef tacos.

RESTAURANTS – On the Monday night we ate at the Italian a la carte restaurant, Bella pasta. We both ate the mozza stix (fried cheese) and the salad bar for our appetizer and found them both to be delicious. I had the risotto with mushrooms and it was amazing – definitely recommend this. My boyfriend had the bass he said it tasted ok but he was sick afterwards – you may want to stir away from this option. For desert I got the chocolate truffle – all I can say yummy.

On the Tuesday night we ate at the Japanese a la carte restaurant, Tanuki. Both my boyfriend and I enjoy this very much and thought it was the best meal of our vacation, everything we had was amazing. Salad, makki rolls, and vegetable tempura were our appetizers, chicken and shrimp were our meats for the main meal, and banana tempura for dessert. They cook the food right in front of you it was an experience I recommend for all.

On the Wednesday night we ate at the Asian a la carte restaurant, Sakura. This was my least favourite of the a la carte restaurants. The Makki rolls as our appetizers and banana tempura as our dessert were both amazing. Our main meals weren’t horrible but very bland. I had vegetable chop suey and my boyfriend had shrimp chow mein.

We both felt that the food in the main buffet and the other restaurants was the best food we had ate an all-inclusive resort.

POOL/BEACH – We enjoyed both and found both very relaxing. The beach was one of the most impressive beaches we had ever seen. We never had a problem finding a palapa during any of our stay. However, with that said this resort was only about 40% full.

GYM – Quite small for how many people using it but with that said it is all one needs to stay in shape while on vacation.

SPA – We enjoyed a free 25 minute couples massage for listening to the 2 hour royal vacation club seminar (they told us it would only take an hour it actually took two hours just to be warned)

BUGS – The first night I did see some really small tiny bugs in the cracks of the wall near the “kitchen” sink. It was kinda funny I ended up having a night mares thinking that bugs were all over me when I was sleeping and woke up with scratching on me from thinking it but I never got a bite that night. The next day I looked and the tiny bugs were gone. I slept much better the next nights. The whole trip we did have problems with mosquitoes’ as mentioned earlier. My boyfriend used bug spray and was covered in bites and I did not use a drop of bug spray, and I got only got a few mosquito bites. I did get some sand flee bites on my feet and ankles when I was hanging out on the beach after dark. All in all the bugs did not bother me very much, and definitely did not ruin my trip. The resort does do fumigations during the evening to help keep bugs and pests to a minimal.

LEAVING THE RESORT – I did feel very safe any time I left the resort; I feel DR is a safe place with very friendly people. However, the vendors right outside the hotel are very pushy and you do need to stay firm and say no or tell them you will come see them on your way back or make some excuse.

EXCURSIONS – We only did one excursion, which was Punta Cana Mike’s Tour. I would recommend this tour and I will be putting a review of the tour.

All in all we had a great time and both feel this resort is a true 5 star for an all-inclusive resort. I would only recommend this resort for couples and families. This was not a party resort and I would not recommend this resort for young singles.

If you have any question, just ask

My husband and I stayed at the Bavaro Princess from May 23rd, 2009 though June 3rd, 2009. It was our second time in Punta Cana and our second time staying at the Bavaro Princess. We researched other resorts and decided that we wanted to stay at the Bavaro Princess again. We had such a wonderful time when we were there 2 years ago, I was a little afraid it couldn't be repeated. I was wrong. It was even better this time.

Yes, the suites are a little dated...but so what. Really, how much time do you spend in your room anyway. They were always very clean. The maid came twice a day to give us fresh towels and tidy up. Our refrigerator was always well stocked by the maid. We had some ants in the closet, but it wasn't a big deal. They didn't get into our clothes or anything else. Overall, our room was great.

The service was outstanding. How anyone can complain about the staff or service is beyond me. My husband is a chef and I am a restaurant manager so we understand all about service. If you are kind to the service staff, you will be very well taken care of. Just don't be rude to them. They work extremely hard to make sure "your vacation" is enjoyable. We upgraded to platinum again and a lot of the staff remembered us from 2 years ago...which was very impressive. We speak very little Spanish, but that did not hinder any conversations we tried to have. If you just try, they appreciate it so much.

The food was great. We ate at all the restaurants, except for Chopin. It was closed for repairs. We also ate at 3 other restaurants on the other Princess Resorts. All of the restaurants were very good. The food in the Dominican is different from the food in the USA. If you are open to trying new things, you will enjoy the food choices. People say the food makes them feel sick, its probably not the food, its probably the rum and coconut milk in the drinks. My husband and I neither one got sick.

The entertainment is just for laughs. Please don't think you are getting "Broadway" type shows. You aren't. However, after a relaxing day at the beach or the pool, just sit back and laugh for awhile. All of the animation staff are unbelievably entertaining.

We went on two excursions (the day trip to Santa Domingo and the all day outback safari) and enjoyed them both. We got to see so much of the country side and see what the Dominican Republic is really like. The people are all so nice and love to see tourists. If you have the time, we strongly suggest you do the Santa Domingo trip. We walked down the beach to the "straw market" and bought a couple of things. They will barter with you...its expected.

All in all, we love the Bavaro Princess and we will be returning next year. Everyone needs to remember "you are on vacation". If your service isn't as fast as you would like it to be or you have to wait for something....relax...you are on vacation. Why are you in such a hurry?

We just returned. We flew out of Pittsburgh Friday June 5th directly to Punta Cana on USA3000. Plane trip was uneventful. The Bavaro Princess was wonderful. The beach was one of the nicest we've seen and the grounds of the resort were magnificant. We had no problem getting into any of the speciality restaurants. We booked with Apple Vacations and they made it very easy. The food was good at all the specialities we tried. The Japanese and Italian were very good but the steak was definetly our favorite. We actually ate there twice and my husband and boys agree that is was probably the best steak they every had. Service at this place was top notch. It is a very big resort and I can see if you don't or can't walk, this could be a problem but there is always the train available. Sometimes the train was full and you needed to wait for the next, but no problem. When your on vacation, who is in a hurray anyways. We have been to Riveria Maya twice and previously stayed at the Sunscape Punta Cana previously (that resort has since changed names). We are definetly returning to the Bavaro next year. This is a resort that you can continue to come back to. Do not hesitate to book. You will not be disappointed. Any questions - e-mail me.

I was at the Bavaro Princess with my husband from May 23 to June 6/09 considering this has been our fourth time at the same resort l cannot believe the critism some people our writing about this resort.

This resort was built in 1992 so one would think that yes it is a bit outdated but also some tourists do run the place down. However this resort is well maintained with exceptional service and cleansiness like you would not believe. The grounds you would think is a lusch huge garden considering that the resort is 96 acress in total.

The entire staff is amazing from the maids to the servers, the gardeners not to mentioned the animation staff. as well as the exceptional bartendars. Oviously if you are going to be rude to not expect a smile. Bed bugs which we have heard come to think of it we also have that in Ontario, Newyork in the big hotels so why are people complaing. There is no bed bugs. The sheets are changed daily. The towels are changed twice a day.

We have never had any of our belongings taken or touched.The food well that is another story. There is so much to choose from that you sometimes are undecided what to eat.

We had lobster one night at their buffet restuarant and let me tell you it was outstanding.

Not only could you eat as much as you want they quality and the size of these lobster tails would have cost you quite a bit here.

The excursions we have done a few a them and yes they are a bit expensive however they include a huge buffet lunch great transportation right from your resort lobby and you do get to see quite a bit.

We saw 2 incidents occur while we were there and they were of tourists causing problems. One morning just before the streching which takes place on the beach the animation person llayed out the beach towels. A tourist comes by and takes one. The animation person went to him and reqeusted the towel back which the guy was fuming. He said he had lost his and woudl have to pay $ 15.00 well if the towel went missing the animation person would have to account for it and if not have the $15.00 taken from his pay cheque considering that this is almost 2 days pay.

Another tourist again in the morning during aerobics on the beach came over and went and lowered the music herself and said it was to high. She did this 3 times until she finally asked the DJ his name and said that she was going to report it. Honestly this is the kind of situations that staff there has to put up with.

Many tourist that we spoke too had come for one week and they said that they are definately returning but for 2 weeks.

On a final note do not read about all the negative stories this is a place to see.

Bavaro Princess *****

Hello everyone! Let me explain how things went at this Hotel!

First off, we were there from April 18 to May 2. We went to get married on April 23! We were booked for the Caribe Club Princess until 2 days prior to leaving… We get a call from our travel agent and Princess Hotels had overbooked the Caribe Club Princess and were sending us to the Bavaro Princess. An upgrade but that came with some stress as we had people book the vacation online and through other agencies. Princess Hotels took care of everything! Except our maid of honor, for some reason, she wasn’t transferred but that was taken care of right there! Top notch from Princess Hotels and our Travel Agency. We were a group of 18 in total!

We flew Air Canada business class. From now on, I’m spending the extra cash for that! Everything went well, a slight delay on our way back but nothing drastic!

Now the Hotel…

Check-in / Check Out

Both went very well! Upon your arrival, mamajuana awaits you one after another! If you are getting married, they take you aside and give you a package and a nice Coco Loco! A girl will explain when you meet with your wedding coordinator and all that good stuff! No complaints here!

The Gounds

The resort is HUGE. If you have disabilities, go somewhere else. The little train goes by every 5 to 10 minutes most of the times. You need to be fast to get room as it gets full quick. You can walk but like I said, it’s huge! Calculate a lot of walking depending on where your room is! Burns off the buffet food at least!

Everything is well kept, flowers, trees, wildlife everywhere! They work very hard to keep it like that! Be nice to the workers and they will offer you a fresh fallen coconut to drink from! They pull out their machete and arrange one for you!

Rooms

Rooms are very nice and clean! Musty smell is pretty much normal in all rooms that I have visited down south. We had room 888 which is a Honeymoon Suite. The only difference with other rooms is that we have a whirlpool tub and it’s pretty much opened compared to other rooms. The size is the same. Our shower was a stand up with glass. Safe was a combo safe as to other it was a key and required to ask for them at the reception at no cost. We had no bugs in our rooms… But others did! ;o) They do fumigate the rooms and the grounds to help control this. What can you expect; half the area is a mangrove! Back to the musty smell in the rooms, what can you expect? You are in a hot humid place, not much you can do about that!

Maids

They work very hard and long hours. They sweep and mop the whole room including the balcony. They squeeze the mop by hand, they don’t have anything fancy to do that. They are very nice and always smiling. We left her $2USD daily and one day we left her $5USD. We always got fresh flowers and some kind of towel arrangements! Very nice to come in to! Our last day, we left her a ton of stuff like baby powder, deoderants, hair spray, a Frisbee etc. We did leave a note to tell her she can take what she wants and so the Hotel doesn’t say she stole it.

Restaurants

No complaints there! The main buffet was very good and yes some foods are repetitive but there is enough there to have different stuff everyday! They have different themes every night! Breakfast is always good, go see Leonel at the American Station for your omelets! He’s a blast! I tipped him a few times as the service was impeccable!! Dinner at the buffet, go in the back and see Luis B. He will go out of your way to give you good service! We tipped him every day and he went out of his way for everything. He got us some stuff that was missing from the buffet! He’s also there in the morning for breakfast but shifts could change later on. We pretty much always went to the main buffet as the one near the beach wasn’t as good.

We also booked the El Pescador, seafood restaurant! That was great! We had booked that on the same night that it was seafood night at the buffet. :o(

We booked the Japanese restaurant, that was very good also! The sushi was fantastic and so was all the food they served us!

For our wedding, we had booked the Italian Restaurant. We had to select a pre-defined menu for our guests. We had made a great selection! We chose 2 meats, beef and chicken and if they didn’t want that, they could have veggie pizza. Everyone was very happy and no complaints there also.

Staff

Most people go out for their way to serve you. It’s hard to tip everyone and there are so many people there to help. Go see the same people over and over that way you can tip them!

There is a blackjack table, this is for fun and the guy works for tips. Please be kind and tip him. I would tip him $1USD every time he would go through the whole deck of cards.

Animation crew is good and the shows were fun to watch! Don’t expect Broadway shows though! I’m not going to give you more detail on this. I encourage everyone to go see for themselves!

Guards are everywhere and do keep a close eye on our rooms. Take the time and say hi to them and offer them a drink from your fridge, they will appreciate it!

Finally, I was told by our rep that most staff there work 12 days and are off 3 days. Some have to travel far to go see their families. Some are from Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo etc. They don’t get paid much because they are fed and lodged there also. Not many people tip them, if you get good service, please tip them, they will remember you afterwards!

The Beach

Breathtaking! One of the nicest in the world! We had red flags on our second week due to jelly fish. They were really nice and colourful but there was only a few! But I also got the confirmation from a few staff that they spotted 2 sharks near by… hence, the reason why they used the jelly fish as an excuse not to freak everyone out. We went swimming anyways without issues.

NOTE: The beach is not an ASHTRAY. Please people, when smoking snuff them out in a bottle of an empty cup and go put them in the garbage. There are enough garbage cans around for you. Cigarette butts everywhere on the beach including plastic bottle caps. People have no respect and litter. NOT COOL.

The Wedding

Fabulous! Francelia our coordinator was great! The wedding was civil (not catholic) and took 5 minutes for the minister to say what she needed, 5 minutes to sign, 15 to eat the cake and drink champagne. The rest for pictures. We got married on Thursday April 23rd at 3:00PM and they already had people lined up for another wedding at 4:00PM! They have about 5 weddings a day there! It went very well and it was a dream come true! WOW! Well worth it!

Excursions

We did the half day Quad (ATV) excursion! It was a blast! Bring clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty! The red soil creates a fine dust and stays on you for 2 days!  You do get wet also! They make you visit a small church in a village. The rep told us we didn’t stop, so we didn’t bring anything to give to the children and their mothers. Well to our big surprise, at that church, they expect you there and come see you. We felt really bad and advised our rep of this. So bring things like pencils, erasers, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc. No candy as that is basically useless for them. Trip was well worth it IMO.

Hotel Guest

Our first week was great. People seemed to be friendly and it was cool.

The second week wasn’t the same. Rude is a nice word to describe them. Loud, obnoxious and rude with guests and staff. The staff came to see us to vent because of these people. They think they own the world. Who would bring a portable sound system in the restaurant and blast their boring tunes over the Merengue/Bachata/Salsa already playing there? Moving lobby furniture to accommodate their group, taking all the room where people walk and didn’t put them back when they left. We got yelled at very rudely to move away because someone was taking a picture (40 feet away). They could have kindly asked us to move. Now they wonder why they are not the preferred guests when going to other countries. I was asked many times (in a very rude fashion) if they could have one of my cigars, I turned them down before they were done their sentence, if you can even call it a sentence (some were just grunts). As much as you tried to ignore them, it’s like they came out of their way to be that way and get noticed.

Conclusion

Will I return to this hotel? Probably not as I like to try different places. Do I recommend it? Yes I do! Is it a 5 Star? Yes and No… Hard to rate IMO… Definitely a 4-1/2. Keep in mind that we are not at home. Yes there are mosquitoes so bring repellant but no big deal. There are sand mites on the beach also, some legs got bitten!

Forget the bad reviews, those people complain for nothing. You are not in North America so deal with it! If you want N-A treatment, well stay home. Go, relax and enjoy the short time you have there!

This was one of the most beautiful resorts we ever stayed at. If possible upgrade to the Platinum suite, it is worth it. The rooms are beautiful, they need to upgrade the tub and shower area but that is it. You have your own check in and lounge area and are close to both the beach and pool, massage and spa area and the restaurants. You will receive a free 20 min. massage and dinner at the Licey restaurant which was great. From what I got from other people Platinum is the way to go. The entertainment was ok nothing great, but fun. You are close to everything but the lobby, where the buffet is and the casino but the tram comes every 5 min. or so, it's really no big deal. Remember to take insect repellent, the mosquitoes at night will eat you alive. I forgot mine and paid the price. The only disappointing restaurant, I thought, was the Seafood one, their lobster was mushy, but all the other ones were great, the buffet was good and each night they had a different theme. If you do get the Platinum suite you can book all of the restaurants you want to try at once you don't have to wait and do them for each day. You do have to remember you are in another country and they do things differently then we do, and their food is different than ours but it is good. This resort is huge and you will need to take the tram to some things like the lobby where the buffet and theater are and the casino if you book Platinum, if you book a regular suite you may have to take the tram to the beach and pool also, with Platinum the beach and pool are right there.

It was a great time and I would highly recommend this resort and ladies please remember your bug repellent or you'll be dinner for some hungry mosquitoes but if you stay in the tropics that's the way it goes. Have fun!!!!!!!!!!

To sum it up: Don't trust the negative reviews, go see for yourself, we had an absolutely amazing time! The resort is VERY well maintained, easy to navigate, has beautiful beaches, very good food, and the staff are excellent!

Rooms - All suites and very spacious! Very clean. Minor glitches that were easily resolved. A few wet spots with rain and the air conditioner dripped a little, but in all, it was the nicest room I've stayed in over 3 Caribbean vacations. (including a Sandals).

Grounds - breathtaking! Honestly, hard to believe the gorgeous flowers, birds, and foliage. They even have an on-site bird sanctuary with walkway. The Tram was very convenient but after the second day, we typically chose to take the 5 minute walk through the beautiful grounds.

Beach - very big, very soft sand, moderate waves so there wasn't much underwater visibility. Water and beach were very clean and not too crowded. There were "excursion/parasailing" vendors up-and-down, so it got a little annoying by the end. But they were nice and mostly respectful.

Food - very good! From reading previous reviews, I was worried, but don't be! Everything was tasty and prepared very well. Our favorites were Tanuki (Hibachi), Sakura (Asian), and Pescador (Seafood). Wine with dinner every night and portions were MORE than adaquate! Richard at the Hibachi Bar was amazingly nice and made our trip very special!

Excursions - We heard the Dune Buggies were fun, and we got a rate of $50/person. SUPER fun! But be prepared with disposal clothing and sun glasses. We were covered in mud but loved it! The guides were super nice and didn't care that we drenched our buggy and stalled it about 10 times :) The cave and beach were really nice new scenary on the trip.

High speed internet in their lobby was $12/hour (able to be split over 5 days). If you can request it, I recommend asking to be closer to the beach b/c our walk was only 2-3 minutes and it was very convienent. The buffet lunches/breakfasts were pretty good, but the ala carte dinners were more impressive!

Enjoy!

We stayed here as part of a group of nine that included one 12 year-old, and adults ranging from their twenties to late fifties. Having stayed in all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, and travelled in Trinidad and Tobago I have some experience by which to gauge the Bavaro Princess.

If you're looking for a club or disco scene this isn't really the place to go. There is a small disco and casino on site, and apparently a popular disco closeby that attracts locals from Higuey, but the resort itself is pretty quiet after 12. Which is not to say that partying is not happening, it's just not happening as late.

The grounds are beautiful. There is mature and well-tended vegetation everywhere. This is a nice contrast to newer resorts that just aren't that green as nothing has had time to mature and whatever might have been there before is generally wiped out. Our room was bi-level and a generous size. We had a minor issue with the bathroom sink taking a long time to drain, and the tub, as has been mentioned here before, needs to be refinished, but it's not a big deal. We were on the second floor in room 108. The location was good. We walked everywhere and did not take a trolley once as it was midway from the beach and the lobby buffet. One couple of our group had an upgraded room close to the spa pool and it had a bad mouldy smell but the rest of our group were happy with their rooms.

The food in the main buffet was good. I eat fish but not meat (pescatarian? ha, ha) and I was happy with the selection. I am very careful in countries where the water is not safe to drink, so I only ate cooked food or fruit with a peel (no tomatoes, salsa, or salad bar). By the end of our 8 days I was ready for a change so maybe there is a bit of repetition in how things are prepared but I wouldn't really complain. What I would definitely add to this is that their Japanese and Italian restaurants are a complete waste of time. The food was really not worth it. Everyone in our group agreed (meat-eaters too), the buffet was the best bet. The food was fresher than that of the Italian place (yuk) and less salty than the Japanese where they had soya sauce overkill.

The beach was great, lots of lounge chairs, but I guess it was May so maybe it's busier in high season. The pool was fun, we generally went there in the afternoon after the beach. We spent our time swimming or playing soccer on the beach ;and playing volleyball, waterpolo, and laughing at the antics of the animater-led crowd at the pool. The beach buffet was good as well- and indoors(!)- which after talking with some people who were staying at another resort was a good thing. The resort they were staying at had an outdoor buffet which left the food subject to birds and the Dominican heat- yikes.

We took a tour that included dune-buggies, horseback riding and a dubious cave swim. The buggies were prone to breaking down, but they were fun. They encourage you to buy bandanas but it's not really that dusty when you're driving, I think they make good money off of them though.

Speaking of money, we tip. We tipped a hundred pesos a day to our maid, who was great and kept us ridiculously stocked with anything we might have mentioned to him. Thank you Luis! I know some people tip at the end of their vacations but that does not make any sense, as your maid can change before you leave, and since I appreciate the work they do I tip as they do it. We also tipped the bartenders, the buffet servers, the bar waiters and the gardeners who brought us awesome fresh coconuts to drink from. The Dominican is not a rich country and I think it is important to make sure the money we spend on our vacations does not only go to the already well-off owners of resorts.

I also bargain, so know that you should not pay more than 50% of the price of anything that somone tries to sell you off of the resort, or during the market night they have in the hotel. This applies to the town immediately outside of the resort (and be prepared, they come to try and lead you to their store as soon as you get close to the gate to leave the resort). If you go further fromt he resort to Higuey for example the prices are not as jacked-up as they are around the resorts, so don't expect to bargain in the same way.

The 12 year old of our group had a fantastic time. He met friends,and was at times hard to find he was having so much fun running around.

Soo, yes, I would recommend this resort, it is lovely and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Cheers!

Cindy and I (Ron) travelled to Punta Cana Bavaro All Suites Resort on May.1/2009 stayed there for 1 week. We were supposed to have gone to Mexico to a resort called Grand Sunset Princess. Due to all the problems in Mexico with Swine Flu, our trip was cancelled 3 Days before we were to have gone.

So we had a choice with Sunwing airlines. First take a credit for the total amount but could not use it till the end of October at the earliest. Second we could go to Cuba which we did not want to do. Third we could go to Punta Cana at the Bavaro Princess which we took.

I read Tripadvisor which is an awsome way of finding out what real travellers like ourselves think of everything regarding the resort. I read a number of bad reviews but kept an open mind. I know there are lots that would complain about a 10 star resort if there was such a thing.

Cindy and I thought the resort was beautiful the resort is an older one and it showed with the beautiful grounds lots of Palm Trees, Grass, Flowers, well manicured. Very nice to the eyes.

The resorts accomadations were two storey seemed very well maintained and very nice inside. Our room we got a free upgrade and the room was beautiful. Our room was ground level. We had a nice patio, Living room area with a love seat and single seat with coffee table. The other end of the room we had two wicker chairs and a table. Beside it we had a counter with a sink and coffee maker. Front wall we also had A counter with a bar fridge and drawers for our use.

The bedroom area was really nice. There was 3 steps up to the bedroom area. It was like in a corner pointing out to the front entry way. With a nice king size bed. Had a dresser for some of our clothing with a TV on top of it. Then there was another 3 steps down to another area that included another counter with 3 big mirrors and a sink. Women would love this for getting ready in the mornings or outings for ala carte restaurants or late night entertainment. It had on the back wall in this area tow sliding doors for hanging up your clothing and the safe that was included in our pkg.

Next there was the bathroom beside it in another room. It included a full bathtub with shower over head. A toilet and a bidet.

The Restaurants and Buffets were very nice and I always had lots to choose from as I am a picky eater. The entertainment was average while I was there. The pools are nice. The beaches are TOTALLY INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE. BEAUTIFUL WHITE SAND MMMM. Have security guards out on the beached as well as in the resort areas. Workers constantly out in the resort picking things up working. The resort is in immaculate with the lodging believe there all 4 bedroom 2 storey buildings. Nice pathways of stone to walk on.

Staff I found were helpful although the cleaning ladies of the rooms or at least the one we had did not appear to understand english. But we managed to communicate well enough. She did an awsome job in our room each day. If u can get Delia u wont be disappointed. We left her little items most days and gave her some cash to.

One little thing I read from past readings on here is about a smell of septic. There is a smell sometimes bit strong but only in one or two areas where they have wild life but its not a ditterent in my opinion to stop me from going there again.

I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS RESORT TO EVERYONE WERE ALL THERE TO RELAX HAVE FUN EAT DRINK AND ENJOY OURSELVES. WE PAID TOTAL $2550.00 FOR 1 WEEK. Where else can u go about 2000 miles from home and get pampered all inclusive and awsome awsome weather. Rained once for half a day rest hot hot hot nice...............Enjoy all......Ron/Cindy

On our second trip to Punta Cana this year we booked at the Bavaro Princess. After booking the resort, we starting seeing negative reviews on this resort. We have travelled to the Punta Cana area of the Dominican 4 times and each time stayed at 4 or 5 star resorts. We arrived at the Bavaro Princess with minimal expectations. We booked the Platinum package and were taken to the Platinum lounge for check in.

The staff at the platinum lounge are amazing. We were given a room near the lounge and when we inquired about getting a room closer to the beach, our request was accommodated and the next day we were given a room on the second floor across the walkway from the beach, we really didn't have to go to the lobby for anything. The restaurant near the beach offers a breakfast buffet that is smaller scale than the main buffet, but the same foods are there. We had no problems getting enough to eat. The people that are complaining about the rooms should realize this is not a brand new resort, so yes maybe some updating would be nice, but the room was always cleaned beyond our expectations. You are in a tropical climate and if you think you won't see any bugs, think again. There were no problems with bugs in either of the rooms we were in. We brought bug spray with us for the mosquitos but never had to use it. We ate at El Gaucho, Chopin, Sakura, and Licey(the gourmet) Our favorite was El Gaucho.

I have never received better service at any other resort we have stayed at in either the Dominican or Cuba. The staff at this resort go above and beyond to make sure you have a great vacation. As has been reported, we would see staff that was working in the morning, working again in the lobby area in the evening. One worker told us she works for 24 days at the resort and then is off for 6 days.

This is truly one of the most beautifully maintained resorts we have ever visited. They take great pride in their resort.

We would definitely return to this resort again and would again do the Platinum upgrade, well worth the extra money.

The week we spent at the Bavaro Princess was the best or a very close second to our best vacation ever.

This was amazing. The resort was beautiful. They did everything possible to let us check in early. THe birds are so cool. My husband and I went for out 10 year anniversary. We booked through a travel agent. We had never been to Punta Cana before, but we are for sure going back. Don't listen to the negative reviews. These people must have huge staandards. It was very clean. The beach is awesome. The staff is super friendly. WE did tip a buck for drinks. My husband and I totally reconnected. The food was wonderful. We ate at the Japanese restaurant, Bella Pasta, and the Seafood one. All were wonderful.

We first heard about the Bavaro Princess from friends who recommended it. I am so glad we listened to them! A group of us went in April, we varied from early 20sto early 30s, and we stayed 5 days/4 nights. From the minute we arrived we were treated with such hospitality and eagerness to help. The resort itself is gorgeous, pouring with beautiful architecture, flowers, and wildlfie. We stayed in the platium suites (the 700s) and were seconds from the beach and pool. It was a very laid-back atmosphere, with a little burger shack on the beach next to the bar. All of the restaurants were very clean and festive, and the food was great (and I am a picky eater)!! The staff was very respectful and cooperative. Our bungalow suite was very clean and cool, with a perfect patio to relax on.

There were games throughout the day, organized by the hotel or available at your request. There were also spa services available and numerous activities on the beach. Even fitness classes on the beach were fun and laid-back! The beach was immaculate and lined with chairs and little huts for lounging and taking refuge from the shade.

My only thumbs down for this resort is for the nightlife/entertainment. There were shows after dinner and a beach party, but the clubs you had to pay to get into and did not appeal to us, nor did the casino, which is not exactly directly connected to the resort. The main building/lobby, which is open (no walls) on two sides, was very popular after dinner for socializing, playing games, or just enjoying the bar.

If you go you have to try the Blue Jay. Every bartender will tell you it is special for you, but they all know how to make it. There are some top shelf liquors you have to pay for, but what is included in the price was more than satisfying. Also, we tipped the bartenders and other staff occasionally. It was not expected, but it was sincerely appreciated. Just a dollar or two for a large round of drinks, or carrying bags. The gift shops were a little pricey, but they will bargain with you, and they offer a lot of great cultural items, as well as common tourist gifts.

I cannot wait to bring my family to this resort!!! It was family friendly, although there were hardly any children. A great vacation for couples or for groups!

I would start by saying we have traveled to the Caribean many times and we are NOT picky people.

The ride from the airport is bumpy and the drivers are crazy, however you ARE on vacation. Enjoy it and relax, you will get there in one piece.

Check in was a breeze. We had emailed the resort twice prior to arrival and asked that our group of 6 be in one building and close to the ocean. We got just that!

The resort is one of the largest resorts we have ever been to, the reviews you read on here are true in that you will need to use the trolly to get around the grounds. The grounds are some of the beautiful grounds around. Many animals, flowers and trees.

The rooms are nice, dated but nice. A tip here and there will go a long way with the maids. We did experience many bug bites while sleeping, but remember you are in the Dominican Republic, there are bugs. If you are going to this resort to stay in the room and are expecting a lavish room, then don't go here.

The food was OK. We are not ones to live by a schedule while on vacation so we only ate at the restaurants once. We ate at the Italian and is was fantastic. We did have friends that ate at the seafood restaurant and had lobster and got sick for the evening. We mostly ate at the buffet. The main buffet opens at 7:00PM for dinner and they had a different selection each nite. Again you are in the Dominican, you do need to watch what you eat. The dissapointment was the breakfast in the main buffet. Not very good.

There is also a snack bar on the beach that serves Hamburgers, Hotdogs and fries. At 12:30PM the beach buffet opens for lunch with a wider selection of food.

The pool is fantastic as is the swim up bar. The only downside is that they tend to let the kids run wild around the swin up bar. If you are trying to enjoy a drink with friends at the bar and kids are taking up 5 stools at the bar it becomes an issue. The staff is very friendly and will go way out of their way to please you. If you are into drinking American beer or top shelf alcohol then you will have to pay additional for it. American beer is $5 a bottle. My suggestion would be to upgrade to the Platinum package upon check in if you want American beer or top shelf. An upgrade will cost you $35 a night per person, however thats only 7 drinks a day if you are paying for them. Once you upgrade the Amercian beer and all top shelf id free. There are a few other perks that go along with it such as no waiting for dinner reservations, free room serivice, etc.

The beach is one of the best beaches we have been to, flat white sand and turqouse waters. Enough said on that. Trust me!

We have been to Mexico many times, however this being our first to the Domincan we didn't know what to expect. When you travel outside the resort this is where you will notice the major difference between Mexico and the Domincan.

The poverty is unbelievable here. The merchants can and will be VERY pushy. If you have been to Mexico, expect triple the pressure. Be polite and push back and you will be fine. I would also say that if you get a price on some merchandise, DO NOT pay anymore than half of what they are asking. We bought a painting that started at $185.00 and paid $30.00.

There are not as many things to do off the resort in comparison to Mexico. We went deep see fishing one day, this was a waste. $105.00 per person for four hours. We had a group of 6 and didn't even get a bite. I could have rolled my window down and threw $210 out the window and had the same effect.

We had friends that took a day on the Sonoma Island trip and siad it was the time of their life.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a nice resort for the money you pay this is your resort. If you are looking for a resort that is lavish and the food 5 star, I would suggest a different location. If you are looking for many activities off of the resort I would say this area is probably not for you.

All in all a great vacation half 40% because of the resort and 60% because of the group of people that we went with.

If I can answer any questions please don't hesitate to email.

My wife and i stayed at the bavaro from may 10-20th for our long overdue honeymoon. Upon arriving at the resort we were pleasantly surprised with how imaculate the grounds and overal area were.

Room was 331 close to the pool and beach and we only had a minor issue with bugs. Food was average pasta bar at the buffet was great, i found it better than bella pasta. Also the omletts are a must try they were fantastic.

Now off to the negative of our whole trip. Upon returning to our room one evening from the nightly show, my wife was putting her jewlery away(which was hidding in a makeup bag, which was hidding in another bigger bag which we keep our bathroom items.

She noticed that some of her gold jewlery and my wedding band were gone. Now i dont wear jewlery when i swim as i lost weight recently and i was sure that we had hidding our things good enough. our safe was full with our wallets, travel documents, camera and video camera.

when we reported this the following morning, we were SHOCKED that we were being treated like criminals. the guest services manager armando was very little help with no empathy at all. i explained that we were here on our honeymoon and that i found this very disturbing. our room was searched which made my wife feel even more violated and we were told that an "investigation" would be conducted.

we were contacted the next morning and we were told again by armando that they couldnt prove who took the items and that a free massage would be offered. I told him that this was a joke and that i would be using every avenue to ensure that people are aware that its not just your maid that has access to your rooms and that an apoligy of some sort is issued.

So please if your staying at this resort watch out for your valuables. we also discovered at dinner that night that a mother/daughter had $400 us taken from thier safe.

We visited the Bavero Princess from May 1 to May 8 after our trip to Mexico was cancelled due to the swine flu outbreak. We were booked with Sunwing and they called us on Tuesday to tell us our trip on Wednesday was cancelled so we frantically scrambled to get booked for somewhere else and the Bavero was the one we could get into within 2 days!

I was traveling with my 2 adult daughters who had bought me this vacation for my 50th birthday and we were not disappointed. My daughter had travelled to Mexico several times but never to the Domincan so we were a little nervous about what we were getting ourselves into. We arrived just before 10PM and were told we could still get the buffet but we opted out and checked in (which was uneventful).

We were very pleased with the room which was a suite in one of the two storey buildings. It could use some updates but definately clean and comfortable. We heard absolutely nothing from any of the other rooms. The fridge was always stocked and extra towels were brought to us without even asking for them. We tipped the maid daily and they were all very friendly. The grounds were immaculate...very early in the morning they come around to all the grounds and pick up anything that has fallen off of a tree or bush so there is basically nothing out of place. Early one morning at the beach one worker was climbing a palm tree (with only some kind of rope contraption around him) and getting all of the coconuts down that were getting ready to fall which he then cut open for anyone that wanted one. While we were there the beach was very clean...I was there before 8 one morning and they were there raking the seaweed that had come in with the tide overnight and picking it all up. My daughter says the beach was waaaaayyy better than in Mexico! She usually prefers to stay mostly by the pool but we ended up at the beach all day most days. We did have the red jelly fish warning flags but we still went in the water and enjoyed it very much. The only issue we had was the towel thing...you give them a card (that you receive at checkin) and they give you a beach towel and when you return the towel they give you the card back...when you check out you give them the card and if either the card or a towel go missing it costs you $15...my daughter took all three towels and gave them to the girl and she only gave her 2 cards saying that there was only two towels! We knew we definately gave her 3 but we couldn't prove it so we had to pay the $15 to get another card! :(

The food was not the best I have ever had but there was plenty of it and lots of choices so you definately didn't go hungry. It doesn't matter what country you may visit, the food is not going to be the way you are used to it so think of it that way before you complain about it. We did the Italian, Oriental and Steakhouse restaurants and enjoyed them all.

We really liked the fact that when we had to checkout in the morning but our flight wasn't until evening, we were able to put our luggage in a locked storage room for this purpose and go to the beach for the day. Then they supplied a room for 20 minutes so we could have a quick shower and change before we left (at no extra cost).

All in all it was the best vacation I have ever had and the only thing that would have made it better was if we were able to stay longer!!

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The first point I’d like to make is that this resort probably gets a number of their bad reviews from misled travelers whose agencies advertise it as a 5-star rather than the 4 to 4½ -star that it is. It has the potential to be 5-star but all of those minor things that only 5-star travelers would complain about demote it from that prestigious rank. Then again, maybe my first point should have been that this resort is excellent for the price and that I had an amazing week there with my girlfriend (from May 4th to May 11th).

AGENCY: We traveled with Sunwing, which more than met the expectations that one would have from a discount airline/travel agency. Check-in was a bit messy since they left our baggage at the entrance and told us to go check in without it, yet we returned to see that one of our bags was missing. I advised the front desk and they called our room within the hour to let us know that it was returned (after having been sent to the wrong room by a bellhop) – no biggie.

ROOM: Sunwing only gives rooms in the 2-storey hotel near the front of the resort. They are very spacious and have such high ceilings that the room has a faint echo. There was no smell at all and the AC was perfect. The AC uses a dial – you don’t need to leave your room key in a slot to keep the AC on. The balcony was covered so you couldn’t tan out there, but it seemed like you could tan on the balconies that the suites had. BTW our room was called a “Junior Suite”. If you don’t want to be in the 2-storey hotel then look for a Suite. We actually liked our location because we were near the main buffet and the nighttime entertainment. Despite what you think, you’ll end up spending more time near the front of the resort than you will at the beach. No bugs whatsoever. If you have bugs in your room it’s probably your fault. Try pouring some Coke on the floor here at home and then wait a day. You will have a thousand ants on your floor. The same thing applies down south but the bugs will be bigger and scarier.

BUFFETS: The main buffet (at the front of the resort) and the smaller buffet (near the beach) have similar food. The buffet food is, for the most part, typical 4-star resort food. Finding the gems at the buffet is basically luck-of-the-draw…sometimes the pork was great, sometimes the fish, sometimes the desserts, etc. The fruit and the salads were always great, though. TIP: Make use of their endless supply of parmesan cheese to give anything bland a little more flavour. When the main buffet is closed, head down to the beach because the smaller one will be open. As well, you can get burgers and hot dogs at McPrincess which is right beside the smaller buffet near the beach. Late at night around midnight they put out hot dogs and hamburgers in the main lobby but that’s about all you can get at that hour.

RESTAURANTS: We only went to two a la carte restaurants – the steakhouse (El Gaucho) and the Teppanyaki (Tanuki). At El Gaucho, we ordered different steaks and both were delicious. I was very impressed with that meal. We both found that the Teppanyaki restaurant wasn’t worth it. You sit and watch the chef cook your food, which is fun, but the quality of the chicken and beef was not very good and they put WAY too much salt on everything.

STAFF: For the most part, the staff was very nice and courteous. Since they lost track of one of our bags when we arrived, they brought us some rum and extra beer to our room (I always appreciate extra beer!). This may have been a typical offering for new guests but we appreciated it anyway. If you visit the information desk, they’ll help you out and give you a shot of Mamajuana at the same time! Oddly enough, the animation staff were the least friendly of the bunch. They walk around looking like you and I do when we arrive at work on a Monday morning. They would play loud dance music at the main pool but wouldn’t put in much effort rallying people into doing aqua fitness or other activities.

BEACH: Even those who gave the worst reviews had nothing bad to say about this beach. It is an ideal beach with plenty of walking space between the beach lounge chairs and the water. Bavaro beach, in its entirety, is very clean and every resort seems to have a fairly large plot of beachfront property. There are lots of vendors but they leave immediately when you say “No thanks”. I wish I could say the same about the pushy timeshare vendor near the excursion booking desk…watch out for him. There are plenty of lounge chairs available and many shady spots available underneath the palm trees. We didn’t bother trying to reserve a palapa with our beach towels since they don’t get any sun at all. If you want to be on the beach and completely out of the sun, go for it…

POOLS: There is one large pool near the beach and one small pool near the main lobby (right next to the 2-storey hotel). The small pool is very quiet and is nice if you want to get away from the crowds. The large pool is excellent and equipped with a volleyball net, a shaded pool bar and a separate section for small children. The pool doesn’t go too far beyond waist-deep. It’s beautifully designed with a small island of palm trees in the middle and multiple exit points. Its surrounded by palapas which are very comfortable to get out of the sun for a few minutes or to take a snooze. The pools were both very clean. I can’t believe that people complained about the pools having chipped paint…did you bring a microscope??

EXCURSIONS: The only excursion we did was snorkeling off of Catalina Island. The snorkeling is good but beware that the bus ride is over 2 hours each way, and the speedboat ride to the island is 10-15 minutes each way. We saw quite a few fish, a small stingray and a green eel. The best thing to do when snorkeling is to break up bread from the buffet into a plastic water bottle. Once you’re in the water, squeeze out the bread and you will be surrounded by fish. Watch out for the bigger fish, though, because we had one that was quite aggressive and kept nibbling on our fingers! They can’t do any damage, though, so if it happens just go with it…

GROUNDS: I’ve never seen better grounds at any other resort. They were pristine. The most amazing thing was that you never saw bird droppings even though they were all over the resort. You’ll see geese, roosters, peacocks, ducks, herons, pink flamingos, lovebirds, cockatiels, iguanas and parrots at a minimum. There are other birds there which we couldn’t even identify. The mini-zoo in the middle of the resort has some caged birds, iguanas, etc. but is not as inhumane as most people say it is. The cages are very large and the smaller cages all had their doors wide open. The mangrove bridge makes for a nice walk. Try the walk late at night…you’ll see what I mean! The mangroves don’t smell at all. The smell that people are complaining about is from aging sewage pipes which are semi-concealed by vegetation all around the middle of the resort. These pipes lead to a processing plant on the south side of the resort that doesn’t smell too great but is tolerable. If you walk along the north side of the resort you won’t experience any of the smells. This isn’t as bad as people make it out to be and won’t affect your vacation at all. The tram is fun to ride but the walk to the beach is under 15 minutes so don’t be lazy…it’s always an enjoyable walk.

ENTERTAINMENT: The entertainment was very good for an all inclusive resort. The typical Michael Jackson, Madonna and Celine Dion songs were used a lot but it was still fun to watch. The Mr. Bavaro contest one night was pretty funny and the dancing another night was good too. If they have the circus one night while you’re there, you should really go see it. It’s amazing! There are no animals but there are clowns, trapeze, juggling, breathing fire, etc. The performers are not from the resort and are professionals. We were blown away by the tricks they were doing! I have a few videos of the circus if anyone wants to see them.

CASINO: We went to the casino almost every night and didn’t lose any money. We actually ended up winning around $10 in the end. The trick is to bet small amounts each time you go rather than blowing it all in one shot. It’s a small casino but it is safe and very clean. Sometimes you’ll ask the bartenders there how much a drink costs and they’ll say it’s free, sometimes they’ll say $1…maybe I shouldn’t have even asked.

All in all this resort is excellent if you pay a price somewhere in between 4-star and 5-star pricing. Platinum isn’t worth the price and is for people who have money but are too cheap to book a real 5-star resort which will already include these services. If you can afford a 5-star resort then go to the Iberostar and be pampered. If you can’t afford a 5-star or if you aren’t picky, go to the Bavaro Princess..you won’t be disappointed!

Feel free to contact me (through this website) if you need more information…I have lots of photos and some videos of the grounds as well.

This review is for the Bavaro Princess Resort. Apparently there are several Princess Resorts in the Bavaro Beach area. We stayed at an all inclusive one, which had no smoking policy. So if you like to smoke this is the hotel for you. Guests smoked everywhere in the rooms, at the pool, in the food line ups and in the restaurants. If you have children you should be aware of this before you visit. We had a wonderful stay, good food, friendly staff, lovely grounds and rooms. The beach and pools are also lovely.

We traveled to the Bavaro Princess last year in July 08. I traveled with my spouse and at the time 1 1/2 daughter. We had a wonderful time. The hotel grounds are beautiful. Lots of lush greenery and many different types of birds animals etc. It is a large place but we walked many times from the main buffet to the beach etc. never had any problems.

When we arrived we were greated with a welcome drink and check in was fast. The first room we had was in need of some updates, the bath tub was peeling and there was mold stains on the mirror. I went the next morining to switch rooms and recieved room 355 on the ground floor right by the path to the beach. This room was great and very convenient to the beach and pools and where the tram stopped. All teh rooms are a little musty but that is to be expected when in teh caribean. You do need to reserves your seats under the palaps in the morning i went a few times and never had any problems with anything being stolen etc.

The beach is teh most beautiful i have seen. Clear warm water and the sand is soft and white just plain paradise.

Food- was great the buffet and the Tepanyaki restaraunts were my favorite. The main buffet was way better then teh beach buffet a different selection of food for each meal breakfast lunch and dinner. I loved teh made to order omletts in the morining and the freshly made donuts yummm. The Italian was not so great. The seafood restaraunt was very good. Chopin is a buffet we had our apple vacations party there but it was just okay. We ended up going to the main La hispaniola buffet to get more food because everything was picked through when we got there. Nightly entertainment is okay i only saw one of teh show because it is late and with a 1 1/2 year old it was puching it to stay. My husband saw teh magic show and said it was fun. We had a great time and would recommend this resort to others. We will return to Punta cana but to another resort i like to check out different resorts when i travel. But it was a good value and a beautiful beach one of the best i have seen. Go you will have a blast :-)

My new bride and I recently got back from our trip to Bavaro Princess and we agree that the honeymoon could not have been any better. Upon arriving at the resort, one of the first things we did was upgrade to Platinum. I highly recommend doing this. The private platinum lounge with internet access, better room closer to the beach and free room service made it a steal. Throw in the minor additional amenities (robes, free cigars, larger in-room bar) and there is no reason not to upgrade.

Our platinum room was right on the beach, next to the wedding gazebo and we both thought that it was very fitting, since we were on our honeymoon. We had the pleasure of watching a wedding every night (except Sunday), and they all were amazing. The staff at BP had the routine down pat and made every wedding picture perfect.

The grounds were immaculate and it seemed as if the perfect picture opportunity presented itself around every corner. It was very easy to get swept away by the tropical paradise feel of the place. From the small palm-roofed cabanas and palm trees surrounding the beach and pool to wonderfully decorated, open-aired lobby/bar, they did very well to show you the best the island had to offer.

As many have written before me, I wasn't overwhelmed by the food, but I didn't expect to be, either. You have to remember that you are on a small island in the Carribean, not back home. They don't have the luxury of genetically engineering their food for proper taste, as we do. All in all, we didn't starve while down there, so I'm happy.

In a word, I would describe our honeymoon to Bavaro Princess as Perfect. We couldn't have had any more fun than we did. We only ventured outside of the gates once, and that was to go on the outback safari. If you are interested in learning all about the people of the area and seeing firsthand how they truly live, then this tour is for you. Very fun, very enlightening and well worth the cost. It was the perfect way for us to break up the constant pool lounging and rum drinking.

One more thing, we booked the trip with Apple Vacations, and they were great to work with. They didn't charge any extra for booking through them, yet they added a lot of value to the trip. They had complimentary shuttles to and from the airport, a dedicated point person that was there to answer any questions we had as well as book trips, make reservations for dinner and much, much more. I would definitely recommend that anyone looking to book the BP to do it through Apple.

I recently stayed at the "BP". As this was my first trip ever to anywhere, I read the reviews right up until we had left for the trip. Granted our check in was about an extra hour wait but we did get upgraded to a bungalow. I do not understand the people who complain about this resort. I know I have nothing to compare it to but the Hotel and Grounds are absolutely beautifull. All the workers on the resort were always friendly and helped out in anyway they could. The maid I had was awesome. She came every morning and every evening to make sure I had clean towels. I do recommend tipping your maid and staff there you do get better service and really what is a $1 here or there. Everything else is paid for and they work very hard for what little money they make. The nightly entertainment was very enjoyable. I highly recommend the tram around the grounds just because this resort is sooo large to walk around. It came every 5-10 minutes and would bring you from the lobby to the beach. The beach was great... Friendly staff at the beach bar and McPrincess. I went on 2 excursions while i was there one was the doon buggies and the other one was the safari. Recommend both of these the doon buggies were so much fun and the safari was very interesting to see how people in Punta Cana actually live. We booked one through the resort and one through one of the beach vendors. the beach vendor was much easier to deal with to book are excursion as opposed to the hotel.

I would recommend this resort to anyone and everyone as i had a great trip and can't wait to go back.

I stayed at Bavaro Princess from Apr 25th to May 2nd. The resort is beautiful! The grounds are amazing. We arrived at the resort around noon and were told that our room would not be ready until 3pm, which we expected, but at 3pm we checked with the front desk staff and were told 10 more minutes.....well that 10 minutes ended up being 40 minutes with only one of our 2 rooms ready at that time (after traveling for almost 24 hours I just wanted to get to my room). This is really the only complaint I had about the whole week. We were upgraded from a jr suite to a bungalow suite....the rooms are nice, the decor is dated but they were very clean and what else do you want you don't spend lots of time on your room anyway. The air contditier in our room was awesome...we even had to turn it off at night and just leave the fan on all night so we would not get too cold. The maids were amazing....our room was very clean and the maid even came back in the evening and changed our towels for a second time each day. We did leave a daily tip for the maid and on the 1st day we left a tip in the fridige to get extra water but to our surprise the maid didn't take the money in the fridge she left it on the table. The food was ok....the buffet was good. The only a la carte we went to was the Steak House, the food was good but the server could have been nicer...The beach was AMAZING! We did have red flags 3 days on the beach because of the presence of jelly fish but it didn't stop us from getting in the ocean and we didn't see one jelly fish....The staff are all very friendly. We took in the evening shows every night, the only complaint is that the sound system was TOO loud, the shows were entertaining but keep in mind you are not on Broadway....The resort is very large, the 1st few days it was hard to figure out how to get places but after a few days you know your way around. There is a tram that runs every 5 minutes to get your around the resort, I suggest using the tram for the 1st few days and you will get to know the resort. All in all we had a great vacation! Would be go back to Bavaro Princess? Probably not because there are soo many other resorts in Punta Cana to see.....I would reccomend Bavaro Princess to anyone!

This was our first trip to Punta Cana (April 25-May 2). After reading the reviews before we left, I was very nervous, but for no good reason. All I can say is ignore the Conquest scorned travellers, they have an axe to grind and it's not with the Bavaro Princess. That being said, all wasn;t perfect, but hey, it's a vacation and only expect perfect if you are royalty!!! Our Sunquest flight was an hour late leaving both ways - which was a drag. Also, apparantly Sunquest does not book the rooms you want with the hotel - Sunquest problem, not BP! We got rooms together near the pool which was what we wanted, but on the ground floor - that made us nervous. We could have changed to a balcony, as we requested, but that would have been near the lobby. So we opted to stay. Fortunately we didn't see one creepy crawly (except for a couple of tiny flies, which are common to Carribean, and really not very many). The rooms are dated, and a little musty, bring some Febreeze - I wish I had thought of a scented candle. If you spend much time in your room, go somewhere else. Every now and then we would get an unpleasant smell -but we got that in Cuba too.

As usual, the grounds were beautiful, and constantly manicured. I could have done without the birds in cages, but some people like that. The pool and beach were excellent! We walked the beach both ways and BPs beach was manicured as good as any other 5* resort we walked by. Towel bingo was played at the pool and beach - what resort do you ever NOT encounter that???

Service staff were great - bars and buffet especially - and a dollar goes a long way. We only experienced negative attitude at the steakhouse from the hostess only, and I was a little annoyed, but then I remembered the hours these people work - they are there from morning to night and we expect them to be all smily and happy 24/7?? The maid service was fantastic - she didn't come the same time every day, so what? In my poor Spanish I asked for extra coffee and got plenty all week long. If you are someone who can't live without a facecloth, BRING ONE or use a towel! Not a big deal!

The food was delicious, some things we not to my taste, but I never left the table hungry.

The main complaint we did have, however, was that the show was very loud. We sat in the audience one night and the Animation team reinacted The Lion King - beautifully danced, but the Soundtrack was so loud. We sat in the lobby for the other shows and the sound level was really high and unpleasant. Even the entertainment - beautiful singers and excellent musicians, but very loud. The nightlife was not rocking, and did go to the Casino and disco one night, not great. After all day in the beautiful sun, we were knackered anyway!

Long and short - it was a great week, and I would not hesitate to return. if you go make sure you meet Ruben and Dierby at the pool bar, and Bernardo in the snack bar!

My girfriend and I went to this resort the week over Easter. It was our first time at all inclusive. We have no complaints about the trip or service. The food was medicore but the morning buffet was excellent every day. The a la cartes were hit or miss but the evening buffet, snack bar and lunch buffet were fine. The Japenese restaurant was by far the best. Our room was clean and well maintained. Could use an update but no problems with bugs or funny smells. Obvioulsy if you keep food around it will attract bugs, we were careful to keep it clean. The weather was perfect, rained when we were going to bed. A nice breeze on the beach to keep you cool. No troubles getting a spot at the beach. Even if it is real busy. Thought the service was good at the bars and restaurants, giving a tip really makes a difference. Reuben at the pool bar is worth a visit. Careful using the phone for ld. I would have no trouble reccomending this place to anyone. Disco is kind of lame and casino is OK. We even left up money. Everyone we spoke to on our charter flight had enjoyed themselves as well. All in all a great trip!!!!

This was our first tropical vacation. Myself, my husband and 2 children ages 15 and 12 absolutely enjoyed our stay. We were very concerned after reading all the negative reviews. The grounds are amazing, the beach is beautiful, the staff is very friendly! We did not see cockroaches or any bugs in our room whatsoever. Yes, the rooms could use some updating, but they were very clean. We went on the zip-line adventure...well worth the money. What a wonderful experience! All in all we have nothing at all to complain about. We would go back to the Bavaro Princess in a heartbeat.

We just stayed for about a week at Bavaro Princess. We stayed in a room right behind the pool closest to the Main House (lobby). Our family consists of two kids and two adults; one kid is 14 and the other is 6 (both girls).

We were utterly blown away by how beautiful the resort is. Gorgeous mature tropical trees, plenty of wondrous animals living in a fabulously designed habitat just for them in the front lobby. Turtles, huge fish, two gregarious colorful parrots perched on a branch amidst the man-made pond, surrounded by trees. The lobby is breathtaking.

The rooms are very clean, lovely, and comfortable. The air conditioning is a bit noisy, but the overhead fan is quiet and is a reasonable alternative to the AC. The buildings hold eight units, two stories. There are two upstairs units and two on the bottom, at the front of each building and at the rear of the building. The units are, therefore, all "corner units" with a decent sized patio looking into lush trees. The walkways are stone and nicely lit.

The staff is very friendly and helpful. They are quick to respond to any requests or complaints (we had very few complaints and the ones we had were quite small).

The food was good. I especially recommend all the fish that is offered. Delicious! The coffee is terrific. I awoke at about 6:30 each morning to drink a cup of cafe latte on the patio off our room and admire the break of dawn each day.

The beach is quite beautiful. It is at the far end of the resort, and there is a pool next to the beach. From your beach chaise you can see the shoreline and it is spectacular. If you like the beach and sand, you can sit on one of many chaise lounges there, either under a cabana or in the sun. There is a restaraunt and a snack bar near the beach as well. By the way, the pool at the beach end of the resort has a "swim up" bar, where you can sit on a stool that is under water. The drinks are free (but only local liquor, not top shelf, which is extra).

At the lobby end of the resort (the front of the resort, where our room was located) is another pool. It is smaller than the second pool near the beach and does not have a swim up bar but does have a outdoor bar in the pool yard.

As for towels at the pools or beach, you are provided with a ticket for each guest. The ticket is worth one towel. If your towel gets wet or you want to leave the pool or beach and go for a walk or whatever, you need to turn in the towel and get either another towel or get your ticket back. This ticket system ensures that towels are always able to be washed and are always available. There are towel stands manned by resort staff at both pools and at the beach.

We took a tour with a company called BavaroRunner. It was fabulous. We decided at the last minute to go on the tour. Literally, as the tour bus was being boarded by guests we asked if we could join in on the day long tour (9:00 to 4:00). It cost us $300 for all four of us and included all the sights, lunch, rum and soft drinks and local beer (which is very good).

We toured the major sectors of the local economy (tourism is the number one money source for the country). We toured a tabacco farm and watched the workers hand roll Dominican cigars that go for $200- $300 per box for some cigars. Fascinating to watch.

We also toured a sugar cane field and were able to sample sugar cane that a worked kindly hacked into neat strips with a machete while holding the stock in his bare hands! The kids got a kick out of this.

We toured a cocoa and coffee plantation and saw the whole process of making coffee and cocoa (the fourth major sector of the Dominican economy). We saw the actual trees that the cocoa and coffee beans grow on, the piles of beans that must dry and ferment, the big cauldrons that the beans are roasted in on an open fire. We were able to sample some delicious organic hot cocoa!

Our tour also included a 15 minute horse back ride which was lots of fun, and a stop at the beach for over half an hour on the way back. Oh, we also had lunch at this fabulous restaraunt in the mountains. There are zip lines available for use there (for an additional cost as part of another tour, that we will surely take the next time we to DR).

We also stopped at a local public school. They are one room schools and the kids must where uniforms and parents pay for the uniforms. People are very poor but proud and were very kind.

I highly recommend the stay at the Bavaro Princess. By the way, I saw several other resorts and at least , from the outside, not one could match the beauty of Bavaro Princess!

I give the trip and the resort a high 8 to low 9.

we spent 2 weeks at B.P. - march 26 - april 9/2009 - there were minor things to pick at but we loved our stay - if you are flexible and adaptable and don't come with "attitude" you will have a good time- if you expect candle-lit 6-course meals with fine wines and atmosphere to match, this isn't the place for you - if you expect antique 4-poster beds with furniture to match and soaker tubs with built-in jacuzzi jets this isn't the place for you - if you are a teenager who wants to party on dude until the wee hours of the morning then this place is not for you - if you are a fratboy whose goal in life is to see how much you can drink before you throw up on the lawn at 3 in the morning then this place is not for you - if you want a place that has spectacular grounds full of lush vegetation, a beautiful white sand beach that stretches for miles good solid food for the most part that is well-prepared with sanitation guidelines followed - we didn't have any medical issues this place is for you - if you want accomodations that are surrounded by vegetation are very private where you can appreciate nature this place is for you - staff for the most part are friendly and accomodating and greet you with a warm hola every time they see you - and for those who complain that not enough people speak english would it really hurt you to learn 5 or 10 common spanish phrases?- yes there are some minor annoyances but compared with the overall experience are rather insignificant - so here are the minor complaints - people are constantly harrassed by the timeshare vultures both near the buffet and on the beach- they don't want to take no for an answer and keep pestering you until you are firm with them - the actual rooms are tired and need some sprucing up - a fresh coat of paint ,recaulking around the tub and sink and replacing or reglazing the tubs would be great - the nightly entertainment is cheesy but who cares? - smokers are catered to too much - not enough non-smoking areas - these complaints aren't really serious except the smoking one so would i go back to B.P. -yes i would and i would reccommend it for families with small children, and couples over 40

I am experienced Caribean traveller (3 X Barbados, 2 XMexico, 1X Cuba, 3 x D.R. 1 x cruise, 2 x Florida) and stayed at the Bavaro Suites form 4 Apr to 11 Apr with a Platinum upgrade. with my wife and 10 year old.

Oh, I suppose I could complain that the bidet did not contain instructions for us North Americans (its not a urinal) or that the English second language skills of many of the staff were not equivalent to an Ivy League English literature graduate . I could be picky and petty..about a lot of things .

Yes the AC was loud - but I found a simple solution----I turned it off and used the ceiling fan .

And OMG there were a few ants!! Imagine insects in a subtropical climate !!! And the squawking of the birds on the grounds was downright noisy!!!

I could list more things - but I won't because it does not present a balanced view of the many positives that this hotel offers. .

it seems that many reviewers seem to dote upon these issues- inconsequential as they may be. It may be that they don't travel enough to other countries and experience the wider world out there, I guess. We met some lovely Europeans and had a grand time with them despite some language barriers..

If I wanted to stay at the Savoy, Claridges or the Waldorf Astoria I would have gone there and then I would have felt it would be open season for complaints .. This is not any of those places so lets stop pretending that it is

Somehow despite these overwhelming diffficulties of language I managed to avoid both starvation and dehydration. The food was very palatable in all the restuarants, there was no problem with service at any of them and the extra expense for the platinum was well worth it. in my view. The cerveza was cold and abundant-...

As far as I am concerned I would return to this resort and would not hesitate to reccommend it to anyone.... except those who would search hard to fault with anything..

My wife and I and 3 young boys were at the bavaro Princess for (1) week. I will try to paint the best picture possible to help you in booking. This is not my first time on vacation. I am a experienced traveler. I've stayed at some bad and great places in the past.

Airport: Very nice and clean. Weren't harassed by anyone. Just the guy that wanted to carry our luggage. It was nice after a long flight and I needed to watch my boys.

Check-In: Very smooth, no line...walked right up. Daniel was his name. His english was good and he was very pleasant. He asked me if we had any special needs and he was very accomodating. I informed Daniel that this was our 2nd time at a Bavaro resort and he went and got the manger. The manager, Miguel, went out of his way to thank us for returning to one of there resorts. He was so appreciative he gave us "white rist bands". That meant that we were repeat customers to the resort. It also allowed us to get "Premium" alcohol(absolute, chivas, stolichnaya vodka, corona bottled beer). Normal check-in was 3:00 pm.....however, we were in our room at 11:00AM. They quickly got it ready. They knew I had small children so they getting the room early, would be great. We stayed in room 763. One of 9 rooms that faces the beach and is close to the pool and restaurants. Get it if you can.

Room: Spacious and clean. All marble. Not musty at all. The bathtub could use a bit of some work, but it was not an issue.

Atmosphere: Pool always had something going on. Exercise in the pool ay 3:00 everyday. It was fun.

Staff: Where do I begin? My heart goes out to these great people. They kissed me and my family's rear end everywhere we went. Maybe because I was with small children, I don't know. But from the gardner to the landscapers to the cooks to the regular staff. Always said hello and they did it with a smile. I cannot say enough about the staff. Some people critizised the staff as unfriendly. I believe those people are talking about there own personalitites. Do not beleive them.

Food: was good. Bella pasta was our favorite. El Chopin was there inernational buffet. It had something for everyone.

Grounds/transportation: Immaculte and never ending. Landscapers are there 24/7 picking pulling, modifying. We used the shuttle, my kids loved it. Came around about every 5 minutes. If you are old or in a walker or just lazy, you may want to stay someplace else. The place is very large.

Summary: We had a great time. We were treated as friends and we loved the hospitality. However, we did tip. We tipped only for dinner and the occasional dollar here and there for drinks and other small services. We noticed many, many, many, people not tipping after a great dinner. How could you? I mostly noticed the Europeans/French not tipping. There were a lot of them. Hello....pull some money out of your pockets. Don't be so cheap. $1 goes a long way. Oh and the people from New Jersey and New York...stop complaining about everything. I don't think anything would make you happy.

Sincerly,

A Realist....and a tipper..

Room:

Pros - spacious, clean, and housekeeping is usually done by noon, mini bar was also stocked well - you get 2 of everthing - coke, diet coke, sprite, bottled water, beer

Cons - not enough pressure in the toilet so you have to flush 2x at times (not a big deal). The cockroach story was true. I saw only 1 in the 1 week stay. There are some mosquitoes also, but can be easily avoided if you bring bug repellent.

Overall, aside from the cockroach thing, the room, I would rate as 4.5

Service:

All pros. The service was excellent! Some of the staff don't speak English very well, but they try and work very hard. PLEASE don't be so cheap and give tips - even $2-$5 for a la carte. $1 or $2 for buffet is good. Perhaps $1-2 for every 2 or 3 drinks at the lobby/bar. Don't forget about the staff who wouldn't normally get tips like the towel guy (Melvin) and the gardners. They work equally, if not harder. We were on the ground floor, and so whenever I see gardener working around our room, I would offer them beer or pop (from my room mini bar)....all of them accepted and was more than grateful! I gave 1 gardener a chocolate bar that I brought down with me - and he was so very happy and you could see the gratitude from his smile! There's also this 1 guy who at the beach who just empty garbage bins along the beach and pick up people's mess, we gave him $2. He was so happy because he wasn't expecting it.

Beach:

Phenominal! Great! If you want a palapa/cabana, get up early. They say you can't reserve it, but I would get up at 7 am, put a couple of towels and a book and go back at 9 am and would still be there.

Food:

Pros: I like the Seafood and Steak House a la carte the best. The good thing is that there's no limit on how many nights you can get a la carte, unlike some resort

Cons: Buffet - not much selection. Overall, I found the food bland. I've been to Mexico several times and have stayed at same rating hotels...and found that the food there is way better. The quality is not very good. I've spoken to a several people who weren't impressed by the food either. This is the main reason I've only rated the value as 3 out of 5.

Public Washrooms/Lobby/Communal Area:

Overall, clean. Can't Complain. They have a tram that can take you from 1 end of the resort to the other. Our room was 1/2 min walk to the pool and a 1 min walk to the beach so it was perfect! We would just take the tram to the main lobby. During peak times, the tram would be full, but this only happened to us a couple of times - no big deal.

Overall, this resort is nice. Would I go back again - probably not. There are 3 must have for me when I go to all inclusive - cleanliness, service, food (because I don't really drink)....if the food was better, I would say "absolutely!"

A friend and I stayed at the Bavaro Princess from March 18-25, 2009. The AI trip was booked thru Apple Vacations. All Apple reps were very friendly and helpful. Great Apple rep at the hotel - Angel Gonzalez - spoke English very well.

Check in: Went very smooth, wasn't busy and desk clerk was efficient. Was odd that the other clerk offered shots of mama wanna to the couple (man/woman also from the States) that he was checking in, but our clerk said it was only for men. No worries, there was plenty of that at the pool bar. The lobby is spacious, open and relaxing to sit in any time of the day, but I mostly sat there in the evenings after dinner.

Grounds: Very scenic, had quite a few peacocks, chickens, geese, ducks and 1 flamingo. Clean, didn't see "residue" from any of the birds.

They also trimmed tree/bush branches daily. The resort was easy enough to walk (for us), but we did take the tram the first few days till we got our bearings.

Room: We were in Suite 118, no view of the beach, but that was OK. We were closer to the pool/beach than the lobby, but it wasn't more than probably 7-10 minutes to walk to lobby. There are 8 suites to a building; 4 up, 4 down. Our suite was on the top; we were on the backside of the building, meaning there was a sidewalk on our side, and the tram "road" on the other. Sitting on the patio balcony each morning was great. I was REAL concerned that I was going to be eaten alive by mosquitos, but no bugs other than a mosquito the last day or 2. I did get bit by something 4 days in, they itched like a mosquito bite. Maid service was OK; not great. The beds were made daily, but we had towel shortages a few days and 1 day, it took 3 calls to get more. Not a big deal, just kind of odd. I did bring candy and small gifts from the Dollar store to leave as tips (recommended by other reviewers); thinking that might help ensure good maid service, but I don't think it helped. She was pleasant enough, but just not too effecient. There was a light out in the bathroom and 1 in the living room and Maintaince came and checked/fixed them within 10 minutes. Water, both shower and sink were hot whenever needed.

Food/Restaurants: La Hispaniola is the buffet right off the lobby. Always a tasty, fresh, vast selection, including a made to order pasta station. 6 different cooked pastas and 3 sauces to choose from; the chef would saute it w/ whatever veggies/ meat you wanted. Ate there alot; had some issues making reservations at the specialty restaurants. There is a time slot of when you can make them, & the 5-7pm spots filled up fast. I prefer not to eat at 8pm or later, so we just buffeted it those nights. Plus the Apple Rep said we could make all reservations at one time for all nights, but when I tried, the hotel rep wouldn't do it; I could only book for that night and the next. I had to go back daily to book more. To me was more hassle than it was worth, so we didn't do it.

El Gaucho: daily buffet: smaller that the other one, but still a great selection - always good. The roast turkey - yum! Veggies always tasted fresh, not over done. Scrambled eggs were on the runny side, but I think they don't cook them all the way since they stay hot and continue to cook in the serving dish. I ate 'em and thought they were great. Didn't eat here at night, but others I spoke to liked it.

Bella Pasta: Very good. Service and presentation was excellent.

Chopin: Also a buffet restaurant in the center (??) of the resort. Again, good selection and tasty.

McPrincess: burgers, hot dogs, fries. All very good.

Drinks - anywhere: coffee (black) I thought was good. Juices, fresh. Must haves: Coco-loco, banana mama (kinda sweet though), mama wanna (in moderation). Presidente beer - I'm not a huge beer drinker but did enjoy the1 or 2 I had.

Most of the staff we encountered were friendly (though, not as friendly as in Ixtapa, Mexico). Wait staff at restaurants and bars were attentive.

Excursions: Did the Outback full day and Saona Island. The Outback trip was fun - VERY informative. Our guide was Luis and he was great. Saona Island was OK; cataman and speed boats were awesome. Island was nice, but getting into the water from shore was rocky - had to wear aqua shoes. On the way back we stopped to see starfish - that was neat. Shallow enough to stand on sand, no rocks in waist-high water. Very cool. I wish I would have done the Marinarium. I missed not snorkeling this trip.

Neither of us got sick at all and we ate fish, meat, fruits, veggies, dairy. We didn't use the tap water to brush teeth, even though the Apple Rep said it was OK. All the water used to cook, clean, drink (poured from pitchers by wait staff) and make ice is purified. And there is bottled water wherever you want it; 3-5 liter bottles in the room fridge.

I couldn't get enough of the turquoise water and white sand, it is beautiful. Walked on the beach almost every day; you can walk forever going left. Going right was OK, but had to put up w/ walking thru water at a few points. Prefered going to the left. Went to some of the vendors on the beach; they are a bit more agressive than Mexico, but not as obnoxious as I expected. Prices were so-so. We did shop across the street from the hotel. Prices again were OK - you do have to bargin and feel free to walk if they don't come down at least to 1/2 of what they first offer.

I did talk to other people on the excursions or the plane ride home that were staying at the Iberostar Dominican, Occidental & Ocean Blue. No rave reviews from any of them - when I asked about them, the replies were "its OK". One girl - I wish I would have remember where she stayed - said the food wasn't good where they were; if it would have been warm that would have been an improvement. I was glad I was at the Bavaro Princess - food was always right temp. It was my first trip to Punta Cana, but certainly not my last. The weather was beautiful, rained a bit more than I would have liked, but still managed to spend lots of time poolside and on the beach. And, I would definitely stay at the Bavaro Princess again.

Beautiful Place. Food is terrible.Sent my son and his bride there for their honeymoon. Both got food poisoning. Other guests as well. My son and his bride checked out early and returned home. I am still waiting for the refund from the resort and I am waiting for the assistance from My Club. Royal Holiday!!!!! NO HELP AT ALL! I specifically asked before booking their honeymoon if the food had been upgraded as that was the only complaint I have ever had. I was told that many upgrades had been accomplished. NOT SO.. My son is a diabetic and could have died from the tainted poor quality stuff you feed tourists. I would not recommend this club nor at this point would I recommend Royal Holiday as a travel club. Andrew Stanislawczyk, Parlin, New Jersey

I had been reading the reviews of the resort for almost a year, and have found most of what is said to be true. There are bugs. My husband's legs are poluted with bites. We had a cock roach in our room, the ceiling leaked and we could not adjust the a/c. We found it difficult to communicate and thank goodness the American grill was open at the buffet, especially in the morning the omlets are very good! Our favorites were: The Japanese restaurant, the Steak restaurant, the beach was beautiful, although since we were not in peak season we were told there was not enough staff to keep the beach cleaned....lots of dirty cups and cigarette butts. The excursions - Marinarium and the Dune Buggys were GREAT! We had a good time and recommend both. Bavaro Princess is not a bad place, but I would not stay there IF I went back to Punta Cana!

do not travel to this area in May. It rained every night very very hard, and was overcast all day. We were supposed to stay for a week, but went home early. Thats another story, bad news Apple Vacation! Never again.

Nothing against the resort except that it was rated 5 stars. Not quite. The food was okay, but the selection of restaurants was poor. They claim 7 restaurants, but half of them weren't open.

The rooms were nice, but definetly needed upgrading.

The grounds were beautifully maintained. The beach needed better cleaning. There was alot of garbage around and should have raked out the beach to get garbage out of the sand.

DO NOT GO OFF THE PROPERTY unless you want to get mauled by people trying to sell their "stuff" pay 1/3 of what they ask if you do buy anything.

My review will mostly confirm the truths that other travelers have divulged. In general, this is a very good hotel resort by Dominican standards.

It was a rocky start. Check-in/front desk service was inadequate from the moment we arrived in the middle of the night. We were assigned a room that seemed as if it had not been used in a long time – key didn’t work, toilet barely flushed, missing pillows, mirror tottering and barely supported by a loose screw. After 48 hours of back and forth complaining, we were granted an upgrade to a bungalow suite.

Having lived in 2 different rooms, I can say this hotel is relatively nice but don’t expect modern conveniences or cleanliness by North American standards. For people wondering about paying more, the major difference between the junior and bungalow suite is the bathroom. In both, the sink/counter is in a separate vestibule, then you open another room containing the tub, toilet and bidet, but the junior suite bathroom doesn’t have any walking space compared to the bungalow one.

Magnificent flora and fauna. We saw up close peacocks, geese, rooster, chickens, parakeets, flamingoes, herons.

Nice albeit windy beach. (If you don’t like grains of sand blown in your face and hair, stay by the pools). Many huts and chairs available, with the all-access El Gaucho and MacPrincess restaurants nearby.

Main restaurant is the Spanish one located near hotel lobby. You can eat breakfast there until 10am. Quite good – they try to vary the selection daily. If you can’t get into the a la carte restaurants, you can have buffet dinner here, as well as lunch. The pond in the middle adds to the dining appeal.

The a la carte restaurants (dinner only, reservations required) are nothing to get excited about. Nothing is authentic – not the French Chopin, nor the Chinese Sakura, nor the Argentinan El Gaucho, nor the Japanese Tanuki, nor the Italian Bella Pasta. The piano in the floating boat at Chopin is a nice touch though. And the communal seating around the Japanese grill followed by the dessert venue change is clever. Lovely décor in each of the restaurants but the cuisine falls short. However, no risk of getting sick.

Best eats: fresh donuts (breakfast) and steak (dinner) at La Hispaniola, chicken at El Gaucho, banana tempura dessert at Sakura, carpaccio appetizer at Bella Pasta. Worst: Over 7 days, never ate a decent fish. Safe bet: Any potato, any style, at any restaurant.

While you can walk the distance from the lobby to the beach, the trolley is convenient, espec. when it rains. But it’s sometimes full or late in coming, so you’ll end up walking back.

Beware of mosquitoes, not only outside but if they get into your room.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would probably visit again.

Even though we researched for quite a long time trying to find a nice resort to share a good time among friends, what we found was a Pandora box full of issues. Only the beach deserves a big 5*. Service was probably the worst I've ever seen; eating at 'a la carte' restaurants was a real pain because we had to spend on average 2+ hours to be served from beginning to end; dried desserts named in a way that didn't match their taste; poor quality drinks probably good to remove dirt and grease from dishes. Something funny (it wasn't that funny at that moment) happened at the Chopin restaurant when the waiter told us to other the drinks in bulk. I honestly don't know who to blame, the waiter or maybe the restaurant/resort for overwhelming their staff which by the way we noticed, more that once, were multitasking in different activities. The resort installations were in general quite fancy but a bit of cleanliness and maintenance would have made our visit more comfortable. Our room had a bad smell of humidity that remained throughout our visit despite our constant claims to the front desk. The fitness center was full of outdated and broken machines. Just to make our stay unforgettable, the resort took advantage of the misfortune of 2 of us who booked our vacations through Conquest (you know they went into bankruptcy). Bavaro Princess charged our friends full price at the local rate ignoring the payment that was originally made and printed on an invoice the resort accepted to check them in. I read that it is not recommended to describe someone else's experience but I don't consider this as such since we were all part of the same group. The misfortune of two of us became the misfortune of all of us literally. We experienced few hours of anxiety because our friends were told to pay the amount the resort came up with otherwise they would call the police (special thanks to the general manager). We also missed the 'a la carte' dinner that evening but I bet that was a good thing. Definitely I won't recommend this resort to anyone. Moreover I would do my best to let everybody know how badly we were treated at the bavaro princess (doesn't deserve to be capitalized) in Punta Cana.

Overall stay very average, beach was great and would rate it as the only part of the hotel that deserves 5*

Food was far from being great, even at 'a la carte' restaurants ... took ages to get your order; service, unless you tipped, was average .... employees don't seem very happy ... so figure out the service in most areas.

Cleanliness poor + hotel needs to be updated

The cherry on the top was our particular misfortune with the 'Conquest Vacations' situation, the hotel far from being helpful, preferred to make money out of it!!

We were locked out of our room (being 5 PM) with the only 'option' to pay in full for our stay and at THEIR LOCAL RATE, they wouldn't respect the contract rate and charge us the same (which other hotels did) .... they wouldn't give us till the next morning to figure out what to do unless we left our passports with them and a commitment letter of payment, otherwise they would have called the police .... as the hotel manager indicated, those were the hotel policies!!!

my husband and i just got back on April 18,2009. the food, grounds and beach are solid 4's. however, the accommodation and workers are a 3. there were 2 cockroaches in our room. complained about a broken toilet, that never got fixed..(it dripped)...there are NO CLOCKS anywhere on the resort except at the check in.... the resort is HUGH and has a bus that takes you from one place (room) to another place (beach)... it seemed that they had a great childrens area, and the resort was very quiet. again the beach, grounds and food is what makes it a 4 rating

We just returned from the Bavaro Princess in Punta Cana. We stayed there April 12-April 19. To start off with the resort is certainly not a 5-star hotel to Dominican Republic standards. I consider myself a well-seasoned traveller. I visit an all-inclusive resort atleast once a year and have been doing so for the past 10 years.

Flight/Check-In/Check-Out: We booked with Sunquest and flew down with Air Transat. Quite uneventful. Nothing significant to mention

Grounds: They are well maintained and beautiful. There are maintenance staff working all day, everyday. There are certain areas that are left unmaintained. I guess they conserve certain wild life/specicies. These areas of the resort smell pretty bad when it is raining or very humid. I would rate the grounds a 4-star

Beach: Beautiful. The hotel is located on a wide stretch of white sandy beach with aqua clear waters. If you get to the beach about 10:00am you will not find a palapa. We did parasailing and paid $55US for two people. And they told us that we would be up in the air for 10 minutes. It was actually 5 minutes. I would rate the beach a 5-star.

Pools: The main pool is very large with a swim up bar. It is usually very busy with a lot of little ones playing. Again if you come by at 10:00am you will not get a palapa. The smaller pool by the lobby is very quiet with no swim up bar. If you want some quiet time in the pool - this pool is better. I would rate the pools a 4-star.

Rooms: We were in buidling 33, room 337. It was three buildings down from the beach. I emailed the hotel earlier and they were able to acoomodate my request. Location was great. We received robes and slippers in our room as well as a bottle of rum and fruit basket. I could see the beach from my balcony. However, the rooms are very old. They are clean. But the rooms definitely need a renovation. The bath tub, sinks, faucets, mattresses...all need an upgrade. I had cockroaches and lizards/geicos as regular visitors to my room every night. The rooms were the biggest disappointment. The pictures are certainly very deceiving. I would rate the rooms a 3-star.

Food: The food at the resort was fairly good. The buffet had a reasonable selection of food and the a la cartes were fairly good as well. We pretty much enjoyed all the speciality restaurants. I would rate the food a 4-star.

Service: The service at the hotel was fair. It was hit or miss depending on who you encountered. I would rate the service a 3.5-star.

Spa: I had a 55 minute relaxation massage done. Let's just say the people doing the massages are very liberal. If you are used to spa standards in Toronto, don't expect it at this spa. I would rate the spa a 3-star.

Gym: Quite basic. Although, it had everything you would need to keep fit on vacation. I would rate the gym a 3.5-star.

Casino: There is a casino on site. We went there every night and played Black Jack and a few slots. Watch the dealers, they make a number of mistakes.

Disco: The disco was always empty. We went two nights, but it was quite boring. Music was okay. I would rate the disco a 3-star.

The hotel does have an upgrade called the "Platinum." The only difference is that the buildings are supposed to be a little closer to the beach. But our building was actually closer. And they have better lounge chairs in the balcony/terrace. They are also entitled to a dinner at the gourmet restaurant. I don't think it's worth an extra $30US per person per day. But if you did book it...enjoy it.

Overall I would rate this hotel a low 4 star hotel. We booked through Sunquest and they have the hotel rated as a 5 star. We tried to make the best out of it and if you already booked the hotel...you'll have fun, but just be aware of what to expect.

The place was gorgeous. Food was very good, but did not always agree with my digestive system. The beach was beautiful. The room was nice, but smelled like mildew. The all inclusive package was great. Apple reps were very helpful. All in all a good vacation, but I feel like we could stay in the states somewhere just as nice and choose how we eat. The safari adventure trip was worth every penny.

Very large resort. Be ready to do some walking if your not staying close to the beach. Booze was of limited selection and and not of high quality. Make sure you keep your beach/pool towels for your check out, otherwise they charge you $15/ towels. I did not have time to go back to the room to get them.

Bug bites from mosquito or something else unknown gave me large red puss oozing bits. Went to the on-site doctor and she seemed very concerned like she had never seen this before. The bill was just under $400 and as i was going to pay it another person came in with the same bites. Buy some lotion and skip the doc, its not very cool for a resort to rip people off like they are for this common problem.

Ottawa, Ontario (Family of 4 - two girls 10 & 15 years old) This resort from first glance upon entering the lobby looks like it has 5 star qualities, but once you've had the opportunity to settle in, you realize it's far from a 5 star. 4 to 4 1/2 tops.

Food at both the a-la-carte restaurants and buffet were barely palatable. Although, they had nice fresh smoothies in the morning, fresh coffee and my daughters liked the doughnuts, bacon and most other breakfast items. We understand that food isn't expected to be "North Americanized", but we are a rather adventurous bunch and the food turned our stomachs. Breads were barely fresh, cheese and spam/cold cuts sat out on the buffet table and you could see them sweating from the heat.

The beach was lovely. Pool was nice, but definitely needs a make-over. Bathrooms were somewhat new. Sheets were limited and mattresses were hard, flat and uncomfortable. Walls paper-thin. Cockroaches. Again, we understand we are in the tropics and these critters get around...

Cleaning, cooking and gardening staff are everywhere ALL the time. Sharks are not only on the beach but even some of the resort staff will target you and try to sell you items that ... aren't necessarily legal!

We had our camera stolen from our room. Money stolen from our room safe and our friends 2-doors down visiting from BC on their honeymoon had gold earings, bracelets and a wedding band taken!

When we went to guest services to tell them what had happend, we were treated as though we were an inconvenience. The manager, assistant manager and guest services clerk were nothing but rude and dismissive. The locks on our doors were changed, but this didn't stop the fact that maids and other staff and access to the rooms. I've never been anywhere before where maids came to your room at 9pm to give you fresh towels! As a result of our 'losses', we were offered a free massage literally 90 seconds before I got on the bus to head back to Ottawa! What a joke!

If you are heading to Punta Cana, bring candies such as single wrapped Worther's Originals, Starburst etc. to give the staff (maids, bartenders) as a tip. Of course, have some small $ones on hand to tip certain staff, but the people down there are savages and if they see you have a little cash, they won't leave you alone. They love candy, pens, pencils...They also love Canadians... because we aren't direct. When dealing with the vendors, you will have to learn to say NO and let them know you mean it.

If you want a good laugh, go to their evening shows.

we got our digital camera stolen on the 2 nd day by hotel staff in our room as long as many other things....this hotel is not a 5 and not even a 4....food was just ok....we went to punta cana 10 times and this hotel is a big time deception....many of travellers got things stolen and customer service was no help and the manager was very rude always interrupting my wife....dissapointed that sunwing offers this hotel in their brochure...never again will i ever go to a princess hotel.....food was ok...seen much better,beach amazing,animation not their strenght,service very slow,

Some friends, my husband and I were planning to get our perfect fair-priced vacation in Punta Cana and after a deep search we thought we found the perfect spot at "Bavaro Pricess" which was supposed to be a "5-star hotel". Our surprise started when we got into our assigned room and felt a strong humidity smell which really concerned me due to some allergy problems I suffer from. So we immediately informed the hotel about this issue and they agreed on fixing it but nothing was in a reasonable time. After endless calls, they finally did have the bright idea to put some kind of strange air freshener that only made me more sick even though we informed them about my allergies. Another inconvenient that bothered us was the bath towels; they didn't leave good enough number of them in our room. Even worse, one day they forgot to leave any towels in the room. After several calls we decided to go to the front desk to make an official complaint but when we were leaving the room we noticed that someone left some towels at the entrance of our room without letting us know. How rude is that? What we experienced wasn't an isolated situation because somehow some of our friends faced similar problems at their own rooms. The bad strong humidity smell wasn't the only problem because the room wasn't properly cleaned up.

We had another challenge with the toilet that didn't have enough power every time we flushed it out. I can imagine how difficult it would be for people who got their rooms on the second floor.

The service at the 'a la carte' restaurants was really poor, we could only get late reservations and the servers were always rushing us to make our minds without providing much information about the menues. Once we ordered something from the menu they said that the menu wasn't updated and they didn't have what we ordered from that. The waiting time in restaurants was a real issue; we waited for hours and most of the time the food didn't meet our expectations.

Generally speaking the service wasn't good at all. It seems like they have no understanding about the meaning of customers and how important they are for business prosperity. On top of these things, a couple of friends went through an unfortunate situation as part of the group of Canadians that were affected by the Conquest bankruptcy. The hotel did nothing to palliate the situation but taking advantage of it. The management team didn't help them at all and neither show any empathy nor understanding. They only took advantage making money out of those circumstances. Very sad !My affected friends and all the rest of us, who without knowing booked our vacations through a different operator, were all under pressure and anxiety without knowing what was going to happen; It became even worse when we realized the resort management wasn't flexible at all to any kind of negotiation.

Truly I wouldn't be able to find the right words to express my discomfort and disappointment about the dislikeable situation and abuse our friends and others went through as a result of the Conquest announcement. I will end up saying that I got into the conclusion what we went through at the Bavaro Pricess Resort is just a result of the bad management that is affecting customers and employees. I wouldn't recommend this place at all to anyone.

From April 11-18, 2009, my boyfriend and I stayed at The Bavaro Princess all suites resort spa and casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I chose this apparent “5 star” resort after having read some good reviews on trip advisor. They should call themselves nothing higher than a 3-star resort and stop charging 5-star prices. If it wasn’t for the great weather, this may have been the worst trip of my life. We are not complainers or high maintenance travellers. We do 1 all-inclusive trip per year and have never had such an unsatisfying stay.

We were unfortunate enough to have been affected by the cessation of tour operations by Conquest vacations, who had booked with. Our flight was with air Canada. On the Thursday morning, April 16, we received a note under our door requesting that we go to reception. When we get there, a note is put in front of me explaining that Conquest vacations are no longer providing its services as of April 15. The man behind the counter kept saying “you have to pay”, and conveniently nothing else in English. I was very confused and asked to use the phone to call my travel agency. He said no and that I had to call from my room. When we went back to our room, we were locked out as our keys no longer worked. So we went back to reception to see why we had been locked out. Their response was because we have to pay now. How was I supposed to get my visa without entrance to my room?!? We were treated extremely disrespectfully as if we were refusing or avoiding payment. At this point I spoke with a resident manager, Elke Symons, who rudely demanded that we now had to pay the hotel’s rate of $133.70 USD per person per night for a grand total of approximately $1870.00 USD in addition to the all-inclusive price we had already paid. And when I had a question or required further information she and others at the reception desk would only speak in Spanish for us to not understand. We then informed this rude, unprofessional lady that we had prebooked an excursion that was leaving in about 20 minutes. She interrogated where we were going and when we would be back, demanding payment as if we were going to try to flee the country so as not to pay. At this point I was allowed to make a phone call to my travel agency in Toronto, Ontario, Flight Centre, who did nothing to support or assist us in the matter. Elke then told us that they were going to keep our room keys while we were on our excursion, ensuring that as soon as we returned from our excursion that we would go straight to reception and pay or we would not regain access to our room. When we got back we went to ask for our room key, where we were then informed that our price had been brought down to $70 USD per night per person for a new total of $980 USD, and that this price was a secret! We said that we were going to go back to our room, get my Visa and come back and pay. When we arrived to our room, we see that the door had been left wide open with no one inside, except for all of our personal belongings out in the open where anyone could have freely come in and taken our things. Then we notice an iguana that had made its way up into our room and was crawling up the wall. I was so offended by the lack of respect that this over rated resort was continuing to display to us. We returned to reception and explained what we just saw, reminding them that they had already locked us out of our room, and a room with numerous problems on top of that, and asked what they were going to do about this. They said they would send someone. They sent a security guard to our room to pick up the iguana and put it outside, who knows how many other bugs came in. By now we were so frustrated with this disgusting resort and their service, especially after paying them twice, we just wanted to get out of there! Along with having to repay the hotel their fees, we also lost out on our transfer back to the airport and had to take a taxi back to the airport for $50USD and were told to keep a receipt for any chance of reimbursement. Ever so conveniently, the taxi driver had no receipt papers left, leaving us with no way to claim more lost money.

List of things wrong with our 5-star bungalow suite room:

• Tiny bugs everywhere, around the bed, in the bathroom, in my bags, everywhere!

• We were told we would have a king size bed, it was 2 singles pushed together which very easily slid apart and one of them was broken and continuously fell to the floor on one side.

• The ceiling fan made a ridiculous amount of noise. I was afraid that it was going fall from the ceiling at any moment, but without it on the room would get so hot, as the air conditioner was very weak, and also made so much noise.

• Twice during the week that we were there, there was power failure.

• On the nights that it rained, water leaked through the ceiling onto the bed.

• Paint was scraping off the walls.

• The door to our room was broken, and it wasn’t till the end of the week that we realized you don’t even need a key, just have to pull on the handle and both doors will open.

It was a disastrous, old room, requiring serious renovations! If it wasn’t for the beautiful beach and hot sunny days, minus the pushy staff to buy or spend money on anything, it was a horrible vacation and I will never visit the Bavaro Princess or any of the princess chain resorts again and would not recommend it, minus the very few staff members who were very friendly and kind. Regardless of the Conquest situation, the resort was in rough shape and their food was nothing special either, but it was their absolute disrespect and horribly rude behaviour regarding this incident that we could have done without.

Hopefully we have better luck next year!

I did not get the best impression from Puntacana... unfortunately I think it was because of the poor service in the hotel. In general the hotel is not bad, a little out to date but comfortable, location and amenities are ok but the people working at the hotel definitely need more enthusiasm with the exception of the guy at the pool bar, everyone seemed very unhappy. Food was below average even in the "a la carta" restaurants. The shows were very boring, and it was not just me...you could see very little attendance.

The beach in the other hand was great and we always found a place to stay, probably because it wasn't high season.

I would not come back at least to this hotel nor recommend it to my friends. For the price I think you get a much better deal.

My boyfriend and I traveled to Bavaro Princess, Punta Cana with Conquest Vacations when half way through our vacation they went bankrupt. We were extremely disappointed with the way the resort handled the situation.

We were treated as if we were criminals, not guests who were victims of an unfortunate circumstance. An extreme reflection of the less than adequate customer service we had received from hotel staff from day one. We were at an a la carte restaurant having steak dinner when the hotel staff approached us explaining that we had to pay them the money Conquest owed them on our behalf. The staff demanded we come to the front desk immediately. We asked if we could finish the rest of our meal first and they insisted we could not. We then sternly told them we would appreciate it if we could deal with this issue when we were done our steaks. The staff then remained in the restaurant, making us very uncomfortable and waited for us to finish eating our meal.

At the front desk they requested payment for our room. We agreed to make the payment but were then shocked to discover the payment they requested for the room was higher than what we paid for the whole package - travel agent, airplane AND hotel. They said they've locked us out of our room and that we have three choices here: #1 pay them this fee and exit the hotel, #2 pay them this fee and finish our vacation, or #3 do not pay them the fee and go to jail now.

We paid the fee and the staff accepted it with a smirk.

Even on our first day we had issues with the customer service. We were given a room without working air conditioning so we asked if we could switch rooms. They said no and that they would send someone to fix the air conditioner. This was at close to midnight, as we arrived on a later flight. For 45 minutes they tinkered with the air conditioner to no avail. We requested a new room again, and our request was rejected again. We angrily insisted that it was late, we were tired and wanted to go to sleep. Only then did we get another room. The second room had two single beds and my boyfriend and I requested that we'd like a room with one big bed. They said no and that they would bring us a king sized bed immediately. They left us in the room at 1:00am waiting for a bed. After 30 mins we asked again if we could just have another room. Request denied. We canceled the request for the bed and exhaustedly went to sleep in our separate single beds.

The next day we had no cleaning staff come to clean the room, nor did we the following day. So we requested cleaning staff 3 separate times that day. The hotel promised each time to send cleaning staff (which never came) until finally their response was the cleaning staff had gone home.

The next day, no one cleaned our room AGAIN, but this time our request for cleaning staff was fulfilled when we called in the early evening and alas, we had a clean room, though the room smelled like a basement and we frequently found cockroaches scurrying at night when we turned on the lights.

Other minor irritations, such as dirty tables and missing cutlery at the buffet or not getting a beverage from floor staff until your meal was finished were common irritants that just compounded our more serious problems.

Our positive experiences were the lovely beach and weather that Punta Cana has, as well as the variety of interesting wildlife the resort houses (though we thought it was cruel to have a vulture locked up alone in a small cage barely adequate for a parrot). Overall, I would not recommend this resort due to substandard customer service and their general disinterest in guest satisfaction.

We spent a week at the Bavaro Princess. The whole complex is dated and needs upgrading. The food was bland, even bad in instances. One morning at breakfast, we watched a large black bird root through the baskets of buns until he was able to get one and fly off. I never thought anyone ate hotdogs anymore, the way the chefs use them in so many dishes is truly amazing. Drinks for the most part are bottom shelf, unless you tip. The room was rundown, the toilet had to be flushed from 2 to 5 times. I took the lid off of the tank and found the metal linkage had been replaced with string- I'm not a plumber but I am going to guess that this may have been part of the problem. Water pressure in the shower was low, and the sink didn't work. On the upside, the beach is great except for people trying to constantly sell items, and the pool area is not that bad either. There are some remote cages of birds and iguanas that should be removed- kind of inhumane. The staff seemed overworked. We would see the same wait staff at breakfast, and then again at 7 or 8 in the evening. Our maid worked until 6 at night, so I guess I can cut them some slack on attitude. The Apple Rep - named Angel is great. My main problem is that I was sold a week in a resort that should have been a whole lot better. I would not recommend this to anyone. I would give it a 2 star rating.

Staff didn't speak much English, hard to communicate, in fact no communication among all the staff. You ask 5 different staff and get 5 different answers. You also have these staff in a light blue shirt from Princess Resorts trying to sell you time shares or something. I am here for vacation and my daughter's wedding and don't want to be hounded by these people. The room was clean, needs updating, no water pressure, fan was very noisy, a/c didn't work too good, I was on a main street. Very noisy were I was Room 907. Don't get this, hear trucks all night long. Food was terrible, everything was just a little off. Very bland, even the resturants were terrbile, the bread and pineapple were great, about the only thing good about the food. This is too big of a Resort, a long way from the beach. This resort is not up to American Standards, but of coarse we are spoiled. Go to a resort that caters to Americans not Europeans. They did a good job on my daughter's wedding. Also if this is a all inclusive then why do you have to pay $30.00 a night per person to get a little better liquor, or better dining times at the resturants. Been to alot of all inclusive's first time you have to pay to get a little better drink.

Check-in:

We arrived at the hotel on Saturday afternoon. It was very busy. There was a section at the front desk for "check in". We put ourselves into that line to wait. There were about four other families in front of us. It took about an hour, while several people came back from previous sessions to the desk clerks to fix details on their rooms. It seemed like if you pushed yourself to the front, you would get service. It seemed to be a very disorganized approach to check-in.

Room:

The room wasn't the best we've stayed in, but it was acceptable, considering the money we spent on the vacation. The bathroom door was see-through, which was troubling for the family that we were traveling with. We were comfortable that we could keep our son from coming into the bathroom area. The shower curtain was torn, sewn, and torn again, which was a little amusing.

Service:

There was some good service and some poor service. The desk clerks were overwhelmed checking in. Some of the restaurant staff was very nice, and others quite rude.

Grounds:

It looks like the grounds are built on and around a swamp. The swamp doesn't smell good, and to make matters worse, they pump the swamp water onto the grass to water their grass. They try dressing it up as a nature exhibit, but the mosquitoes that it draws takes away from it.

Beach:

The beach is beautiful. The sand soft and white. The water is warm and not very rough surf due to the reef half a mile out to sea. There was a red-flag warning on the beach. Thinking back, I should have taken it more seriously. The flag was warning of poisonous jellyfish in their waters. The flag was there for five days before they removed it.

Amenities:

I played tennis every day with my son. There was no waiting for courts. They have very nice clay courts, which are hard to find where we live. The fences have holes that you can throw a basketball through, so we had to go hunt for our balls every now and then.

Food:

Now we come to the reason that I will actually recommend never to go to this hotel. The food generally tastes "ok". Everywhere we went, when asked about how good the meal was, the answer was "ok". This is, I guess, typical for all-inclusive. But half-way through the trip, I came down with a lasting case of diarreah. Ok, that is also somewhat expected. The last night of our stay, my wife was vomiting the whole night, and onto the plane the next day. Then at the end of May, I was hospitalized with Hepatitis-A. The incubation period for this disease fits exactly into our trip. There is only one way to get this disease. That is for human fecal matter to end up in the food. This is three different food-borne diseases between two people. Thank god my son didn't come down with something.

If you choose to ignore the warning, and wish to eat human fecal matter, please get yourself vaccinated for Hepatitis-A.

Summary:

This trip was supposed to be cheap. With the Hepatitis, I have been out of work for three weeks instead of one. As someone who gets paid by the hour, that adds up to a lot of money.

They will take advantage of any one, I made few phone calls using my credit card, and the bill was 47.01 for a 2 minute call. What a rip off by the resort, on top of that they also changed me $2.00 US per call, when I checked out. If you go out side of the resort there are people waiting to take advantage of the tourist, over all it was a bad experience for me. I been to cuba few time, I love that place.