Cappella Beach Resort

We stayed over the Thanksgiving holiday and had a wonderful time, there's something for everyone. The beach is gorgeous, discoteque is happening until the wee hours, and nice selection of food at each buffet. Resort is HUGE and enough to keep you occupied without having to leave. Many day trips are available, definitely take the bus or pay for a ride as the main route is a highway and locals drive by their own rules!! My husband is from San Pedro and had a little bit of a time adjusting LOL. And not to mention some side streets are dirt roads and have huge pot holes!!

Vendors can be a bit persistent so bring sunglasses or big hat to cover your face if you don't want to be disturbed. Vendors are polite though, you will not get attacked as you would in BOCA CHICA. Nice mix of family resort and Party People! And who doesn't enjoy some rum concoctions beach or poolside??

If at all possible try to avoid Saturday check in- IT IS A MAD HOUSE!! Arrive early or check-in another day to avoid waiting the weekend rush. Otherwise good luck & enjoy the stay!

My husband and I went to Barcelo Capella for our honeymoon in June 2008. I have traveled a lot, but never to a tropical resort. As it was our honeymoon, we had pretty high hopes. We absolutely LOVED it. The staff were very friendly. Even when I tried to speak to them in Spanish (I know a bit), they would speak to us in English because my husband doesn't understand a word of spanish. The weather was perfect during the day. It rained quite a few nights (and stormed once), but cleared up splendidly during the day, so you wouldn't even know it had rained unless you had stayed up late. The one storm we did have left branches and trees all over the beach, but by the time we finished breakfast the staff had cleared almost everything up.

The food at the buffet hall got a little old, but we only ate there and didn't try out any of the other restuarants (kept missing the deadling to make reservations).

We didn't have any issues with rocks in the water, although if you go out far enough there is a rock/coral ridge. This is actually quite a good thing though, as it breaks the waves so all you have to swim in is very calm water.

I would highly reccommend this resort to anyone who wants to have a fun yet relaxing time. I'm sure if you are looking for faults, you can find them, but I didn't find any (other than the boring food, which could have just been our fault for not trying the other options). But if you're going on a vacation looking for faults, why bother going?

While we were there (and continuously whenever we get asked about our honeymoon) my husband said it looked like a Corona commercial.

I stayed at the Barcelo Capella from June 13th - June 30th 2008. I was pleasantly surprised because at first, being used to the larger resorts in Punta Cana (the main tourist area of the DR), I thought that the place was pretty small. But despite the relatively modest appearance from the main entrance, it is actually a quite sizeable compound with several restaurants and sprawling beach areas. I was in DR for business and pleasure and did not want to be constantly in the city.

One must adjust ones’ expectations to the fact that Juan Dolio is not Punta Cana (where the more luxurious and sprawling resorts are located); in Juan Dolio one has a better chance to experience the local culture as local stores and businesses are at walking distance from the hotels / resorts, and San Pedro de Marcoris is like 10 minutes away. Most of the staff live in San Pedro.

THE GYM

They do have a Gym, but I think it needs to be upgraded really quick. The equipments look obviously out of date even though they work.

THE STAFF

More about the staff. Just like everywhere, some of the staff are truly professional, some are not. Reward those that are professional towards you with tips and just ignore / avoid those that aren’t. Don’t let them mess up your vacation. Your issues will get addressed efficiently depending on who you deal with. I guess this is the same everywhere as well. I found that the front desk Manager, Raymond, along with his assistants Claudia, Esperanza and 3 other’s whose names I cannot remember) were the best to deal with when issues came up. Raymond would go out of his way to address concerns very quickly. That along with the quality of the nightly show /performances made up for the small annoyances that I encountered. They have one of the most professional house band I have seen so far at a small / medium sized resort; along with very impressive dancers, all and all a very dedicated group of performers.

THE FOOD

Don’t stick to the main buffet every day, try the other restaurants, the quality of the food and diversity of menu was surprising. I was very annoyed when people would cut through the lines at the front desk or at the buffets, but then I remembered that I am in a different culture ( a lot of the better off locals go there for week ends etc…) and had to made mental adjustments I enjoyed my stay much more after that. It was so great that I extended my stay by an additional week. You will probably end up meeting Felipe one of the cooks;extremely friendly and warm guy at the Bohio Dominican Restaurant. Remember to try lunch at the Las Olas grill / disco. It is right on the beach, quite cool!

You can be there, go the capital to take care of business and come back to relax at the beach, all at an affordable rate (if you shop / book online through sites like bookit.com and others you can find great all inclusive deals for the hotel).

Stayed at the Capella, June 3, 2008, for 6 days. Very clean, the workers at the hotel very polite. Beautiful plants and flowers. I have traveled to the Dominican 14 times. Capella approximately 40 minutes from the airport. I rented a car at the airport with Alamo, no problems. The road to the Capella is good, once past Boca Chica, the road is mostly empty. Juan Dolio has no real village area. Some small shops and restaurants, not like Sosua or Cabarete in the North of the island. Check in was fast. A worker took us by golf cart to our room in the 4000 section. Second floor , nice room, balcony with view of the sea. Refrigerator in room, stocked with two coca colas and two waters per day, no charge. Electronic safe big enough for my laptop, no charge. Air conditioning worked fine. Television worked, though never really used it. The main buffet was nearby, very clean. Food was good. The workers brought what you wanted to drink, wine, soda etc. Never saw any shows. I would drive to the capital every night for the discos and bars there. Lots of fun. Check out was fast, no problems. Santo Domingo airport is nice and clean. Drove to San Pedro a few times, about 15 minutes away by car. Some beautiful old buildings there. Two golf courses nearby, Los Marlins and Guavaberry, did not use them. Locals on the weekends were no problem. Beach was O.K. some rocks in the sand, nothing terrible. No huge waves. Overall a very good trip, I would recommend the Capella for a quiet get away, to rest and relax. One nearby disco, Mangos, at the Decameron was terrible, no smoking and it was dead. The bar above the Decameron Casino floor was great, lots of memorabilia from famous Dominicans, musicians and sports figures. There is a small restaurant about five minutes from the Capella that has wifi, free when you order a beer. I picked up some wifi signals at the Capella but was unable to connect to the internet. I had a blast, relaxing at the Capella during the day and then partying in the capital at night. One strange thing, there is another Barcelo hotel nearby, the Talenquera, which is cheaper then the Capella. When I went to visit the bar at the Talenquera one night, I was told I would have to pay about $35 to use their bar. Usually when hotels have sister hotels in the area, a person is allowed free access to the other hotels, especially when they are staying at the more expensive one. Barcelo appears not to do this.

Overall a good trip, no complaints about the Capella. For me it was great, I enjoyed the nightlife in the capital. Probably not much nightlife at the Capella or near the Capella. If you want a really beautiful beach experience, then probably Punta Cana and Bavaro are better. If you want an all inclusive with a nearby village with bars and restaurants, then Sosua or Cabarete.

Wow, This Hotel was amazing. Everything was perfect. Our hotel room was located not far from all the amenities, and everything was lovely. The buffet restaurant was located only yards away from the ocean allowing you to eat with an ocean view. The beach was the most amazing I've ever been to. There was a reef that reached up out of the water about 200 yards from the shore. This stopped the big crashing waves, and slowed them down. By the time the waves reached the shore, they were very little, allowing you to sit or stand in the water without being crashed around. The gardens were absolutely beautiful, with a lot of flowers in bloom. Just outside of our room, there was a small pool with a fence around it, and there were 4 flamingos in it. That was really neat. The pools were both great with a swim up bar at both, a waterslide at one and umbrellas for shade if you wanted one. The staff there were extremely accomidating and treated you like they'd known you their whole lives. We also went scubadiving with the PADI Dive Shop in the hotel premesis. We had an incredable time. The staff were very patient and wanted us to learn as well as have fun. They taught us all about the sport and made it so interesting, we became addicted to it. The area was actually really neat. This hotel is located in the town of Juan Dolio. You have to walk a bit to get to the local shops but once your there, there are a lot grouped together. They are the classic tourist shops with some clothing as well. We also travelled the surrounding area and found great shopping and attractions in both San Pedro & Santo Domingo. Overall I can say nothing bad about the hotel or my experience in Juan Dolio. We had an amazing time and would go back in a snap!

My husband and I just returned from our second honeymoon at the Barcelo Capella and I have to say we were very nervous after all the terrible reviews we read. But our trip was perfect. When we arrived we waited less than 5 minutes to check in, our room was not ready because we arrived in the morning but they gave us our braclets, secured our luggage, and we were able to eat, drink and do what we wanted. About 1 1/2 hours later our room was ready. I suggest booking the 4000 block because the rooms are newer, they are not musty, and they are closer to the beach. The beach was beautiful. There were no rocks on the beach other than some shells (like any other beach!). I would suggest water shoes for the water just beause there is sea grass and some rocks but nothing to interfere with a great swim or walk out to the reef. The grounds are exceptionally maintained, the pool is clean and the pool bar staff are very accomodating. If you're going to snorkle do it your first few days because they charge a $40 deposit per person if you are leaving within 2 days. The place where you get the snorkles is not part of the hotel. The restaurants were good. The ala carte had limited selections but were still very adequate. The only complaint that I cn verify from the other reviews is the locals on the weekends. They do seem to take over, but mostly by the pool areas, are loud, and definitely make reservations at the ala carte restaurants on the weekend because you will be waiting a long time for a table at the buffet because that is where the locals go. Other than that it was perfect. Yes the vendors do come up to you many times on the beach, but if you don't make eye contact with them or simply say no gracias nicely but sternly they will leave you alone. I highly recommend the horseback riding that they are selling on the beach. It's $10 for 1 hour and totally worth it. I wouldn't go longer, and it seems a little scary at first because you are going out in the back woods but it was totally safe and a wondeful experience. The people who wrote the bad reviews sound like they were looking to stay at the Trump Plaza. This is a 3rd world country! For the price you pay to come here you more than get your money's worth and a great trip as well. We would definitely go back again!

Beautiful place! Very relaxing. I was so glad i got advice from these boards before we went. Like knowing the locals come on the weekend. They mostly stay at the pool by beach, so it is very full and the buffet is very crowded. Thats just Sat & Sun. Not very many people speak English but you can get by. It really is neat to see all the different people and the culture. I will be glad to answer any questions anyone has.

Me and my husband stayed at Barcelo from May 25th till June 2nd. We went there with another couple. We really liked the resort.

The swimming pool by the Bohio restaurant is great!! The other swimming pool (close to the beach) is usually crowded.

The beach is beautiful, but if you planning to go there bring SWIMMING SHOES with you, cause there are some rocks in the water. Also be prepared that there are MANY VENDORS walking on the beach trying to sell you staff. Some of the staff (like paintings) are really beautiful (we bought one), but it's getting really anoying when they try to sell you something all the time, and you just want to relax. Just prepare to say no many times....

THE BEST TIME TO STAY IS DURING THE WEEK; on weekend it's getting really crowded cause a lot of locals are coming to stay at the resort. Then on Monday is almost empty again.

I really liked the food. You can go to the buffet style restaurant for all your meals. Or you can choose to go to ether Bohio or Las Olas grill for dinner. It's nice and free (in all inclusive plan), you just need to make a reservation ahead in guest service.

MAKE SURE YOU GO TO SAONA ISLAND AND/OR CATALINA ISLAND. Its georgous there. On the trip to Saona Island prepare to drink a lot of rum!!!! In Catalina Island they serve it too, but not as much. Be also prepared that from Barcelo you have to take a bus to get to a boat; and when driving the bus you will see a lot of poverty...the houses look reall poor and there's trash all over the place...suprisingly, people over there are so happy even though they're poor..

On any condition, DO NOT GO TO NEPTUNO DIVING CENTER!!!!! The boss is very rude!!!! We wanted to go diving, but one of the friends had an accident, so we canelled diving 24hours before. We didn't pay anything ahead, but the boss made us pay cancellation fee about which there was no talking before (or on any paper we signed) The paper said cancel 24 h before..didn't work. We couldn't leave the hotel until we paid The Neptuno boss....so just be aware of that!! if sth happens to you and you can't go diving, they weill still make you pay.

THE WEATHER WAS GREAT- sunny with no rain. I was suprised because according to the weather channel it was supossed to be raining every day. But it wasn't !!!

Overall great trip!! We purchased the whole package (flight and all inclusive) from the go go vacations and we had a great deall!!!

Hi, stayed here only for 1 night as a break from another hotel (Coral Costa Caribe) in the area on my 2 week vacation to Juan Dolio. Grounds are lovely and maintained well, Beach is beautiful, staff very friendly. Food was decent with a good selection in the Buffet. I never experienced the A-la-cartes. Room: I had a king suite, very nice, bed comfy, although the bathroom could have been cleaner. Disco was next to the beach, open air.. fun.

Overall I think I woud return to this hotel if I return to this area.

A very lovely resort.Checkin was very quick,The bellhop gave us a tour on the golf cart of grounds.Then took us up to are room with a wonderful veiw.The room was very clean had everything you needed except a alarm clock.We were in 4000 section. The resort is a nice size. The beach in the grounds are picture perfect,also the pools are very clean.I liked the beach vendors they are very nice people to talk to. You can shop,have a drink and get a tan at the same time.The buffet restaurants had very good service.The a la carte restaurants need some inprovement.Aso they charge extra for fillet migon,lobster,crablegs shrimp,topshelf drinks!!!! The setup at the theater was very nice.The dancers do a wonderful job.They could use a few more pool tables they only had 1.If I had a chance to go back in the future I would. I got some good rest I needed.

We got there late on a sunday night and were immediately greeted and checked in. The check in took a mere 2 minutes and we were settled in our room. The rooms are clean and well kept with maids coming daily. The only issue I found with the rooms were the lumpy pillows which feel as though they have cotton balls stuffed in them so I recommend you bring your own pillow! The location was great, it took us about 40 minutes to get there (we stopped at two resorts before being dropped off at ours) The beach is absolutely stunning with clear water and many available chairs. The gym is outdated, but hey who needs to exercise on vacation!? The pools were all very nice with swim up bars and chairs always available. The evening shows were very entertaining with talented dancers - you'd be suprised! The food was mediocre as expected, but not as bad as people said in previous reviews I read before leaving for my trip. I recommend having the freshly made omlettes for breakfast and the yogurt. Lunch and dinner are very similar, my favourites being the pasta, fried chicken, fresh bread, and the crepes are absolutely delicious! The wine is watered down so if you are a wine addict be sure to purchase a nice bottle for around $25 american - its worth it! We went to the restaurants (either than the buffet) on the resort. Chez Fontaine was amazing - the french onion soup was delicious. The Dominican restaurant was very similar to the buffet but a nicer atmosphere. Be sure to order bottled water or they will give you ice water, which I made the mistake of drinking on the last night and ended up verrrrry sick on my plane ride home. There is a nice, overpriced spa which is good, but unnecessary. The peddlers are annoying at times, but you'll get used to it..or do what I did and each time they come around pretend to sleep haha. There is a little jewelry shop near Chez Fontaine that has incredible hand made jewelry, and you can really talk the guy down with prices. I recommend going on the out trips (if you are travelling with SunWing). We went on a catamaran to a private island, to La Romana, Casa de Campo, and snorkelling on a private island. The out trips are nice because you get to experience and see Dominican, outside of the typical resort setting. You may want to bring extra towels with you, as the towel station isn't always open. There is a little shop across the road that sells souvenieres cheaper then on the resort, as well as booze and snacks. I found this trip to be very relaxing and nicer than most resorts I've been to. It's definitly worth the money and has many enjoyable amenities. The staff are sooo kind and really put forth 100% to make your stay relaxing and restful. I hope this review helps anyone who is thinking of travelling to dominican!

Like recent reviews i was very scared after booking this resort due to the negative reviews. I traveled last week (10/23-10-28) for my sisters bday and seeing as though this was a bday trip i wanted it to be a good experience for all of us (4 adults). This place is beautiful, def not a 5 star luxury hotel, but it's more than what we expected and wanted (well maintained). The staff are super friendly and the beach is beautiful the rooms were nice, but since i didn't spend much time in them really didn't focus on the little minor things. Definitely ask for a room in the 4000 since they are ocean view and take lots of singles since NO ONE trust me when i say NO ONE has change. I ate at all restaurants including the French one( which you pay $20 per person +tax) they were all REALLY good with the exception of the Dominican bohio, the food wasn't what i expected. I think the Olas grill had a better Dominican flavor than the actual Dominican restaurant.

And yes you get treated like royalty with just a few dollar tip,the staff were really loving us. We took a cab from the airport and they charged us a flat rate of $45.00 each way for 4 ppl. I think the fact that we speak Spanish helped,I would suggest to everyone to try to bargain!! We paid $15 for horse back ridding(2hrs), $20 for santo Domingo tour, and $55 for Isla Saona and def try to catch the shows they are entertaining.

My husand, myself and another couple just returned from our vacation to this resort. We had such a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. We were sad to leave. The staff was so helpful...even if they didn't speak english, they found someone who could or did their very best to help. The grounds are beautifully kept and the beach/water was right out of a magazine. We ate at all the restaurants except the french restaurant and enjoyed each one. The drinks were plentiful and we had no complaints with regards to how liberal the bartenders are w/the alcohol. The scuba instructors/staff were amazing and we not only enjoyed our lessons, but also the actual dive. One of us got certified in cave diving and another is now scuba certified for life. We had no problems with Prieto Tours with our pickup or drop off to the hotel. We even used them for a tour in the middle of the week. All in all this was a vacation that we all had hoped for. I highly recommend this place to anyone and plan on going back myself.

I will suggest to anyone that they bring singles for tipping the staff in the resort as well as during any tours/excursions you may take. It is highly appreciated as you will recognize when you visit.

I will agree with someone else's statement from a previous review, if you look for the negative, you will definitely find it. If you go down there to enjoy your vacation and develop the island mentality of "no worries" and relax...you'll completely enjoy yourself. Things just seem to work themselves out down there.

Okay let me just start by saying i read nearly every review on this property and website before going... And to be honest after reading the negative comments i must admit i was a little worried.

So let me just say that the negative reviews are completely crazy!!!! this place was perfect. For the money this place was unbelievable. My girfriend and i loved it. we just returned on fri the 24th of oct. and i felt its my duty to give this review. If u are considering going GO!! do not listen. for the best price i found the best way was to go directly through barcelo website. my gf and i got 5 nites 6 days for $522!!!.. Thats for both!! i slipped the guy at counter 20 bucks and got a top floor balcony overlooking beach , room 4437! had to be one of best rooms in complex. i do reccomend asking for a room close to beach cuz comple is kinda big and if u love the beach like we do. ask for room in 4000 building. Also very important bring your own snorkle gear there is amazing water just off beach with coral and tropical fish. invest in a good setup . the ones they provide arnt the best quality but would certainly work.

Airport transfer.

This is important cuz a cab ride will cost you like 60 bucks each way.. i booked through viator.com .. $42 for 2 people roundtrip. and when i landed they had a sign with my name on it and guy waiting to take our bags and swift us off. could not have gone any smooter. I def recommend booking through viator.

Tips.

no need but they are appreciated. I brought a fist full of ones and they lasted me all week with left over. and you would have thought i was the president by the way we were treated. Overall perfect vacation. i hope i can sway at least one person to choose this resort if you are on the fence.

Before going on our trip I read a lot of reviews of our hotel on trip advisor, after reading through some I was nervous to say the least. But as I always say, life is what you make it, and so is your trip.

Firstly, many people complained about the staff being rude and not helpful. Well if you are rude to people then they will probably be rude back to you. I did not meet one rude staff person on this trip. As a matter of fact, I think they were the friendliest people, so nice, friendly and kind. One of the waitresses fell in love with our daughter and treated us like royalty. What you put out, comes back to you. We absolutely loved the staff and treatment from the staff at Capella, the people were beautiful on the inside and out.

The beach was absolutely beautiful, and surprisingly empty. Most people seemed to be at the pools all the time, so the beach was so quiet and relaxing. There were a lot of rocks in the water, but you just have to be careful. Luckily the water is turqouise and you can see through it so you can see where the rocks are! I found the pool to be overcrowded and annoying - not the relaxing vacation I was looking for, so we just hung at the beach.

Yes there are a lot of beach vendors and after a couple of days it can get annoying. We just complimented their work and said "no gracias" (even our two year old was saying it by the end of the trip). I mean, when you vacation in a place that makes their money from tourism, what do you expect? They have to make a living too!

I will agree with many reviews about the food. It really wasn't the best. I have visited DR before and the resort I stayed at had outstanding food. Barcelo was okay, it got a bit redundant after a few days. Luckily they had a pasta bar and my daughter ate spaghetti all week!

The hotel itself was beautiful, the grounds were gorgeous and very well kept. There is security everywhere whicj made us feel really safe and comfortable. The rooms were nice - we were lucky to get an ocean view (probably because we were nice to the people who worked there) and it was kept clean, and all of our appliances worked.

So we were happy with our trip. I feel like I would like to rebuttle everyone's nasty comments, but it would take too long. As stated earlier, it is what you make it. The trip was s great deal, it is not a luxury resort, so don't expect it to be. Be nice to people and yes, speaking spanish is helpful because you are visiting a spanish speaking island!

My friends and I just came back from this place and we already miss it. It surpassed our expectations and had a lot of fun. There were indeed some -hiccups- while we where there, but the overall experience was excellent. We checked the reviews in here before we went to have an idea of what to expect, and I can tell you the following is true or not:

-CHECKING IN -It definately can be a nightmare -took us 1 1/2 hrs, it was crowded and saw alot of people having problems with their rooms HOWEVER, we ourselves had none -and I think it was because we booked thru travelocity (other guests with major agencies like Expedia did well too.)

-ROOM -We got a room on the 4000's, ocean view... it was fantastic! Yes it was abit musty and humid in the room, but unless you're spending your entire day IN your room, it was no issue to us. In terms of bugs/insects, we saw a couple of ants, but nothing major. We did sprayed our room as soon as we got in just in case. The pillows were HORRIBLE, but other than that, everything worked, and there is even water & soft drinks on the fridge to take for free (if you are on the all-inclusive program).

-FOOD- Excellent. We were there for 4 days and we enjoyed it. Lots of things to choose from, and it was tasty too. Besides the buffet, we also tried the included separate restaurants (las Olas and Bahio Dominicano). The dishes in there were good too, specially if one tried the more local fare.

-DRINKS - There were 4 bars in total and we were able to get drinks all the time. Check their menu to see all the things available. I personallyI loved their "licor de menta', but the locar beer was really good too! (El Presidente).

-SERVICE - It was very good. The staff was very nice and helpful. Not everybody knew english, but if you know basic spanish, you should be good. In special, our bartenders at the bar treated us very well and always kept us stocked with drinks.

-BEACH- The beach was beautiful, the water was like being in a pool -so warm! Palm trees, sand.... however, it is indeed abit rocky the further you walk into the ocean, so get water-shoes for that, but I personally didn't. There were vendors selling all sorts of things, but if you told them no or to go away, they did and did not become annoying. There was always security staff everywhere, so they stay at bay.

-POOLS - They were mostly for younger kids/teenagers, so for grown-ups was sometimes abit too much. We generallay just wanted to stay at the beach, so we didn't miss the pools at all.

-ACTIVITIES - There was a different night show every night and activities all through the day (just find the scheduels posted everywhere). Tennis, basketball, minigolf, aerobics, spanish classes, etc. HOWEVER, if you get the inclusive package for snorkeling, etc, bring extra $$ JUST for the deposit of it.

-OVERALL PLACE - It was great, well maintained, clean, beautiful plantings everywhere.... flamingos.... very ydillic.

I don't know, but I highly recomend this place. Definately not 5-stars, but I'll give it 4 out of 5. For what we paid (the all inclusive plan), it was worth every penny and surpassed all our expectations. We are even planning on going back already! There were only two other resorts close to us, so it was a very relaxing atmosphere while being fun (unlike other places that are so turistic, it gets annoying).

I higly recommemd thisplace. I'm very happy to have been there! You should go too!

PS: Also, I recommend pre-paying the transport to-from the airport when you make your reservations. Travelocity offered that for only 10 dollars per person, so we took it and had no problem. Once there, we found out that had we just gotten a cab once we got there, it would have been the equivalent of $80 dlls each way!

Hi

Common visitors. Give it a credit, Dominican Republic we are talking about

I had a good experience there, stayed for three days and enjoyed it a lot, All you can eat buffet with the ocean view, all you can drink bar. YEAH anything in the bar for free, isnt that a paradise. Rooms are spaciuos but ok, show every night and disco till 2am. Many latin people, europeans, some americans. Staff speaks English which is a surprise in Dominican Republic.

Good times

Juan Dolio was our second choice for the DR. We wanted to go to Punta Cana but Juan Dolio was more in our price range. We asked for a room in the 4000 block as many said to do and found this to be a good location. Our room looked right out to the beach. I did not think the room was dirty at all. Even the bathroom was clean. I know they cleaned everyday because they came in a few times when I was there. Very honest too. We left cell phones, jewerly and other things out and they did not take them.

THE FOOD: This was my 3rd all inclusive resort to stay at and the food was much better here than the other places. I am not saying it was great but at least it had some flavor. Some things did not and we just fell back on fruit. They had fresh fruit at every meal so we didnt starve. The drinks were excellent. They were not stingy with the alcohol.

There is a restaurant across the street from the resort. If you are brave enough to leave the resort I highly recommend walking over there. It is called Restaurant Cala. It has all kinds of food. Their English was really good and the food was amazing (drinks too). After eating buffet for a week this place was wonderful. The price was good too. For the 2 of us to have a meal, alcohol, water, and desert it was $45 USD.

The locals selling things do get annoying but you just cant get tired of saying No, gracias. They leave you alone then. We bought MANY things from Roque. He is one of the guys on the beach. He made us some good deals and let us pay him half then and half later. We told him we didnt have all that money on us at the beach. We thought he was going to scam us but we went ahead and gave him half. We showed up at the time he told us with the other half and he was there waiting on us. We were surprised. He was always there and never did us wrong.

The fishing trip they offer is in a little boat. Beware sea sickness. The boat is too little for the waves and what you are trying to do. The safari jeep ride is VERY dusty. We have been home 2 days and I am still scraping the dirt off. It is a good ride though. You get to go into town and see the houses that the people live in. Go to the market and end at a waterfall. A lot of locals go here to swim.

I do not think check in or check out was bad at all. It probably took 10 min max for the combination of the two. Very speedy. The staff was really nice. The desk speaks some English but the security doesnt. Our transfer to the airport didnt show up on time and the security helped us out with my horrible Spanish.

Do not arrange a transfer to/from your hotel down there. It is much cheaper to get a taxi. The transfer was $114 USD for roundtrip 2 people. A taxi is $40 one way and they are much quicker.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone who is going to Juan Dolio already. I would not recommend Juan Dolio. There are many other places to go that are just as nice and have a more safer appeal. We never had a problem but it was just scary to leave the resort.

For the price, it's great!! Taxi to and from resort was $40 each way. Approx. 30 min ride. Checkin took approx. 7 minutes, checkout took a bit longer, approx 45 min. The room was fine nothing really great but very acceptable and comfortable. The food was fine too. You have several places to choose from. Three of the restaurants require reservations. If you try to show up without one, it..., well...., just play the game and make the res. (they don't like it if you show up without one)

The buffet selection was pretty good. They changed it up somewhat nightly so you don't get too bored with the same old things. Drinks were mixed well. We were tipsy by noon daily.

The beach was very clean and the online pics are pretty accurate.

The only downside to the swimming area were the rocks you have to deal with while trying to walk in the water. ( go to the far left of the resort. the beach there was perfect, no rocks) Also, while trying to layout to get a tan, another downside was the constant stream of locals trying to sell you stuff. You get use to it after a while and they seem to understand later, no thank you." Most of the stuff they are selling was good and we bought many things but enough was enough.

All in all we would go back to this resort again. If you're on a budget, or not, go to this resort.

My husband and I just got back from 2 weeks at the barcello Capella hotel today. The hotel complex we found was quite good. We enjoyed ourselves although we were just dumped there by the coco tours tour bus driver. We were not met at the airport by a rep. Infact we met a rep (not coco tours) on tuesday 2 days before we were due to fly home. He said that he tried to contact us through the reception staff but was told they did'nt have anyone booked into the hotel of our name.

Apart from that we made our own enquiries and did a tour of the hotel grounds ourselves.

The bar staff and restaurant staff were first rate. They helped to make it a most enjoyable stay.

A previous review talked about the damp in the rooms. We were in the 1000 block and found that the beds felt damp if you didnt put the airconditioning on all the time. They put mattress toppers on the beds so that they were a little more comfortable.

Rooms and reception staff I would rate at 3 star. Resort 4+. Definatley not 5 star as stated on our holiday web site.

this resort was one of the best that my friends and i have ever had. we are travel junkies and have been to 11 countries so far. and this resort surpassed our expectations.

the rooms were huge! the food was good, the servers were great and the atmosphere was perfect. the only problem with the food is that you do get bored of it- but it was good. the staff were amazing, they made us feel more than welcome to be there and that they were actually glad that we were staying at their resort.

i read reviews where they said the beach was rocky, which is true, but it wasn't that bad. it was actually nice because the reef created a wall around the beach which broke up the waves making it nicer to swim in the ocean than being in the pool. which, because of this reef there is amazing scuba diving!! i highly suggest you try it there. the people at Neptuno are great!!! i have no complaints about this resort. i would go back in a snap!! and i actually hope that we do go there again.

My husband and I stayed at this resort for 4 days in February 2008. This is the 6th all inclusive resort I have stayed at. Other than the 5 star we went to for our honeymoon, they have all been very similar.

After reading the reviews on TripAdvisor, we were really nervous about what we had gotten ourselves into. However, we got a great last minute price on the trip, so we went with it! We are Canadian and were drawn by the fact that Canadians do not need a passport to travel to the Dominican Republic. Though we would have preferred to have one, ours both recently expired and because we booked last minute we didn’t have time to get new ones. We had no problems at all traveling with just our birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

ROOMS: The rooms were just okay (see my photos). I’d compare it to an older Holiday Inn. We were in the 3000 section with an ocean view. Unfortunately we did not have a balcony, but we had a window and that was okay with me. I wasn’t even expecting an ocean view for the price we paid. The room was decent, we had a king size bed and the air conditioning was cold and always worked! We were situated between the disco and the stage so there was music being played all night. Even so, we didn’t hear anything and were never bothered by sound at ALL!

We were on the first floor, which I would not recommend. I wouldn’t recommend being on the 1st floor of any resort in the Caribbean just because its inevitable that you’re going to get something crawling into your room that you don’t want to be there. Yes, we had a cockroach in our bathtub one day. But once it had been killed we didn’t have a problem again. I really believe this is quite normal for tropical destinations so that kind of thing doesn’t faze me. I took the advice of some of the other reviewers and brought some indoor Raid in my suitcase. There were tiny little ants on the counter when we first got there, but once I sprayed the Raid everywhere they didn’t come back. We had some ants at the 5 star resort we were at in Mexico too. It happens!

FOOD: The food was decent. We ate at the main buffet every day. My husband and I are both very picky eaters and we were always able to find something to eat. Unfortunately, our picky eating also meant we ended up eating the same things pretty much every day. But that doesn’t have anything to do with the resort – that’s our issue! There were many things that they always had for every meal like french fries, hamburgers, pizza, rice, fruit, cheese, the pasta bar and ice cream. There was also always some kind of chicken, beef, pork and fish at every meal. Everything else varied! We went to the Grill one night and it was just so-so. We didn’t want to pay for anything fancy and we don’t like seafood, so we just had chicken and pork loin. Apparently anything that doesn’t have a star beside it on the menu is free – anything that has a star you have to pay. It looked like lobster was like $36. When we returned home (literally on our flight back) I became very sick and had flu-like symptoms for 2 days and stomach trouble for about 2 weeks after we got back. I can't pinpoint what it was that made me ill - for all I know it could have been food at the airport. But definitely bring Pepto Bismal tablets, gravol and Immodium with you as I have heard similiar complaints from many family and friends who have recently travelled to the Dominican.

THE BEACH & POOLS: Now THIS is what all Canadians come to the Dominican Republic for. Especially in February!! The beach was gorgeous, the pools were great and the weather was amazing. It was around 25 to 30 degrees every day and always sunny. There was a bit of a breeze as well, which was a nice break from the blazing sun. It was everything we could have hoped for in this regard. We never had a problem finding lounge chairs and there is a good mix of shady and sunny spots to choose from. The beach is quite big and safer than I expected it to be – there were always people walking (or jogging) up and down the beach who were clearly from other resorts. If I were to go again I'd bring some water shoes (there's a bit of coral in some spots) and an inflatable raft. Those who had rafts seemed to be having a great time! Yes, there are people who try to sell you things as your sitting on the beach. Just say NO and close your eyes and ignore them, they're just trying to make a living. Whatever you do, don't engage them! That's when you'll start to get irritated.

SERVICE: I really have very few complaints about the service. The bartenders were fine and the waiters at the buffet were very friendly and attentive. Even if they didn’t speak English, we always found a way of communicating. Our maid didn’t speak a word of English, but we communicated just fine. I was very surprised at the number of non-English speaking travelers. I’d say the majority of travelers at the resort spoke French, Spanish or Italian. Therefore, I don’t think it should come as any shock that not EVERY person working at the hotel speaks perfect English as many of them spoke French and Italian too!! It was actually quite impressive the number of languages many of the hotel employees speak. Learn a few words in Spanish – even just numbers so that you can say “uno Coca-Cola” at the bar!

My only complaint in this department is that the service at the bar in the buffet restaurant was a bit slow, and there was never anyone solely manning the swim up bar. It was kind of like – if they noticed you, they maybe you’d get a drink. I usually just gave up and walked up to the bar myself (which is attached to the swim up bar).

ENTERTAINMENT: We only watched one show in full. Most of the shows started out with live music, then dancing, then the actual show which didn’t actually start until 9:45 pm. The show that we did watch (Michael Jackson) was kinda of weird, but entertaining anyway. The activities team (or LIFE as they’re called at the Capella) were great. They had tons of fun activities organized including daily games of volleyball, aerobics, spanish lessons and salsa lessons which everyone seemed to join in on. I can’t believe the amount of stamina and talent these guys and girls have. Not only to they run activities all day, but then they dance in the shows at night!!!

Overall, we had a great trip for a GREAT price. The grounds of the resort were beautiful and very well maintained and the beach and the weather was to die for!! I really don’t understand how anyone can have a ‘horrible’ time on vacation. Relax and at the very least, enjoy the beautiful beaches and weather!

That said, I don't think we will return to the Dominican Republic unless the price was right on a 5 star resort, just because of how sick I was when we returned. But don't let this stop you. If you get a great price on this resort I would definitely recommend it!!

If you are going to stay at this hotel, what to be prepared for:

1) The front desk staff is seriously slow with everything they do. It seems to require their supervisor's approval to do EVERYTHING.

2) Avoid rooms that are in the 2000 range. That's the oldest building in the resort, and it's pretty gross. ESPECIALLY those in the 2100 range. They're in the basement and are damp and gross smelling. The AC won't dry it out either. 3000 and 4000 rooms are generally good though. I've heard the 4000 building is the best of them.

3) Don't let your credit card out of your site on the resort. One of our party used hers at the gift shop on the resort and ended up with all kinds of fun extra charges on her account that she did not make.

Now that the bad stuff is out of the way here's what made this trip awesome:

1) The food/drinks: All you can eat places were great, serving tropical fruits all the time that were just awesome. All three meals were great every day. I would highly recommend Las Olas as a great place to eat. Most of their dishes are included in the package, but some are extra like lobster. Food was very well prepared and the location is amazing. Also, the bars serve pretty much any drink you'd be interested in, the domestic alcohol seems to be of pretty good quality.

2) The beach was a great place to hang out all the time. We spent most days there, and also after dinner. The security guards keep close watch on you at night to make sure you're safe too which is comforting. The ladies in our group got a manicure/pedicure right on the beach for cheap, and we heard that you can get a pretty awesome massage there too.

3) Everybody loves a swim up bar. There are two here.

4) The resort was exceedingly well landscaped.

5) We did not feel it necessary to leave the resort for the entire 6 night stay. It was just that nice.

After reading some of the reviews here, my wife and I arrived at the resort with a bit of apprehension. For the most part, there was no need for any apprehension. We had a fun time and were able to relax all day each day. The grounds were well taken care of and everything was fairly easy to find. This is a good place to go if you just want to relax on the beach and sip some drinks and splash in the water. We were there for four nights and the weather was good to excellent each day.

My wife and I stayed in the 4000 block of rooms. Our room overlooked the sea and was less than a minute walk to the beach. We were originally booked in the 3000 block of rooms but switched when we checked in (an extra $30 per night) after reading some of the reports about other rooms. Our room was quite nice, fairly large and had a nice balcony. The floor was tile and was mopped each day by the maid (who usually arrived in the morning). It wasn't spotless but it was much cleaner and nicer than I expected after reading some of the reviews. The pillows were pretty lame (clumpy) and the mattress wasn't as good as most U.S. hotel chains offer but it was decent enough. The air conditioning worked fine though you could tell you were in a humid environment. I generally slept well (though a fire alarm did go off one night for about 10 minutes) and room was very quiet for this type of resort. I never heard any noise from any of the adjoining rooms.

Most of the fellow vacationers were Europeans; predominantly French and German speakers. There were also a good many Spanish speakers, either locals or people from other Spanish speaking countries. There were other Americans and Canadians but English speakeres were in the minority. Most of the people appeared to be from their 30's to their 60's in either couples or groups. There were some families with kids of all ages. There also were some younger couples and some singles but I wouldn't think of the place as a singles hot spot.

Of course, much of the staff spoke only Spanish but the guest relations staff generally spoke some English. I didn't feel that communication was ever a big problem. By the way, check in and check out were relatively uneventful and expeditious.

If you are concerned with top flight food and top flight liquor in an all inclusive, go somewhere else. The food was, at best, average. The menus were somewhat limited in the a la carte restaurants (the two that were included in the all inclusive rate) and the buffet had about the same thing each day. Breakfast was the best meal on the buffet. The fruit was good on the buffet and the omelettes from the omelette station were decent. After that, it gets a bit tricky on the buffet. The meats in the serving trays were often tough and chewy. The carving station was a better choice and seemed to offer something different each night. They also had hamburger patties that sat in some reddish liquid. I never got up the nerve to try them. But you could generally find something to eat that was, if not great, passable. There was always rice, boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli and carrots. The desserts were also sort of hit or miss. Most, but not all, of the cakes were stale and hard. Pastries tended to be the same way. Yet there was ice cream that tended to be tasty though one night the chocolate ice cream had been invaded by numerous chunks of ice.

As for the liquor, there was plenty of it but I didn't recognize the brands that were in the all inclusive (I'm not a big liquor drinker). I had several mixed drinks (which were generally decent) but mainly drank beer. Presidente on tap was the beer and it was quite good. One note on the beer; they served it in rather small plastic cups (or small glasses). But, if you brought your own larger cup, the bartender would fill it for you.

And the beach is what made it a blast. Wider than I expected and with lots of palm trees if you wanted shade, it was so easy to just laze about all day doing little or nothing. Which is what we went for. Lounge chairs were plentiful and the water inviting. We did a fair amount of snorkeling and saw lots of colorful fish and several rays. Most of the coral near the beach is dead but we did see some occasional live (colorful) spots on some of the coral. We wanted to take a snorkeling excursion but we had to leave before the next snorkeling day came. Oh well.

If you go swimming in the sea, it's a good idea to bring water shoes. There's coral sticking out of the sand here and there and also some sea grasses near the beach. We brought our own snorkels and masks so I have no opinion on what the resort offers.

There are vendors on the beach and they do approach you to buy stuff. But telling them "no gracias" worked everytime for me. There is also an access point to the beach for locals adjacent to the property but there were no problems that I saw. Also, as noted in other reviews, if you're offended by bare female breasts, some of the European women do sunbathe topless.

All-in-all, I quite enjoyed myself. I went to a Sandals (Grande?) in Ocho Rios about a year ago and, though the Sandals was generally a nicer place, I felt better about Barcelo Capella in regard to the value I received. Also, the beach was better and our room was on the beach.

My husband and I just returned from a 2 week stay at Barcelo Capella. All in all we had a great vacation! Reading some of the reviews of people there the same time, I can relate to "some" of what they are saying. But it's vacation, come on have a good time don't sweat the small stuff! There is good and bad about the resort, the bad ~ we just took it with a grain of salt.

First - check in was on a Thursday, fast and easy. If by any chance you are checking in on a Friday or Sunday, good luck! All the locals come in for a CHEAP all-inclusive weekend and I heard check in or out can take a LONG TIME. Let me start out by saying when the locals come in for the weekend you feel out of place. They take over the resort. Don't go in the pools when they are there, no body ever leaves the pool, so what does that tell you?!? Plus, sorry to say, they are absolute pigs! Don't care where they through their garbage, food etc. They come in every Friday and stay until around 4pm on Sunday.

Rooms - Just like previous reviews DON'T get a room in the 2000 blocks. Met people that did and everyone had cockroaches. We were in the 4000 block. Room was nice except I should have not put up with the air conditioner not working up to par the first week we were there. Never got cold in the room, finally starting our 2nd week we switched rooms just 1 level below previous room. Room 4337 was great, air conditioner was fantastic. It was my own fault that I didn't ask for a new room sooner. But they took care of it as soon as I asked. Even let me go check out the room first to see if we wanted it.

Front Desk and Guest Relations:

Is something left unsaid. No [--] english speaking staff! Good luck comunicating if you don't speak spanish. Wouldn't you think someone that works guest relations would know english? Bad communication bearer. I took some advice that I read on TripAdvisor about bringing a bag of dollar store gifts for the maid. I bought decent stuff and cheap clear gift bags and left her a dollar store gift and $1.00 every day and she loved it! They only stock your refrig the first day you arrive with beer. But we left her notes for more beer and EVERY time we did she would stock the refrig with a couples cans of beer. I wrote out a few requests in spanish before I left and made a bunch of copies of my requests, and just left her a note every time we needed something.

Food ~ Hell your in a 3rd world country, it was ok. Your never going to starve while you are there. The French Rest. that there is a surcharge, go on Saturday it is 1/2 off. $10.00 each for any items on the menu, not per item but your whole meal. We had lobster the 2 Saturdays we went. Shrimp cocktail was fantastic.

My husband and I have traveled a lot, this was not the best resort but we had a great time. We loved all the people we met. I have been to a lot cleaner all inclusive resorts for maybe just a few hundred more than what we paid for this. Grounds are beautiful so is the beach. To break up the 2 weeks we ate at 2 near by resteraunts outside the resort. Fantastic food! If your standing outside the resort looking across the street one resteraunt is to the right (around the corner)about 4 blocks down on your left can't miss it. It's a pizza Italian place. The other is to the left outside the resort about 2 blocks down. We walked a lot outside the resort and felt safe. I have a lot more to say but will take too long to write.

Night Life - Shows were ok, seen a lot better. Really slow moving, get board quick. The other thing I did not like is what ever they said they did not repeat in english, so half the time you didn't even know what they were saying! The Disco really is happening at night at 11pm when the show ends. It is the most happening Disco I have ever been to at a resort.

There isn't anything really close by to do either. We did take a bus to San Pedro one day. The Serona Island trip was great! But the only downfall is it takes 2 hours by bus there then 2 hours back.

Last but not least, we are HUGE dog lovers and they do not care about animals AT ALL! It's really pathetic how they treat dogs, etc. Well in the 2 weeks I was there all the stray skinny bone showing animals ate like kings and queens! I even went outside the resort every day and brought fresh water and cups of food from the buffett. Bacon, sausage, etc. Hey we paid for it so I can do whatever I want with it. You should have seen the locals look at us when we fed the dogs, they thought we were nuts! Don't even care, did it every day anyways.

Their beer was good and strong El Presidente. Even their local spirits were good and strong. If you want to buy premium liquors like Baily's, Smirnoff etc. It's cheap they charge you $2.00 for certain brands and $3.00 for others. Didn't really need to purchase drinks were good and strong.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me. I will most likely have a lot of answers considering we were there 2 weeks.

Due to the Swine Flu Outbreak in Cancun my daughter & I changed destinations and ended up staying at the Barcelo Capella in DR. We normally stay at 5 Star resorts and only decided on this property due to short notice. The grounds are nice the beach is ok. The beds are made up with very cheap white sheets, very lumpy pillows. They don't provide washcloths not that I needed any because I brought my own washcloth & towel. The air in the room was stuffy even with the A/C. The food was cold, flies are over the food. The spa can not compare to any real resort. When you are on the Beach the locals constantly try to sell you stuff and it is quite annoying when you want to relax. The staff tells you not to go off the Resort due to crime. I will never go back.

This resort has a strange mix of friendly and not so friendly employees. The food is adequate, there is always something to eat. The rooms have a strong smell of mildew and the air conditioning unit was marginal. There were a few bugs here and there, normal stuff in the D.R.. The shows in the evening were fun and energetic. The resort is small but adequate. The grounds are well maintained. One good aspect at this resort is that there were few North Americans (USA). There were many Dominicans. I have been much better places, yet the value and cultural aspects stand out positive. I would stay there again. One really down side is they have a spa with great service, great massage, but it was noisy. Staff with walkie talkies were constantly hooting, cleaning staff were loud. There was total a disregard for customer relaxation and serenity. Save your money there. Also, internet service is a joke. The wi fi costs $10. per day. The signal is lousy and the speed is slow. You can leave the campus and there are a couple of restaurants that offer free wi fi. The Italian restaurant is a place and they have very good pizza.

Last Minute vacation.

We were happy because "you get what you pay for"

It is small which appeals to us . Quick walk to the beach , restaurant, entertainment. The beach was wonderful. Lots of shade trees. Peddlers can be bothersome if you don't just say NO THANKS. They accept and move on. The gym needs some updating and equipment replacement. The room was clean, adequate. We slept and showered there. The rest of the time we were on the beach. Would have liked a balcony but again we had a cheap last minute week. The reception could use a course on people skills. Read 3books , had lots of R&R , food was OK . We enjoyed the a la carte on the ocean as it was quiet, great ambiance and again the food was ok.. We had a good week but wasn't looking for or expecting 5 star accomodations. Would I recommend this to a friend......hmmmmm ya I guess.

This was our second time @ this resort. The first time we had just gotten married(no kids) had great time. The hotel facilities were much nicer/newer/cleaner. This time we brought our kids (eight year later). Yes the resort has gone downhill. It looks old& tired. Yes I understand nothing stays the same, this was not the problem. We had two room booked (because we have 3 small children ages 2, 4 , 6) This hotel does not allow more than two children in one room. When we arrived they could not find our reservation/ and when they did, they gave us two rooms on different floors, whe booked for a room with connecting doors (hence small kids). After an hour of explaining/pleading with them. They told me, all the connecting rooms were booked.

Sooo we sucked it up and just stayed in the one room, leaving the other room vacant (which we paid for). Only after 4 days (with me checking every day, did they move us to a connecting room in the older ,out dated building. At least we all together.

Now the pool was lovely, In the children's pool area there was an incident, a naked child urinated many times (the same kid).

We just stopped using the kids' pool after that.

I guess I went back to this resort, cause of the old memories; but now i have new ones with my beautiful family. Buttom line is, doesn't really matter where you are, it's who your with...That's more important.

Good time with the family, but resort was just average.

I don't realy like all-inclusives, but Barcelo Capella is really not that bad and very reasonably priced. The resort itself is old enough that the gardens have had a chance to truly establish themselves, and this is the part i really liked. Lots of stone terraces, and huge banks of bouganvillea with the swimming pools tastefully integrated into the gardens - tropical birds, flamingos, geckos etc. The beach was really nice - palms trees for shade, clean clear sand, and a nice sunset. the beach vendors are harmless and give up immediately.

Guest mix was a good combo of local DR folks on holiday, french, germans, with a few north americans thrown in (very few). Staff seemed to speak english/french etc but you'll need a bit of spanish every now and then away from the front desk.

Don't get me wrong, this ain't the Ritz; the food is "institutional"- buffet-style and luke warm. Also the "show" is painfully camp (but aren't they always?!) - usual collection of pool boys and waiters playing Do the Hokey Pokey on traditional dominican instruments (?!). Don't get a room too close to the beach or you will be blasted by this rubbish until late at night.

Rooms are fine and AC is blissfully quiet - Honestly, some people are so picky they should stay in the US in a hermetically-sealed box. Its the DR and its not always going to go to plan.

A cheapish relaxing place - architecturally very nice. 30 mins to Santo Domingo airport which has heaps of direct transfers to euro/north american cities. Santo Domingo old town is also worth a look - it was really a pivotal city in Caribbean history (but not nearly as architecturally specacular as Old San Juan in PR)

I went to DR and stayed at Barcelo Capella from Dec 5-Dec 8 2008 and we all had a great time. The people there are so friendly and really work hard to make you happy and comfortable. The beach was amazing. It was clear and blue. I have traveled to many caribbean island and Juan Dolio is up there on my favorite spots. It was a group of 26 people and all had a great time. The hotel is a 3 star hotel but with the look of a 5 star hotel, at least the exterior part. There was animals, flowers and pools everywhere. There are also many stores to shop at a great price much cheaper than the airport. There were a couple of issues with the hotel. First, check in is ssssoooooooooooo long. Second, the snack bar is horrible. I advise not to eat there but the other restaurants were fine. Remember you are in DR so the food is very typical. We ate at the buffet everyday and enjoyed it. And last but not least, some rooms are just horrible. The 2000 rooms are scarey, dirty, moldy, and smelly. As for the 1000s, 4000s,or the suite. The rooms are much much nicer. Enjoy your stay! We sure did!

This resort was a honeymoon gift from my uncle. Immediately upon our arrival, we noticed that there was a huge line of tourists struggling to check in due to language barriers (hello, you are in a 3rd world country, do you honestly expect everyone to speak english?). After waiting for 30 minutes, I got impatient and the dominican in me came out. I walked up to the counter and started speaking with a check in girl who wasnt helping anyone. We got checked in within 10 minutes. After tipping her a few hundred pesos, she upgraded us to a honeymoon suite and gave us a complimentary dinner at one of the restaurants.

The room was okay but nothing to brag about. It didn't matter to us though because we spend little time in hotel rooms when on vacation. The view was very lovely though.

The grounds are very nicely kept and the staff was very friendly and willing to go out of their way to help us. We quickly became friends with the bartenders and other staff and we used it t oour advantage. A little tipping and haggling goes a long way in this country.

I would recommend the excursion to Isla Saona. It was beautiful and a lot of fun.

The food at the restaurants and the buffets was very good and nothing to complain about.

We stayed at the Capella in July. The location was very convenient to Santo Domingo & La Romana. Check-in took over 1 hour - why I don't know. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Our room in the 3000 block was fine - no problems. The beach was beautiful and the swimming great. The beach vendors were not a problem - say "no gracias" and they went away. We loved the evening shows - very entertaining and well done. The food was plentiful but not of good quality. Breakfast was the best with lunch and dinner being repetitive and not that appealing. Drinks were good and plentiful. Overall, we had a great time. The cost was very inexpensive - app. $125 US per night for two people which includes room, food, drinks, entertainment, activities, etc.

First off, we were not picked up by CoCo Tours at the airport, after having spent the money to be picked up. We ended up spending $45.00 getting a cab to the resort. Needless to say, I will NEVER use CoCo Tours for ANYTHING ever again. Overall the hotel was nice. Our suites were nice, but there were not enough drawers for two people. The patio was really nice. It was like sitting in a yard. The remote didnt work, but we didnt spend alot of time in the room. Food was ok, beach & the grounds are nice. The vendors got on our nerves at first, but after a while they left us alone. They became quite friendly. The evening shows were great, very entertaining. The Club is small, and played the same music EVERY nite. The fitness center is a joke, because THERE IS NO FITNESS CENTER. Its an empty room. Overall its an ok hotel.

We stayed may 22-29 2008, arrived around 3:40pm after waiting for around 10 min. clerk said the room was not ready, she said to come back in 30min. to an hour. we opted for the 30 min. gave us a room in the 1200 building... you could tell it was older building... we arrived at the room and it was not ready... went back to the front desk while the bell boy carried all the bags... i assumed he talked to the front desk and poof we had another room... room 4135 closer to the beach a little newer... the room on entering was a litttle musty smelling, we got used to as the room cooled off, had about 25 mosquito's in the room... after the wife and i went on a killing spree we didnt have a problem the rest of the week...

only one buffet was open during our stay so one buffet with all of the people there was busy... i've learnt that eat breakfast early, lunch early, and supper early we tried this 7:30 am, 12:45pm and 6:30 pm les crowded, as far as the waitress the tried very hard, but as the place gets crowded the get overwhelmed.

Food was to my suprise good. each night was a different theme.

chinese, mexican, dominican...ect.

drinks are domestic only, I think you have to pay for import.

no true mojito, martini, frozen daquiri...ect

usually they just put ice in the cup, liquor in, and whichever fruit juice that goes with what you ordered... 3 star

the beach as is as everyone else decribed... merchants, security guards, coral, and little shells...

i know this was not a 5 star hotel, I did not goes there expecting that, with the problem that I encountered, i would rate a

solid 3-3.5 star I paid total 1786.00 for 7 days flight, taxes,transfers, ect. for 2ppl. through...

(andrea) at Northgate Travel out of chattanooga tn.

good trip at a great price!!! thanks

I like everyone else, read all the reviews about this resort. I was with a group of 8 couples and thought we can have fun anywhere. The resort itself is nice. The grounds are constantly being kept up as was the beach. The resort is very nice. The layout is nice, and the beach is wonderful. The pool water is extremely cold, but after a couple hours of drinking we all got in and bellied up to the pool bar.

The people that work there were very nice, and check is was fine. For our entire group to get registered took only about 1/2 hour. They offered us drinks while we waited to check in. We had requested to be in the 4000 building, which we were. My husband and I had a room that looked out over the beach to the ocean. It was a very pretty view. Some of the other people in our group said they had some bugs in their rooms, but hey your on a tropical island, so bugs pretty much come with the territory.

The beds were fine, soft, but fine. However, they really need to do something about their pillows. Or should I say lack of pillows. And if you want a wash cloth, bring your own because they apparently don't have any. I asked, but was told they didn't. The maid did come in everyday and clean or room, which some people wrote that this wasn't done for them.

Now, here is the reason we would not go back to this resort. The food was TERRIBLE! I mean it was really bad. Most of it you couldn't even tell what it was even though there were signs on it. We all have been to many all inclusives, and we all know that the food is not going to be 5 star, but this food wasn't even 1 star. The breakfast was probably the best buffet of the day, but after awhile you really get tired of eggs.

Each one in our group got a touch of stomach problems throughout our 7 day stay. Fortunately it usually only lasted 1 day.

So if any of you reading this are still planning on going to this resort, just beware of the food!

It's hard to judge a hotel by reviews that say they didn't like or did like something but don't give you great examples of why. My first impression of the hotel is, "We need to get our kids the hell out of here, pronto." Might have something to do with us getting there at 2am and the place was packed with local's who were a little drunk. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that check in couldn't understand why we were demanding 2 rooms beside or at least close together as we were travelling with our 15 yr old and 12 yr old. They had them placed on the other side of the resort and thought that was okay.

After making our way to our rooms, we weren't planning on decorating our home as the room was but it was more then adequate for 1 week and for just sleeping. The resort has to be the smallest resort I've ever been to. The glossy pictures on the website are very misleading. Most people will have pools bigger in their backyards then what these pools are. The kiddie pool is the size of a hottub.

Most people tend to stay at the bar where the 1 buffet was open while there. We made our way up to the pool with a slide and I can tell you for 4 days we had the pool and the bartender to ourselves, there was no one there. We did go to the beach a few times but it gets on your nerves with the peddlers bugging you non-stop. Go across the street from the hotel and you will find everything you need that the peddlers are selling.

The food was like going to a buffet that has been sitting for 3 days. It was gross to use our 12 yr old's words. Every day beans and rice were served which I understand that is the local's foods but I'm not a local nor were the rest of the guests during the week. We lived off of omlettes with cheese and pasta for lunch and dinner. Christmas dinner was beautiful but really not that great either.

The shows at night are not meant for any English only speaking guests. I think the resort caters more to locals so they don't really speak and English during their shows nor play any English music. Again, I appreciate the fact that we're in a Spanish speaking country but what about the guests who don't speak Spanish who paid money to come to the resort aren't they allowed to be "entertained" as well?

Customer service at the front desk is a joke. I guess the Barcelo group of companies don't set up any courses on this subject. They just don't care nor will they ever. Juan and Mariana who both work in the bars were amazing and very helpful. The rest of the staff could care less unless you spoke spanish. We tipped everyone, good or bad service, in hopes that it would make a difference. Keep your money because it doesn't.

This is our second trip to the Domenican and our last. There are so many better places to go that understand what tourisim is. If I wanted to experiance the local food and hospitality, I would rent a house somewhere on the island.

My husband, young son and I stayed at the Barcelo Capella in Juan Dolio for seven nights in mid-November. I must have read every review written about this place, and I could not imagine if I would agree with the worst or the best of reviews. Simply put, we would not return, and I do not recommend this hotel as a place to spend one's much-needed vacation. The highlights of our trip follow.

We arrived to Las Americas Airport with a taxi already lined up. The airport is not at all as hectic or horrible as people state. Our 30 minute trip to Barcelo Capella was a fascinating introduction to the island. The heat, the smell of burning garbage, the vast neighbohoods of people living in corrogated metal or cinderblock shacks, and the pigs being slaughtered roadside are an immediate culture shock. What is also most striking is that there are many hotels along the sea in various stages of neglect. You will see vast resorts completely abandoned and being overtaken by mother nature next to brand new condominiums which are next to hotels that were abandoned while being built, next to places trying to still lure tourists. The Barcelo Capella is BY FAR the best resort you will find in this area.

The grounds truly are five-star. The gardens are so well kept and lush throughout the 30 acre property. The rooms are as terrible as has been described in the reviews. Our first room in the 2000 block was wet and filthy. (We walked in to see cockroaches immediately, visible dirt everywhere, and the bathroom mirror looked as if someone had just taken a 20 minute hot shower. Very strange.) Our next room in the 4000 block was better, but not by much. We finally settled on a junior suite which was passable. The bed and the pillows were ancient, super lumpy and very uncomfortable. The central air smelled seriously of mildew, so we opted to keep our windows open despite the fact that just over the wall the windows faced is a deeply impoverished and dangerous area. I did tip the housekeeper $5 a day, but cleaning was mostly straightening up...the sink, toilet, shower, floors were not cleaned once.

Many people are employed at the hotel, and all were very friendly and purposeful. We tipped bartenders and waitresses (and the front desk, significantly, to keep changing rooms), and those gratuities were much appreciated (and needed). The service is very good.

The food is not good. I brought antibiotics for my family in case we did get ill (as many people have at this hotel), but we were fine. We also ate cautiously. The food is mostly Dominican in influence...lots of trays of chicken and sauce and beef and sauce. This is a tough place to feed children, especially because the pasta bar I had read about had very strange tasting sauces. Even the cheese on platters had bugs on them. I packed food for my three year old, and I was very glad to have it.

The pools are very pretty and clean, which again speaks to the outstanding property management. The beach cannot be beat for beauty. We were there in the off season, so I cannot imagine what it might be like with tons of people, but the huge palm groves in the sand (shady) which lead to the open beach (sunny) are absolutely beautiful. I have stayed in Barbados, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and this beach beat all others I have been to. Pay no mind to reviewers who talk about sharp shells in the swimming water. It is minimal and silly even to mention. The peddlars on the beach are a constant. They are not rude or pushy, but they are ever-present and you will say "No, thank you" and "No, gracias" several times each hour, every hour.

We took a day trip to Santo Domingo since my husband is interested in the island's history, and I wanted to get beyond the walls of the resort. It is a dreary city with outrageous poverty and no interesting architecture to speak of. It was not worth a day of our vacation. Police officers followed us around, and I believe that was necessary.

In all, I must say we had a good time because we made it work by not eating much, getting the best room we could and by appreciating the natural beauty around us. But I don't think a vacation should be about making so very many compromises in order to make it through the week. The price cannot be beat for the Barcelo Capella, but the experience is not wholly pleasant. It is a haunting experience to be enjoying cocktails poolside amidst such gripping and obvious poverty. And it feels eerie to be staying at the Barcello Capella when practically next door is a shell of a tall building inhabited by a mother and her two, naked children.

We will not be returning to the Barcelo Capella.

The BARCELO CAPELLA was a nice resort. The beach was very enjoyable. The staff was polite, but expect some frustrations.

For example, we spent two days asking for a remote control for the TV (bad service). Our room was only cleaned 3 days out of our 8 day visit. When we arrived the first day, there was a used

condom by the bed (yuk!).

The maid would open our door without knocking at 6 AM.

One day she opened it even with the DO NOT DISTURB

sign on the door. She would hand us towels w/o cleaning the

room. We had to complain to the manager.

Our biggest frustration was not with the resort but with

TRAVELOCITY'S hotel transfer PRIETO TOURS. They failed

to pick us up at the resort to go to the airport. And TRAVELOCITY

FAILED TO REFUND OUR MONEY. Do not use these services.

We had to pay $90.00 to get us to the airport.

The shows were nice. The disco was extremely small and

hot (outside).

However, inspite of all, this resort is the best one in this area.

But I will never return.

22 June - 26 June 2008

We decided to book a holiday at last minute as it would be the only chance I would have for several months. We booked online through TNT vacations. That in itself was fine, we got a courtesy call asking if we realized our return journey was an overnight stay in Miami and the tickets arrived promptly via FedEx.

The problems began when we arrived in Country. There is nowhere mentioned on any website I have reviewed so far that every person must pay $10 US to enter the country. They will not even accept their own currency. It ended up that from all the people on the plane we arrived on that about half them had to borrow US currency from total strangers just to get in.

The next problem was as we exited the Airport, to call it a cattle market is by far underestimating the chaos of locals trying to vi for business. Of course our "courtesy" shuttle to the hotel had not shown up and we were herded away by three locals claiming to work for Coco tours the supposed local representative.

We stood in stifling 80% humidity for well over an hour before some dishevelled oik in a beat up mini van turned up only to then be accosted and sworn at by the three locals who claimed to work for Coco tours and wanted paid handsomely for moving our bags 10 feet.

When we arrived at the hotel the mini van driver firstly tried to keep hold of our return voucher for the "shuttle", but then also demanded payment as well!!!!! I refused and after a brief exchange with one of the security guards at the hotel we manged to get away with only paying a $10 tip. So between the Airport and the hotel I am already out $65.

As so rightly described by someone in a previous review, checking in was a nightmare, especially if you spoke little or no Spanish. To say the 2 staff at the counter were overwhelmed is a serious understatement and we saw 4 or 5 management types wondering in and out with papers and food and not even an offer to help the receptionists.

The first room we were offered had not been cleaned yet and it was close to 6pm, so we had to wait while another room was prepared. They couldn't work out how many people were in my party even though I handed them the travel voucher and it took another 15 minutes or so while they did some sort of negotiation with whatever ever member of management was sat behind the screen.

The room was a complete disappointment. It was still being "cleaned", if you call a 2 minute once over with a broom, cleaning. The room smelled damp and musty, all the bedding and drapes were damp, the bath had mold and cracks, the door mantles were disintegrating as though eaten away by insects which were in abundance and the place although it had just been cleaned was still covered in sand.

There was a television in the room which was a complete fire hazard and crackled and buzzed severely if you tried to switch it on (presumably from all the moisture in the room). The beds were the most uncomfortable I have been in for a while and the pillows were like matted lumps of foam stuffed in a sack. I ended up using a blanket as a pillow.

We were too tired and miserable to bother fighting reception again, so showered and changed for dinner. The food was plentiful and actually tasted pretty good. The local beverages were also free flowing and abundant. The bar staff and restaurant staff were courteous, so we made the best out of a bad deal and decided to have 4 reasonable days on the beach.

Word of warning, pack plenty of stomach medication, because all 4 of us were ill, and we put it pretty much down to the ice in the drinks.

So after the first uncomfortable night we were awakened at 7.30am by the local Coco tour rep to say he needed to meet with us at 11am. We turned up to find he was going to be 30 minutes late, so being on holiday we decided, he's only going to try to sell us a tour somewhere, so we didn't hang around.

Apparently a real bad idea as we found out, because that is your one and only chance to organize transport back to the Airport We tried all day on our return date to get hold of the rep but he refused to answer his phone and every time we went down to speak to him, we got told it's his day off.

We ended up waiting 3 hours on our return for a lift to the airport by a local taxi after having been promised Jose (our rep) would turn up, after all he had a copy of our itinerary right???

The taxi cost us another $45, but that was after being made to wait at reception for well over an hour and a half because there was a phone bill on our room and they were refusing to let us check out without paying it. I tried to reason with the woman at reception saying that it was completely impossible for us to have made a 21 minute call to a local number at the same time our plane had just arrived in the country some 20 miles away. Her statement to us was that if we didn't pay it she would have to and I really didn't see why that would concern me.

Again some negotiating later with another receptionist who manged to put 2 and 2 together and we were able to leave the hotel

We just returned from a 4 day stay, all in all the resort is good for the money, with a few minor problems.

Check In: was pleasant and quick, however the first room assigned to us had a terrible mildew ordor and was miles away from the civilization and activities (building #6 room 1112). We requested a room change with an ocean view and they accomodated us quickly.

Room: Located in building 17 on the ground floor with a semi ocean view, room 3115 is in the heart of all activities (pool, theater, beach, resturant and bar). Obviously The Capella is an older resort and has not yet been renivated. The rooms are simple, neat and clean. If your plans are a little R & R in the room this is not the place, the TVs remote either doesn't work as in the previous room, or there isn't one. We did however have company (2 cockroachs on separate nights) but once we left the bathroom light on the issue was resolved so we did not call. hey! I'll take a cockroach over a New York subway rat anyday.

The Grounds: Well kept and quite beautiful. The pool also well kept and clean. Beach? watch out for the coral in the water and the fine sea shells on the sand. plenty of shaded trees with a breeze to read a good book.

Animation & Staff: Quiet and reserved, but courteous and efficient if you have been to Iberstar, you'll understand the difference.

Shows and Activities: The shows are okay, but the staff has difficulty getting audience participation. Staff works hard at entertaining us shouldn't we cooperate?

What to BEWARE OF: Know what you are purchasing and the cost. Confirm before you get to the hotel and make sure you travel with any email confrimation. Don't feel pressured into paying what they tell you and ask for a manager! These tips kept me from GETTING GOT! We chose this resort so we could spend time with locals/friends from area. I contacted the corporate office to inquire about the cost of a day pass. I was emailed the prices as follows: M-F 9AM-6PM Adults $25USD Children $18USD and Sat/Sun 9AM-6PM Adults $31USD Children $24USD. I traveled with the email however at the resort, once my guests arrived 2 Adults and 1 paying child I was told that the price was $52USD for Adults and $43USD for children ( on a Thursday), upon presenting the email the clerk told me they were not aware of those prices and where did I get that from? I indicated it was straight from corporate office. the clerk stepped behind a wall, made a call and told me those are the prices. I ALMOST paid, but friends intercepted, spoke a little Spanish, the gentleman stepped away with the email and returned with everything squared away.... Go figure? I have emailed the corporate office on this incident.

All in all its a good resort if you are aware of your surrounds and are not distracted by a smiling face and a compliment. Go enjoy its OKAY.

This is an honest review. I travel a lot and am amazed at how some people call this place such a great place.

The Room - We stayed in the 4000 block per the suggestion of other travelers. It smelled musty. The bathroom is disgusting. Dirt and fungus everywhere. I would hate to see how the other rooms are.

The Food - Below Average at best. I tried a few different restaurants and they were not good. If anything the breakfast is slightly better but not really. The coffee was good. But after all, your in the Dominican. The best part is drinking all the president beer you can handle.

The Beach - There are some rocks in the water but overall the beach here is very nice. No complaints here.

Activities - Would say above average.

Excursions - Went on ATV. This was pretty good. Saw how dominicans lived in the country and stuff. Went on a trip to Catalina Island. Wow, now this was amazing.

Overall - This is maybe a 2.5 star hotel. If you are looking for a nice room this is for sure not your place. If you are looking for good food this is not your place. If you are looking for good family activities at a good price I could see where a family on a budget would make sense here. One other thing, on weekends a lot of dominicans go here for the day. The are loud and everywhere.

Being in beautiful DR was exciting on it's own. All that excitement ended when we checked in at this "resort". Checking in took more than two full hours and people that were behind our group happened to have priority- I guess is who you know! So we get into our room and the smell was unbearable-althought the service staff was amazingly helpful. The grounds were ok, but there is definetely room for improvement. The food it's not the best but alright for a resort that can not be rated more than 1 star. I will never go back and the group of 22 people that went feel the same. If you want to go to gorgeous DR please do not ruin your trip staying at Capella.

28/01/09

.

I would also like to bring to your attention that many people fell ill with cramps diarrhea .

When we arrived at the hotel we were offered 2 rooms. Both these rooms were smelling and in complete need of refurbishment. We were offered another 2 rooms; these were infested with ants and in need of repair. The third set of rooms we were offered were in need of updating and damp and also had several problems i.e. no plugs in the sinks air con not working properly TV not working security lock on door not working ,safe non function able ect, but as we had travelled for 24 hours we needed to sleep. We reported these problems the next morning some were attended to some were left. This tactic of offering unsatisfactory rooms by the management appeared to be a common practice as every one we spoke to suffered a similar experience.

Within a few days 3 of us were struck down with what we concidered food poisoning although the name for this in the Dominican resort of capela is Gastroenteritis. We were aware of at least 50 other people having the same symptoms.

The restaurants were dirty and unhygienic, cats roamed freely amongst the diners dogs were brought in by local guest and there was an abundance of cockroaches on the floor.

There were no coverings over any of the food, insects were allowed to land and crawl over the produce at their leisure.

Once we noticed that there were several flies and mosquitoes in the pasta sauces and observed the attendant stirring them in, instead of removing the dishes he continued to serve this to unsuspecting people.

On another day we were passed by a trolley with what we assumed was rotten broccoli and inedible pineapples which looked and smelt rotten. Instead it was taken into the kitchen.

At night we were kept awake by gangs of drunken French men, who were all in their early twenties their loud drunken behavior went on into the early morning i.e. 4am.I tried to ring reception to complain but no one answered, I had to go out and try to find someone to help and when you found someone they could not speak English or pretended they couldn’t.

We booked this holiday on the basis of rest and relaxation not on gangs of youths running riot into the early hours.

We were also not made aware of that on the weekends the complex was open to the locals and over a thousand people were admitted making it impossible to use any facilities also the local men made it quite clear they objected to foreigners being there, as they were rude and somewhat intimidating.

Not that we ate the food there as we lived on bread fruit and eggs from the time we went ill, the theme was to cater for the locals there was no choice and the food was repetitive, if you liked goat you were ok also pigs knuckles’ and potatoes that were half cooked in all a disgusting place to be.

In regard to the entertainment there was plenty all of it in Spanish we could not understand a word ,some of it was rather crude and disturbing as many mothers took their children out of the theatre, again it was catered for the locals not people like myself and family who had travelled thousands of miles.

The soft drinks area was dirty and tap water was used instead of bottled water when in the dining area.

The beach itself was another story, at either end you had one armed police man, when the locals come on the weekend there were three armed police on each end also a mobile unit, every 20yards or so you had hotel security .There was also a very disturbing factor of men in their seventies with prostitutes every where you looked also old men with girls that did not look over 14 years of age and it seemed an acceptable part of this hotels policy ,also there was contact between these people that was totally unacceptable.

You could not relax for 2 minutes for the fact of beach vendors harassing you to buy off them also this practice was allowed by the management.

The games room was a lean-to with a small pool table in it.

The pool area was nice enough but you were unable to sit there to relax as there was music so loud and with deep base that it was unbearable and had to seek a quieter place at the extreme end of the beach.

We all had tablets to take for the gastroenteritis and my daughter had to be injected to stop her vomiting. Plus whilst on medication we were unable to enjoy the inclusive bar that was available.

We were made aware by people we met that on other web sites the Barcelo capela was a 3 ½*, we have also looked at it on expedia and they rate it as a 3*.

. We decided not to complain anymore as we found the manager to be very frightening and we genuinely feared for all of our personal safety. I was so concerned about this that i asked the gentleman from travel assist to make a note of this,

When travel assist first rang the hotel to ask for us they denied that we were staying there eventually my son acted as a go between, also due to my wifes condition(due to a leaking air con unit causing her to slip and break her wrist) they were going to sort out a more comfortable form of travel back to the UK .they sent faxes to the hotel clearly marked for us and these were withheld thus my wife had an horrendous journey back to the uk.

Thank you for taking the time to read this I hope it will be of use.to any one concidering going to Barcelo Capella.Pleas contact me if you were at this resort in Oct 2008.

Yours faithfully

S. Evans M. Tustin

I just returned from BARCELO CAPELLA resort.On the 2nd day of vaction we were robbed.They stole my daughter 2,000.00 wireless computer from my room,from her luggage.Management did call police in my room for investigation,why?They also stole 50 dollars from my daughter wallet.Idid not get any help from hotel managment,they didi not care.this resort not safe.

1ST problem. We made recervations for 3 nights, 3 kids and 3 adults, after 2 hours waiting for check in they said there was a mistake in the recervation and make us paid +$400 usd over our recervation price. They state they have to give us another room and lots of [--]

2ND Problem. As I mentioned the check in is a nightmare 2 hr average to check you in.

3TH Problem. The stuff is the tuffest Very rude and if you need help they will ignore you.

4TH problem. The rooms stings and they just clean it every other day.

5TH. Problem. The food is the worst. poor very poor.

6TH. Lots of Mosquitos lots of them every where.

I will not reconmend you this place unless you want to waist your vacation.

Show is OK

Beach is OK

Pools are OK, but no one is watching for people or kids jumping or in danger.

7/12 08 we arrived around 5:PM.Checking in took about 5 hours. In that time we were given to occupied rooms, that was scary! Sunday was a good day.

Monday someone got sick.Tuesday someone got sick had to go to the.Hospital,over night stay would have cost $2000 American dollars. The beaches are beautiful. the food wasn't good. The rooms weren't cleaned. The phone services went down on Tuesday and was still down when we left on Saturday 7/18/08.Most of the workers don't speak English.

Coco tours didn't pick us up for the return trip to the airport. We had to get a Taxi. Coco tours are not affiliated with Barcelo!

My wife and I stayed at the Capella June 14-15 2008. This hotel was recommended. At best, it is 2 stars.

The check-in process was the worst I have ever experienced in a hotel. The reception area is not air-conditioned nor celing fans or any other type of ventilation provided in this small area.

At noon on a Saturday, the reception was completely jammed with people, hot, and the very definiton of disorder. The 2 employees at the reception desk were completely overwhelmed while managment sat behind a screened wall happily munching pizza and watching the chaos at reception desk, offering no help whatsoever. After spending 40 minutes on line, we were told our room was not ready - come back in 2 hours.

2 hours later, we fought our way through the still chaotic reception area, to finally get our room key. The room (1148) was old and in severe need of upgrading. Most importantly, the air conditiong system was not sized correctly for the space. This causes the air to cool quickly before the system has a chance to remove some of the humidity from the air. The room had a cold, wet feeling. Walking barefoot on the worn tile floor gave one the sense of walking on a just mopped floor, wet and slippery. The sheets were also wet and clammy.

The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and well maintained. Native flor is abundant and provides for a nice walk around the property.

As an all inclusive "resort" one expects the food to be adequate but abundant. The Capella delivers on that end. The food is adequate and abundant. A word of caution, the buffets are also in unconditioned spaces. As any restaurant knows, cold food needs to be cold and hot food needs to be hot. This concept escapes the food service staff at the Cappella. Both hot and cold dishes were all found to be the same temperature - just warm. This is a major problem that invites nasty food borne illness problems.

We were able to witness and interesitng comparison between the Capella and adjacent properties. Saturday afternoon and evening brought substantial thunderstorms and rain. This caused the beach to be littered with debris brought to shore by the storm. On our Sunday morning walk, the adjacent property, the Embarcadero, had a brigade of men and machines on the beach clearing the debris and making the beach ready for its guests. The Capella made no such effort. That portion of the beach remained littered throughout the day.

Other than that - a good time was had by all.

The resort is advertized as a 4 star all inclusive hotel. It reminded me of a 60s Howard Johnsons, which had not been updated, with rooms strongly smelling of mildew, rusty bathrooms, falling apart drapery, dirty walls and floors... and the food almost inedible! The staff, with the exception of the Reception manager Ramon Freas, who got me out of there the next day, were robotic: they promise to take care of a problem and then disappear. You then have to start all over again with someone who has replaced them and has no more authoritiy than the previous one. It was almost as if these people were planted there to just keep the complaining crowds calm by promising them they would be taken care of, only to leave and not return! It is a 2 star at most. On weekends they bus in the locals who come with their families, making noise and pushing in front of lines at the buffet... The beach is nothing ot write home about, and the whole experience is just unpleasant.

Its nice to read that some of the previous guests had a good time at this hotel. However, for us, this hotel was horrible. I would not stay here again or recommend it to anyone. The service at the reservation desk was unsatisfactory. There were lines all day long and the service was very slow. On the day that we checked-in, it took 3 trys to get a room. The front desk never apologized even when tears were running down my face from frustration. Each time we were assigned a room it was always occupied. We were given keys to these rooms and we were able to walk right in only to find surprised guests looking right back at us! Finally when we were given a room the showerhead did not work. We called maintenance but when they came (the next day) we told them to come back in 5 minutes because someone was using the bathroom BUT they never came back. The room itself was dirty. The toilet handle was rusted and crusted with green residue. The toilet seat was loose. The amenity basket had a used bar of bath soap stuffed back into its orginal box and it was never replaced throughout our 4 night stay. There were a trail of ants that lead under the bed. The bed itself was very lumpy and appeared that the top sheet had not been changed for some time. We always locked our valuable items in the safe, however someone from our group had their passports, jewelry, and other values stolen from their safe (it happened during a room switch, their bags were prematurely taken to the new room, but not the valuables in the safe). They never recovered their items. The buffet had the same food everyday: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The buffet was decorated with carved fruit covered with ANTS!Reservations were required inorder to eat at the restaurants and the times were not flexible (ie. we were 30 minutes late coming back from our city tour and the restaurant was not able to accomodate us, so we ended up in the buffet-okay that was probably our fault but they would not allow us to make a reservation for a later time). There was an extra charge for room service (and this is all-inclusive?). The beach was not safe to walk on even with rubber slippers. There were a lot of rocks and broken sea shells that easily stuck to the bottom of our slippers, someone in our group got a cut on their foot just walking on the shoreline. While on the beach vendors would harrass guest to purchase items. The key was to pretend we were sleeping and they would not bother us. Lastly, spanish is their main language and for most of the employees the ONLY language. So if you have the stomach to stay at this hotel, speak spanish.