Avoid this hotel at all costs

Travelling MD Nov 8, 2009

Very dirty.Basses at breakfast had a nauseating egg smell.To our complains no one bothered.Asked to see the director,no one ... came even though we were assured that they will.Staff unfriendly.When ask for a glass of water ,the answer was always:get it your self"The food was a joke.On a supposedly"French day" only the cheese and the...flag were French,the food dominican.Last but not least we were robbed,bacause they didn't honor our reservation,saying that we clicked 1 guest,instead of 2.When we protested that the price was the same for 1 or 2 guests,since it was per room,not per guest,they forced us to pay again for same reservation,even more money.My emails to hotel asking for at least a credit to another Barcelo hotel went ananswered.Conclusion.Avoid this dump at any cost

Very nice place

Bostonian Nov 6, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

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Barcelo Dominican Beach

Jonathan Nov 4, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The first night we didn't have hot water, that problem was fixed for the rest of our trip. At times it was difficult to get ... service at the swim up bar even though it wasn't very busy. The food was great, a few of the servers at the buffets, cafe, and the activities staff were awesome.

Our bad experince !

Maya Oct 30, 2009

Me and my boyfriend went on a vacation there at the end of September. At first everything seemed just fine, the staff was ... very friendly (even though a big part of them refused to speak English), the beach was big and clean, the complex itself was big and nice. Then on the third day the air conditioner suddenly stopped working, it was still cool in the room, but the floor and the walls were constantly covered with water. After we complained to the staff they simply told us that there is no more freon in the AC system...So we spent the rest of the holiday mopping the floor with the bathroom towels. Also, during the whole stay we had NO hot water in the shower, and sometimes we had to wait for like 30 min for water bearable enough so that a person could take a shower. When we called the reception and let them know that there's not hot water the answer we got was "don't worry it's the whole hotel, it's not just your room".The electicity stopped a few times. The food in the main restaurant was nothing special, so that we decided to make reservations for the other restaurants which offered international kitchen, and to be honest had a great service and looked great. Unfortunately the result from that was my boyfriend's food poisoning, which led him to 2 weeks of water and pretzels diet, and several doctor's appointments. Also there was nothing to do in the complex except from going to the beach and eat at the restaurants..... In general i can advice people to avoid this hotel !

barcelo dominican beach review

renata89 Sep 12, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The best part of the hotel was the beach. The water was warm and clear. The beach was a little dirty but not terrible. ... There was lots of shady spots too. Some women were topless, even though that was not a topless beach. The hotel room was average. The beds were lumpy and not very comfortable. It had a moldy smell too. The food in the buffet was ok. The restaurants had better food than the buffet. They have to be reserved ahead of time, but that wasn't a problem. The best restaurant was the japanesse. The Italian and the spanish were also very good. The worst one was the brazilian. The food was overcooked and not good. They also don't provide you with stake knives (even when they serve steak). There were a lot of bars and the service at the bars was good. They also had a coffee bar which was excellent.

BEAUTIFUL BEACHES

CAPTAIN BLY Sep 12, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

.SWIM UP BAR WAS GREAT AS WELL AS BEACH SIDE BAR. FREE SHOWS AT NIGHT WERE GREAT, AUDIENCE WAS GREATLY ENCOURAGED TO ... PARTICIPATE ON STAGE, LOTS OF FUN. DANCE INSTRUCTIONS ON BEACH AS WELL AS VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL, AND PLAY AREA FOR CHILDREN.MASSAGES WERE WELL WORTH $25 U.S. DOLLARS.CHECK OUT LITTLE FLEA MARKET AREAS ON OUTER EDGE OF RESORT AREA AND HONE YOUR BARGAINING SKLLS!

Beautiful Beach vacation

C.B. world travler Sep 8, 2009

Likes: Great beach, plenty to do at the resort during the day and friendly staff. Dislikes: No T.v. remote in the rooms, ... poor food selection, bar service and drinks and the staff was hard to communicate with.

Great Vacation

Jess Sep 7, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

My experience was great. We had an amazing time. We went in September so there was not too many people. The food was good but ... if you are not accustomed to it you may have a hard time with it. The staff was not always friendly but many of them were. I was part of the elite club and had the honeymoon suite so I would not really know how the experience would differe for someone who had the regular standard room. In all I do recommend the hotel, especially the honeymoon suite.

fantastic family getaway

borroto Aug 25, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

very good ...

Its good to speak Spanish!

Bill Aug 18, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The beach and pools are very nice. The staff is unfriendly unless you speak Spanish. You have to make reservations to eat ... at the restaurants otherwise you're stuck with the buffet, even if they have 20 open tables in the restaurants. The buffet is open air and very humid during every meal, the restaurants have great food and are air conditioned. We stayed in the honeymoon suite even through it wasn't our honeymoon, I recommend the upgrade, the beachside room was fantastic.

Honeymooners

Cb Slider Aug 17, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We went to the pools and we went parasailing. We also hung out in our honeymoon suite for a day. It would have been nice if ... there were more extra activities that the hotel offered that were complimentary. This was one of the best trips we have ever taken.

What I expected...But....

Wondergrrl Aug 16, 2009

We went to the Barcelo for a week long girls trip. We brought a million books to read, with primarily that goal in mind, and ... headed off to the beach each day. We loved that part. The part we didn't love - the massive amount of flirtatious/dirty comments from the waitstaff and groundskeepers (i.e. kissing our cheeks and drinking from our glasses), the same food every day, the overwhelming heat in most of the reservation restaurants (people were sweating buckets as we ate - not appetizing!), the TERRIBLE gym with only non-working, rusted-over equipment (2 of us are avid gym rats) that wasn't even suitable for a full workout (we didn't go to the gym after the first attempt). If you're going for the beach, it's absolutely beautiful. But as so many people mention about this hotel, do not go for the food, the shows, the drinks, etc. It's got to be solely for the view and the beauty of a great beach. We were pleased as punch to sit on the beach and read, but after about 3 days of that, we felt like we were in prison, eating the same food and doing the same routine. We didn't leave the property because we were traveling alone as women and didn't feel it safe. However, I'm sure if you did some excursions and changed things up that way, you may have a different experience. Overall, I wouldn't go again, but I do feel like I got my money's worth. If that makes sense.

An honest mixed review

Stuart & Crickett Elderd Aug 9, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

First, the bad...our room, 9316, was a little run down, should be redone. We didn't expect 5-star accomodations so as long ... as it was clean, it was acceptable. Beds sagged a little, but were ok. Shower curtain had a little mold(it's very humid there) but we talked to our Orbitz rep at the resort and he had it replaced within 24 hours. Our biggest concern was finding a few "bugs" in the bathroom...looked like roaches but didn't scamper around. Considering where we were, we weren't sure. We again talked to James, our rep. We didn't get upset but just mentioned the bugs. The next day, there was a notice slipped under the door that the building was to be fumigated within the next 24 hrs. Since we were leaving that day, we just went with the flow.The swim-up bar was off-putting as it seemed to always be filled with kids whose parents were also hanging out there. The sports bar was also filled with kids playing pool. Don't expect to get to use these.Daily activities and the beach itself is shut down at 6:00pm. You can still wander to the beach but after 6:00, there's nothing to do but drink until the show starts around 9:00pm.We found the staff to be extremely helpful and nice. [...], at Time-out and [...] at the buffet became a couple of our favorites. The beach itself is beautiful. The buffet had a lot of variety to choose from so we didn't bother with the specialty restaurants. The shows at night were very good. The staff works very hard at their job and don't be put off by the slow start! Stick it out and you'll be glad you did!All in all, it was a nice relaxing vacation. If you like to get dirty, you must do the dune buggy excursion!

You get what you paid for

Summergirl464 Aug 9, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Our stay at the hotel had some ups and some downs. Pros included good food at all restaurants (although beware that there is ... nowhere to eat between 3:00pm and 6:00pm besides the snack bar which is sub par), beautiful beach, and a multitude of activities to partake in. Cons included poor customer service, a generally unfriendly staff, and the cleanliness of the rooms and one large pool. If you decide to use the internet center, beware! The woman who works there is incredibly rude and they overcharge you. When my boyfriend and I were struggling to get the computer to log online, she stomped over to us and yelled in my face. Furthermore, the sign on the window says that you can log onto the internet for 15 minutes for $2; however, they rope you into signing three receipts (without telling you why you're signing 3 times) and charge your room 3 times the amount you should be charged for. A few bartenders are unenthusiastic and rude. We went up to a couple of the bars to order drinks and were ignored for 5 minutes while other guests who came after us were served. There is one great bartender at the sports bar and another named [...] at one of the pool bars who made our stay much more enjoyable. Cleanliness of the rooms was so-so. We had tiny bugs crawling all over our bathroom vanity almost every day. We think they were coming from the sink drain. They ended up fumigating the entire hotel and after that point, we didn't have any other problems. A/C stopped working in our room one day, but they came to fix it within 30 minutes. Another cleanliness issue included the large swimming pool with the swim-up bar. Didn't enter the pool once because of its odd green color. On our last day there, a pipe broke in that pool and it ended up turning brown. Not too pleasant. If the same situation arises for you, stick to the two other, clean, blue pools. Not too many people at those pools either, which is nice. Beach is gorgeous. Plenty of activities (parasailing and snorkeling were great). Look for "Joe, King of the Beach" on the beach to book those trips for cheap! You can bargain down their prices a great deal. We ended up bargaining both of those activities down from $200 per couple to $100 per couple. Bring towels if you don't want to deal with the towel stand. Often times you had to wait a few hours to get towels for the pool/beach. Overall, despite all of the inconveniences, we had a great time. It's hard to complain when your in a gorgeous, tropical, all-inclusive setting. Just remember that you get what you pay for. We got a great deal on this hotel for a week and so i guess we couldn't really expect more from it.

Barcelo Dom Rep 14 day all inclusive

melaaromi Aug 6, 2009

First of all, there was miscommunication between Orbitz and the hotel, they did not know that we were 4 persons checking in- ... and this at 10:00 PM...no room was available other than one room (oceanview), but with only one bed; it took the staff over 21/2 hours to get a small bed ( two matresses on top of each other!) into the room. The room was however of good size to live in for 14 days. The bedcushions were stinky from all the moisture, it took several attempts to get them changed out. The shower door was broken and was not fixed correctly, leading to quite some water leakings on the bathroom floor... The resort itself is conveniently located at Bavaro, a small town. Due to security reasons, it is not recommended to leave the resort by yourself, which leaves a bad taste. The main pool had two free floating pool lights that nobody cared about. The beach was nice, but as soon as you hit the water, there was trash underneath the water: empty plastic cups, plastic bags, even worse: broken glass of all kind! Left and right of the resort, Dom rep citizen cornered us multiple times in order to get us to buy their items, which was annoying. Further, see the following: Renova Spa Package - Dominican Republic Orbitz A&S record locator: 5G6T61 Date: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 Option: Balance Energy Spa Package Quantity: 1 Cost: $79.00 More details Punta Cana Roundtrip Ground Transportation Orbitz A&S record locator: 1DC6T7 Date: Option: To/From Bavaro or Punta Cana Hotels Quantity: 4 Cost: $114.00 I booked these items with an Orbitz agent- the transpo voucher is too expensive, normal one way prize for a cab is US $33! Second, the SPA package was at another hotel, which was not communicated to me upon reservation- we had to take a cab to get there, plus Orbitz was unwilling to cancel it when i called them from the Caribic...

not recommended

mamam Aug 5, 2009

Not so happy with services and drinks.,bevarages and alcool drins was warm all the time.not a very friendly ... staff.Entertaimets was so good either.

Very honest hotel

Bambina Aug 4, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

This hotel is a good average one for Punta Cana. It is not the most astonishing one, but for the low price you pay you could ... not expect better. The personnel is either very nice or indifferent, the site is clean, as well as the room, a little small to my taste but as I dont go to Punta Cana to stay in the room, I did not care. The food is also very honest, the same you would get from a buffet here in Montreal. There is not much shade at the beach, but there is plenty of parasol at the pool.

very pleased -

three amigos Aug 4, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We really enjoy our stay at this place, we felt safe and very confortable. The staff are very friendly and polite. The drinks ... are superb, and of course, it helped to speak spanish.

bad experience

bonie Aug 2, 2009

My visit in Dominican republic wasn't that great. The food were tasteless you can see karotches around the bread baskets ... after two days my family and i got very with dairreah for the intire vacation,the beach apool wasn.t clean at all .Two yaers ago we were in Mexcico we had no negative to say about Mexcico

BEWARE!!!! SICKNESS WILL OCCUR!

Vacationing just for fun! Jul 26, 2009

BEWARE! This resort is one of the worst! I was alone in a room because my roommate had a last minute emergency and although ... my friends and I (10+group) requested rooms close by weeks prior, mine was blocks away. When requested to have my room switched, the Staff told me they would accommodate me, but it was about 9 hours later (this is not the way you want to start your vacation)! The food WILL 100% make you sick. When I got home, I had to take an extra week off from work and spent it in bed and in the bathroom because I was so sick, and to top it off, I was extremely cautious what I ate on vacation. Every one I spoke to had the runs. The rooms are dirty (bed bugs, blood on the sheets, leaking vents over the toilet bowl, dirty towels, etc). The lock on the balcony door didn't work. If you're a woman walking alone, be prepared to get hit on by the Staff  it gets very irritating after dealing with it for a few days. Steer clear of their frozen drinks; they are more like an indescribable nauseating liquid with ice (not frozen at all). The pool was nice, but god only knows how much of the water was pee and never once did I see someone cleaning it. If you don't speak Spanish, be prepared to not be able to communicate with ANY of the staff. NO ONE spoke English and it was extremely difficult to communicate (granted you're in Mexico, but it's a resort and they should be able to accommodate guests). My phone stopped working the second day and after repeatedly calling several times a day and being told someone would be by to fix it, I never had it fixed. I found a bug in my food in the indoor buffet (disgusting). The club was fun, but once it closed (around 2 AM), the only place open was the snack bar, which did not have a great selection of food (wings and fries) and its outdoors with about 4 tables. Best advice I can give you, DO NOT go to this resort! *If in Punta Cana, make sure to go to club Imagine. It's a cave, turned into a night club. But ladies, beware, it's a cave and the floor is uneven and it can be difficult to dance on with stilettos. Overall, I made the best of my trip because there was nothing I could do but try to enjoy it. Take the advice and steer clear of this resort is you want to have less stress, headaches, sickness, and problems when your on vacation.