Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe - All Inclusive

Beautiful Hotel. Food was generally bad. Most staff are helpful, but everything takes a long time. They really have a problem checking people in under 45 minutes to an hour unless you are in VIP. You won't find a much nicer-looking resort, however. No one in our group of six won really anything at the casino (lost a lot). I never saw anyone win a single pull on a slot machine. If you are looking for something to do at night, then you will be out of luck besides the casino. The "disco" is sort of a club, but you'll be over it in ten minutes. There are no real "bars." Two major upgrades necessary for this resort to elevate itself to an elite resort are improvements to the food and the nighttime entertainment.

Barcelo was average for the most part. There were mosquitoes everywhere and even a huge waterbug/cockroach in our room the second night. They only switched our room when I informed them that I would not go back to the room. We stayed in the ocean view rooms and the room was pretty far from the beach. Food did not seem fresh and the buffet did not have much variety. The jacuzzi was on the balcony, which was awesome and the bed was comfortable. Lastly, in the airport I signed up to visit the Hard Rock Resort and Casino for a presentation of their vacation club. They provided round trip transportation to/from our hotel, a day pass at the resort +back massages and access to all the hydrotherapy areas in the spa. We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant (delicious), played our promotional cash provided by the resort and won $400. I will definitely stay at the Hard Rock next time.

We were most disappointed with our hotel room. While the room itself was beautiful, nice and clean, we did not get the view we paid for. Our "ocean front" room sat in front of a large pool, then there were cabanas and on the OTHER side of the cabanas, the beach started. We could hardly see water or sand. As we met other couples, we learned this was a common theme between all of us. The rooms we paid for, and thus planned on getting, were not at all what we actually got. The food was mediocre. This is also not a true all inclusive. There are food and drink restrictions depending on what you bought. For example, another couple we got to know were there for 10 nights however got 6 dinner tickets. That means for 4 other nights, they were expected to eat the horrendous buffet. There was no liquor served at dinner. There were also no waitresses outside to come and give us a drink at the pool. The bars were poorly staffed and at times took forever to get a drink. Overall, the beach was great, the weather was good, the excursions were good, except I would not stay at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe again.

The hotel is beautiful. The staff is not as helpful as I have seen at other resorts. The restaurants are no good. The Mexican restaurant was terrible. The food was inedible. The buffets are not too bad.

Pros: - the resort is beautiful - the rooms are modern (but a bit run-down) - the food is fine - excellent activities for kids (water park, kids club, playground, arts+crafts, etc...) - the beach is great - the pool is nice - 20 minutes drive from the airport Cons: - service is lacking on many levels - spa is beautiful, but the service is not worth the $$$$, also make sure that you get the full treatment (mine was cut by 30 minutes and the clock in the service room was set to +30 minutes...I wonder if it was an honest mistake) - the room was never really clean, the floors were not swept and the room was never dusted

poor staff, and rude. would definitely not go back like a factory

While the hotel is very beautiful and well maintained in terms of appearance, with modern spacy rooms, big halls, pools, etc., it does not provide the enjoyable vacation one hopes to have. The main issue is that there seems to be shortage of stuff, so one has to wait forever for anything, from high chair to cup of coffee. What's worse, most of the stuff is not friendly; we had many small annoying experiences throughout our trip. We didn't like the food in the buffet, the two places we did like were Italian and French restaurants. Overall, we wouldn't recommend this place; almost any other resort we have been to provides better value.

I stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro Resort in Punta Cana from 12/23- 12/26. The facilities were wonderful however I was planning a stress free holiday which ended up not being the case. It started with the 3 1/2 hour check-in. I am aware of your check-in time of 3p.m. but this still did not happen. I continued to ask for help and the staff seemed to forget who I was every time and lie regarding when the room would be ready. Around 4p.m. I went to a desk personally and asked to get our room and they explained I was in the wrong line. I then backed away and the person behind me asked the same question and got their room. I was very frustrated and at this point one of your staff members came up to me and said, "You look upset, I will help you if you help me." This was the worst check-in I have ever experienced. At this point, I just wanted to go home. When I finally got a hold of costumer service they explained the manager would call our room, which never happened and they always seemed to be out or in a meeting. I then proceeded to make reservations for dinner that night and was informed that there were no openings. The reservationist also messed up my requests and signed me up for two restaurants on the same night and one night I didn't have a reservation I originally thought I booked. When I arrived in our room I realized the T.V. was not working correctly. I requested assistance everyday and did not get any help until our last night. I also requested towels and it took me asking 3 different times until I finally got them. I ordered a birthday cake to be sent to the room in the morning and it arrived at 7 at night. Poor Customer service was a huge issue for me at your resort. This hotel has the potential to be great but I would say it had 5 star facility with 3 star customer service. Unfortunately, everyone we talked to on this trip felt the same way. The relaxing holiday that I was hoping for ended up being stressful. I always felt like I was on watch thinking someone one was trying to take advantage of me. It is just sad that as much as I complained at the resort, I felt like they wanted to brush me off because I would be leaving soon.

This resort is simply beautiful. Don't judge a book by it's cover. I upgraded to Premium. Upon arrival, it took approx. 3 hrs to get a room. The staff were too busy on their cell phones to clean the rooms on time. The food was atrocious. You're better off using the all inclusive room service. The only decent restaurant was the Mexican location and only because the manager was very involved with staff and served plates when he needed to step in. The seafood restaurant was absolutely horrible and the lobster was dirty and void of taste. The grounds and ground staff were an asset but management needs to be changed quickly or this resort will continue to lose business. It's unfortunate because the ocean view room was spectacular. Should be the best resort on the island but falls way short.

THE TRIP WAS OK, AT BEST. THE FOOD WAS GOOD, BUT NOTHING TO SNACK ON DURING THE DAY...THE STAFF NO COMPRENDE, OR AT LEAST SAID SO...ON THE LAST DAY (THANK GOODNESS) WE FOUND 2 ROACHES IN OUR ROOM. BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS AND LANDSCAPING RIGHT ON THE OCEAN