TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My family and i just got back from Catalonia Bavaro. It was our first time in DR, and here is our honest opinion. The grounds- immaculate- always mending and taking care, beautiful and lush, there are beautiful ducks, and turtles swimming in the ponds that are around the grounds. Our room- we did not upgrade to "privledged" our room was extremely old, the bed was hard as a rock and so were the pillows. it was spacious though. we had king size bed with a single on the other side of the room for our son. There was a leak half way through as well coming from the AC i believe. The pool- beautiful pool, great for kids and adults, not a ton of entertainment, drinks were quick and there best part which i have never seen at a resort before.. there was no need to wake up early to put your towels down in order to get a chair.. lots and lots of available chairs around. that was so nice to see. The beach- stunning. The weather- perfect, HOT, some shower breaks, and then the sun comes right back out. The service- Not great. smile once in a while? The Casino- dont waste your time or money... The photography/ photographers- outstanding!! we did a family photoshoot in the gardens and beach, they turned out amazing. A La Cartes- we did Italian, and the Rodeo Steak House- both were great! Buffets- Average.. same stuff basically day after day, one thing that broke our hearts was there was not enough traditional Caribbean food! Tours- we did two. One "glass bottom boat" the boat was verrrry slow causing a lot of sea sickness for me (not everyone gets that) they said that we would go see the dolphins.. they did not explain what that meant.. what we quickly realized is that that they took us to go see captive dolphins.. LAME!!!! The snorkeling was pretty decent though. Two: we did the buggying tour- so "BD Experience" neglected to tell us that we would be drenched in mud and filth the entire time which my 7yo son did not appreciate very much. cloths, shoes and backpacks were ruined! the mud stained everything! They did not tell us that at all "how to prepare for the trip" also, we told him we wanted a tour that was 4 hours.. so he told us this was four hours to get a sale when in fact.. it was 6.5 hrs.. Nightly Shows- 7/10! pretty good! So as you can see, it was some good and some bad.. my family and i have a lot of resort stays under our belt and this was our honest opinion of Catalonia Bavaro

Great resort, great variety of restaurants within the hotel. Booking a restaurant is a must especially the Italian had a waiter called "Yeremi" very smart and friendly language barrier didn't discourage him food was piping hot an he always kept the drinks full. BRILLIANT service Yeremi will be coming again

The massages were very good, very relaxing and the staff is very nice. I got a massage from rosa and she looked after my wellbeing during the whole massage. I also have to mention that the massage was excellent. She used the right amount of strength to the massage so i could enjoy it.

First, I'd like to say that we did have a nice time. We were there for a family birthday and the people made it a good time. However, I will start by breaking down from start to finish. It is a large resort with many people moving in and out. 1. Trying to communicate directly with the hotel was almost impossible. What we later found out was that much if not all was through time shares through a companby called Apple Vacations out of Florida. I suggest if you do go, book the wjoel expereince through Airtransat or Sunwing. We couldn't becuase we were flying direct from Peru. I'd give it a 5 ot of 10. 2. Arrival. We did not have a shuttle and it was difficult to get a hold of them to ask for one but, it makes numerous stops anyway so we just ordered an Uber for 20 bucks and we were brought directly to the door step of the Resort in well maintained dodge minivan with AC. Check in for us was fairly smooth but there was no one else in line. We did notice multiple times throughout the week major line ups at check in and check out with minimal staff available. Uber 10 ou of 10. 3. Check in and Priviledged status. There are 3 levels at this time share resort. Regular, Privlidged and Exclusive. Based on what we experienced, there was very little difference between any of them. We were privlidged but still had an out dated room, no towels daily, waitied no longer than people with exclusive braclets for drinks and we still used thier beach. 8 out of 10. 4. The rooms. Our room was mediocre and on the second floor. It was old, falling apart, doors half worked, water pressure was very poor and had mold in almost anywhere there was grout. Poor ventilation, large spaces under the doors for salamanders and other things to creep. The beds were not so sturdy either, just saying. But the TV and the AC worked fine and our sheets were clean. Having said that, we were were there with 13 other people for my sisters 50th B day parrty and not everyone was as lucky as us. most of them had trouble with water, the doors locking, AC not working, lights malfunctioning, fridges not working, water not being hot in the shower, trouble getting clean towels and some friends on the bottom floor, Snakes. Not posionous but yes, somehow, during the night a black racer snake came under her door and it snuggled its way in to her shoe. Not cool when she found it. Worse, all of things were vrough up to management including the room for the birthday girl and none of them recieved another room, or any other compensation. Further, we and our group kept getting calls from time share owners asking if we were interested in thier time shares. I would give them 2 or 3 out of 10 5. Workers. The employees were great and freindly and appeared to be happy with thier work. 10 out of 10. 6. Food. The buffet was one of the better, cleaner buffets I have been to, including ship buffets. I would give 10 out of 10. The mid day buffets, 7 out of day only because of variety and the so called "24 hours snack bar" seemed non existent. 0 out 0f 10. 7. Al a cartes. If anyone has ever been to any all inclusive resort anywhere, its safe to safe the no matter what, the "italian" resaursant is never good. Nice servers, clean, food was sub par and smal portioned. Don't even waste your time. Better pasta at the buffet. 4 out of 10. The steakhouse was great. the portions were medium, but he steaks were cooked well and the minimal sides were decent. Servers were great and the place was clean.I personally would have gave it a 7 out of ten but 3 of the people with us got severly ill afterwards but they had the lobster dish, so... I did not get a chance tp eat at the Japanese al a carte but I was told it was a 6-7 out of ten. Small portions. and the Taoas place was booked solid every night. I was told it was great. There was also a coffe shop (air conditioned ) in a sort of Starbucks theme on the resort. It was nice and included. 8. The bars. The bars were well stocked, clean and wait staff friendly but all were very understaffed and caused very long waits. For that only I would give it a 7 out of 10 otherwise it would be a 10 for sure. 9. The pool. I think, exclusive people ahd thier own pool but never seen it. for everyone else (A LOT OF PEOPLE) , 1 pool. thats right, 1 pool. Can't be shut down for maintenance or ggod cleaning. It was always packed, it was somewhat dirty, lot sof bandiads floating around and people smoking in and on the side of the pool. There cigarette buts in the pool and on the deck. I wold give it a -10 out of +10. Disgusting. 10. The Beach. I have been to approx 12 All inclusives around the carribean. Worst beach by far. BUt not all because of the beach but also how its advertised. Trust me, who ever took the pictures of this place photoshoped the heck out of them or photographed a different beach. 80% of the beach from is very thick seaweed with out being able to touch the bottom. THe other 5% directly in front of that is sharp old coral bed. There is a very small area, directly in front of the Exclusive club beach that is clear of weeds but not clear of coral bed. But the beach was clean and there was a bar close by. We did se a fight on afternoon and I belive it was because an unvetted vendor walking the beach with a parrot tried to steal something but the client caught them. 11. Night life production. THe shows were great for familes, and adults and were enjoyable. Over all the website drastically over represents itself. I would never go back simply becuase there are hundreds of better places to go for the same money we put out for this place. At best, this resort is a 3 Star. Nothing better. It has poterntial but its nothing more than a low 3 Star. Save your money and somewhere cleaner, newer, smaller and with better hosptiality.

This is my worst experience in Catalonia Bavaro Beach Resort Punta Cana ever. First time in my life I had my money stolen. The staff overall is disrespectful, the food was hideous. 1) Early on the morning on the 3rd day of my "vacation" in this "4.5- star" hotel I noticed that cash, credit cards, and my driver license were missing from my wallet . Other than us only housekeeping and the person who dropped the beach towels have been to our room. I went to the reception and told them about the problem. The security manager and the customer service staff came to our room to write the report and take the pictures to investigate and to cover up the theft. I asked for the cameras, and to my surprise they declined. I asked them to file a complaint with the police. The police didn't speak English, so the only translator was from the hotel management. Almost 80 h later, I got a meeting with the management regarding the result from the investigation. The assistant manager was sarcastic (she continues says it's Dominican Republic ) all the time and didn't try to help. She tried to cover up the theft . 2) Room : Termite damaged doors, broken shower head, sliding door to patio has missing door handle 3) Service : The service was terrible, most of them don’t speak English at all, housekeeping steals your money 4) Food: The food is absolutely garbage! The food was awful with a poor selection of dishes PLEASE AVOID THIS HOTEL AT ALL COSTS! Not safe for families, not safe for children, pray you do not have an issue because no one will take it seriously.