TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We originally booked with Catalonia Golf and Casino. Upon arrival it appeared they were over booked and could not give us what we had requested. The front desk tricked us on saying they could send us to a better resort. The only thing better was the beach and water, that's it. We paid for privilege but didn't get what we should have been entitled too. The desk at Catalonia Bayahibe were no better. Hardly smiled and showed no willingness to help our stay. Also majority of the time the food was cold even in the al acarts. Would we return NO, would we recommend NO.

Currently here (Feb 21/25). Pros - This is a very nice hotel with beautiful grounds. The beach is soft sand & it’s easy to walk into water. No water shoes unless your near the pier where there are lots of coral & rocks. - rooms are a nice size & in good state. - Entertainers & shows are great to see especially if your with family. - all our food experiences have been fine. Yes buffet is repetitive but that is what a buffet is about & pickier food eaters. Cons - we as 2 travellers chose the wrong resort. This is all about Spanish travellers & big families traveling together. Good for these families. Not great for romance lol. - we are English speaking travellers & try our best over the years to communicate in Spanish. This is a whole different vibe here. - staff will serve Spanish speaking people before us. Staff walk right by us to serve others. We are dumbfounded on the attitude. We have travelled before so we are not imagining this. We make a joke now as we walk by people & say hi (staff & guests) to everyone. - moving on to the Privilege bracelets. Save your money. No real difference on beach space/bar items/restaurant reservations. There is also no beach service. The real perks are if you are with the timeshare vacation company that they push for you to join. I’ve been to Puna Cana, Puerto Plata and Samana hotels. I now understand when others have mentioned about the lack of friendliness from staff. I’ll give it a couple more days & hope that if I keep annoying people by saying hi that I might cox a smile out of someone on vacation. Lol If your a family thinking of coming please do. This resort bends over backwards for families. Sorry there is no water slide here. Just my thoughts after a couple of days. Happy travels

What I liked: I liked the rooms with balcony (I had privileged booking) , I loved the night entertainment, there would be dancing contest, mini disco for kids. some nights just music for dancing until 2 am . You wont be bored here at night I loved the beach area. There are so many beach umbrellas this was our best experience since we have a 3 year old and he cant be playing all day under the sun. The beach itself is stunning, I think its one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to . We had a great stay in general except for food What I did not like. Food is not good, not even common just bad I kept getting heartburn as soon as I finished eating, specially pasta and pizza. ( I never before had heartburn) . Having to reserve the restaurant 2 days in advance is a pain specially if you just arrived. Even when you try to reserve normally you would only find the 6 pm slot available. There's only 4 restaurants and you cant repeat any so if you eat in all then go to the buffet . Restaurants close at 10 pm ,early for south American's, although its not that bad since your mostly tired from a long beach day when we would go by the restaurants there not even full so I dont understand why not juts remove reservations and why not just let you go to what ever restaurant you want . Privilege specific. I would not choose privilege option again . I did not feel privileged there's no beer aside from president. My couple only drinks beer so he was not happy at all. Not even in the "privileged" bar. Also no premium drinks like Bombay gin and such so if your thinking of this option, don't. Just go regular room you get the same services . There's also now a higher ranking of guest "the exclusive membership club" so basically your just regular guest that paid much more to get an exclusive lunch restaurant that has veryyyyy bad food. (the grill I think is called) Dont go priviledge.

We were at a buffet called Taino, It was my little sisters birthday and we asked out waiter to do a celebration. It was an amazing music celebration and we would go there again DEFINITELY!!! AMAZING EXPERIENCE THE WAITERS WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND!!

Great resort. Esspacialy the bartender in Terrace Ismael. The best espresso in the morning and the Finest cocktails in the afternoon. Also his colleque Lisette is great!!! The Food in all restaurants is very nice. Beautyfull setting on the Beach. A nice gym, comfortable rooms and great staff al around