Catalonia Royal Bavaro

Lovely resort at the side of a bigger family-friendly resort, so if you choose to venture over there you'll see families and a lot of children. The families are not allowed into the adult-only side. Quite a small resort but not too small. Small selection of resultants. The pizza, Thai and main restaurant are all excellent though and if you do want more choice you can head to the family side for an American Steakhouse (average) and others. We did have an issue with hot water whilst we were there - for the first 6 days of our 2 week holiday we only had cold water which was annoying as we couldn't make good use of the jacuzzi bath in the room. It was apparently a resort-wide issue and we did witness other guests "kicking off" about it. It did get solved partially and it really didn't ruin our holiday but I can understand why others were so irate about it. The pool nearest the lobby building was often loud during the day with lots of American and Canadian tourists so we sat there when we were in the mood for day drinking and party vibes and down by the pool at the beach when we were looking for a more relaxing day. The beach is lovely, the beach bar too. Fresh sushi served daily. Great cocktails, and they'll even make cocktails that are not on the menu. Dominican, in our experience, is a brilliant place to visit if you cant quite afford a trip to Mexico - its got everything you'd look for in 5* all inclusive but it inst *quite* as polished as a Mexico holiday. If you're looking to spend a little less but still have an amazing time, this is the place for you. We'd go back.

Me and my partner stayed here from 05th September to 12th September 2019. We stayed in apartment 4020. Upon arrival we were greeted by staff who took our luggage straight away on a cart and brought us welcome drinks, which was lovely – I haven’t ever had that before. We checked in with Jennifer who was very comprehensive and gave us 2 maps of the resort (as we were Royal guests which entitled us to access to the adults only part of the resort as well). We were escorted to our room by a buggy with our luggage. Upon first impressions of our room, a little dated but clean and tidy. All fully equipped with iron and ironing board, mini bar, wash gel and shower gel etc. We unpacked and headed for some food. We used the buffet for the first meal (due to arriving late) which was okay. Lots of choice for food. This was really good. Waiters/Waitresses always on top of filling water glasses up and ask if you required any other drink. I opted for a cocktail which was really good. Beach: Very beautiful, clean and well kept. The beach is idyllic with plenty of sunbeds and palm trees for shade. There is a Crepe bar on the beach which was great. Lots of water sports to take part in (some which were included within the all inclusive price). The only down side is that we did get a lot of men and women trying to sell us massages, shells and asking to braid my hair a lot. This was a little frustrating so just beware of this. Pool/s: We spent a lot of the time in the main pool but did visit two others on the resort. The main pool was really nice, could’ve done with a little clean mind – but all good. This was situated by a pool bar, which opened at 10:00am. This was good but was a little wait some days for drinks. They also didn’t do anything bottled, all in small plastic glasses. You are able to get towels from the beach shack (with cards they give you when you check in) to use round this pool and on the beach (situated a walk away). The smaller pool (near margarita’s bar) was only for royal guests I believe. This pool was quieter and adults only. This was a nice pool and was a lot cleaner. The only down side was that there were works going on around the pool, so this was noisy but didn’t really bother us. The infinity pool (which is near the fountains and only available for royal guests) was fabulous. This was situated near the Sea Blue restaurant. This is defiantly worth it and again is adults only. These have beds near the pool area, which enables you to fully relax which was bliss. The only downside to all of the pools we would say is that they only have a set menu for drinks, these are all frozen drinks and can be very sickly (even with the alcohol!). This is again the same menu throughout the restaurants too. The resort is huge and is very well kept. The wildlife (turtles, birds, flamingo) makes the resort a really special, natural place. The hotel is very clean and the workers are always maintaining the site. Casino: We went to the on site casino a few times, this was great fun! We were given a free 5USD token per person each time. You do have to match this though to enable you to play. The staff are friendly, however could come across as looking quite bored at times? The casino also is an available smoking area inside. Therefore, for non smokers like us, this wasn’t to pleasant. Especially with the heat and hardly any aircon! Things to do, in and around the resort: We hired a canoe for free, which was very fun. We were given full reign of how long we would like to keep it for etc. We didn’t go out of the resort much as we booked this purely to experience a full all inclusive for the first time. We did go on a trip to Saimoa island via a boat, this was incredible. We booked this through the company at the resort for 90USD per person. This was a whole day, pick up at 8:00am and we arrived back at about 5:30am. We were given free waterproof phone cases and hats! The bus picks you up from the resort and takes you to another bus, which then transports you to where you get the boat. A long day but well worth it! – Drinks and lunch also included! Service and upkeep of room: The room upkeep was good. Fresh towels in the room every day (optional) and also bed changed and made every day. The mini bar was usually replenished. Coffee machine, sugar usually replenished but no milk. The service was good and maids would always speak. However, we did book late check out until 1:00pm and stayed in the room to freshen up until this time. We must have been walked in on by maids around 4 times asking us if they can clean our room for check out. We had to keep advising them no, we have late check out. In the end, we had to put the chain on the door to make sure they stopped walking in – not good! Room service was also an option and was also included. This is described as 24hour room service. At around 3:00pm we ordered a club sandwich. I called the line again to chase this as it was now around 3:50pm. I was asked ‘oh you haven’t got this’. I replied and advised ‘no, I hadn’t’. We both fell asleep in the room until 8:00pm and no club sandwich had been delivered – this was really disappointing! We didn’t complain but went for dinner instead. However, I did feel that this let them down as a 5* resort, I don’t expect this. A few days later, we tried room service again. This time ordering a club sandwich and also a pizza. 50 mins later, we had received the room service BUT NO CLUB SANDWICH! We both had to share the pizza as we were told another order had to be put through for the sandwich, which would’ve taken another 50 mins. We didn’t bother and the guy didn’t really seem apologetic, which again was really sad and we couldn’t believe that this had happened a second time. After this, we gave up with room service. Restaurants: We ate at most of the restaurants. The best ones being Sea Blue and Rodeo. Both from a set menu (3 course) which was great and nice to come away from the buffet style. The food was fantastic and steaks cooked to perfection. All clean, staff very attentive and a great choice of food! I love the fact there are different eateries which enables an all inclusive resort, not feel all inclusive! (which is great!! – not samey) Weather in Punta Cana – September 2019 We expected rain a lot but were pleasantly surprised. It rained on our first morning for 10 mins and also in the evening once but that was it. Once it had rained, it cleared the air and became even hotter. We were very lucky with the weather! Special names of staff which made our stay memorable: We received great service from all the staff (most of the time) but would like to point out Angel (Margarita’s pool bar). Very happy chap with a sense of humour. Great hospitality and service, so thank you. Also, Santa, again Margarita’s pool bar for great service and always smiling. Overall, the resort is great but room for a few improvements. I would go back but would be hoping they would just tighten up on a few things. Thank you for a pleasant stay!