Whala! Bavaro

First off, when you are checking in, the majority off the staff at the desk only speak broken English. This ended up going for all the Staff at the Resort. If you don’t speak Spanish, you are at a loss. I was at the resort for a week and I cannot tell you how many times I saw Guests using google translate to communicate with the staff. This to me is totally unacceptable. When we first arrived we had an issue with the TV which did not work and a toilet that was broken in the first room we were given. When we called the front desk to complain they yessed me to death. I waited an hour nobody came to our room. I then personally went to the front desk and demanded that something be done. I was assured someone was on the way. Well thirty minutes went and again I went to the desk and they finally sent someone to our room. They couldn’t fix the issues so they called the front desk and told them to change the room . The problem was they didn’t realize that I speak Spanish and they talked not too nivea put me. I interjected in Spanish to let them know I understood what was being said and they were not going to take advantage of me. Finally, we ended up missing New Years because of all this but they changed our room. The room was clean and acceptable. The TV powered off every 15 minutes which was ridiculous they could not explain nor fix this. Every night there was entertainment. I understand we are in The Dominican Republic but all 90% of the entertainment was in Spanish. There were a lot of different cultures there and there definitely should have been more English. The main buffet should have screens or covers on the food. The buffet is outside so there were ALWAYS flies on the food. This is totally disgusting and unacceptable as something could be done about this and it’s not. The board of health should see this The nightly snack was the same everyday for the week we were there. Cold hard steamed hamburgers with cold fries. They had fixxings to go with the burgers. We thought the food was horrible a lot having to do with the flies and bugs. Breakfast was the best meal. We also don’t under how a resort does not have diet soda. We ended up eating the majority of our meals out which was a unnecessary expense since this was an all inclusive resort. There are not enough chairs at the beach. You must put a towel on your chair by 9am if you want a chair Additionally you must leave a $10, deposit for beach towels that can only be changed 3 times a week. This also goes for the bedding and room towels I never went to a resort where bedding and towels are not changed daily. This is disgusting. You are only given one roll of toilet paper. I had to calll the desk two times for toilet paper. The room does not even have a box of tissues, a pen or paper. I went to the front desk and asked for a paper and pen and was told they don’t have any. they only had what they were writing with. These things are little but totally not acceptable. Out of five stars. I would only give them a one . When you are away it is nice to make friends with others nobody really cared to so this. All races stuck together which was pretty sad and unpleasant

I'm going to rate as I saw it for my vacation in January! Cleanliness: 4.7 out of 5 Service: 5 out of 5 Drinks and Food: 4 out of 5 Reception Help: 5 out of 5 Pools and amenities: 5 out of 5 Beach: 4.9 out of 5. This to me all adds up to a 5 star experience given the expectations I had/the hotel set, the price of the vacation altogether, and my other past experiences at hotels in Dominican republic.

Before I booked this hotel, I went through all the reviews and can honestly say that i had no doubt that this would be a great place to take my mum and sister for their first holiday in the Carribean. We wanted small, again due to this being the first time my mum and sister had travelled so far. Unsure where to start, I thought that it would be best to just list. 1) Recption - This is a small area, with only two hotel staff on at one time. Due to coach loads of people coing in at a time, we were standing waiting to check in for 35 minutes. On getting to the front desk, we asked if our rooms were together? They were not, even though this was something that was requested at the time of booking. This was not a problem for the manager and he arranged for us to be on the same floor, but not near each other. The hotel was not that busy and there were alot of spare rooms around (they keep all the garden and ocean views for upgrades) Out of the reception staff, the manager and one other staff member spoke good english. The other staff members had no understanding. When we checked out of the rooms, we left our bags in the reception safe area and was given tickets. When we got to 14.30 near our pick up time, we went to get our bags, only to find that they had let a taxi driver in to collect bags for another guest and he had taken our bag. The hotel did nothing to sort this out and thankfully another guest was on the phone to her friend who happened to have our bag and was just as panicked as we were. The hotel staff just looked at us blank and did not know what to do. There was no sorry or we understand, it was all down to the taxi driver for taking the wrong bag. However what we are saying is that if said bag was in their care, why are they allowing anyone in to the safe room to collect. 2) Hotel Room - I have to say the room was clean and tidy. The towels and sheets only get changed on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on one day we did not get any towels at all. On closer inspection, the bathroom was rather tired and cracks were in the floor. There was no plug in the sink. You are not allowed to flush toilet roll down and they provided a bin for this. The shower was only a drip, but on listening to other guests, we had a pretty good deal getting water at all. As already mentioned our view was very disapointing, we back on to a road that was used by builders and after a large rain fall we had a small pond over the road that did not go, leaving a really bad smell of drains and sewers. You need to pay $30.00 dollars for the safe, which you do not get back.(PLEASE PAY FOR THIS, WE HAD TO COUPLES LOOSE MONEY AND JEWELLERY WAS TAKEN. We had £20.00 taken from our room, but I did not feel that it was worth telling management, after the way the manager spoke to the guests mentioned) The room was cleand everyday and we had no issues with this. 3) The Beach - sand was not as described during booking, but it was a stunning beach never the less. You need to get to the beach early as it is rather small. You can get towels from reception, again you have to pay $10.00 each towel and you will get this back at the end of your stay but be prepared to pay the slotted amount. 4) Resturants - When we booked with TUI they told us that the hotel had four restaurants. When we got there, we were infomed that the SkyBar was not included, charging $7.50 for one drink. The Al a Carte menu was the same every day when we ate there the food was so cold that we had to send our food back. Once the food was served the pork was so fatty and tough to cut through, let alone try to eat, It was also very salty. The Beach bar and Midnight bar served uncooked burgers with chips that had been fried and left. This left us with the main restaurant, there wa a lot of variety. Occasionally the food was cold and did become samey over the two weeks. Please note that there are a lot of flies, this can not really be helped and the staff do try and make sure that the flies are swatted away. The staff were seperated into 3 groups (one to clear the tables, one to set the tables and then one serving drinks) this was for busy times, however the staff speak very little English and understanding of what we want etc. Edwin was an amazing waiter and ensured that we had everything we needed or wanted. 5. The Bar areas - Tiffinay was amazing, she remembered everything we wanted. Apart from Tiffinay, the other bar staff did not really have an idea as to what drink we were orderinging. The orange and lemon drinks do vary on each day from being so strong to very weak. Strong was not a problem as you can water this down with a local spirit. However they do run out of spirits by around three in the afternoon and you will have to go to another bar to get your drink. Also be aware that the milk for the coffee and some of the cocktails does split late afternoon time. 6. Pool areas - There are five pools, one by the Sky bar (we did not use this pool due to the charge for drinks and food. The downstairs pool area (we did not use this, the pool was always very cloudy and even though it was only 4ft 3 deep, we did expect to see the bottom. Main pool, was clean and easily accessable, the only issue was the drains. During the afternoon the smell because of the toilets being so close, but this is not really a problem that is down to the hotel. The Pool by reception is by far the better looking pool, the water was always sparkerling and inviting, be aware that this is inbetween the resturant and the main lobby, so it can be very noisy at times. Also the sun moves around the Hotel and this area becomes very shady very quick. Hence why we stayed at the main pool area. The last pool is right around by Ala Carte resturant, It was alway very quite when we went there, but also ver shaded. The pools had a strange taste of salt in them, very sulpher like if i am honest and also it stung your eyes after a while. I dont want to say they were dirty as every night we seen someone cleaning the pool areas. 7) Staff - There were a couple of staff members that we have mentioned that would do everything to ensure your stay was good and relaxed. I have to say that even though we were told horror stories about the manager, he always spoke to us with resepect and bent over backwards for us. This also goes for the other guest service gentleman on the desk (can not remember his name, but had very good english and was on the desk most days) The waiting staff (apart from Edwin) were very hit and miss. They do not understand that "exscuse me" will go along way when they are clearing plates etc, or bringing in the new plates etc. They make sure that they barge past you, be this when you are sitting down or holding plates etc. The Manager of the Resturant had good and bad days. One day the resturant was cut in two with one area being closed off, there was no where to sit and we asked one server if we could go in the other half. She shouted no at us in a very agressive manor, that i went to the Manager and asked him if we could be seated. He put us in the closed half and everyone in the resturant could hear her as she shouted the odds to other staff members and gave us a bad service for that meal. However on other days he was very rude, shouting and wafting his arms at everyone, and with the head waitress, you were lucky if we got smiles from them or a welcome over the two weeks we were there. I, as well as my family and other guests that we spoke with, feel that we were a hinderance to them. This i have to add was how we were treated when we left a tip and also when we did not. By the end of the first week we were not happy to be treated in this way by giving tips so we stopped all together. Apart from Tiffinay and Edwin. The security guards on the other hand, were the most helpfull and friendly people on the complex. Nothing was ever to much hassle, they carried suitcases, they helpped my mum up and down stairs, they watched out for our tour buses when we were sat in reception waiting, helped my mum on and off coaches and were always there with a smile and a hello. 8) Security - As already mentioned, they were great. Mum was a little un-nerved when she seen they had a gun and cuffs, but when we explained that this was normal she did relax. The whole complex felt safe and even though you had to cross the main road to get to the Hotel on the beach, you felt safe. Even though it is a private beach, other people from other hotels can access this. So at night there was always a security guard on the entrance to the beach hotel, one by the beach bar, one by the main road and then one in the lobby. Coud not fault them. 9) Entertainment - There was none!!! the evening entertainment consisted off a childrens disco with Mini mouse and Spiderman. That was all there was. I think we seen the entertainment team walking around in the day once. There was a Micheal Jackson tribute on one night at 20.30, so at 20.15 we made our way to the stage, only to be told he came on at 20.00 and was finished. That was the entertainment for the night. I hate to say this, but it was the worst entertainment programme that we have ever had on a carrabien holiday 10) Complex - Over all, the way the complex is laid out is great, lots of different areas and pools with the bars is very inviting, If one area is to loud, you can always find somewhere to move to. The complex was always being cleaned and as mentioned there was always security on site. The one thing i will mention though, there is not really anywhere to sit on an evening if it is raining. There is the main lobby, but hardly any chairs, and then there is a small area that they have 4 bar tables and 4 chairs around.