Catalonia Bavaro Beach Resort Reviews

The hotel itself was lovely, surrounded by beautiful gardens and the rooms were superb. BUT, unfortunatly the entertainment was so loud in the evening you could not escape it as there is no quiet area to have a drink so you have to communicate by shouting at each other. And there is nothing worse than trying to enjoy your evening meal and shouting to each other over the noise of the okey kokey from the kids disco. The sea was very dissapointing as it is full of sea grass, not the beatiful looking seas that the pictures shown in the books. Some of the staff would fall over backwards to help you but the majority of them couldn't even crack a smile. The hotel is totally dominated by Spanish and everything is catered for them as everything is in Spanish including all the activities and entertainment. Dutch, Russian and English made up 10% of the guests whilst the rest were Spanish and they are so very rude, arrogant, loud and disgusting. The hotel buildings and grounds are beautiful but the entertainment and staff side of it needs a damn good shake up.

The Hotel staff were all very efficient and friendly. Room was not ready on arrival but small bottle of Rum and Bowl of fruit in awaiting us so that was very pleasant. Themed resterants were not really up to scratch. Japanese was just really a stir fry and the same menu on two visits, Mexican was quite stoggy, Italian was acceptable, and the Steak House was very good. Some of the entertainment around the pool was quite unacceptable in the afternoon. The animacion staff encouraging bathers to join in dancing around resembling lap dancers, demonstrating lewd movements by the poolside and then stripping off your bikini top was a bit more Spanish 18-20's than Caribean class!! We played the Golf course and it was lovely, very scenic.

We had to choose this holiday at very short notice as our intended newly-built hotel in Greece failed to open on time. First Choice upgraded us to the Dominican Republic, but we were very nervous after reading some mixed reviews. There was no need - it was a lovely place.

The hotel looks very impressive with a beautiful and spacious lobby. The pool is magnificent - stunning scenery and never seemed packed, mainly because it is huge and has large palm trees in the centre. You have to claim your sun loungers under shade fairly early, but there are always some loungers available, though not necessarily shaded.

Food all fine and lots of choice in the buffets. We especially liked the Japanese and French restaurants which were superb. Staff all very helpful and friendly and made a big fuss of my youngest boy. Service sometimes a bit slow, but people here operate on Dominican time - ie they don't rush anywhere. Within days you will operate on this time too - it's a great stress-buster!

Rooms fine, clean and comfy. Had a couple of teething problems with air conditioning and loos not working, but these were sorted out within the hour. Staff are very eager to please.

Entertainment staff are very enthusiastic and amusing, but evening entertainment is a bit like Butlins circa 1972 (beauty contests etc). Fine if you like that sort of thing.

Grounds are beautifully kept and very pretty. The lake and river running through the hotel were a great hit with my 11 year old animal-loving son as they were home to many fish, turtles, ducks, herons, kingfishers etc and he loved feeding them with the bread from breakfast.

The resort is a bit isolated, but we were warned not to go outside on our own anyway. Security is an issue - there was a break-in in a nearby room and although there is security, it's clearly breachable. We had a couple of items - sandals and a hat - taken from our ground-floor balcony. So the message is, keep everything in your sight and use that safe for any valuables.

Another issue for some is that there are very few English-speaking people at this hotel (and ones that do are mainly US or Canadian). Not a problem for us as we enjoy the challenge of speaking other languages and two of my children are fluent in French and German. However,if you want to mix with lots of other Brits, this isn't the place for you. It is very handy to know some Spanish as most of the staff speak no English whatsoever. They wear badges showing their name and flags signifying which languages they speak, although the one denoting English is actually the US flag (don't get me started on that one!!)

The biggest downside for us was that the ice cream parlour/creperie is right at the front of the hotel, so a good ten minute walk from the pool which is where it should be sited. We often craved something sweet after hours in the pool, but the only snacks on offer at the pool were hot dogs, nachos and hamburgers.

But overall, a lovely place for a relaxing holiday.

First time on all inclusive and we loved it!
This resort was gorgeous, the grounds were beautifully maintained, the rooms cleaned thoroughly every day, fridge restocked. A few english speaking channels on tv to choose from, oh and the round bath is lovely - fills pretty quickly too. The pool area and beach v clean also.

Our weather was great -1 overcast day and a couple of times it rained during the day but no more than half an hour then it was boiling again. Plenty of sunloungers on beach and pool.
The food here was better than i had expected. The buffet choice for breakfast was fab -toast, fruit,cereal, cheese, ham, doughnuts, omelete, bacon, sausage (these were a tad wierd) pancakes, cake, toastie machines etc....
Again same for lunch - there are hot dogs/burgers/chicken/ice cream/chips by the pool or another buffet with salad, meats, veg, sarnies, cake etc....
the evening buffet has themes every night so does change, but you also get 4 nights at the al a carte restaurants which are really good.

The drinks were v good, beer wine, cocktails, soft drinks-the bar staff were all helpful and friendly.
Didn't bother with the live entertainment so can't comment.
If you can, go on the outback safari-you get to see around the island and get out of the resort which makes a change, also the bavaro splash - you get to drive your own little speedboat and the snorkelling is great!
The only downside to this resort is I think it could do with another bar open in the evening - just for some choice-would be nice down by the beach or pool!! we managed with casino and lobby bar though.

I would definately come back here again.

A very nice hotel with large well kept grounds including a golf course (expensive to play on but good walking and birding area). Rooms fine and well cleaned. The pool and beach areas are excellent and the bars that support them generally well run. It was windy most days on the beach but less humid than round the pool. The hotel was busy but there was plenty of room and sun beds etc at both. It rained a bit some morning and was cloudy but always cleared up for most of the day.

The main bar in the reception area was very well run but the best bar was the small one by the Frech restaruant were branded spirits were available.

The buffet food was ok with plenty of selection and variation but even so gets a bit boring. The speciailty restaruants break up the routine but mexican and japanese were a little disappointing, French and Italian were the best. We came home with the tummy gripes -but the cause could have been anything-food-booze-sun we had too much of all of it!

Flight with Britannia were fine and Punta Cana a/p was easy to get thro in and out.

There were very few Brits in the hotel mainly American,Canadians and other European nationals. All very friendly as were the staff.

The recommended trips out were uninspiring. But we enjoyed the samano isl trip even though it was a very long day much in a coach but you did see more of the countryside. The whale watching wasnt offered but on asking it was arranged and was an experience i would not have missed, it involved a short flight, an hour or so watching the whales (humpbacks) up close then a lot of horse back riding and hill walking to fill out the trip!

The main drawback is the isolation of the hotel and the inability to make casual trips out even to other hotels.

All in all an enjoyable experience but one we will not repeat - but then we rarly go back twice to any location there just too many places to go and not enough time.

Paradise!
Perfect beach. Lots of activities. The people are really friendly particularly if you speak spanish. The whole resort is very clean and tidy. The rooms are impeccable and a dollar or two under the pillow guarantees flowers on the bed and bath and a few extra drinks in the minibar!
The food is really good quality, lots of variety and choice. Snacks are available by the pool from burgers to ice cream or you can go to the buffet and stuff yourself. The a la carte restaurants are not bad. Our favourite was the French. We had no trouble booking all our a la carte meals on the first day and got decent booking times.

ADVICE
BEWARE if attempting the horseriding. It is western style and the horses are not very safe. My wife fell off after the guide chased off to find his mobile and her horse decided to follow. The nag decided to rear up and throw my hatless wife off. The guide was more concerned about chasing after the horse than making sure my wife was ok.
SCUBA DIVING
I did 2 scuba dives with the dive school. I am an advanced diver and was appalled at the low standard of equipment maintenance. My breathing regulator fell apart at 12m deep, leaving me swallowing sea water instead of air. I dread to think how a novice would have reacted. Again, they were more concerned with recovering the components of the regulator from the sea bed that with my health.

On the whole, this holiday far exceeded my expectations. The resort was perfect in every way although I could not stay there for longer than a week as I would be bored. Perfect for honeymoons.

We stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort/Punta Cana over Christmas and New Year. We flew out with Thomas Cook Airways and were delayed for 3 ½ hours. Luckily we had upgraded to Premium Class and the flight was otherwise fine with good service. The hotel is secluded, as the brochure states and if you like to go 'walkabout' it is not for you. You can however, walk for miles along the beach each way.

The hotel rooms were large and clean. We have been to the Dominican Republic before (ten years' ago) and knew from experience how poor the people were. From other web sites it was obvious that a dollar here and there would be greatly appreciated and we left either a tip or a small present every day for the maid (lipsticks, nail varnish, T shirts that had only been worn once - that sort of thing). We found that most people left their toiletries when leaving to return to the UK. I would recommend keeping everything of value in the room safe.

The only problem we had was that the water was luke warm at best. There is a 'hot tub' in the bathroom - large circular bath to Europeans. We would have been hard pressed to get enough water to fill this! We did report this many times, but gave up in the end....

Food - the main buffet: Good and lots of choice (if you are not too fussy).
Beach buffet: - Good - quite a lot of choice - salads good.
Speciality restaurants: poor in the Italian - the food was cold (it would have been good if hot); Japanese - good and because it was cooked in front of you was hot. French - mediocre but made a change. Whichever restaurant you eat in the staff were always attentive and we had no cause to complain.

Christmas and New Year's Eve buffets were excellent.

Drinks: good at Christmas and New Year. Poor at other times. I did read on that if you liked wine to take in your own. We did and there was no problem with asking the waiter to open this at our table. Same with the champagne we took in. They use house brands and we were sure they were low alcohol. The cocktails were made with made up fruit juices (powered - like sherbet). The best bar was the one located next to the French and Japanese restaurant which served premium brands. You are not supposed to use this bar if you don't have a reservation to eat there, however a dollar will work wonders. We went there most nights and there was never a problem. Don't turn up in shorts though as you will be turned away.

The pool area was good and very picturesque. There are signs saying you cannot reserve a sun bed - this was never adhered to and if you wanted to be by the pool you had to get up very early. This may not be the case at quieter times. We preferred the beach, but because of the high winds we could not sit on the beach for most of the holiday. This is something to take into consideration if you go over Christmas and New Year and should find out if this is the norm for this time of year. There was plenty going on at the pool with salsa and meringue lessons, keep fit etc if you like this type of thing.

The grounds were large and kept in good order. The ponds and lagoon were host to lots of fish, turtles, and birds - take bread to feed them. The trees and shrubs are mostly evergreens and we wondered why there were not many flowers - this was because the maids took most of them to decorate your rooms each day. They make the towels into various designs that were very ingenious and nice to come back to.

We took the Saona Island tour and this was excellent. The island itself is magical and was just like being on a desert island. You get a speed boat trip out and a catamaran back or vice versa. The buffet barbecue was very good, especially the rum sponge cake. If you only do one tour, do this one.

We also did the tour where they say you swim with sharks and rays (Marinarium). I don't swim so I didn't take part. My husband did and the fish are penned up in the ocean, so it is not quite as they say. The trip is okay though.

The small zoo trip (Manati Park) is okay for a day out, but don't expect anything too spectacular. They are making the best of what they have and it makes a change to get out of the complex. The bus comes most days.

Shopping: not a lot! There are shops in the complex that sell things at inflated prices and many vendor market stalls outside that sell cheap trinkets and beach things. You should always barter as no matter what you ask for it seems to cost $30. Always offer half and it is up to you what you finally agree on. Sarongs are good.

Hygiene: No problems at all. They seem to have this under control at this hotel. The tour rep told me that the food preparation areas and cooking is rigorously checked by an outside company. I mention this as the first time we went to the Dom Rep I was seriously ill with food poisoning. We thought after 10 years it was safe to return! We always said we would at some time, because the scenery was so good.

Evening entertainment: We did not bother, so cannot comment.

All in all we had an enjoyable time at this hotel and made new friends, but would not go back because we felt too confined. If you like to get out and about there are other areas of the island that would probably suit you more. I would recommend the Dominican Republic to anyone as a good holiday destination and is cheaper than the more expensive Caribbean islands. The beaches are superb. Although I don't think this part of the island has the best ones - there is a lot of seaweed, but it is not that much of a problem.

We were also delayed on the way home for 3 hours!

We went after having read the previous review on this complex and never having done an all inclusive holiday before, expecting the worst and were very pleasantly surprised.

The staff were very friendly indeed always had a smile and an hello when ever you met them. The a la carte restaurants were fairly easy to book as long as you were flexible on your times and on the whole were excellent, especially the Japenese restaurant. The bar staff at the main bar were always eager to serve you and those at the pool bar although busy would serve you as soon as possible, again always with a smile. We never found language a barrier at all, not all spoke english but if your prepare to have a go you could easily make your selves under stood.

We had fresh flowers in our bathroom and on our pillows daily and the accomodation was cleaned to a high standard. The fridge was re stocked regularly and sometimes to excess but who's complaining. The TV reception wasn't very good but in the end who goes on holiday to the Carribean to watch TV!