5 Stars
The Japanese restaurant Mikado at Catalonia Bavaro Resort
10 diners sit around the same table in a U shape, with the chef, grill in the middle preparing each dish. Not only did we get to see every course as it was being prepared, we got to know everyone at the table! It was a lot of fun. Shrimp/rice dish
Hello all Catalonia Royal Fans........
Me and my husband stayed at the Royal Part for 10 Days (our second time). We loved it again. I agree with Missy and Chris (hello, it's us, Peggy and Mischa from Germany), everything about the Royal Part was fantastic. We will be back again.
The best drink for me was the Bloody Ceasers (cant get any Clamato in Germany !) made by Jose Alexis at the Beach Bar and Bacilio at the Thalassa Bar. And a lot of greetings to Mary and her cat, Carlos (pool bar) and Carlos (at the Reception). See you next year.
And Melissa, next time we will practice a little bit more ABBA ! !
I will send you a separete mail.
Seven days at the Catalonia Royal at the end of March. It is beautiful, clean, friendly. Food is good (The Thalassa especially). The beach is lovely and shallow forever. We had a day and a half of rain, the second day created little lakes all over the complex. They graciously transported as many people as possible by the golf carts and we all made it through that spell. That was the only time we saw bugs (crickets and some beetles) and we had a ground floor room. The complex is huge and there is a great deal of walking involved and you will find that has a role in the plans you make for where you eat and what you take to the beach. We encountered many people who had stayed at other resorts to the north (where the beaches are reported to be more beautiful) but they come to the Royal due to the service and the quiet calm. We shall return. If you go, say hi to the beach bartender Jose-Alexi from Kimberly...he will sing to you :) Kimberly (from the midwest)
My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Royal Bávaro March 30-April 7. WOW! We have been to Punta Cana 4 times and this resort was the best so far. The service was excellent. We booked the VIP zone (ROYAL) juniorsuite package through APPLE; it was worth every penny. This was our first at an adults' only and we loved it!
We chose Thalassa for our gourmet meal. I had lobster; was excellent. Bruschetta on little toast rounds were served as an appetizer and was fabulous.
We also ate at The French Restaurant (OK), Mariachi (great) and Rodeo Steak House Tex Mex steakhouse (excellent).
The staff were so genuine and gracious; always pulling our chairs out at supper. The buffet was very good too; and often had huge shrimp and baby lobster tails served.
We each had our free 25 minute massage and they were wonderful.
The beach of course was the highlight as always!! It's so powdery white and the turquoise waves were fun to play in.
The sunrises are amazing. The staff kept the beach immaculate, constantly picking up garbage and the grounds kept pristine. The public restrooms were kept spotless as well.
We really were treated like royalty; we tipped dollars but got outstanding service regardless. The maids came around about 3 times a day to bring fresh towels, tidy up and provide the little extras we needed.
I can't say enough good things about this resort!
I think the only minor negative I could find is the fact that there is very little evening entertainment directly on site; theater shows at night if you wanted; but after a long day on the beach and our evening meal we were pretty tired so it wasn't a big deal for us and we chose to stay at our own resort most of the time.
We will definitely go back to this beautiful resort hopefully next year!
We stayed at the Royal Catalonia from April 3-10th and it was great. We were a group of 9 aged 18-26 (which I think some people weren't fans of, but we had a great time).
Food: The Thalassa was great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The breakfast buffet was great-omlettes, pancakes, french toast, meats, fruits, and the pastries were excellent! The lunches were also great.not as much selection as the larger buffet, but tasted better. The Caribe buffet (main one) was good and had lots of selection. Desserts through the whole resort were kinda dull and not a lot of flavour. A la carte desserts were definately better. We ate at Thalassa twice for dinner, the Mexican, the Steakhouse, and the French. They were all good. Mexican's appetizers were not so great. French was probably my favourite, along with Thalassa. The creperie was disappointing. The drinks were GREAT and I don't drink often. The banana mama, coco loco and blue hawaiian were really good, but after awhile are very sweet. Jose and Bacillio at the Royal bar were the best bartenders by far. The drinks at the Royal side are WAY better-they offer Bacardi rum and you can ask for that in your drinks instead. The 24 hour room service is good and helpful afte the disco! It was hard for us to book for a group of 9, but we also found that we went to the Mexican on a spur and got in..it is empty but they try to act like it's hard to get you in. This was frustrating, but perhaps a lack of staff?? The Mexican had the best service. Some, especially the buffet, was very hard to get drink service.
Rooms: Very spacious and nice. Not cleaned thoroughly everyday though. You can tell the floors and bathrooms are just tidied and not cleaned.
Beach: We went tot the beach a few times and it was good. Very big. We went to the main beach area a lot though because there is a lot going on. Activities, games, hair braiding, etc. There are no beach vendors which was nice because you are not hassled when trying to relax. We spent most of our time at the pool though.
Pool/Resort area: The pool area was great. Quieter and not difficult to find a loung chair at all. The drinks are nice and close and its a good way to meet people that you can hang out with and will see often. The resort is very clean and maintained well, lots of greenery and beautiful flowers. Very spacious and always soemwhere to be and something to do.
Activities: I went snorkelling and had a great time. We went to teh coral area and saw so many fish, this weird sea snake thing and a blow fish even. It was great! We went golfing twice..bring your bug spray..the mosquitos are annoying. It was hot, but still a fairly good course and not busy at all. You can get in whenever you want pretty much. We went on 2 excursions-deep sea fishing and to Saona island. Both were good, but probably wouldn't do them again. Deep sea fishing was very rough, but it was really fun to catch some big fish and we saw some whales too. The staff was great as well. Saona was an hour and a half bus ride to a speed boat that takes you to the island where there is a bbq (that was at leat an hour after we arrived and everyone was starving) but is was excellent. Then you just sit and lounge around the island. Then you take a catamaran back for an hour or so and get on the bus again. At times it seemed very unorganized. We did get to look for star fish and found one, but that was all there was. You did get a really neat bottle of coconut rum with your picture on it though. Other than that we just lounged around the pool.
All in all it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun..met a lot of cool people. Would definately reccomend to others.
My husband and I just returned from 11 days at the Catalonia Bavaro and stayed in the Royal (adults only) Section. It was fantastic! We were so sad to leave as we made many friends with guests and staff. We normally never go back to the same resort twice as we like to experience different places, but this resort I could easily say I'd go again! The Royal section is a must if you are looking for a relaxing vacation and being pampered. As a Royal guest you can use all the ammenities on the Catalonia side you like restaurants,disco, watersports etc. But that side has about 750 rooms so it's pretty busy, the Royal has 150 rooms and we have our own private section on the beach with a bar, Jose' the bartender is AWESOME. Also we have a large pool with swim up bar and a fine dining restaurant called Thalassa. The food there is amazing!!! It's gourmet all around, presentation, staff attention and ambiance. They try very hard to make you feel special without it being "stuffy". Never once did we feel sick from the food and we ate everything.
I will list a few tips for anyone thinking of going:
-there is a lot of walking, so bring comfy shoes. The grounds are beautiful and we are walkers so it didn't bother us. but they do offer rides to the beach just go to the reception and they will zip you down fast
-we would spend mornings at the beach everything is there, bathrooms(always clean) bar and buffet(Catalonia side) then we would do afternoons at the pool and swim up bar. This limits walking back and forth.
-lunch at Thalassa is somedays bbq somedays ala carte, the ala carte days be prepared to wait a bit as everything is cooked fresh to order, I had the lamb chops Fantastic! the bbq days it's fast.
-the grounds are very lush and tropical, so don't freakout you will see plenty of insects but none in the dining room and if they really bother you consider not staying on the ground floor. It really isn't that bad I only add this as some people really hate bugs.
-if you go to the Catalonia side you have to request premium liquor it's only for Royal guests.The Japanese and French restaurants were great the Steakhouse , Thalassa steaks were better and shorter wait the Mexican restaurant skip it. At the French try the pigeon, seriously! And if you don't like it get something different because you can lol. As Royal guests you can eat at these places as much as you like, but Thalassa is fantastic.
-the Royal section is only a year and a half old so their are some glitches being ironed out. The speaker system at the Royal Lounge broke but we brought our ipod and docking station with us and they let us set it up everynight so we could have music. The staff LOVED it! So if you have one bring it. Also we would leave it while we ate and the bartender watched for us Bacillio is his name and he is AWESOME!!!
And finally if you go tell Bacillio his Canadian friends Missy and Chris say "HOLA Bacillio Marley"
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Catalonia Royal for 7 wonderful days. I have no complaints about this hotel. We have also stayed at the RUI palace and Sunscape in punta cana. It is worth the upgrade to the Royal section for sure. You have the best of both worlds. We had the adult only, calmer side on the Royal and the lively side at the Catalonia. Only ate at the buffet once - so, so. the thelease rest on the royal side was awesome! Grilled lobster, lamp chops, mahi mahi all great. breakfast was very good - a little bit of a wait to get eggs cooked to order - but no biggy. my boyfriend loved the freshly squeezed orange juice every morning. we ate at the french rest. twice - loved it. I had duck and lamp chops, he had beef and lobster. mexican was very good. we had a rude waiter ( the only one the entire trip) which put a little bit of a damper on it. crepes and ice cream were great (the coconut icecream was awesome). it's so true that a dollar can go a long way for a tip. making reservations for the rest. is a little bit of a pain. make sure you make them as soon as possible for your entire stay because they fill up fast. one night we decided to eat at the buffet - it wasnt very good so we left and went back to the royal side to eat at the thelease (without a reservation) a five dollar bill to the hostess got us a beautiful table (I didnt mind tipping her she was very nice to us during our stay) the staff works 11 days straight then has 3 days off so you see them from sun up to sun down. they work hard to make everything for you wonderful. the drinks were great. pina coladas made from the blender were better than from the machines and asking for the dark rum makes a difference too. take an insulated mug to keep your drinks cold. there are security guards walking around all over the resort and at the beach. the room was huge, beautiful and very clean. take bubbles and candles for the large garden tub. frig was kept well stocked.
we bought our souviners at the beach vendors. go to beach make a right and follow the path to their shops, they will be waiting for you at the end of the resort property. they are pushy. act very uninteresed and you can get some great deals. always pay one half to one third of what they ask. walk away and say no if you dont like the price and they will come after you and agree. we got our rum, cigars, teeshirts, jewelry there at a great deal. the beach is beautiful some seaweed but nothing too bad. the little shade huts are great and we never had a problem finding one. sometimes the pool could be a little crowded but always a chair somewhere. you get a half hour massage which was very nice - not the best i have ever had but good. most of the guests are european and its hard to communicate with the staff at times if you dont speak spanish but you have to remember your in their country and if you think this would be a problem for you then stay in the states - but then you would miss out on a wonderful experience. we would return to this resort.
My husband and I just returned on 3-26-07 from the most wonderful vacation of our lives. We stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro Royal. Adults only all inclusive in Punta Cana. What a place. Gorgeous grounds, very freindly staff. We had no problem communicating at all with the staff. If you know basic spanish you will be fine. The Royal section of this resort is so private and quiet, we had our own pool for this section and our own beach. The resort is so clean and well maintained we saw the groundskeepers actually trimming the grass with scissors! The weather was 85 everyday, no rain and no mosquitos. I was concerened about the mosquitos because I had heard that there is malaria in this area. But after consulting with my Doctor, he reassured me that there is not a huge threat this time of year and just take some deet bug spray with me. I was fine not bit once.
The food at this resort is very good, we only had one bad meal the entire eight days we were there. My favorite part of the food was, crepes for breakfast everyday. But you walk alot so dont worry about putting on weight! And at the pool they come around with little finger sandwhiches and fresh fruit a couple times a day. The drinks are ou of this world. Espescially the Banana Mama, and the Absolute with Limon. (lime) On the Royal side of this resort you are served top shelf liqour. Makes a difference in the drinks!!!!
I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. Maybe leave the kids at home though unless they are true beach lovers because the children we saw on the other side of this resort looked bored.They did have activities for the children and a seperate play area for them. But I have two young children and I know my two kids would have been bored after the first two days. This is a resort to go and reconnect with yourself and your significant other. It truely is paradise.
I read so many reviews on this place before we left. The one thing I can tell you to do is stay on the ROYAL side of the resort. If for nothing else, the beach is more peacful and you do not have to compete for the loungers like I heard about before. And the loungers themselves are more comfortable. It is simply a quieter place. Upgrade when you get there is what I have heard is the thing to do. It is $25 per person per night. I asked if there was a AAA discount since they promoniently display a big plaque award at the non-Royal side, but they said they didn't take AAA on the Royal side. Hmmmm.
The bartenders and the service is outstanding for the most part. Bacillio at the Royal lobby, Carlos at the swim bar and Jose, my favorite at the beach bar are super! One day we had Cocolocos out of freshly cut coconut shells that Jose would use a machiti on to cut the top. I had him add a shot of Kaluah to mine and then everyone else started with that to. Ulysses at the lobby bar on the Bavarro side was really good as well.
The service at the Thallasa restaurant on the Royal side was probably the best I have ever seen. The lobster there was 'ok', very big, but not like 'regular' lobster. A little tough.
I thought the lobster I had at the French restaurant was better and at least they could put together some drawn butter on that side.
We went to the French restaurant a second time and it took almost an hour and a half to get our food.
The thing is, you just roll with the inconsistencies here and you cannot really guage everything by what you read. For instance, I read that you get greeted with drinks when you check in. We didn't but I saw some who did. Or that you get a bottle of champagne in your room at the Royal side. We didn't. Oreos in the room. We got it once. Yada Yada. No big deal.
It rained half the time we were there but my wife and I stayed under our hut, drank and went snorkeling while the beach was pretty much deserted. You make lemonade out of lemons.
The front desk people when you first check in seemed like they were in another world. If I was consulting them, I would have that group trained in customer service and not confusion and nonsense. If you see that Jonathan wants to check you in, skip him entirely. If Willys is there, go with him. Once we said we wanted to upgrade to the Royal side, everything changed.
No trouble with any mosquitos, bugs, hot water, food or drinks. After staying at the El Dorado Royale near Cancun and how long it took to get all of the funk out of our intenstinal track, that was my biggest worry, as I figured this would be 3rd world comparable, but it wasn't.
For off the beach snorkeling, it was pretty good. Saw a beautful eel that was brown and white, angel fish, one good sized one, go fifty yards off the beach at the property sign that divides the Royal from Bavaro. Just to hear the breakers in the distance and the rustling of the palm leaves.....aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.
The beach is 'nice'. The waves or breakers are hundreds of yards off of the beach and the water is shallow all the way there. Because of the seeweed, at least a very big reason, you do not get the turquoise color that I have experienced at other beaches. As we flew out over the northern part of DR, where there was less seeweed, the color improved. The staff does work hard to keep the seeweed off the beach and it is NOT that big of a deal in terms of walking the beach. The seeweed affect is for the color of the water and the lack of sand under your toes if you are in a seeweed area of the ocean off the beach. When snorkeling, I found zero fish among the seeweed and I snorkeled A LOT!
My wife loved kayacking toward the breakers and riding over them. We brought our snorkel gear minus the fins. There is a $20 deposit which you get back for any of that.
Japanse was good and fresh, a sort of poor man's Benihana's . The steakhouse was 'Ok'. Nice for a change. We were still hungry and went to the buffet to top off.
The buffet was 'ok' (tuna pizza?) but I would recommend the ala carte restaurants over the buffet and use the buffet as filler to top off a dinner if need be or use for lunch, breakfast, whatever.
One day the Royal side was grilling brats. Was great. Where were the Packer fans? Mostly people from Canada, Hispanic and US to mix with. Europeans were quiet and kept to themselves.
Resort staff very friendly including the Royal front desk.
The whole shuttle service that gets lined up as part of your package from the airport if you go with Expedia or the like, is so archaic. Just tell me what time you are going to pick us up based on my return flight. But no, they want to MEET with you the next day or the next so they can schedule that plus SELL you on the excursions.
We bought toothpaste after asking if they could bring some up and said we could go to their mini-mart and get some. $6.
Come to find they had it in a foil pouch wrappedwith the toothbrush (we brought our own toothbrush but did unknowingly buy the toothpaste).
If you like to snorkle, eat, relax, drink wonderful drinks, sip on champagne and have a fairly quiet stretch of beach and pool, spend the little extra and stay on the resort side.
Some of the negatives that keep this from being a 5 star was some of the food (buffet, it's OK), the inconsistencies with some things, the first part of the room would get wet from any rain, no DVDs available, no jacuzzi in room on Royal side but yes at Bavaro side with upgrade, etc.
This is a wonderful place to stay and the cost was very reasonable for this resort.
I would recommend this place to anyone.
this was excellent large resort , was discounted in november , so i got my moneys worth all inclusive lots of restaurants and bars on premises
very large lobby area
Has anyone chartered a fishing trip in the Dominican Republic? Where, when and with whom? Tell me your story please.
Hi. I'm not sure if this is the right area you are looking in, but maybe it will help lead you in the right direction.
Got this info from a diff site
www.mikesmarina.info
Get a hold of Mike, follow the link from the first reply. I have chatted with a few people in the TripAdvisor.com forums and he is reputable. He also has pictures of his fleet of boats on the website. I thought is 1/2 day prices were reasonable. Booked a charter in late April...looking forward to it.
Also, he was very prompt in corresponding with me! That is important to me as it gives me visibility into the operation. He seems to be professional and wants the business.
My wife and I are traveling at the end of May 2006 to Punta Cana for our 1 year Anniversary. We are going to be at the Catalonia Bavaro Resort. We are anxious and excited about this trip! Can anyone share helpful info or insights as to what we can expect? Where to go? What to do? What not to do? We would like a very pleasant and memorable experience! Please, anyone, provide me all the info possible that we can make the best out of this trip!
is it bothering that the Catalonia Bavaro Beach is isolated from the rest of the resorts?
Bothering how? Here's a resort map: http://dr1.com/forums/travel-questions/63550-resort-map-punta-cana.html, http://www.worldisround.com/articles/304320/photo191.html or http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/eastcoast.html#map. Remove the dot at the end of the link.
Debbie's Dominican travel will give you access to reviews.
Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana
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Areana Gorda-Macao, Seccion Baigua, Higuey-Provincia La Altagracia, Punta Cana
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Address: Playa Bavaro, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, 837, Caribbean
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