Playas De Bavaro #17, (Formerly Barcelo Bavaro Village), Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean
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415 Opinions
This place is a fairly big resort. They have a shuttle if u have to stay in the back away from the beach. Not as noisy in the back. Its away from the Disco. The Disco stays open until around 2am. The grounds are all well kept. The food isnt the greatest, go for the ice cream its the best thing on the menu. They have live entertainment everynight. The staff are very friendly and helpful.
Punta Cana, IFA Bavaro Ocean Village
Trip advisor member from Montreal , Canada
February 13, 2006
We arrived last night after 8 fantastic days !!! About the weather...Alwyas a cloudy sky soon in the morning but a shiny sky for the rest of the day (always over 30 degrees)!!! About the beach....If you want to walk in white and soft sand, this is THE PLACE to. The temperature of the water was around 30 degrees. Food is good. People are very friendly. You have choice between 12 tours; some are expensives but very interesting. We chose the Safari tour and we recommend it !! And if you have enough money, take the one called 'Sanoa Island'. On the site, you have many restaurants, pools, gift shops, bars and also a pharmacy and a playground for your children. All meals and beverages (included drinks, beer and wine) are included in the price of your trip....
I strongly recommend this place and if I have a chance, I will return over there !!!!!
It was excellent, the food (fruits and veg) were fresh the meat roast were excellent. The beach and hotel or the resort were always kept clean. The staff are very courteous. We recommend this hotel IFA (punta cana). The only downside is the wine is poor but for one week there is other beverage to compensate.
I posted a review for this back in April 2004, but a couple of months ago Trip Advisor moved it, now it's under the wrong hotel. Oh well, thought I'd post again and add pictures this time...
My boyfriend and I (25 & 26) just came back from this hotel (April 13 - April 20, 2004). If you are looking for an "average" place for a great price, this is your spot. We went to Punta Cana for the beauty of the land and to experience something different, not to be waited on hand and foot in our hotel. I didn't go with any expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Clean rooms, friendly staff, decent food, lots of activities, well kept grounds and a spectacular beach.
Words of advice...YOUR ROOM: If you don't want to do alot of walking, be sure to ask for a room closest to the beach. If you get a room in the central area by the pool with swim up bar, be prepared for loud noise coming from the bar and kids making noise during the day. We orginally were put there and were very disappointed immediately. We asked to be switched to a "quiet area" and were moved much closer to the beach.
LANGUAGE BARRIER: I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. Front Desk attendants and most other workers in the resort speak little or no english. You are better of speaking with "Guest Services", they speak great english and can help you get what you want. Also, bring a Spanish Hand Book to learn the basics.
FOOD: Food is decent. If you don't like what's in the buffet in one restaurant, walk over to another. They don't mind if you just look. Food selection gets rotated every day and there is always something you can find. Don't drink tap water, all other water served is fine.
Make sure you attend the "Orientation" put on by your travel agency. It is most worthwhile and you will get good information that will help you make the most of your vacation.
Overall, I would recommend this place to people who don't have high expectations. If you are used to the royal treatment you won't get that here. If you are just looking for some fun and plan to make the best of your trip, you will be satisfied. Have fun! :) ps. Email me if you have any questions!
I have just come back from this hotel and it was the best holiday that i have ever had, the people aree friendly and the dancers and reps are very out going.
The pools where clean and nice andquite, the middle pool was alwasy kept busy by the reps by doing exercises and water polo.
the resturants where clean and the waiters where always at the table to serve you your drinks and take away un wanted plates.
EVENING ENTERTAINEMNT WAS EXCELLENT, the reps worked hard to perform shows in the eveing and also get the tourists involved, bingo normally 1 a week with special gasolina domincana style as a present.
for those younger who like a dance in the eveing the disco begings at 11.30pm and goes on untill 3.00am, very safe and full of other tourists, night bust come every 30 mins to drop you back tp your hotels.
overall i would recommened this hotel to any one and would defently go back.
First of all I have to say I am from Spain (excuse me for my english).
I have not been in other hotels in Dominican Republic to compare but my opinion of this one is really terrible.
There are COCKROACH in the room. It comes out water from the bathroom ceiling. I tried to do windsurfing (they told me it was included in the price, but later i had to pay 30 $ an hour cause they told me i had not done surfing before and i might break it.
Beach is nice but you can only swim 30 meters from the beach cause there ia a rope that does not allow you to go further cause there are fast boats passing everytime. (the water smells like fuel).
Once I asked for a coffee to three different waiters each five minutes. 15 minutes to get a breakfast coffee that was already made. (not very good).
Some friends had to pay 275 $ for 20 minutes calls to spain. 5 calls of 4 minutes. They had spend all the money and their visa card was not working. The security of the hotel did not allow them to get to the bus to return to Spain till they had paid the 275 $. All the bus had to wait for 30 minutes with risk of lossing the plane. At the end they allow them to pay 150 $ and send the rest by mail.
Drinks are poor. Rum is not from a bottle. Is already made in a machine as the coke.
I had stomach problems because of the food.
Tired of all these thinks I tried to make a written complaint but they told me they had not complaint forms. They gave me an empty sheet (really sad).
On the other hand people in dominican republic are really friendly.
I have read some reviews here saying that this is a third word country and you can not expect a good service, but i have to say i stayed two weeks in varadero, cuba, and the hotel (four stars as this one) and the service was much better.
Choose other Hotel, it is not difficult to get a better one
Me and my family just came back from a week stay at this hotel. The beaches are excellent and way bigger than others, the water is a lot calmer than other places. Everyone that works there tries their hardest to understand you and are always very polite! The night life here is pretty good and their nightly shows are very funny.
My family and I got back Dec.9, 2005 after a 15 day stay. All I can say is that the beach was fantastic, the biggest beach around there and I can tell you we did do a lot of beach walking.Most of the staff is very friendly if you are friendly too them, with a little bit of a language barrier you and as I as english speaking just have to try a little harder as there first language is Spanish then it seens to be German and there is lot or German tourist, then french. But I loved meeting people from all over the world and trying to communiacate with them. Food was very good ...make sure you try there rice pudding and my husband just LOVED the bread and usually he not a big bread eater.What's more with a few uogrades to the rooms and To have REALLY fruit juices a think this Hotel with it FANTASTIC BEACH could easily get a 4 to 4 1/2 star rating not that I would want it go up in price. Going back there next November - December with another Canadian couple we met
I went with my boyfriend last February. It was my first trip and his third to the Dominican and his second to this hotel.
The food at the buffet was great. The waitress recognized us after day one and the service was very quick. The soft ice cream at the restaurant closest to the beach was wonderful! I'm surprised that there was any bacon left for any of the other guests after our breakfasts. : )
The room was adequate (the legs were bent or broken on one bed so we just moved to the other one). We called and they fixed it right away. The room was always clean and the maids were super. We were in the section farthest away from the beach but had a wonderful pool right outside our room. We could sit on our porch and watch the entertainment as it was right outside our room too. (Mind you, I'm very glad not to be hearing that song "head and shoulders, knees and toes" anymore!)
The beach is absolutely amazing. White sand, large beach, lots of chairs, close to a buffet where you can get food and drinks without having to wait.
We took the catamaran to Saona Island and the speed boats back. It was a super time. The beach there is spectacular too. It is a definite must on any trip. The food there was excellent too. Try to be first in line so you get everything you want.
All in all, it was a wonderful and relaxing vacation. I would definitely go back again.
My wife and I stayed at the IFA Villa Bavaro from January 6-13. I am 31 and she is 27 years old, and we are from the Detroit area.
We stayed in the "villas" located the farthest from the beach. The rooms are kinda beat up but do the job. There is a mini-fridge, but it only has 2 1 liter bottles of water that do not get restocked unless you tip the housekeeper about $5 a day. $3 a day was not cutting it. :D The room also had no map of the resort and other such literature you usually find. The televisions also have no remote. The a/c was ice cold though which was a bonus. I ran across no bugs at all, which can be common in first floor rooms.
It is a LONG walk to the beach from the Villa rooms. There are also other traditional 2 story buildings closer to the water that do not look and feel like cabins up north.
The bars have El Presidente' beer which is excellent. The rum is from the tap but it tasted great. I saw no drink menus for the foo-foo drinks that the girls like. I think they can make them all, but a menu would be nice. The bartenders were friendly like most places.
The buffet was not that great. I am not a picky eater either. I eat everything. The food was just decent, and the selection was small. I have been to many other Dominican hotels that have 3 times the buffet.
I like to wander to the snack bar late at night after drinking all day, but the only snack bar they have is located on the beach. It took about 15 minutes or brisk walking to get there from our room. Obviously you return to the room sweating with cold food. :(
I have been to the Dominican Republic at least 5-6 times before and this place was the worst. Not horrible, but I would recommend going to another resort. I also think they had a sale for this resort at a European trailer park. I have never seen so many people pick their noses in the buffet line, spitting phlegm globs on the pool deck, or being just generally rude. Americans love to complain about euro-rudeness, but I have never seen it like this before.
The beach was nice but need more chairs. There was a ton of empty sand. They also rope off the swimming area. It is tiny. I usually bring my own snorkel and fins and go out by my self from shore. They will not let you do this.
You would be happy here if you have never been anywhere else. I had a good time, but I will go elsewhere next year.
Can someone give me a list of the best AI resorts in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic which will be best for single girls? We would like a busy nightlife and water sports during the day. Great food/wine and services a must!!!
Thank you
P.S.: We want to book our trip for the last week in February.
My friends and I, all single, have stayed at the Occidental Grand Flamenco. Nice resort, four star, great beach, a la carte restaurants are average, buffet is better. This resort is located at the beginning of the strip. You will find Mangu disco in this resort. The most popular of all. It's open to locals as well as tourists from other resorts, very busy and they play all types of popular music as well as latin tunes. Right across the street are the local vendors, a few minute walk a little further is Playa Dorada mall and some very nice boutiques as well as local bars, restaurants. I have stayed at other resorts in PC but I find this one is located right in the action and faired nicer than some other 4 and 5 stars next door. Hope this helps.
Try the RIU chain.
Hey Single Girls: Well we are 2 single women,I am 40+ and my friend is 30+ and we are staying at the IFA Bavaro Village Resort from Feb 16th-March 2nd."No" we are not looking for other women.We hope there might be some good looking single guys our age that happen to be staying at our Hotel (lol),well we can hope anyway.We booked this Hotel since it was the best AI from Vancouver,Canada and we heard that it has an awesome beach.So if we have the sun,a great beach,a drink in our hands then all will be good but men would be a plus.
when you going me and a friend will be there 3/12-3/22
Hi! what did you guys found was the best hotel for singles to stay at? my agent is offering the new Majestic Colonial ...
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Address: Playas De Bavaro #17, (Formerly Barcelo Bavaro Village), Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean
