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Popular Hotels | Miscellaneous Hotels Tips | All Tips (14)  | |  |  | Bahia Principe Punta Cana/Bavaro | Satisfaction:  |  |  | |  |
Flight: Left from Montreal April 2005,with Sky Services, Very small charter flight, left on time, friendly staff…had even an extra pillow. Arrived at the Punta Cana Airport on time.
Arrival: They are fast and very helpful, even take a picture of you when you arrive. You pick it up on the way out. The bus ride to the hotel though was a bit ruff, thought we lost the luggage in the back of the bus a couple of time. Travelers beware the Dominican’s do not drive like us Canadian’s. Hotel Room: Arrived at the Hotel and was received very well by the hostesses with a fruit punch drink and 2 dancers. This resort is beautiful… Our room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived but that was fine, cause we are on vacation so we walked around a bit in the front lobby, just smelling the warm air felt good. Once we did get to the room 32212 was very clean, fresh towels, king size bed, Satellite TV, and the fridge wasn’t quite full missing water called and 5 minutes later it was delivered, services was impeccable. Beach towels supplied to us every day. The maid service was good. We had the pool view which was better than the swamp view. We had 2 mosquitos in the room. The Resort: This place is clean, very clean. The grass is green, flowers are beautiful, tall palms trees. The washrooms were very clean also. The Staff: Cannot complain at all. Very polite & even try to speak your language if you try to speak there’s and very funny. There all great!
The Food: I’m not a big eater when it comes to the heat, but trust me I ate; my boyfriend (at the time) was even surprise at how well I ate. The food was great at every buffet, even the restaurants you had to choose from. Our favourite was the Café de Paris. It was the top notch restaurant of the resort, the only one we really we were not crazy for was the Fish restaurant. Near the beach, But after all it is a different country and I have really no complaints on the food. Excursions: We did 1 only went with the Bavaro Runners; we were a small group and had lots of fun. Visited the island a bit more, but we really wanted to relax so only 1 excursion was done after a long cold winter you need to relax in the sun.
Will we go back? Definitely in about 5 years time for it to grow and see the difference. But will surely recommend it to anybody it’s worth the 5 stars that it’s rated for. Had a wonderful time at the Bahia Principe Theme: Hotel
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| | | | Allegro Punta Cana by Occidental: Occidental Allegro - Punta Cana | Satisfaction:  | | | | |
This is a beautiful hotel facility. The grounds are well groomed and the beach is awesome. We traveled in May, the second rainyest month of the year. This is definatelty off peak time the hotel was maybe half full. Air Canada has a huge presence at this hotel, but many Germans and French people come here on holiday. Punta Cana in general seems to be more favored by Europeans than Americans.
Hotel service was very good. Air-conditioning did go out for 1 night, but with cieling fans wasn't too bad. Food was OK you can always find something good to eat at the buffet and the a la carte resturants were really good. Menu items are not prepared as you may expect the same items to come in the US. Not at all bad just done differently. If your a picky eater you may not do well. Never knew that there were so many way to prepare banannas. The breads are awesome!! The bakers here really know what they are doing. Lots of fresh fruit and some very elaborate friut displays.
The beach is great. There are lots of chairs and if you want a palapya you need to get out by 8 or 9 and reserve one with your towel or bag. There is some seaweed that accumulates, but there are workers cleaning it up everyday. If you bring a bananna or bread and throw some small bits in the water you will get a lot of fish to come to you.
CAUTION to AMERICANS: There will be topless sunbathing!! I've read a few reviews on some other sites complaining about this. If you don't like topless sunbathing, men in Speedo's, or kids playing without suits don't come to Punta Cana. Personally it's nice to see normal people who aren't up tight about thier bodies. Yes most are normal people, not many model types (there are a few!!).
ANYONE WALKING THE BEACH AREA WITH A NOTEBOOK OR BINDER IN THEIR HAND IS GOING TO TRY TO SELL YOU SOMETHING!!
Overall we enjoyed the resort. This was our first trip to an all inclusive. I think we would do all inclusive again and may even look for an Occidental resort but go elsewhere just to compare the experience.
We went for our wedding aniversary. My wife wrote to the hotel and got us an upgrade to a beach side (almost a beach view) superior room at no cost. We did have to fax a copy of our marriage licience to confirm the info.
The nightly stage shows were great and the entertainment staff works very hard.!! Could be a little loud if you turned in early, most events were done by 11.
Bring more essentials ,like sunscreen, with you than normal. If you run out there is a souvenir, cigar, photo, and sundrie store at the hotel. The are EXTREMELY expensive. A tube of sunscreen will start at $20 and up from there. Other snack and essentials are sold for equally high prices.
Two times per week the hotel has vendors set up in the courtyard by the pool and buffet hall. I found this super annoying!! These guys made the beach flea market seem like girl scout camp. Everyone was on you to "look" at their wares. "Cheapy ,Cheapy for you my friend." "You look for free!" There was no way to get to the buffet hall or pool bar without dealing with them usually by saying no thanks two or three times. The prices these guys offered were astronomical. My wife had a couple drinks and tried to deal on some work carvings and didn't do well. Many many sellers would try to guilt you about being a "Rich" person on holiday and don't sweat a couple dollars.
Another annoying feature of the hotel was the"information" booth conviently located at evey bottle neck in the resort. These are actually sales people for the Occidental Club to get time shares. They do also sell on the beach. The watersports booth and the Occidental club are the only people allowed to sell in the beach chair area. On the beach front you will also be approached by the watersports staff, Occidental time share, and locals selling shells, hair braiding, and the like. Not too bad as to distract from the beach. Just say no thanks and they go on thier way. Leave a Comment Theme: HotelPrice: US$80-120 » Currency ConverterComparison: about averageAddress: Cabeza De Toro Po Box 68 Higuey Dominican Republic, Punta CanaDirections: 20 Minute bus from AirportWebsite: http://www.occidentalhotels.com/hotel_information.aspx?hotel=1082649122329
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| | | | Bahia Principe, Punta Cana: A nice vacation spot in Dominican Republic | Satisfaction: | | | | |
Here is our experience at Bahia Principe, 24April 2005 - 1May 2005
SICKNESS
Three of us had some kind of stomach sickness. We didn’t take Imodium with us, nor did we use Malaria pills. It is advisable to do so, as there is a swamp full of mosquitoes in the middle of the resort. A mosquito repellent bought from the resort at an exorbitant price didn’t help: mosquitoes landed and ate comfortably from areas of our skin previously sprayed.
RESTAURANTS
Be on time at your a-la-carte restaurants! At Mikado we were late by 12 minutes. The manager wanted us to reschedule, since the persons with whom we were scheduled to share the table were already there. We refused to go away: being in vacation and not in the army, a 12-minute-late wasn't such a big crime. Finally, the manager agreed to squeeze us in, saying we would have to skip the Miso soup and the Tempura shrimp, our co-table partners had time to eat in those 12 minutes we were late!? However, he seated us at an empty table. While eating our sushi, he came and said: “I see you are eating very fast, so I can offer you our Miso soup, too.” We refused, as we didn't like to be treated as if were at someone’s mercy.
KIDS-CLUB
As its location is next to the ecological swamp full of mosquitoes, we asked for our daughter not to be taken on their outside playground. There were no special activities, probably because there weren’t enough kids. A teacher also advised us we couldn't leave her with them more than 3 hours at a time.
FLIGHT BACK
Our flight was scheduled to leave from terminal #1, which isn't airconditioned. We found very hard to breathe surrounded by smokers and the fuel "breeze” coming from the planes (this airport is an open one :) However, in the adjacent terminal #2 that is airconditioned, one can enjoy breathing, and also eating at some restaurants, or shopping at the duty-free shops. As there are no chutes or shuttles from the airport to the plane, walking to the plane in the tropical heat and fuel vapors was also annoying.
HOTEL CHECK-IN
TIP: It was well worth the Bahia Principe Golden Club upgrade, as they did our check-in while we were in the bus to our hotel!
RESTAURANTS AND FOOD
We would recommend going to the French restaurant, “Le Gourmet,” even four times. It was the best! In general, at the buffets, the food was plentiful and there was a good variety but we all seemed to have a problem finding something we liked.
RESORT & BEACH
Awesome room-service (thanks Ramona!), awesome aerobic classes on the beach (thanks Jose and his colleague who’s name escapes me!), and awesome beach (thanks God!). Very, very friendly staff!
TIP1: If you want a hut that is closed to the beach AND the swimming-pools, get up early. Around 6:30 am they were all taken. The tip I’ve read that you can throw your towel on a chair by the midnight wasn’t helpful, as they clean the beach and stack the chairs on almost every evening.
TIP2: Don’t miss the shopping village located a 20-minute-walk from the resort. They have very good deals on oil-on-canvas paintings! They can wrap you the canvas, so it is easy to transport them back home.
CONCLUSION
We would go back to this resort tomorrow!
NOTE
I have posted a more detailed version of this comment on tripadvisor.com, where I am also a member, yet under a different nick. Leave a Comment Theme: HotelComparison: more expensive than average
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| | | | Iberostar Bavaro: All-inclusive Hotel | Satisfaction: | | | | |
We stayed at this hotel during our honeymoon. The hotel came as part of the package through Apple Vacations. Until then, we never did all-inclusive.
This actually brings me to the most surprising conclusion from tasting the hotel food: In a region where mangos, papayas, pineapples, mellons, and myriads of other fruits basically grow wild, our hotel somehow managed to procure the most tasteless specimens of each of the species. Given the abundance of local produce, that must have taken some effort!
The rooms are all Jr. Suites, garden view. There are no ocean view rooms, which was disappointing, considering the hotel's close location to the ocean. The room design and condition is on par with a "Holiday Inn" or similar midrange hotel in the States; given the prices we expected at least a nice comforter in the room instead of a dingy blanket.
The final peeve comes from the service at the hotel. Most arrangements (e.g. dinner reservations, tour booking, buying a password for Internet access) cannot be done over the phone and require going to the front desk and standing in the inevitable line for 20 minutes. The front desk staff is either incompetent or plain lazy - with a couple notable exceptions. If you end up in this hotel, look up a girl named Laura among the front-desk staff; she'll cut the red tape with a smile.
The dive-shop was well-stocked with good equipment, and the dive instructors were competent. Make sure to sign up for dive excursions or training at least a couple days in advance - the instructors are overworked as it is! There's a shipwreck nearby that is accessible to novice divers (< 12 meter depth), but it's a boring freighter, and the stern part with all the machinery is completely gone.
The hotel is rather secluded from the mainstream Punta Cana population. It offers unlimited food facilities, all-you-can drink alcohol and several ethnic restaurants (i.e., Japanese, Mexican). 24-hour room service is offered, but the food is largely inedible, and they don't offer alcoholic drinks (forget asking for a bottle of champagne!)
The resume is:
If you come on a vacation to lay on the beach and do nothing, this place is perfect. If you come to dive or snorkel, stay in the La Romana area and spend some quality time on the Saona island - the visibility is much better and there's much more life around the reefs. If you come to be active, to sightsee and interact with the locals, this is NOT the place. In fact, the hotel staff goes to great pains to make sure that you stay inside the hotel complex. Leave a Comment Theme: HotelPrice: US$120-180 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than average
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