If you are still considering this hotel for a vacation - STOP NOW!!
Here are the details of this destination.. I will not call it a resort because that would be giving it too much credit.
It is difficult for me to rate this trip so poorly, as I always like to think positively about my time spent with my family. However I need to make sure that people are aware of what this place is like. Lets face it, we spend our time and money on vacations... we can always make more money... but you can't get back the time spent. My hope is that I can help ensure that some other family does not make the same mistake in choosing this place.

Here we go with the details... just in case you are still reading this and still considering going to Puerto Plata.

LOCATION: There are many other locations for "sun vacations" that are much better in terms of VALUE and QUALITY then Puerto Plata. The first impression we got from the drive from the airport to the hotel is "lack of pride" the general area is "dirty".

Hotel: First impression - I have to be fair here.. the grounds are not amazing... but they were clean.

CHECK IN / FRONT DESK: There will be a common theme here when I talk about service. Upon our arrival it appeared we were "inconveniencing" the two ladies responsible for checking guests in. They were not rude.. they just did not care we were there. No smile... No Welcome... they were just more interested in there own conversation... this should have been the "tip off" that we were not going to have a great vacation.

BELLHOP - Someone should give this guy a promotion!! This person was the only staff member in the entire week to show any kind of customer service. He brought our luggage and showed us to our room. He showed us how to work the door lock... as it did not work properly. He also ensured that our antique t.v. worked, he seemed relieved when it turned on. Lastly he realized that our family was going to require another bed to sleep on. (I will explain next) He stated that he would find another bed and have it set-up right away. To his word when we came back after lunch there it was, all made up. *** If management from the Barcelo is reading this... track down this staff member and seriously consider him for a management position... he understands customers service. A very rare trait at this hotel.

THE ROOM - Disaster!!! As mentioned earlier our door lock had issues.. the room was dark... not bad if you are looking for this type of atmosphere... not great if you want to see anything. Perhaps this is why they do it... so you can't see how old and decrepit everything is. Now I don't expect to have everything to the standards that we are fortunate to have in Canada... but I still have standards. The two "double beds" were well... not double beds... they are smaller then what are our standards are. This is why the bellhop was so kind to get us a third bed. He must have seen the horror in our children's eyes when they thought they were going to have to share such a small bed. The bathroom... if my photography skills were better I would post the picture of our bathroom... just so you could see what I mean. The only saving grace was that the toilet at least "appeared clean" The shower/bathtub was so beaten up. The shower head was so old the water trickled out of it... GOOD NEWS... we never ran out of hot water... not once!!!! The counter top was just like the shower... beaten up and was painted over at least three times.. you could count the layers of paint by the areas that were chipped off. Lastly we had ants... small as they were... there were plenty of them.
OK.. just a couple of more things about the room... there is a safe (it will cost you an extra $17.00 US dollars if you wish to use it) however it is so old I am not sure it is really "safe". The T.V. I mentioned is old as well... but we didn't care about this as we were not on a vacation to watch television.. thankfully the weather was beautiful so we were not in any need to have to use it.

I feel the need to say something positive here... the two pool were clean. Sorry but that is the extent of the good news. If you are still reading this ... PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR - DO NOT GO HERE!! The rest is just negative... but I will provide more details.

FOOD - The buffet restaurant... they greet you at the door... that is where the service ends. Go find your own table, nobody will seat you.. promise. Once you find a place to sit..maybe a server will stop by to offer to get you something to drink.. don't expect to have them hurry to serve you though. The process of actually getting your food is ridiculous. They obviously never had anyone put any thought into "people flow" ... it is chaos. This would be liveable if the food was of any quality. To say that they had the same food over and over again would be an understatement. Variety is not a word that a person would use to describe the selection here.
The a la carte restaurants were OK... but honestly they are more of a relief then a delight.

DRINKS: Disappointment again... if you like "blender drinks" when you are on a sunny vacation... don't expect them here. You get better drinks from your local 7-11. That is actually what they have... they have a Slurpy machine at all their bars. One is a Pina Colda slurpy and the other is something like a strawberry daiquiri. They pour some rum into a plastic cup and then add their slurpy solution... within 30 seconds you have a liquid mess that doesn't taste like any blender drink you might be looking forward to. Otherwise their beer is el Presidente, it is cold and wet... will get you through the week. Luckily they make rum in Puerto Plata so they kind of know what they are doing here.... but no credit goes to the hotel... they just pour it and hand it to you.

BEACH / WATER SPORTS - Not much to rave about here... it is a smaller beach front.. always short on chairs.. get there early if you want one. Water sports are almost non-existent... hidden away from the main beach area... they really don't have any free activities to utilize.

POOLS: As mentioned earlier.. they are clean. That is it. There really isn't spectacular about either of the two pools.. they cool you off when you get hot.

OTHER NOTES:
TOWELS - When you get your towel in the morning.. you have to make sure you return it before 6:00pm if not.. you are stuck with it. Their rule is that if you want a clean towel you need to return it at the end of the day and get your card. In return you get a fresh one in the morning. You are not allowed to exchange during the day.. too bad if it gets wet or gets sandy.
DINNER RESERVATIONS - There is only one place / and one person to make reservations for the a la carte restaurants... and it is bizarre. You can only book for the next day. Convenient... nothing I like to do more then stand in line on my holidays to book reservations. (The older I get the fewer things in life I find are worth standing in line for... these restaurants really are not that special to spend a great deal of time waiting in line for... but they are a necessary break from the buffet)

That is it... PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY AT THIS HOTEL.

My boyfriend and I stayed at Barcelo for a week April 2012..our friends came a few days after
Great location close to the airport.

All a la cartes were great, something for everyone..even the picky eater like myself!..the breads you get are amazing.
TRY THE PIZZA!!..I don't like pizza much but this was the best we had ever eaten!!

The bad reviews are nonsense...100%
Some people complain about small drinking cups..if you are a big drinker bring a large mug of your own..they will gladly fill it..
read the reviews they are helpful...but take them with a grain of salt...

The resort was great even though we had rain for the better part of our stay..the price was right at around $1000..

Visit Jesus at the bar near the stage..its usually not as busy and he makes a great drink!

***If you want a nice day away..there's a great market/shopping area about a half hour walk down the beach..once you hit the beach hang a left and keep on walking..you pass several resorts and a neat shark you can have your picture taken in..keep going! neat little market with lots of souvenirs.***

***FREE WI-FI..if you go through the resort "mall" area with the little shops and out that main exit..cross the street and go ever so slightly left..sort of just enough to get around the corner of the vh gran ventana resort sign..you will see a little cowboy style bar..(also behind that is the shopping centre with a pizza hut lol)..they offer free wifi at the cowboy bar which we found on our first night and used a few times to contact family back home!!..we just sat down and had a Presidente and they didn't mind..depending on the time of year they have sports playing on the tv's also..

Theres no 24hr bars but we just made sure to leave our fridge full for later at night!!

Beautiful resort..we will back back many times I'm sure over the years..

I just returned from having my wedding here and my honeymoon here as well.

First the wedding. We booked through our local agent and were put into contact with a planner from Barcelo by the name of Denis. SHe was amazing she helped us with all the planning through email and ensured everything was in place. Upon our arrival we met her, and everything was the way we had planned it. She gave a detailed run around the venue, gave us options to change locations if we desired. We had planned on having the wedding on the beach, but rain was in the forecast and we needed to be prepared to move. Thankfully the rain came about 3 hours after the wedding (apparently that is a good omen).

We traveled with 25 people, including 3 children. Everyone enjoyed the amenities. The large pool and of course pool bar was always clean. The beach was constantly cleaned of wash up debris. The food was better than I was expecting. I had been told that the food would be bland, this was not the case. All the a la carte restaurants were great. We particularly enjoyed the Mexican, Seafood Grill and Italian. Our least favorite was the Asian experience, as my family loves sushi and the sushi was very lacking (California rolls had ham in it?). The Brazilian was also average, likely because we had a late sitting, the meats were a little dry, but there were some fantastic sauces for dipping. For Breakfast and Lunch most attended the main buffet which was always good, and uses a 7 day cycle for menu planning.

The evenings entertainment was always enjoyable, this was also on a 10 day cycle (My wife and I were there for 14 days and the only have 4 repeats in show). My children really enjoy the the entertainment as it started at 8, and the first hour or so was directed at the children and they were even involved.

Now to this part the experiences are great, but it actually got better. We were "premium" guests and as a result we were able to use club premium. For the first 7 days we didn't really use the club, as the majority of guests were not premium. The last 7 though, we lived here. The staff in the club are amazing. By far the best service i have ever seen and had. The two main staff and Carlos and Norberto with Raphael the alternate on days off. These three gentlemen are a god send. They catered to your every need. Incredibly friendly and professional, they have a better selection of drinks, better food (bacon for breakfast every day) and they can order food for you from other areas. I don't know what else i can tell you about this experience. It was amazing.

Lastly, a brief mention of the tour co-ordinators. Most of our group booked with Transat, but some went through Expedia. Regardless all of the tour crew are in the same spot and all were there for any questions.

Now for the bad, and frankly there is not too much. The stores in the mini market is over priced, however your less than 500 meters from a plaza so its kind of off setting. My wife was not impressed with the Beauty department (hair, nails etc). Also, personally i didn't care for other visitors claiming pool and beach chairs at 7 am in the morning and never using them. That was frustrating, but we always ended up find space, it just took some time.

We went to the Barcelo Puerto Plata from Jan 19th to the 2nd of Feb/13. There was 6 of us together. 3 couples. We had a really good stay. We found the people, who worked there, that we met, were great!!!! Juan (Rayo Back) and Edgar from the Animation team were great fun, and good people!! "Obama", and Anna were great too!! In the buffet restaurant, Amauryis, was the best of the best, Eurys and Humberto were two of our favorites. The girls greeting patrons to the buffet were ALL beautiful, kind and friendly, Our favorite was Deyanaris. Say hi for us!!!

We flew with Canjet/Airtransat. There were two reps for our resort, there was always one of them available. Alexandra was fab!!! If you need anything, go see her. The guy was not much help with anything we needed.

I cannot say enough about the cleanliness of this resort!! Even the bathrooms, around the resort were kept very clean. Our room was on the ground floor and had no problem with bugs, etc!!! Rooms, pool, restaurants, beach all above standard for us, as compared to other resorts in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. We have traveled extensively through Cuba and the Dominican, and this is the best we have had!!

Beach;
-very clean
-Not nearly enough palapa's. We stayed under the trees everyday. This worked out for us anyways as there was seven of us the first week and 6 the second week. Palapa's really only fit 4.
-Not enough beach chairs when the beach is busy. (This goes for the pool too.) You need to go down to the beach for sunrise every day, if you don't want to have to search for beach chairs. My friend and I put our towels down on the chairs, watched the sunrise, then went for breakfast. Sunrises are so worth the effort of going down early!!! Just sayin'!!!
-towels were a bit of an issue, as my friend and I went to the beach for the sunrise in the morning, until we went to Guest services and they arranged to have our blue towels exchanged by the "turn down the beds" service, in the evening. Left them on the bed and we got two new ones while we were out at the show. Nice touch. Thanks girls.
-no music at the beach. The only music there was was playing softly at the snack bar/restaurant.
-WAY TOO MANY VENDORS ON THE BEACH. Constant interruptions! However, this really isn't the fault of the Resort!!!! These vendors are licensed by the government, to be allowed to walk the beach and sell. This is their livelihood. Some of these guys, and girls are amazing! Francesco for excursions, and Cheapy Willy, made us laugh everyday. Some of the vendors don't negotiate a price for things as good as others...watch what you pay..test out a few, get an idea of what you want to pay BEFORE you commit to pay anything to any of these guys. ("Dejarme solo/sola" works...that is spanish for "leave me alone")

Restaurants:
Brazilian- good food...lots of meat....service crap....2.5/5( we went back only because of the food, service was bad the second time too)
Italian-Great Food!!! Great Service!! went three times, in two weeks...5/5
Seafood- Good Food, service okay...4/5
Oriental- great food...great service....4.5/5
Pizza-okay food...okay service...3/5
Mexican...great food....okay service....3.5/5
Beach Snack Bar...food... unvaried and boring... 2/5 service was good
Buffet...breakfast okay..3/5...lunch...3.5/5...dinner...3/5...Service (depends who serves you. look for Amauryis, Humberto, or Eurys)

Entertainment:
-daily games at beach and pool...great fun! (thanks to "Obama", Juan(Rayo back), and Edgar)
-Anna for kids club!!! 8 to 9 pm
-Animation Team - Excellent!!! 9 - 10 pm
-Nightly Show - unvaried and boring 10 - 11 pm