What a great time i just had a this hotel, 1 week in February and it was great. First this weas not my first all inclusive, i've been in the Riviera Maya and Cuba and this was the best experience i've had.

This hotel is an Adult only hotel attach to the very large Barcelo palace. But the beach is better rated because it is smaller than the palace and people seem to like smaller setting that the larger one, for adults. The crowed if of every age. i would half are french canadian, 1/4 canadian and many russian, a few european and americans.

The location is Amazing, this is located according to Trip advisor to the 8th best beach in the world and they are right. Beautiful beach, ultra clean and pristine blue water. There a reason for that and you won't find this in Mexico or cuba is that they don't serve drink at the beach or don't have bar directly on the beach so they keep it very clean. But the bar in 1 min away so don't have to worry about that.

the grounds of the hotel are in immaculate condition and the staff is extremely friendly (well 90% of them, some like the towel girl doesn't not seem to like her job and does talk on the phone a lot) there are pleanty of place on the beach and you don't have to reserve your seats in advance there will always be place left, the pool is really good, there is a spa but you have no control on when it starts or stops funny!! the sitting area around the pool might be a problems. they do tend to keep very few chair around the pool and most are taken by 6:00am afterward you'll be lucky to find a place to sit around the pool.

THE ROOMS are great. I don't see the value of upgrading to an oceanview or premier club since most rooms at the beach have a view of the ocean because of the way the hotel is made and the premier club doens't give you any advantages that you can buy there and will be cheaper than the premier club. For instance premier get free wi-fi you can get for about 20$ a day and they have packages for 4, 5, or 7 days which is cheaper than premier club!! And all the rooms look great except for shower pressure there is none!! and obviously the new renovated look great.

The food is Good, there are three restaurant on the beach ground, and many many more at the palace. The buffet is open for all three meal times and La brisa is open for lunch and dinner. The only smaller down side is the buffet, it is a buffet and the food is OK, same things are reapeating themselves and often the fruits where to old or not ripe enough, but you will find somethings that are really good. The a la carte restaurants are amazing (except la briza, bad experience) the only problems most, well all except two of them are at the palace about a 10 min walk or take the train to go there but the train could take up to 10 min just to show and on the way back if you're unlucky you go the long way across the entire palace ground and takes up to 25min time. but the food is great at all the a la carte restaurant (REALLY BIG TIP, RESERVE ALL YOUR A LA CARTE ON THE FIRST DAY YOU ARRIVE)

Overall it is much better the any resort i found in mexico, jamaica, or cuba and will be back next year with the family at the palace and this is rare because i tend to want to try different things, hotels and locsation i go down south.

Visited this resort February 6 to 13 and thought it was wonderful. We paid for the Club Premium and it was worth every dollar. The view when we first walked into our room was outstanding. We were in building 6 and were directly on the beach. With the Club Premium you also received express check-in and check-out and they looked after your every need, ie. a la carte reservations, golf reservations and pick-up, spa reservations. The room was extremely clean and contained everything you needed. The robes and slippers were a nice touch. The cleaning schedule seemed to change from morning one day to afternoon the next so you pretty much knew when your room would be done. We tried Chez Gourmet, Las Brisas and La Comedie (next door at the Palace Deluxe) and were pleased with each one. The steak at the a la carte's was phenomenal. Nothing wrong with the buffet, either. Lots of choices. Beach was well taken care of with lots and lots of loungers. The pool, although cold (as at any resort) was a good size and very clean. Lots of great employees more than eager to serve you. We will definitely return!

My husband and I made our 3rd visit to this particular resort - previously in 1987, 2012 and then last week Feb 6-13 2013. We had chosen it as our "go to" for an annual vacation however after experiencing theft from the room it has turned us off enough to never return again. The beach is absolutely the best...always chairs available pretty much anywhere you wanted to be - the west side being the quietest (also furthest from the bar). Kept very, very clean and is the perfect 'relax and recharge' spot.
Food in most restaurants was superb to very good esp the Gourmet, Spanish and La Brisa - favourite was the La Fuente which is the Spanish one. La Comedie which we did not go to this year but did last is also amazing. Buffet is ...well buffet. You can always find something to eat although choice is a bit repetitive by the end of a trip.
The downside to this trip and the reason we will not return is that the maid stole from our room - my beauiful beach wrap purchased in Mexico in 1989....treasured for almost 25 years. We were absolutely stunned as have traveled Europe, the Carribean and throughout Canada and the US and never ever had anything ever taken . We met up with other travellers who had experienced the same thing the same week...seems like it is only one or two items per room.....always women's clothing, always higher end, smaller pieces.
Go enjoy the resort, just lock up anything you really like or leave it at home. Unfortunately for us it is now tainted as we had always raved about the location and promoted it to others. We will probably go back to the Iberostar and Gran Bahai chains in the future.

I really don't have too much bad to say about the Barcelo Bavaro Beach, except the food was not up to expectations.
Pros: Adult resort-really enjoyed the quiet beach and pool area. Loved the beach volleyball, but not too much for activities at the adult resort, but that was OK. We walked down the beach to the Palace Deluxe Beach(we had full access to this part of the resort, which had way more activities, including bocce, shuffleboard, sailing, pingpong, games, kayaking and other water sports. Workers were helpful for these activities.
The nightly entertainment was very good, and a nice way to cap off the day.
My wife has Irritable Bowel Syndrome and some foods affect her. The bartenders prepared a drink called a "Baum Ba" or something like that, that seemed to help her condition. Thanks to the friendly and helpful bartending staff.
Guest Services was especially helpful to arrange mealtimes and give direction about most anything on the resort. Big thanks to Evelyn and Esmeralda!!!
Access to the beach was great from all 6 buildings. I suggest building 6, where we were, or building 5, as they were very close to the restaurant on the beach, which had a buffet over lunch time and a very nice A la Carte in the evening. You could also get drinks to enjoy on the beach right there.
Went golfing one time. All you pay is the cart fee of $65 each time you play. Bring your own clubs! The Lakes course is very highly rated. Lots of water = bring lots of balls! PB Dye design. Beautiful.
Security was always evident, even late at night.
Lots of places to access internet. Just buy the time. Cheap!
Cons: As a Canadian, we expect some of the foods we enjoy at our best restaurants would be typical for a 4 1/2 star resort. There was some good food, but not consistent, even at the a la cartes. Steaks weren't done to order and there was no choice as to what you want with your steak! Not an enjoyable experience. Salmon was great, fish was good, lobster was horrible. I think I enjoyed the pasta bar at the buffet. Put in what you want. They don't have real cheddar cheese like we're used to.