On the first day we arrived, and we booked the standard suite. Automatically, they gave us a platinum suite, right by the beach, with 3 beds, perfect for our family of four. We ate at the seafood restaurant-good selection and good service, as well as view of the beach. What I really enjoyed about this is the fact that you do not have to make a reservation at the restaurants. We wet to the lobby bar, and enjoyed a couple of drinks, and the tenders there were really kind and they knew what they were doing, even the kids! The second day, we woke up, took a stroll on the beach, had breakfast by the beach-(there are two buffets-the main and one is across from the McPrincess snack bar. Average food for breakfast-nice variety of fruit and whatnot. We went for a swim, the for lunch at the main buffet, and then to the pool. There is an ecological forest trail at the resort that leads to or goes from the lobby, into the platinum suite villas.There we saw iguanas everyday, geckos, anoles, weird birds, parrots, rabbits, herrings, black widow spiders, frogs, toads and a variety of fish and turtles-I really recommend this trail! Lunch had a decent variety, burgers steak, potatoes, etc,etc.
We ate at all of the restaurants and buffets, and our favorite dinnertime restaurant was Chopin buffet-the first time we went there. The second time, we got food poisoning, as we ate the breaded grouper fish and it was old and soggy, If it is not crispy, don't eat it!
The beach was great and everyone at the water sports center. I recommend parasailing, surfing at Macao beach, and the one most important one is the snorkeling (strictly snorkeling) excursions in the reef. There is no reef on this beach!!! The beach itself though is amazing. It is raked and clean everyday, crystal blue water, but always high and powerful waves, making the water murky with sandy and seaweed. Watch where you step though, I got pinched by a crab!
Overall, a worth-it investment.

We are a family of 4 with teenagers. We truly enjoyed our time at this resort (January 2013). It has one of the best beaches in the Bavaro area. If you are looking to relax on the beach, this is the place to be!

Having been to the Majestic Colonial a few years ago, I started our trip comparing the two resorts. They are quite different, but both are beautiful resorts. If you are looking for a smaller resort with a huge pool, then I would definitely lean towards the Majestic. The beach at Bavaro Princess, however, is the best around.

GROUNDS: The resort is quite large, but not too large to walk from the main lobby to the beach. They do have transportation throughout the resort if you aren't interested in walking. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. The grounds crew worked daily making sure the grounds were immaculate (no power tools, everything was trimmed by hand). We were fortunate to meet one of the grounds crew near our bungalow, Carvajal. He would pick coconuts for us daily so that we could drink the coconut water.

RESTAURANTS: The food was good, but not exceptional. The main buffet (Hispaniola) is in the lobby near the entrance of the resort. They had a nice selection. The buffet is quite large and can be quite noisy when full. None of the a la carte restaurants required reservations. We went to dinner fairly early and never had to wait to be seated. We went to the Japanese restaurant,Tanuki (near the center of the resort), I thought the food there was good and quite plentiful. The steakhouse, El Gaucho, was near the beach. The food was good, but the meat not cooked as ordered. Medium/rare was well done and medium was medium/rare (I think there was a language gap with these descriptions). It was tasty, none the less. For breakfast and lunch, El Gaucho was a buffet with choices for everyone’s taste. The seafood restaurant, El Pescador, was in another section of the same building near the beach. The sea bass was excellent. No shrimp on the menu and Lobster was $25 extra. The Italian restaurant, Bella Pasta, was the most disappointing. It was located next to the seafood restaurant near the beach/pool. The snapper and the pasta dishes were very good, but don’t order chicken parm and expect it to be what you would find in the northeastern US. They had a trio of musicians that would perform in each a la carte restaurant every night. It was a nice touch, but they would try to sell you their music CD when they came over to your table. During the day, we had burgers at “McPrincess” on the beach. The burgers were great! The chef working the grill did an excellent job and worked very hard! We did not try the Oriental (Sakura) or Chopin (buffet) both located in the same building as the Japanese restaurant.

ROOMS: We were fortunate to have a bungalow by the beach (building 5) as I had requested prior to our arrival. We were steps away from the pool and the beach. The rooms were very clean and spacious. The fridge was refilled with soda, water, and beer every day. We received diet soda and extra water upon request without a problem. The beds were surprisingly comfortable. The layout of the room and the balcony was very nice. The only problem we experienced in the room was a drippy air conditioning condenser. The air conditioning was located over the tub, so the water dripped right into the tub.

STAFF: All of the staff that we encountered at the resort had been absolutely wonderful. Everyone greeted you with a smile. They worked very hard day and night to accommodate their guests. I was impressed that the staff did whatever they could to communicate with the guests in many different languages. The staff was superb! Most notable were Danicia at the front desk and Carvajal with the grounds crew. The animation team did a great job engaging the guests that wanted to be entertained, but left the rest of us to relax on the beach if we weren't interested in joining the activities.

SPA: I enjoyed the Chocolate spa package with my daughter (Sauna, Jacuzzi, full exfoliation, full chocolate wrap, and aromatherapy…I substituted a scalp massage for the aromatherapy). It was probably more suited for a romantic couple, but we enjoyed it. The services were professionally done and they spent a lot of time with us for an unforgettable experience.

Things we loved:
- The beautiful, clean, spacious beach…with enough shade or sun for everyone. No need to play the towel game here.
- Well maintained grounds.
- Friendly staff!
- Clean, spacious bungalows!
- Beverages were tasty and made to our liking!

Things we would change:
- Too many vehicles traveled on the same path as the pedestrians.
- The natural mangrove area in the middle of the resort occasionally smelled “swampy”. I would be disappointed if we were placed in a room closest to that area.
- Vendors on the beach could be annoying at times, but would leave you alone if you told them that you were not interested.

I would definitely go back! If you have any questions about our experience, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

My Wife and I and My brother and Sister-in-Law stayed at the Bavaro Princess Feb 7th to 15th. We had the platinum package which was definitely worth the extra costs. We have stayed at other 5-star resorts and this one really needs an update. We had some bad luck with the room (safe, tv, phone, and 2 major plumbing leaks). We understand that “stuff” happens but these buildings need to be completely renovated. I bet they were really beautiful when newer. At no time did we receive an apology for these inconveniences.
The traffic around the resort is unbelievable. There is a trolley for transporting guests around the resort but then there are many service vehicles running on the same trails/walkways. They don’t go slow either. They should consider a service road around the perimeter and invest in electric engines to reduce noise and fumes (this traffic goes on into the night).
On the good side: Platinum Lounge – always good service and convenient. Platinum beach area – such comfort. Beach – I think this resort has the best beach in the area. Food – McPrincess has the best fries I have ever had. Don’t miss out on this! Japanese restaurant was a lot of fun and delicious. Lecey was excellent for 2 of 4 of us (seafood lovers and haters). Chinese was good; Pasta was ok; Steak was ok. Staff – the staff at this place are exceptional; so friendly and hard working. I would say the staff are the best of any resort we have been to.
Closing: Make sure you bring your beach towels to the check out. 2 of us left them at the beach exchange hut and didn’t get more because they were leaving early the next day. That turned out bad for their 7am checkout. We ended up giving them ours and getting new ones (only because the guy at the beach remembered taking their towels the day before). They were going to get charged $20 per towel. Wow some final impression. Very petty we thought.
If you rate the resort on beach, food and staff this is definitely a winner. If you consider the room it falls short very quickly. We have also seen better grounds and the traffic is a big negative.
So some good and some bad but I don’t think we would go back because the resort is kinda run down.

We found the resort to be very nice.. The rooms were great and the staff very friendly and helpful.
The food was good.... we found the main resturant as good as any of the speciality resturants....
The only thing we found not so nice was the fact that you couldn't flush toilet paper down the toilet...But not abnormal for a third world country.. The vacationers were from many countries so had a very international feel. The grounds were lovely...