We stayed at the Bavaro Princess April 29th through May 6. It was our first time ever in Punta Cana. The resort grounds were absolutely beautiful and impeccably clean.
We arrived late Tuesday night and after seeing our room (near the lobby) we immediately upgraded to the Platinum/VIP package. HUGE difference in rooms - the new room was located steps away from the beach and a stone throw away from the actual Platinum lounge which offers premium liquors as well as movie rentals and free internet access. Snacks through out the day are also available in this area. The staff were phenomenal. Yes, there is a language barrier but this caused no frustration on our part, you make the most of it and everyone makes a good effort to try and help you and understand. Just remember, you are on vacation, in THEIR country. We read some bad reviews about this place - about the food being terrible, about bugs and musty odours... I can honestly say the food was fantastic everywhere we ate! The selection of fruit was mouth watering with sooo much flavour. The grilled lobster and shrimp at Chopin was excellent! The selection at the buffets was fantastic. Great variety of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We never had any problems with any of the food at the many restaurants and buffets. I don't know what people were referring to when they complained about bugs and mosquitoes..yes we got some mosquito bites but you get those anywhere, especially after it rains...it certainly was not as bad or even close to what some people wrote. Our room never had that musty smell so I cannot comment...but is that not normal especially when its humid out? I think the problem is that when some people go away on vacation they forget that they are in a less developed country. I don't have anything negative to say about this resort. All the staff - from gardeners out in the morning tending to the flowers and trees to bartenders and maids, everyone always greeted us with a friendly welcoming smile. Johanny from check in was superb in ensuring we were content with our upgrade and called often to make sure we were happy. I would recommend the upgrade to anyone, for the room alone it was well worth it..never mind all the other perks you get with the upgrade such as bathrobes and slippers (soo comfy), cigars, 20 minute massage by the pool which was absolutely wonderful (they definately know how to massage) 1 hour of free snorkeling (they take you out on a boat - so don't pay for it if you are approached on the beach). You also get to eat at the neighbouring Princess resorts - which we never did as we were quite content with our resort. You also get Free room service 24 hours a day which we took advantage of quite a bit . Platinum staff made reservations for us at Licey (if you're not part of Platinum, you pay 30 dollars to eat here). Licey was an upscale restaurant with fantastic menu options. I had the lobster and it was amazing...The beach was absolutely breathtaking...powdery soft sand, no rocks whatsoever....the water...very refreshing and picturesque. Three of us (girls) traveled here and never found this place to be unsafe in any way. Maybe some people should stay off the "mamajuana"....
All in all, we had a fantastic time here. I'm not a fan of vacationing more than once at the same destination but would return back here in a heartbeat.
Hope this review helps....remember, take the negative you read with a grain of salt, there is just no pleasing some people and I don't find it fair to do this place injustice.
Relax and enjoy.....From the "T Dot"

We booked this trip through Apple Vacations and overall I was very dissappointed in the resort. The main reason is that Apple bills this as a 5 apple property whereas I see it as a 4 at best. The rooms are terribly dated and in need of remodel. We had lots of tiny bugs in our room (on the bathroom sink and the headboard). The pool area also needs to be updated. Everywhere we went was smoky with lots of cigarette butts laying around. The beach and water were beautiful and the food was good.

i dont want to write a long review but i travel every year this being my third time to dominican republic i know what to expect
the resort was beutiful lots of green . food decent beach was amazing, althow the resort was big it was easy to get around we never waited more than 5 min for a troly . our wedding went well it was everything i had hoped for

if you are planning a trip to dominican republic i would have to say give this place a try you will not regret it , dont forget to bring an open mind your not in your own country

We booked through Apple Vacations and saved a ton of money on the included airfare by going from Tues-Tues rather than Sun-Sun or Sat-Sat. We flew out of Newark NJ on an early morning flight with Continental. Before we even landed in Punta Cana, we heard a group of people complaining about the resorts in the DR in general - which begged the question, why are you even on this flight?? Misery definitely loves company and some people are obviously just not happy unless they have something to complain about.

The worst part of our trip was Punta Cana airport, and even that wasn't so bad - just a lot of standing in line and a little disorganization - I think there just isn't much necessity for it in a place that is basically a vacation airport, not busy and used by business and pleasure passengers alike like somewhere like Newark. The Wendy's was definitely a huge plus though! Also, there are guys that will wheel your luggage for you which I thought was really unnecessary and seemed like they just wanted a tip. Just tell them no thank you.

My boyfriend and I are in our twenties and have never been on an all inclusive vacation before. He's been abroad once and I've done a lot of traveling in Europe and the Mediterranean. We kept checking the reviews here and really didn't know what to expect of the resort.

Honestly, I don't know what the complaints are about. First of all, the staff are wonderful and so accommodating. You don't have to tip anyone to get exceptional service either - they'll go above and beyond regardless - but they sure deserve the tips they do get. We tipped our maid and requested more beer & less soda in our fridge, which she did every day. The bartenders are fun and great to talk to as are the drivers of the shuttle train. The waiters at the a la carte restaurants were professional & friendly too and the tables were always cleared of empty plates and drinks. Your wine or water glass was never empty. Try to make the effort to speak Spanish - it's a lot of fun and they do appreciate it. We learned how to say 'how do you say ... in spanish?' which was a fun way to have conversations with the bartenders. Everyone seemed to have very good English too but for some reason some people seemed to be unable to understand their accents. I have no clue why it was so difficult...it really seems like some people live under a rock or think the world revolves around them. I heard one American woman come up with a ridiculous drink order and then got upset when the bartender was confused by what she was asking - it was something that would have probably confounded any American bartender too. Some guests were also just downright obnoxious and rude when making requests. If you are friendly and make an effort, they respond appropriately - if you are rude, flippant, stubborn, demanding, etc it's not appreciated by both the staff and other guests who have to listen to you. These guests were in the minority, though, as most people we met were friendly and were oddly enough having a great time and enjoying themselves.

Also keep in mind it's not just Americans visiting the resort...so there will be women going topless on the beach and there might be some additional language barriers when you're trying to talk to other people. Just embrace it and enjoy yourself instead of finding things to complain or judge people about!

As far as the food, we really liked the breakfast buffet at both El Gaucho and La Hispanola. We mostly ate breakfast at El Gaucho because we'd go to the beach or pool right after to swim & sunbathe. There was plenty to choose from. Some things were twists on American and European foods, so they weren't exactly like home but were definitely good. My boyfriend really liked the custom omelette station and we also enjoyed the freshly made donuts. There's fresh fruit and juices, yogurts, cereals, bread, bacon, eggs, potatoes, waffles, pancakes, french toast, etc. For lunch we ate at La Hispanola because we enjoyed sitting by the pond. It was pretty good and there were American & Italian stations in the buffet where you could get pizza, pasta, fries, burgers etc in addition to the buffet food which was a mixture of different things...salad bar, lasagna, different kinds of fish, vegetables. We also got hot dogs and fries a couple times at the snack bar at the beach when we didn't feel like leaving the beach. For dinner we ate at each a la carte restaurant. El Gaucho was my personal least favorite, I got the angus steak expecting it to be char-broiled/grilled but instead I think it was fried. It was greasy and I don't like my steak that way. My boyfriend got the argentinian steak though and said it was very good. The caesar salad with steak there was good too. The chinese was good, the wait staff there were a lot of fun and the food was good. I had the cashew chicken. For dessert, order the fried ice cream, they bring it out and set it alight in front of you. We liked the piano player at Chopin & thought it was a unique touch. The bartender there was also very cool & the food was good, the roasted chicken especially. Bella Pasta was okay but we are from the New York City area and I think are a little spoiled when it comes to amazing Italian food so we weren't really overly impressed. Our favorite restaurant by far was the japanese. The food was excellent and it was a lot of fun, and we got to share a table with a fun family.

Also, a quick word about the 'musty smell' in the bathrooms - when we arrived, our room was clean and the bathroom smelled fresh. I noticed that after taking a shower, it smelled a little damp or musty. So, being logical, I closed the bathroom door, hung up the towels and bath mat, and opened the window. The smell is just from the humidity and after you shower the bathroom needs to air and dry out. That's why there's no AC and a window in there!! This was common practice every where else I went in Europe and seems like common sense but you you never know. The smell went away after the window had been open for a half hour or so and the steam from the shower dried up. My boyfriend is also an architect and noticed a lot of very clever touches to the buildings of the hotel, the ventilation, etc. It seems like everything serves a purpose and the lack of AC & window in the bathroom is no exception, so use it!

The Anamacion staff were great as well and work so hard, and such long days - they are out on the beach in the morning and then putting on shows for you at 10pm at night! We liked all the shows as well and though the dancers were talented. The comedy show was really cute and made us both laugh. I didn't find any of it to be cheesy. The band that plays at the main building was also very good and we enjoyed listening to them play the Carribean style music much more than covers of pop songs. They also had a beach party which was a lot of fun, and Apple Vacations held a BBQ the first night we were there with a nice buffet and music - unfortunately after dinner it started to rain but it was fun while it lasted! (It did rain a couple of times - usually for an hour or so very hard, then it stops and the sun comes out).

If you want to have a good time here all you have to do is loosen up - dance, learn some Spanish, be friendly, eat lots, get plenty of sun, and relax, and you will have a great time. There really is nothing to complain about at all. We can't wait to get some friends together and go back next year.