We returned from a 6 day stay at Iberostar Punta Cana three days ago.
We took along Pepto Bismol and Immodium as instructed by some disgruntled visitors in the past and I am glad to say we never used either. The food was excellent at the Buffets thrice daily. We ate at the Steakhouse one night and that, too, was good. The property is expertly manicured, the pools sparkling, the room was cleaned thoroughly each day and the employees were very pleasant and laid back.
We breezed through the thatched-roof terminal within 10 minutes after getting our luggage and were met by VIP Travel and on bus within minutes.We are senior citizens (over 65) and found lots of folks in our age range there. We do wish we were bilingual as English was the least spoken language. Would go back again.

I just came back from vacation at Iberostart Punta Cana. It was very good. We're stayed there 8 days, and it was not long enough. I would like to share some usefull tips with those of you who will go there in a future. Upon arrival, ask service desk rep. to give you remote control for TV in your room, and a key for deposit box. (Deposit box cost a $1 per day). Do not call home from your cell phone. Calls to USA from Iberostar hotel cost 50C per minute without any other charges. For those of you who like good drinks: 2 Lobby bars are stocked with top shell brands. Vodka: Smirnoff and Stoli. Scotch: Dewars, Johni Walker Red Label. Gin: Beefeater and Tanquerey. You can also find some good imported brandy there. These drinks are not visible on a bar display.
You have to ask for it. All other bars are serving local achogolic drinks. On Tuesdays, buffett restaraunt menu includes Japaneese Suschi.
On Wednesdays, you can get small lobsters there, so do not sign for International Restaraunt on Wednesday (it serves the Lobster Dinner Only). Hope, I will go there again.

Sorry this has taken so long, but it has been a hectic few months since returning from the Iberostar Bavaro. You may have read my review of the Iberostar Dominicana from March. My wife and I ,along with our neighbors were there the first week of March '03 and absolutely feel in love with Punta Cana. I stated in that review that we loved it so much that we were considering taking our two youngest daughters(Christina-6, Caity-13) back in the summer. Well it took some time to convince my wife (not too much.), that we needed to return. BINGO. We were at the resort this time from Sat. Aug.2 thru Sat Aug. 9.PLANE TRIP: We got a great deal from our travel agent ,and this time we were able to fly out of Rochester,NY instead of Buffalo NY. That was a great selling point. Our trip in March was a charter which was great, but this wasn't too bad at all. We left Rochester 7:30 on Sat, then to Charlotte NC. We did not have much of a layover. Time to grab a bite to eat then off to Punta Cana. It was a 3hr flight from Charlotte. The plane was full but with the 2 girls there was plenty of room. We flew US Air and the flight was smooth. Karen prefers the charter out of Buffalo, 3 hours your there! But either way was fine. Its vacation! The girls flipped out when they saw airport. They had seen the pics of it but until you see it, it's not real. We were able to get some great pics of the island as we were getting ready to land. I have pics posted along with the one from the March trip. I will put the link at the end of the review.FIRST AT RESORT We , along with our travel agent and tour company (GOGO) asked for a room on the beach and for a few special things, (close to pool & ocean view). Seeing this was our second time at the resort within a 6 month period, I thought nothing of asking for special treatment. It was about 3;30-4:00 when we got to the resort and were not disappointed. The desk was well aware of our requests, and that we were returning guests. You will see in the photos, that our room was less than 50 feet from the beach. Un-freaking-believable. We were in room1296, which was in the second to the last building on the resort. The view from our patio/deck was breathtaking. Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined such a view, and being that close to the beach and the spectacular Caribbean Sea. The people at the Bavaro Iberostar were ok, Karen liked the check in better at the Dominicana- they brought you to the room in golf carts- this time we were just given a map and told where to go. After a long day of travel I would have preferred the ride to my room instead of searching for it.Also know that this resort is huge. You will be walking a lot and we enjoyed it, but going from one end of the resort to the other which we did everyday I would figure its at least 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile if you walk the beach way.When here in March we were booked into the Dominicana, but actually were upgraded to one of the suites. The suites are really part of the Bavaro, so we were familiar with what to expect in the room. But never expected the view we had. The room was also very close to the pool. Everything was great, once we found it.I had included in my review of the Dominicana our e-mail, so if anyone had questions they could contact us. I couldn't believe how many people contacted us. I probable will have to say on the conservative side around 125 to 150 different people contacted us. I was more than happy to answer all of them. Which leads me to this.We were contacted by a couple in England about some concerns they had about the resort. Their names are Ray and Nikki . We e-mailed back and forth a few times, answering questions and sending different pics that I had not posted. We kept in touch, and then when we finally booked our trip,realized that they were going to be at the time we were too. Well let me just say, the 8 or so weeks leading up to the trip, Nikki would almost on a daily basis e-mail the weekly , then daily countdown. It was great. We also would IM them and really struck up a great friendship.Ray is in the Royal Airforce and there were times when he was in the Middle East that things got pretty scarry. Things turned out well and we met Ray and Nikki and their son Alex in the Dominicana lobby bar our first night(Sat.). It was great meeting them, they were and absolute gas(a bit of the Brit in me there). They were so kind and grateful for the info we had given them, and of what to expect. It was unexpected, but they came with gifts for our whole family, even our 2 oldest kids(Joe-16, Jen-18),who did not want to do the family trip thing. They were sorry of this fact after seeing our pics. That's another story all together. They had gotten me a print of the aircraft that Ray flys on, a Hercules C 30, and a shirt from his squadron. Some fine English china for Karen(my wife) and mom, and really cool things for the girls. But most important they brought fixings for Brandy Sours(haha). We were all pretty tired and planned on where to meet the next morning.I know that Ray and Nikki, especially Nikki check out this website often, so let me say here for all to see...Thanks to the both of you, and we are now friends forever.POOLS: On to more detail. The Bavaro pool although very nice, could really use a paint job. It is a zero entry pool, and gets very slippery around the edge as the day goes on. The Bavaro is the oldest, and the first of the Iberostar hotels. I believe they said it was 15yrs old, followed by the Dominicana(10yrs), then the Punta Cana(5yrs). The pool was fine in the morning but got somewhat crowded as the day went on. Another thing was the swim up bar. It was hard at times to get drinks( this was solved by throwing the bartenders a few dollars a couple of times) because of all the kids getting their soft drinks and stuff. Also they would be jumping into the pool right next to the bar. It was a pain at times, but after awhile someone would put a stop to it. My wife and I spoke to the manager of the Bavaro one night, and mentioned about the paint job and being slippery. He apologized and went on to say that the only way for things to get done to the pool was for there to be a hurricane. I found this kind of funny, but could see his point. The resort is packed year round, and I would hate to be the one there on vacation the week they try to paint.We really spent most of the days at the pools at the Dominicana and Punta Cana. The Punta Cana pool was really quiet, a few kids and families. After the first day we started to talk to 2 couples from Staten Island NY. Their names were Mike and Sharon, and Eric and Yvonne . They were their with their sons Mike Jr(3), and Eric(2 1/2- no mommy no mommy). They were great to meet and we want to say Hi to them as well.All in all, the 2 pools at the Punta Cana and Dominicana were much better, bigger, cleaner, and not as crowded as the Bavaro.ACTIVITIES: One morning after Nikki had mixed up pails of Brandy Sours (again..check out my pics), one of the star friends recruited myself,Mike, and Eric to be part of the Olympics on the beach. Well after a few Brandy Sours we felt more like we should be involved in the Special Olympics. We KICKED BUTT in the tug-o -war and Mike was in the waterballoon sitting event. We then formed a huge Conga line and wound our way to the pool for a victory line dance...(Dale Pa Alla..Dale Pa Acca) levantando las manos everybody. We laughed so hard my side hurt the next day.There are daily activities to participate in if you want (volleyball, dancing, bingo, etc.) but we much preferred the beach and pool activity of sunbathing but don't expect too much to do. Its defiantly not like a cruise where they have things planned all day and night. That is kind of what we like about it though, very laid back.The excursions as far as we are concerned seemed over priced and not that exciting. The Manatee Park where you can swim with the dolphins sounded appealing at first with the girls but our tour guide said they only swim 2x a day and its for all the resorts so multiply the number of resorts with kids wanting to do it and I say- forgettaboutit! Pool was fine! By the way 70.00 US dollars to do it per person.Two things not to miss are the Beach Bar-B-Que, and the Paella on the Beach. Both the Dominicana, and Bavaro have the Paella, but I believe only the Dominicana has the Bar-B-Que. Ask to find what days these are done. When staying at the Bavaro you have access to everything on the resort. Be sure to check everything out.FOOD: OK, Karen here- I am going to give you the main reason to stay at the Bavaro and have use of all resorts and its the food. After having been at the Dominicana and now seeing the difference it is well worth the extra money. Especially if you are traveling with very picky young eaters as my girls are. Now I am not saying that the Dominicana is not good, it is, but there is a much better selection at the Bavaro, there is room service at the Bavaro, and they will accommodate you if you ask. The restaurants were pretty much similar but please if you go and like seafood make sure you try the Mediterranean. (La Dorada) remember to wear pants guys or you'll have to go change. That was excellent!The Bavaro buffets at poolside for breakfast and lunch were amazing, well laid out, and had a lot of options and stations. It was like full buffets that were in the Dominicana and Punta Cana lobby for dinner, but a little better. We utilized the room service (which had chicken fingers and french fries on the menu) at least 3x for the girls and it was great, didn't take too long either. The buffet was excellent at the Bavarro lobby for dinner too. They had theme nights, Italian, Mexican, etc., and we enjoyed that.Again if your going on a limited budget and kids will eat whatever stay at the Punta Cana for the price, if you prefer better options definitely book the Bavaro.DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RESORTS Punta Cana: least expensive, but newest rooms like normal hotel rooms limited access to other areas for drinks and food -can only get drinks at Lobby bar or by steakhouse addition coming that will have family style suites- looks nice nice and clean Say hello to Eladio in Lobby bar- he is great!Dominicana: People are the friendliest here, we really like the workers that are here and they actually remembered us from March! That was amazing! Mohammed at the beach bar is awsome! Remembered our names- Hows that for service! Can drink in Lobby bar of either Dominicana or Punta Cana or at both pool side restaurants Can upgrade to a suite and well worth it Area's are extremely clean Lobby has the Casino Entertainment here nightlyBavaro: All Suites Food is excellent Service was ok, still liked the Dominicana for service too! Access to all bars, restaurants and buffets in whole resort Entertainment nightly in lobby areaThings to know: There are shuttle carts available from lobbies of Dominicana and Bavaro- I am sure they probably are available from Punta Cana too. Well worth a couple bucks tip at night with a tired child! Just ask at desk for them they will direct you.All in all we love the resort. We want to try the Mayan Riviera in Mexico next and will stay at the Iberostar. But dollar for dollar you can't beat the price of the Dominican Republic, and I am sure we will return again.Any questions feel free to contact us and be sure to check out the photo's. joeferr@rochester.rr.com http://community.webshots.com/user/joeferrari

Reviewer's background: Couple in early 40's. First time in Dominican Republic; have travelled previously to Aruba (2x), Jamaica (2x), St. Lucia, St. Thomas and Tortola (BVI).Our visit: 11-22 to 12-02. (11 days, 10 nights).Pre-Departure: We planned for most contingencies, based on reviews we'd read. Everything from having our own snorkeling gear & lots of suntan lotion, to umbrellas, rain ponchos and medicines for typical traveler's illnesses.Airport: Typical developing Caribbean airport. You exit via a transportable stairway to the ground, walk a short way to get into the palm-roofed buildings. Pay $10 U.S. per person for a tourist card. You get your photo taken with a couple of local ladies in costume; you can purchase it ($6) if you want it when you are leaving the country. Officials check your paperwork. If you don't have a passport, be sure to have a certified copy of your birth certificate, your photo driver's license, and if your name is different between the two, proof of name change (marraige, etc.). Don't be surprised that they stamp your birth certificate as if it was a passport. Eventually you find your luggage, and begin looking for your transportation.Transport to Hotel: Ours was with Pietro Tours, arranged by Liberty Travel. The bus was okay; it was air conditioned, etc. One warning: it seems that most of these busses have very narrow aisles. Although I made it through the aisle okay, I did see someone else had a bit of difficulty. My suggestion is that if you are significantly wider than average (whether it's muscle or fat isn't the question, it's a question of logistics), you might want to get on the bus sooner rather than later and grab a front seat.Hotel Check-in: We had requested a quiet location on the resort, as my spouse has several medical issues, including sleep disorders and auditory perception disorder (he can hear things that most people can't hear. Sort of like being far-sighted, except it's with his hearing.) So we were very disappointed when at checkin we asked if the room we were being given was quiet, and the employee said "not so quiet, no." Of course, we were told no other room was available, so could we please take a look at it? We did; and unfortunately we could hear a screeching noise coming from the kitchen area which grated on our nerves. We went back to ask for another room and found a different staff member, named Wander. Eventually Wander found one which was in the area we had wanted to be in anyhow; it hadn't been marked as available because the people in it had left late and it hadn't been cleaned. He offered to have it cleaned within the hour and our bags moved for us, which we happily took him up on. The room was perfectly located in building 171.The room: Our room was clean, decently sized, and generally well taken care of. I constantly saw maintenance people taking care of repainting other buildings, working (quietly) on landscaping, etc. We apparently had two different maids during our stay. The first one was very good. I gave her a $5 tip a couple days into our stay. Over the weekend though, we apparently had a different maid. On one day, 11-29, we had the door-hanger sign outside to please make up the room. It was out there for the entire day, and the room was not maid up. Around 5 pm, we saw one of the housekeeping staff walking by, and asked her to rectify the situation. She restocked our toiletries and made the beds, but didn't sweep up or mop anything. So housekeeping staff varies in quality. As far as mustiness in the room, we didn't notice any. I had brought some candles in case there was a mustiness, but we didn't notice any. Also saw no bugs either; but we were in a second-floor room. Yes, the a/c does shut off if you are out of the room, but it apparently comes on for about 10 minutes out of each hour while the room is unoccupied. So the room was never a problem at all. One other thing: calling home from the D.R. was surprisingly cheap. We made several calls during the daytime, and it was about $4 total.Food: There was always enough food to be found. Regarding other reviewers reporting flies, please remember that in most cases you are eating in open-air restaurants or buffets. (A few restaurants were not open air: Japanese, Mediterranean, and Gourmet). Use common sense. We went to the buffets earlier, rather than later, so the food wasn't sitting out for long. Items that were getting frequently replenished are often a better choice than something no one is eating and that is sitting around for a couple hours. The Japanese restaurant's a/c was broken when we went (but other said it had been broker all week too.) We liked La Ballena. The steakhouse was okay, although portions were small. The Japanese wasn't truly authentic, but it was still okay. Better than the Mediterranean restaurant, in any event.The Staff: In general, they are quick to try to satisfy your requests, and work hard. However, many do not speak much English; it helps if you have thought to bring a small Spanish-English dictionary. That said, all the lobby staff do speak English and most of the bartenders speak English to some degree. The English skills of the waiters and waitresses varies tremendously, from not-at-all to nearly-fluent. Just remember, it is a Spanish-speaking country, you are a visitor, and if you are patient, they will try to figure out what you are trying to convey.Drinks: Drinks were definitely not top-shelf liquors. If you are a lover of white zinfadel wine, you better bring it with you, as the IB doesn't have any. That said, after a few drinks, you start to notice the quality a bit less. After a few more drinks, you couldn't care less about which brand of rum, gin or whiskey was being used. The bartenders can make a variety of basic drinks, but not a very extensive list. Example: I asked for a hurricane; none knew what it was nor could make it.The pools: We mostly stayed on the Bavaro's site, but did visit the adjacent Iberostars. The pools are generally nicely designed. The "beachy" edge can sometimes be a little slippery, but I didn't see anyone fall. Two drawbacks to the pools: The water seemed colder to me than it should be, and there was no jacuzzi or hot tubs nearby or adjacent. To me, the coolness of the water was a problem; I want to be able to go into the water without having to feel like I need time to "adjust" to it. If I had to give any one reason that would deter me from revisiting this resort, this would be it. Nor was it only the IB; I spoke to people at other resorts, and they had the same issue.The resort does have a couple of jacuzzi's, but they are at the fitness center/spa, and are only accessible through them and during their opening hours. This is the first Caribbean trip where we didn't have easy access to jacuzzi's. As a personal preference, this was an issue for me.Regarding finding palapa's and chairs, we never had a problem, regardless of if we hit the pool or beach at 9 am or 1 pm.The beach: They clean it twice daily. It's a good sand beach; not pristine white, but not like the sand on the Jersey shore either. Also never had a problem finding lounges or chairs here either. The water was a bit rougher than I like it, but that's a matter of personal taste. Don't expect to snorkel and find a lot of fish; my husband saw some, but not much. There are vendors down the way selling art, jewelry, crafts, knickknacks, cigars and cigarrettes. Their prices vary, and whether you'll spend more than something is worth will depend on your negotiating skills. We priced some artwork that we could find both there and in the IB gift shop; the artwork was essentially the same. The IB gift shop's price was about $10 U.S.; the beach vendor tried an opening gambit of $42 U.S. His final offer was $20; we still bought it at the IB gift shop. However, the vendors do have a wider variety than the IB gift shop.Excursions: We did a few things. An ATV-Quad 1/2 day drive; a trip to Saona Island; and I went horseback riding. The ATV Quad drive was NOT fun for me; I was on the same unit as my spouse. I kept getting rocked back and forth. During the trip, one tire went flat and they had to pump air into it. The roads are generally not too good, so we were hitting (or narrowly missing) a lot of pot-holes. We stopped at a roadside stand, were we were "encouraged" to buy candy to toss to children who line along the streets; a cave where some people went swimming; Macao beach - which was a nice beach, but the kids kept trying to get us to buy coconuts; and a small artists' stand. One word about the kids - they kept trying, and I kept saying no, I'm not interested, I really don't like coconuts. Finally one of the older youths flat out said "show me your money", and my husband had to get stern with him. Enough about the ATV ride (which we would never repeat if we went back). The trip to Saona Island ended up being a really fun time. The ride by bus to the speedboat was longer than we given to expect. Once past that, however, we went on a catamaran, had beer and/or rum, went to this beautiful small island, swam, snorkelled, had lunch, etc. It was a good trip. We ended up buying a DVD-format video of the trip, which gave us some extra laughs once we got home and saw it. This cost $80 each; worth it. Regarding horseback riding, I had a relatively decent horse. There's a stable right next to the IB which offers mountain rides in the morning, and beach rides around sunset. I did the sunset beach ride. Unfortunately, the rest of the group included everything from an 8 year old girl screaming and crying that she didn't want to be on a horse, to some pretty expert riders, and it was a large group. The guides had a hard time handling a large, diverse group. Eventually we were split into two groups, but our 5:00 ride didn't start until about 5:45. For those of us who wanted to ride longer to make up for the late start (and a detour to return screaming 8 year old back to the stables), the stable did let us go back out and ride an extra 30 minutes or so. In short, after a false start or two, it turned out to be fairly fun, and worth the money ($30) spent on it. We also went do dinner off the resort one time, to "Capitan Cooks", which was also quite nice.Other: We didn't get sick, although since I was eating more fruits and vegetables than normal, I did notice some differences, if you know what I mean. There were others who did get sick; I don't know what they ate though, or how sensitive they are in general. Dollar tips do go a long way, although I saw some people who didn't tip at all, and I saw someone tip a bartender $20. Give what you feel is right.The resort is large, be prepared to do a lot of walking. It's also quite pretty, well maintained, with peacocks and various interesting fountains and bird areas. For those looking for the mini-zoo, it's gone, but no one's updated the literature yet.Topless women, men in little speedo's - yes there were some. Didn't make a difference to me. There were a lot of kids, but it was Thanksgiving week too. One thing I saw I didn't like: some parents thought it was okay for their kids to go about the pool area entirely nude (I'd say the ages of the kids ranged from 2 to 8), which I hadn't expected.Alcohol & cigarettes are very cheap in the gift shop, about half of what you would pay in the U.S. However, suntan lotion is about triple, so bring enough of that.Star Friends, activity leaders: they work hard at what they do and generally do a passable job at it. Regarding the shows, they rotate the shows so there's a different one each night of a week. Some shows are better than others, according to your own preferences.Exiting the country: Be prepared for someone to go through your luggage, sometimes more than once, before you get on your plane.The weather: We got lucky - we had great weather the entire time. A week after we left, they got hit with a tropical storm. So it's a bit of hit or miss, but try to avoid the obvious hurricane/rain season (May - October).Summary: We had a good time, ate and drank plenty, had great weather, a room we liked, made some new friends, tried some of the excursions. We'd consider returning again in the future, although it didn't take number one in my list of where we've been. (It's also not in last place, but right in the middle).