stayed at the casino hotel with husband...2 daughters in room next door first floor...rooms were comfortable but slightly on the chilly side so we left our door to patio open at night...plenty of coffee and drinks in the fridge...we even made coffee in our room with the tap water and had no problems at all...tipped $2 per day each... maid service and drink guy...ate at the casino buffet which was great...also tipped our waitress...loved the fact that they would remember you when they saw you again...spoke spanglish and that got us by...tram service from hotel to hotel was right on time and a nice trip around the grounds...daughters went on the horseback ride and they loved it...we stayed at the casino pool because it was quiet and easy to get refills on drinks...tipped the waitress there and she kept our glasses full morning till night...beach and water was just beautiful and calm...no shells if you are into looking for those...shopped at the bazaar to the left of the palace hotel...final price is usually half of first quote...little bar infront of bazaar is a great place to sit and watch folks and listen to local dialect...all in all a great trip...but don't look for anyone to hold your hand through this...a smile and an hola get you pretty far...

My boyfriend and I were a bit skeptical about going to the Barcelo Casino because of all the bad reviews that we read, but we had an amazing time! The advantage to this resort is that you can access all the other resorts (except Palace) and use their services i.e. pool, restaurants, etc. We did have a leaky ceiling in the bathroom, but nothing a few towels could not soak up. We had a problem with our toilet, but were serviced within one hour. The room was clean and well maintained. Of course tips help a lot and I recommend bringing a lot of US one dollar bills for tipping. I would say approximately thirty would do for room, bar, and restaurant tipping. The food was good. I would avoid the Mexican and Italian (except the Pesto Pasta. that was great!). The best restaurant was the Steak House located on the Beach. It served some lovely steak medallions! The buffet at the Beach Resort was the best place with lots of variety. The staff was friendly as long as you tried some Spanish. Bring a dictionary. There were no worries of mosquitoes. Bring a high sun tanning cream. I thought 30 would be sufficient, but the sun is quite strong. The boutiques are quite expensive. A small bottle of Hawaiian Tropic costs $28.00 US. I recommend to shop at the Beach Plaza which is next to the Palace beach area. You can get some great paintings, vanilla, coffee, and cigars. The casino was fun! It was something to do at night besides the night entertainment. They also have a nightly show at the Casino called Tropicallisimo which was delightful! You need to reserve seats in adavance. In general, great, but I would not rate this as a true four star, but we did have a lovely time! Great Beach!

This was a very nice trip. Out side of the normal attraction ex. beaches and sun and fun. Don't get me wrong it was awesome. Great shopping! watch you pesos? It's a must. Great selection of food. It took me 2 days to geat use to. If you rent a car beware, trust me! You need to be a Nas Car driver. The country is very poor. A culture shook for myself. If you have money they say you can do just about anything. Nice country (NO DRUGS) shooking!!
MOMA_WANJA---island drink! They like it at least. Hotel personal friendly nicer then the airline stewardests. Seriously! Have a island guide with you if you go outside the resort at night. Other then that have a great trip and see it for yourself!
Great place to vacation!

My husband and I recently (March 4-9, 2006) stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro Casino Hotel, part of the Barcelo Bavaro resort complex in Punta Cana. We were looking for an inexpensive and relaxing vacation and this perfectly fit the bill! I will start off by saying that we had been to punta cana 3 years ago and stayed at Secrets Excellence. The Barcelo is not Secrets but then we also paid about $1000 more per person. The Barcelo was clean and very comfortable. There are plenty of pools, bars and restaurants to choose from. I didn't like how you had to wear a wrist band but understand that it was necessary to separate the people from the Palace resort who had paid more $$ and had access to even more restaurants and bars. I just didn't like the tan line that I received from wearing it. That is really my biggest complaint so that tells you how good this place is.
We were there during spring break, my husband is a teacher, but there didn't seem to be anyone that got out of hand. There were alot of people and the majority are from Europe or Canada. It was almost rare to run into another American. Most of the staff spoke English fairly well. They appreciate it if you try to speak a little Spanish-you are a visitor in their country after all, it's the least you can do.
The drinks and food were all very good. Lots of bottled water. We didn't get sick at all. I was kind of concerned about that since I am six months pregnant. We would leave a note and a buck or two in our room for the housekeeping staff for additional bottles of water. It was nice that I could get all of the same drinks that my husband had except without the alcohol. Our favorite is the Coco Loco-coconut water, coconut milk, ice and rum if you prefer.
Some people had written about the distance from hotel to hotel. Again, being 6 months pregnant, I was quite capable of walking the distance (5 min walk, max) from the casino (which is the farthest away from the beach) to the other resorts. It actually was faster to walk than to take the trolly.
Overall it was a very nice and relaxing vacation and I would do it all over again!