This was our 4th time in Punta Cana. The resort was very nice. We never had to wake up early to reserve chairs at the pool or beach. The grounds were well maintained. The pools very nice. The service was excellent. The shower was great with a large shower head and never a problem waiting for the water to get hot. Several days we got food platters or wine delivered to our room. My daughter and I participated in many of the activities (boccie, horse shoes, darts, olympics, and bingo) run by the Funjestic team. The Funjestic team was awesome. Luciano, Ruth, Lookey Lookey, Blondie,Tuity Fruity, Alcatel & Nemo were very funny and really got the guests involved. The Mr Sexy contest, the bikini contest and especially the foam pool party were a lot of fun. I would highly recommend this resort.

This vacation was a girls getaway. The beach at the hotel was beautiful. The food at all the restaurants was delicious! The staff was very helpful and made us feel welcome. Everytime we had a drink at the bar, they remembered us and gave us excellent service.
In the downstairs lobby bar, Alex was one of our favorite bartenders.
The room was spacious and nice. The excursions were easy to set up in the lobby. We did a scuba diving to Catalina Island. It was our first time scuba diving! It was a great success!
This resort is very family orientated, not for singles, we found.

If I could I would rate this 3.5 (good) but trip advisor only allows a 3. DH and I visited the hotel from 12/21-12/25 for the holiday. Overall we had a nice time and found the value great, but I would spend a little extra and stay elsewhere. Though I can understand why many come back and others don't. With AI, it is all about your preferences.

Here are some tips, the good and the bad.

Check-In: Was easy. We were greeted by out Bulter Rafael (Tiger Woods) who zipped up through, showed us the property and got us to our room.

Room: Was a nice size, we liked the balcony and overlooked the pool. We had a problem with our safe and Rafael got it fixed right away. I did not mind the open bathroom, but it was just me and the hubby. Not sure how I would have felt if we were with kids. The shower was awesome and huge, the best water pressure. When it rained we had a problem with the toilet where it would flush on its own, but I think that is a quirk of being an older hotel. It is true the bed is HARD. DH complained the whole time, being preggers - I loved it. I slept well. TV was fine - though we were not there to watch TV. Mini bar was always stocked, though we left a few bucks each day with requests for water etc. Like all reviews say, don't drink the water - use the bottled for everything from brushing teeth to making coffee. Also, there are no clocks in the room, so make sure you charge your phone and also they do not provide moisturizing lotion - so bring that. Only real complaint was there is a cabinet for room service items. No one ever came to get them and we called multiple times - yuck! Finally we just left outside and understood why others did the same. Also, the pillows were terrible.

Property: was the perfect size. I loved that we could walk everywhere, but did not feel cramped.The pools were clean, the landscaping was nice. Never did we see a bug - amazing! We always found seats at the beach and pool. Though we were usually down by 9:30, so not sure if that is why. The beach was lovely never saw seaweed or felt bothered by vendors. Liked the little shopping area etc. Only think was that the public bathrooms seemed to never have soap. Fortunately I bring my own.

Beverages: Pepsi property. Beer - only Presidente - they do not even have light and it is only on draft or in the bottle. The bars seemed limited and the frozen drinks were terrible. I think the hotel could use a true coffee shop, maybe combine the late night snack place with one. Although you could get hot coffee anywhere, it would have been nicce to have access to an ice coffee - a few of the other resorts likes Dreams have these and I love it mid-day.

Food: Ok here is why the lower rating, I get resort food, i travel a lot, but what does not work is my husband getting sick for three days there and three days when we returned. He did not overeat, he is used to lots of foods - we travel a lot, live in a metropolitan area, no he did not drink the water or consume a lot of coconut drinks (none actually) and did not consume a lot of alcohol. What I do think did him in was the sushi, I do not know why anyone would eat it - it looked fake. Personally, I did not have problems. I was a little fussy since I am preggers, but had everything in moderation - though stayed away from the sushi.

The steak house had great churrasco - I really enjoyed it (though did not care for the hybrid buffet a la carte). The french was OK, and the Asian was aweful. We did not eat at the main buffet but checked it out - it looked fine. For lunch we ate at the beach shack - it did the trick. Personally, I did not like the hybrid buffet a la carte, which seemed to be the case in most places. People are gross - i saw several people drop tongs on the the floor to use them again and look at me like I was crazy when I would get them switched out. My favorite are the people who lick their fingers and grab cookies. - really, why? Of course not the hotel's fault, but those are the types of people that are in the hotel.

Service - Really, was awesome. Everyone was so sweet and this is why I could not give a bad rating. You can tell the management works very hard in this area. I am horrible for not remembering names, but all of the staff my the club pool were so sweet and the staff in the French restaurant went above and beyond.

Other Items: Many guests were loud, and annoying at 3 am. My favorite was when people would blast music, though I did appreciate other guests yelling at them in Russian (I presume) to shut up. Be prepared there is a lot of smoking as well. Of course, this is understandable at resort where people are drinking all day. I am probably usually a loud drunk guest when I can drink :-). Activities, tons - we did not get involved, but looked fun. Though went to casino. I am a huge card player, but could not take the smoke so left. Plus the dealers make their own rules, though typical for the islands.

If you are not traveling with kids, stay in the Colonial Club, was worth the upgrade.If you need something ask your butler. These guys work hard and are running around, but will do anything you need. Our made a lovely bubble bath for us - he was really sweet.

I do recommend this place - i won't be coming back, but I am just out growing AI. If I was into the AI thing still - I would come back, despite my husband's bug.

We loved this resort. It was beautiful. Excellent food with many options!! So many yummy drinks. We loved the beach here, but our pool side rooms could not be beat. We enjoyed the Zumba fitness!!!! Only thing to pick at was how slippery the floors get.....We would recommend this resort over and over again.