My wife and I just returned after a week at the Catalonia. This is a beautiful very well maintained resort. The grounds are impeccable and constantly being groomed. Staff is excellent, friendly and efficient. High marks also go to the maintenance crew (we had a couple of small problems that were fixed immediately). The rooms were very clean and maid service was prompt. Our two children, 20 and 24 absolutely loved the resort and bonded with others of their age and members of the crew who were just the greatest in terms of friendliness and helpfulness. We are used to a more traditional beach, but the view was beautiful and space always available. The beach at the sister resort is more traditional, but has quite a downward slope. Now, the reason for the 0 for 2. My wife and I have been to several all-inclusive resorts fully realizing that food is different everywhere and that buffet food is buffet food. The worst buffet food we experienced was at, you guessed it, the Catalonia beach resort in Punta Cana!!! We felt the buffet was repetitive, mundane, and lacking in choices compared to the other resorts we have gone to. We are however speaking in terms of comparison to other resorts. If this had been our first time, we may have felt differently. Small amenities, i.e. no refrigerator in the room, no coffee pot and having to pay for a safe are reflective of the cost of the resort. For us, this was the best deal money -wise for this time of the year. All in all, we had a great time, and enjoyed the resort. Above average rating based on service, cleanliness, and staff. Caution--this water is rocky---if the dark visible rocks don't get you, the lighter sand colored rocks will. A second caution, if you travel with young teen-agers beware of the disco. The bartenders are indiscriminate about who they serve and we saw several young teen-agers bombed and being served "shots". Hope the review was helpful!!!!

We stayed at the Catalonia Dec. 21-28 and really enjoyed it. The grounds are beautiful and well-kept and the service is good and friendly. The beach and pools are fine and kept very clean. There really are no problems finding a spot to sit at either. There are some rocks in the water, but the actual beach is nice and sandy. There is a free shuttle twice daily to Playa, which is an added bonus. The restaurants were fine, lots of variety and good quality, never really any line-up to get seated.

The only negative thing is that the rooms are not very well-insulated, so ask for a top floor room so you don't hear people walking above you and their plumbing when they use it. The rooms were kept clean and well-equipped.

We would definitely go back there-it deserves its 4-star rating.

Having been to Sandals resort and Couples resort in Jamaica. this was a venture into popular all inclusive.
Rooms were fine clean and comfy and the grounds really nice. Hotel staff are a credit to their bosses.
Beware of the Lagoon, was that sewage we could smell?
There is a lack of much to do except drink and eat after the sun goes down and that can get tiresome.
The food in the beach bar is good for snacks and the evening grill is good. Mexican restaurant is ok but they do hurry you to eat. The buffet food is garbarge. nearly always cold and as my wife's dose of salmonella testifies worth avoiding. try eating out in Playa Del Carmen or down at the Marina, food is good and not expensive.
Overall a fair hotel but not 4 star, maybe 3 star if you eat out in the evenings.

Tripadvisor helped me plan my honeymoon in September 2004. Catalonia had the best reviews so my husband and I took air only to Cancun and stayed at the Catalonia for five days. It was the funnest out of the other hotels that we went to. El Dorado was the all inclusive romantic part of out trip the beach huts in Tulum was the nicest beach but had no electricity and the Catalonia had a bit of romance and lots of fun! There was lots of activities to choose from all day and night so you can not get bored at the Catalonia like other hotels. The Catalonia had the best live shows every night ( some hotels only have entertainment 3 times a week) the a la carte dining was nice but cannot compare to the Eldorado seaside suites. There was enough restaurants to choose from so you don't get sick of the same food every day. Make reservations ahead of time so you get to eat a la carte at the restaurant of your choice. The food was above average and the service was good . The staff are lots of fun and the hotel has a great atmosphere. The beach isn't the best around because it's rocky and not that big. There are building next door to the Catalonia. It isn't on many acres with a long driveway which would be nicer but I would rate it 4.3 stars. Definately worth the price that we paid. It's worth about 200 CAN /night for a room or two people all inclusive.
I would never pay the same amount to stay in the hotel zone in cancun where the hotels are packed right next to each other the beaches are all shared and unromantic. The beach had lots of chairs and some topless woman. The whole hotel was busy when we were there. I would recommend purchasing a cheap flight to Cancun and going from there. You could stay at a few different hotels and leave when you want to the next hotel. You can experience diffferent places and stay extra if you find a place you like. When our flight came in to Cancun pretty late in the evening we took a $2 bus to Cancun and stayed at The Grand Royal Lagoon for only$27 american/night instead of paying a full amount at an all inclusive resort when we are getting in so late. We also stayed at the cheap hotel when we wanted to go out and explore Cancun or go away for the whole day on a Tour the day before our flight left. There was nothing bad about the Grande Royal Lagoon. It's a small motel on the lagoon close enough to the cancun strip to walk there. It's decent and clean and safe. We also stayed at beach huts in Tulum , a romantic stay at the Eldorado Seaside Suites and a fun time at the Catalonia all in 2 weeks. We got around cheap by standing on the road that goes from Cancun to Tulum and Playa del Carman and catching a van with the locals at $2 each.
So booking a flight for $400 each or less to Cancun is worth it and paying per room is way cheaper unless your flight and all inclusive 4 star hotel is only$800 per person or less. Catalonia is a safe bet to book. Not very romantic for honeymooners though. It's kinda too busy and loud for that. But for my honeymoon we had a great balance between the catalonia and the quiet El Dorado Suites that is adults only without much to do besides makeout in the ocean and same for as the beach huts in Tulum. We will be looking out for a last minute flight to Cancun this month and will swing by the Catalonia again.