Stayed June 27th to July 3rd. The Iberostar Bavaro is a great choice if you're going to Punta Cana, DR. The Bavaro is much nicer than the sister hotels (Punta Cana & Dominica) that make up this big resort. If you're a beach person this is the place to go as the sand is like powder, the water beautiful, and I never had a problem getting a sun lounger near the beach bar! I'll break this review down in sections:
First - This was my first trip to the Dominican Republic.
Arrival at the airport - No jet ways - it's the old fashion climb down the air stairs as most smaller Carribean airports are. That's OK because stepping from the air conditioned plane into the sun and heat/humidy is why you go! The ground transportation area is very uncoordinated even though I had transportation booked in advance. It's the old routine of every sky cap trying to grab your bag for a tip to give you any sense of direction. Seasoned travelers will have no problem - newbie's keep your wits and look at signs - you'll find your shuttle company.
Second - Now the hotel - it's great!
The rooms are big, comfortable, well equiped, and clean! The smell that many talk about being in their clothes is due to the humidy - get over it! Mine was cleaned early every morning after I left for breakfast. There is a seperate tub and shower in the bath and the size of the bathroom is certainly big enough - people keep talking about how small the bath is - how many people are trying to be in there at the same time? LOL
I had a king bed that was very comfortable with nice linen. The air conditioning was not that cold but a huge ceiling fan over the bed made the room temperature just fine. Mini bar was stocked every day.
The food was good at the specialty restaurants - I had reservations at 3 - the gourmet, steak house, and cajun. At all of the restaurants the food was good although the service staff is very week. They are not polished at all and seem bent on pulling dishes from under your nose. Certainly more training is definitely needed here. The buffet restaurant is setup terribly!! The dining area is seperate from the buffet line which is laid out in a smaller room that is always clogged with diners trying to navigate a buffet line that can cause collisions of diners, staff, and small children caught in the confusion. The walk from your table to the "buffet room" will likely have you balancing your meal trying not to crash into other diners trying to get into the buffet line. Go at a off hour and there will be less people. The hotel certainly needs to rethink the food setup here - there is no natural flow, organization, or thought to how a buffet should flow.
The pools are nice but nothing to rave about and the pool bar is more occupied by kids and preteens than adults. I never saw more than one bartender and the liquor brands are mostly local bar brands so don't expect any top notch.
The beach - saved the best for last - it's beautiful! If you're a beach person you'll love it for it is huge! The beach bar will quench your thirst and if you're hungry they have hot dogs, fries, and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches. If you want more selection the restaurant at the pool has plenty to offer - it's right off the beach. There are no waiters on the beach as other Iberostars have so you are on your own to get your own drinks.
I would recommend this hotel to others even though I may sound picky, however if you really want a treat try the Iberostar Tucan in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The Tucan really has it altogether and you won't pay a fortune like the Iberostar Grand up the coast charges. I'll be staying at the Iberostar Paraiso del Mar and Iberostar Cozumel this fall so I'll have more to compare. If you have any questions please email me through this site I'll be happy to try an answer any and all.

Having been to the north of the Dominican Republic last year (2007) we decided to go back but to the East Coast this year. We loved the Iberostar last year and decided that as they seemed to be among the best on the island we would go to the Iberostar Bavaro. We were not disappointed. However there were one or two negatives along the way.

FLIGHTS AND TRANSFER
The flight to the holiday was great with what seemed like a lot of legroom. We flew with Thomas Cook and they recently increased the legroom. The inseat TVs were great and provided plenty of entertainment for my wife and I and our 15 year old daughter.

Transfer to the hotel was over in 30 mins and then it was time to check in and see our junior suite for the first time!

CHECK IN and ROOM
The check in proceedure was simple and straight forward and all had been organised in advance of us arriving. Great news said the man behind the counter - "as both families are travelling together we have put you beside each other!". Great but we had no idea who the other people were. Even better they had a 14 year old and the two kids never looked back. Neither did we as the two sets of parents set about drinking the bar dry each night and not remembering much about the walk back to the apartments.

We were originally given a room towards the middle of the complex and towards the new luxury hotel that is being built (no noise so ignore other comments about building work). Seemed great but there was a musty smell which wasnt right. My wife was really quite concerned and we opened the cupboard to find a puddle in the bottom I became concerned. The source of the smell came from the bathroom as there was quite a lot of damp on the walls. Clearly visible and undoubtedly causing a smell. I spoke to reception and we got moved the following day to a new room down towards the beach - it was great and the help in moving was superb.

The rooms themselves are great. A bit more space but the daughter found sleeping on the settee a bit uncomfortable. I can understand why it was like a brick! But the sun and the sand made it a bit easier.

STAFF
What can I say they are all great. The Star Friends work their socks off and seem to be there 24 hours a day. If you want to play games all day and win a Star Friends Winner T-Shirt then there will be plenty to keep you happy.

FOOD
Brilliant. I think that sums it up.

Breakfast was great either up at the main restaurant or down at the beach restaurant.

Lunch was the same but the hotdogs from the beach bar were to die for! Salads a plenty though, and if you like Smoked Salmon you will love this place.

Dinner - We only ate in the main buffet restaurant a couple of times and spent the rest of the time in the a la carte restaurants. They say you can only book three a week, but there are always cancellations.

The gourmet restaurant -La Coupole - was tremendous and as everyone seems to say have the lobster starter as it is amazing. The steak is also melt in the mouth. If anything there is too much to eat, but great surroundings.

Of the other restaurants we loved the Japanese and the steak house but were not so keen on the Cajun. Everyone's taste is different but to be fair you won't be disappointed. We went to the sister hotel one evening for dinner at the Mexican. It was brilliant but no where near enough and we ended up having a starter to start with and again to finish.

FLIGHT HOME
Awful!! Absolutely terrible. It seemed to have less space, the seats were like bricks, there was no multi channel TV etc. It was trully awful.

OVERALL
This was a fantastic holiday with great friends that we met while there. The beach at this resort is amazing. Pure white sands, crystal clear water. Perfect.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone.

One final word of warning though - make sure you lock all your belongings away in the safe. Our friends had an iPod stolen and we heard about other things going missing. But we were fine.

Enjoy

Beach is better than any place I have stayed in Mexico (three resorts). Plenty of huts for shade (get there by 7:15 am for front row), plenty of good quality chairs, little coral, good snorkeling. Third time staying at the Iberostar Baravo, fifth time to the area (other resorts - Sunsscape [do not recommend - overpriced for what you get and poor service] and Princess [average]). The food was good - recommend the Gourmet Restaurant (steak; adults only) and Cajun (Grouper). The buffet usually had something to satisfy everyone (two teenagers and two adults), very good bread, cheese and fruit. The buffet needs to be glassed in and air-conditioned – most nights are too warm to eat in non-air conditioned restaurants (other restaurants which require reservations are air conditioned). The rooms are nice, the updated bathrooms are small but nice. The room was a little warm (left you really wanting to eat dinner in air conditioning) and the refrigerator was very warm (take a cooler if you like cold drinks, ice machines close to rooms). The beds were adequate if you like firm. Can't comment on the pool - did not use.

Our vacation was booked with VIP travel – do not book fishing trips through AquaBlue fishing – very poor equipment and boat (not what the pictures indicate). After fighting a 10-foot Marlin for 2 hours the line broke and so did the boat. They sent a 20-foot Johnboat out several miles to bring the customers back. The Johnboat did not have life preservers.

On other trips to Punta Cana we went swimming with Sting Rays and Nerd Sharks (recommend) and the trip to some island and to swim with star fish (spend half the day in a bus and two hours on boats to spend two hours at the island – do not recommend).

Overall, you can’t beat the beach in the Punta Cana area or the Iberostar Bavaro – you get what you pay for and Iberostar Bavaro is worth the extra coin.

We have been going to Iberostar Bavaro for the last 5 years. We tried another resort in 1/2008 and were disappointed. 1/2009 we are heading back to Iberostar Bavaro where we know we will enjoy ourselves.

When we check in we are welcomed with a cocktail and a freindly face.
The rooms are spotless and cleaned and restocked everyday.

The food is plentiful and good. We have never fallen ill due to the food either the buffet or specialty restaurants.

The pool area is always clean and service is friendly with the staff greeting you all day as they pass.

It is the best beach I have seen and this sentiment is echoed by most of the people we talk to.

The one thing that really tickled us was the fact that many of the staff remembered us by name from all our previous visits. Makes you feel special.

We highly recommend this resort for a relaxing holiday.