After staying an Iberostar in Mexico last year, we choose to stay again at an Iberostar based on our experiences. Compared to the Iberostar Paraíso Lindo in Riviera Maya, the Bavaro isn't quite as good.

Airport
Breezed through customs in minutes and the walk from baggage to the shuttle company counters is literally feet. No need to pay someone to assist you with that. It took about 30-40 minutes though for our shuttle to be ready. That part seems a little chaotic.

Returning to the airport 'porter' grabbed our bags before we could say no. This turned out to be a good thing. While it wasn't far from curbside to check-in, the airline counters weren't labels (overhead monitors were not turned on) and we wouldn't have know which ones were USAir. The porters also cut in line so our wait was much shorter than if we had been on our own.

Ride to the resort
While I've had some cab rides in the US that have been more hair-raising, the ride to the resort is something of an adventure. The first part is on a two lane, fairly straight highway but with no lines between lanes, no lights at crossing intersections and plenty of slow moving construction vehicles to have to pass, it can cause you to hold your breath at times.

The second half of the ride is on a twisting local road with many potholes that our driver had to cross to the other side of the road to avoid.

The resort
It's as beautiful and clean as all of the other reviewers state. There seems to always be someone sweeping leaves or dirt off the paths and the beach is swept throughout the day.

Room
Nice size but we never had more than 5 minutes of hot water in the shower per day and the mini-fridge never cooled beverages below luke-warm. Lost power twice in the room during the day (we were at the pool so it didn't impact us) and once during the night after we went to bed. Reminded us that we were in a 3rd world country.

Pool/Beach
Pool is nice but not huge. If you want to sit in the shade, you'll have to get there before 9:00 so so. Beach is extremely nice; best sand I've ever seen. We headed to the beach after lunch each day and never had a problem finding spots in shade.

Food
Somewhat disappointing overall. Breakfast was very good with anything you could imagine. Snacks at the pool were plentiful. Lunch and dinners at the buffets were ok as well. The buffet at the pool for lunch seemed to have a greater variety then did the main buffet.

We ate at several of the specialty restaurants. The Japanese was the best of the bunch. The Cajun was disappointing as the meat was overcooked and tough. We were going to make reservations at the steak house but folks behind us in line said don't bother. In general we found the meat to be of poor quality (when compared to what we get here in the US) and overcooked. The Hard Star Cafe was ok as well.

Check In/Out
Both took just minutes and went smoothly.

Overall
We had a good time (family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 teenagers). Not as good as Mexico though. We didn't encounter any issues with the resort or staff (they were friendly and eager to help) and were able to sit back and relax for the entire week.

I recently stayed at the Iberostar Bavaros for a week and it was great experience.

Besides the amazing beaches the service and the food in the hotel were espectacular.

The buffet had a varied selection everyday and the quality of the food was excellent. The rooms were clean and they keep the resort immaculate.

I definitely will recommend this resort to anyone who is going to Punta Cana.

Karla Zuniga

My wife, 18-year old daughter, and I just returned from a week at the Iberostar Bavaro. Our experience was very good. The grounds and the beach are beautiful and VERY clean. The staff was excellent, everyone was friendly and helpful. The food was good, but not great. I would put it a notch below good cruise ship cuisine. But you can still eat well there. We found the Steakhouse and the Japanese restaurants to be quite decent. The regular buffet has a wide range of choices. We especially liked Dominican night when they served grilled giant prawns.

Here's what we found to be the pro's and con's:

Pro's - Beautiful and clean grounds, nice rooms, great staff, lots of available activities, good (but not great) food.

Con's - Mattress was terrible (but a few after-dinner drinks solved that problem), the exercise facility is an open-air building; try working out at 90F and high humidity, the "free" catamarans were in rough shape so we ended purchasing the optional damage insurance for $15 since we didn't want to get hit with their inflated damage costs if something broke.

One final note. Some previous reviewers on TripAdvisor reported having intestinal problems. We didn't hear anything about illness during our stay. You can drink the water served at meals and the icecubes in drinks are also OK, but do NOT drink the tap water in the rooms. We just brushed our teeth using bottled water from the mini-fridge, which was refilled every day.

Fantastic experience for the second time in the Dominican! Just got back last week after spending 10 nights, 11 days of fun in the sun. This was our fourth stay with the Iberostar resorts and we intend to do many more. Our first Iberostar stay a few years ago happened to be in the Dominican Republic also; Iberostar Costa Dorada in Puerto Plata. Obviously this left a great first impression. For 2008, the Iberostar Bavaro was the best choice for us. We walked the resort and saw the sister areas of the Dominicana and Punta Cana. The difference between them and the Bavaro was quite apparent although it appears everyone has access to the entire resort amenities. The Bavaro landscape is more relaxing and open with awesome views and patio/balcony access. No complaints about the food although we didn’t eat dinner at the Steak house. The resort has 13 restaurants, so even though our stay was longer than the norm, it is unlikely one can try all the restaurants in one stay. We frequented the Bavaro Buffet and reserved dinner at La Coupole, the Japanese, the Mexican and the Cajun. All were great however the deserts didn’t compare to what the Bavaro Buffet offered. I won’t linger on the resort comments since I fully agree with all the positive ones already mentioned. We did three excursions through V.I.P. Tours: 1. Catalina Island (all day), 2. Speed boat Splash and 3. the Shark Adventure. Although I enjoyed the boat adventure to and from Catalina Island and the wonderful beach, this tour was more for those who enjoy land visits. This is all preference based since, in retrospect, the tour was great. We enjoyed sea adventures more and snorkeling so therefore, preferred the other two tours. If you can only choose one, do the sharks! That was the highlight and the experience of a lifetime. Believe me, I was scared, but it was totally safe and if you like snorkeling, you will thank me for this recommendation. The tour also includes those infamous stingrays. I will say that the ‘stingers’ are removed and the stingrays released back to the open seas once the stingers grow back. Trust me, it would be your loss if you pass this one up. If we go back to the Dominican again, my vote would be the Iberostar Bavaro and snorkeling with those sharks. Email me for more information since I left a lot out…