Our stay at the Catalonia Bavaro was very enjoyable overall but there were some small things which made it less so. First of all, the resort itself was beautiful, the lobby and grounds were all well designed and maintained. One minor issue that I had with the premise is there there were no public air-conditioned areas like the lobby or bars. This wasn't really an issue unitl the day we checked out and had to wait in the lobby for a couple of hours. The rooms were very comfortable. They were quite pretty with spacious washrooms and enough room to comfortably accomodate three people. One feature that we greatly enjoyed was the balcony that had both a hammock and a rocking chiar. We had no problems with plumbing, electricity, air conditioning or pests. The only minor issues we had with the room was that hot water took about 15 minutes to come and there was no remote control for the tv. Yet overall we were very comfortable with the accomodations during our stay.

The service was also good in general but not excellent. The maids cleaned our room very late in the day but did a thorough job. The only major issue we had with them was that the first day when we were naive enough leave the key to the safe hidden in our room we were robbed $60 US. I walked in when the maid was cleaning the room but didn't pay attention to what she was doing. It was only after she left that we found the safe door open and money missing. The hotel went through the motions of an investigation but it yeilded no results. I very strongly recommend that all furture guests take thier safe key with them every where. It will not be safe in the room, no matter how well hidden it is. Despite this, we were pleased with the rest of the service. All the gardeners, waiters, concierges and barenders were very friendly and welcoming. The animation team was very good as well, always friendly and energetic. The daytime activities they led were fun and kept guests active and entertained.

The rest of the entertainment wasn't very good. One dissapointment was the shows, which either involved audience members doing silly things or just simple dance. They grew very tiresome after a few days. The disco was also a bit disspointing. The major issue for me was that smoking was permitted in the small, closed room and as a non-smoker this made it very unenjoyable. We weren't able to remain inside for more than half an hour. Another major dissapointment was the casino. It was very small and consisted mainly of slot machines. As there were never many players, there was only ever one blackjack table playing. The result of all these factors put together was that there wasn't much to do in the evenings.
In contrast to the dissapointing entertainment, the food was better than I expected. The buffets were good as they served fresh, simple, real food. It wasn't fine dining, but it wasn't the fake,cheap, made-in-bulk fare that one often encouters at buffets. As a vegetatrian, I didn't have a great selection of meat alternatives to choose from but I had enough to keep me satisfied and well-fed. I can't say the same for the restaurants though. Not one had a single vegetarian dish on the menu (save for desserts). Even salads and soups always had some form of meat put in. This aside, the restaurant food itself was quite good( with the exception of the mexican one which was absolutely terrible). Once again, not nearly the quality or flavour that you would expect at a real restaurant but good considering it was at an all-inclusive. My only complaint is that after almost every night we dined at one we woke up with sore stomachs. Yet overall I was pleased with the food and it did not take away from our stay.

The highlight of the resort by far was the pool and beach. Both were abslutely beautiful and we spent many lovely hours there. The one major flaw was that there was not a single life guard on the tire resort. Thankfully this was never a real problem, but it took away for my overall sense of security. Another thing I should mention is that despite what the website says widsurfing is not offered at the resort anymore due to many accidents. So unless you know how to sail in a catamaran the only water sport you can do is kayak (unless you're willing to pay a fortune for other activities like scuba-diving or para-sailing).This shouldn't be too much of an issue though, as the beach itself is nice enough to keep you well entertained for many days.

In summary, the Catalonia is a great resort for those with more limited budgets but not an excellent one. If you enjoy the beach and sun and don't care too much about entertainment and activities then you will enjoy the Catalonia. Just remember not to leave the safe key in your room!

We planing to stay in this hotel for 1 week but we stay just 1 night. This hotel do not have an idea what cleans means. We arrive at 5:30 pm to the hotel and we were hungry, the picnic area near to the pool has a bad chicken and the pool has green lime, at dinning a roach hide in the cheese, the cheff look the roach and did not even change the cheese, at night my daughter wakes me up because her bed has ants. The TV at room did not work. At morning there was no water or light in the hotel. The light coming early but still no water in the room.

The only thing was good is the beach.

We ask for the refund but they can not help us.they apologized but only offers a better suite. We are a family with kids in ages 10, 14 and 17 and even they do not gave us the refund we decide to move to another hotel. Thanks God we arrive at Magestic Colonial, this one is very different clean, beautiful and friendly.

Think before you go there, you can be sick. Bad food, not friendly persons, no service.

Just returned from the Catalonia Bavaro Resort. The resort was rated a 4.5 star but I would not even give it a 4. The resort itself was nice and fairly well maintained. The room was dated but generally clean. We lucked out and got a room by the ocean but the problem was that the air conditioning only slightly worked. After asking for repair twice we gave up. The service staff were all friendly and for the most part tried to give you what you ask for but you occasionally found that you got something completely different because the person didn't understand.

The biggest problem with this resort was the food. It sucked to say the least!!! Sick for 3 days from it. Now it could have been the fact that the buffets were open air and when you dine you dine with the birds that are nesting in the rafters and coming down to help themselves to the food. Look up people and you will see bird dung on the rafters, now that said if it is on the rafters I am sure it makes it down to the food. It seems sparrows love fresh cakes and pastries as they really seemed to prefer this area of the buffet.

The beach area was nice but the seaweed was a little much in the area. The pool was great but very warm.

The drinks sucked unless you like sweat sweat drinks. Full of sugar and nothing blended in front of you. In fact I never saw a blender at any of the bars

Catalonia Bavaro is a great, beautiful, and very clean resort. Although the staff speaks mainly Spanish, they are very friendly. There is a wide variety of food. The buffet is excellent (grilled meat, lobster, chicken, seafood, paella). We miss the daily breakfast at Catalonia. Don't forget to try the pizzas at the snack bar near the nice swimming pool. The pizzas brought back memories of delicious tuna pizzas that we have had in Southern France. The room that we had was pretty clean. Although seaweeds appear at the end of the day depending on the weather, the staff cleans up many times on a daily basis. The water is clear. My husband saw many colored fish, octopus, lobster amongst others. It could be a good thing to reserve long chairs around ten to seven if you prefer a shady place; otherwise, there were plenty of spots. I thought it was unacceptable to stand people smoking beside pregnant women and kids during the shows in the evening. The resort needs to work on it. Despite this one drawback, we fully recommend this resort.