First of all I got to stay to tis resort because our flight was canceled and they sent us 2 more days until a different flight, to stay at Catalonia Resort. The first 5 days of the vacation, before flight was canceled was at Barcello Premium Punta Cana, and let me say that I cannot even compare the two resorts, Catalonia Resort was absolutely wonderful and regretted i didnt book my whole vacation there. Food great, birds yes but people you are going on an exotic vacation, you do not want to see vegetation, and birds then you should just stay home and pull the shades. I loved the birds flying in the morning and having my breakfast with a nice breeze of outdoors. Air Conditioning was fine as well. Beach was beautiful. Staff very friendly. If there is one issue that I had was the indeed outdated room, It was not dirty, it was cleaned but the furniture and TV just look very outdated. A little improvements on the rooms and this resort is a 10 star if I may say so. And i think my opinion is very informed I stayed in Punta Cana at 5 resorts on different times when I was in vacation there, and I would like to say that Catalonia and Melia were the best. Barcelo resorts are dirty and I would def stay away from any Barcelo iPunta Cana!

My wife and I stayed at the resort from july 19 thur the 22, of this year. The weather was excellent, no rain. The food at the buffets were very good. They had lots to choose from. I liked them better than the resturants. The nightly shows were great. On the beach there were a lot of activity like sailing and kiaking.
The empolyees were well manner and were generally helpful.
The room was ok by carabean standards.I didnt like the bathroons. The shower was too small. The vanity in the bathroom had tiny little ants runing around. I liked the full refrig. in the room that contain all the bottle water and beer and soda.I rate this resort a full four stars. Will I go back again? Maybe ,because I like to go to different places.

fter reading many comments on this site I was a little worried about certain aspects of this hotel. All I can say is there are a lot of sad people in the world who look for fault rather than trying to enjoy their holiday.

Quite simply the hotel is fantastic, the food is superb, the service is 5 star, the rooms are great and the wingers on this site should be locked up in a darkened room

From the start we were treated with total respect, our room was about 25 yards from the beach and 40 yards from the amazing pool complex. It was kept spotlessly clean with beers in the fridge at all times. I know there are some sad people complaining about the size of the shower. It is a standard European shower with plenty of hot water.. We never had a problem with towels, face cloths etc

With regard to the TV, I think there were about 15 English speaking channels including CNN, Fox News, Setanta Sports etc. How many more do you need when you are on holiday?

What can I say about the food? I have never seen such an incredible selection - There is plenty of freshly cooked ordinary food - eg burgers, nuggets, pizzas etc. For those who enjoy cordon bleu, the most amazing selection of fish I think I have ever seen - from Dorada to King Fish to fresh salmon and the biggest mussels in the world. Some of the fish is griddled in front of you, some have delicious sauces etc

Fresh meats are again cooked in front of you together with wonderful stews and cold meats. Fresh pasta dishes are also prpared before your very eyes. A most incredible selection of salads, dressings and vegetables are available, not forgetting the amazing variety of sweets

That is all available in the 2 buffet restaurants - Also available are 4 A La Carte restaurants with incredible Steaks, Italian Japanese and Mexican food. Not forgetting the snack bar with fresh charcoaled grilled pizza, rotisserie chicken, tortilla, burgers hot dogs and fries.

It would be impossible to try all the different dishes in a fortnight. To those who complain about the variety I can only think they were at the wrong hotel

Another whinge I read about was birds eating food from the tables at the hotel. The buffet restaurants are open plan with a lovely breeze and tremendous views over the beautiful gardens and beach. Some people load up their plates from the buffet, leave them on the table to go and load a second plate. Guess what, while they were away the birds would swoop down and have a feast. It was very entertaining for those of us watching. Especially when we told the people that they were sharing their meals with the birds!!

There are sad souls who take the sunbeds on the beach at some ridiculous hour in the morning. To combat this,play them at there own game and get to the beach early. I quite enjoyed doing this as it was lovely dozing in the early morning sunshine. Hopefully one day they will learn not to be so selfish

With regard to seaweed on the beach forget it. The beach is cleaned twice a day and this is a real non issue. Apart from that can you imagine palm trees coming down to white sand with clear blue sea? It is a tropical paradise

As for drinks being watered down this is rubbish. Named brands are available eg Bombay Sapphire Gin and Johnnie Walker Black Label. When ordering the drink ask for 'Mucho Bombay Sapphire and Poco Tonica - you get a lovely drink and have a little laugh with the staff at the same time

As for the language problem remember you are in a Spanish speaking country. The staff try very hard with English so be a little patient. Many of them speak better English than the English speaking guests and certainly have better manners! Take a phrase book with you and at least try to speak a little Spanish - you will get amazing results by trying

As many people have mentioned the entertainment staff try very hard from early morning to late at night - if you don't like it you don't have to join in. Don't complain. there are plenty of other things to do

We only did one trip - to the capital Santa Domingo. It was along day but very enjoyable and good value at $70 US. The journey takes 3.5 hours but it is interesting to see the towns and countryside as you drive through them

All in all this is a first class holiday resort where if you have any problems the staff try to sort them. eg my wife needed sanitary towels at 10.30pm - the lad at reception was more than happy to oblige

It's easy to find fault but much easier to enjoy what's on offer

Bu the way if you think I don’t know what I am talking about with regard to hotel standards I would point out that I have in the past stayed at the Burjh Al Arab in Dubai (supposed 7 star) Claridges in London and the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco to name but a few. Given the choice I would go back to the Catalonia

Have a good holiday

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!