First off i went down with my girlfriend from Aug 11-18 from Toronto. Mon-Mon. Although it was supposed to be storm season, we only had rain 1 day (all day). We flew with sky service, and that airline was terrible, the plane was freezing, and the flight there and back was delayed. Nolitours was our operator. They had a rep at the resort, she was ok, nothing special. Saw her only one day. If you want to go on excursions, book with nolitours, dont book with other tour companies, we booked one with nolitours and everything went perfectly, we booked 2 with tourinter b/c they were cheaper and on both occasions the bus never came to pick us up, we complained and for our troubles they gave us a "free hat". Spend the few extra dollars and go with a reputable company.

Catalonia, was ranked as a 4+ hotel, and it's just that, first off, the hotel is HUGE. I mean, wow, lots of land, lots of beautiful places on the resort to take pictures. Many ponds with fish in them, a huge fountain in the main lobby. The reception area is nice, tons of comfy couches. The staff there speak english well enough to communicate with. The rest of the staff on the resort dont speak very much english, but hey YOUR in their country, why should they speak OUR language. They understand the basic which is all we needed. At the time of check-in we requested a villa close to the beach, and they gave us villa 3, the second villa from the beach, this was nice except other than the beach, everything else was a pretty long walk to get to. So if your intending to spend little time on the beach dont ask for a villa by the beach. A room in the middle would be perfect. The room was pretty big, with a living room area, a mini bar fridge with 2 bottles of water, 2 brahma beers, 7up and pepsi. The bed was a king size bed, the room had a big tub which had no jets so that was kinda pointless and took forever to fill but it looked really pretty. The shower was ok, but like all the other reviews, the pressure is really low, the toilet didn't flush all the time. But other than that the room was nice, AC worked perfectly. The balcony was big with two rocking chairs and hamock, that was a nice touch. We tipped the maid $1 a day, and left her small gifts.

If you go, take lots of singles to tip everyone, they appreciate it, and you do get better service and they remember you more. The food was AMAZING. I love spicey food and they had hot sauce bottles everywhere. They had 2 buffet restaurants one by the pool that was open for breakfast and lunch and the grand caribe which was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also had a pool snack bar, and YES THE PIZZA IS THE BEST PIZZA I have ever tasted IN MY LIFE. Everyone waited in lines for pizza. I swear the guy couldn't turn out as many pizza's as the demand for them. The Pool was clean but closed at 7pm which i found was kinda silly. Back to the food, the grand buffet was amazing, they had soo much food there, i swear the size of the room must of at least been 2000sq feet. There was such a selection. I eat a lot and i enjoyed everything there. They even had a restaurant that made crepes from 6:30pm -11:00pm. I read a lot of reviews that said the food was bad, THEY DONT KNOW WHAT THEIR TALKING ABOUT. Your going on vacation so you have to keep an open mind when your there. The staff work hard, 11 days straight then they get 3 off. We both loved our stay there, Michael was a bartender by the pool and then he worked the bar by the stage with his brother eddy and richard, they were all amazing, Michael actually goes to New York to compete in bartending competitions. My drink of choice was Banana Mama.

The Nightly shows were nice, the DISCO was another story, i mean resort disco's arent normally supposed to be good,but this was pretty bad. The DJ played mainly spanish music even though the crowd wanted hip hop, but again, we're in their country. The ANIMATION team was great, always trying to get u to do something, archery competitions, darts, pool, table tennis, beach volleyball, water aerobics.

The beach had a lot of seaweed, if there was a downfall to the resort, it was this, lots of seaweed, they did their best to clean it, and after storm (FAY) hit, the water had even more seaweed. But we spoke to other people from other resorts, and this was a common problem. So i can't really fault the resort. Check out time was early. (12:00) and we left at 6pm but they allowed us to lock up our bags and evengave us a courtesy room for us to shower in.

If women are travelling alone or in a group, this resort is soo safe, there was security everywhere. I mean everywhere. The beach, by the villa's, the front.

In conclusion, if your looking for a resort that is safe, clean, has a nice beach, great food then this resort is the best, I will definitely go back to this resort.

I LOVED CATALONIA Bavaro Beach

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