There is nothing like this in the U.S.A-
The price that we paid for 3 people CANNOT BE BEAT!.It included air. round trip transfers to hotel from airport, all you can eat and drink, free entertainment, beautiful beach with turqouise blue water,and white sand without debris, only seed weed, which is a natural occurence, free paddle boat, snorkling equipment,.You will need a deposit for snorkel equipment, but you get it back. You will have to pay for fishing trips, scuba diving, para sailing, and other excursions.Maid service is provided only if you place the tag on your door requesting cleaning, They will not enter your room
unexpectantly.This service is provided up to 5pm.
They have apartments, villas, and regular hotels rooms that can
accommodate a king size bed or two queen size bed and a nice size comfortable chair.Ample closet space for your clothes.
A large travatine bathroom with a water closet, and huge shower., and a vessel sink and hair dryer. There are three large pool areas. If you like peace and quiet ,there is a pool for you.If you like fun and excitement and music and little people, there is a pool area for you. if you like a small pool they have one for you. Midday you will be served pizza, hamburger, french fries,chicken nuggets, but for breakfast you have buffet style with all kinds of cheeses, fruits, breakfast meats, made to order omelettes,pancakes, french toast, breads. cereal or if you just like coffee , they have another section that is relaxed and peaceful where you can order gourmet style coffees.in the evening you have a choice to go buffet or make reservation for the restaurants. MAKE reservation early in a.m. or day before.
My family and I had a ball.- and will recomend others.

Me, hubby and teenager were at the IFA Villas Bavaro two weeks ago (end of July). We flew American and were treated very nice. We then quickly made it thru the airport to our Turintor Tour Bus. So far so good.

(We were armed w. our CVS pharmaceuticals)

The Lobby was very pretty. The Lobby and walkway throughout the entire resort paved w. stone. We exit lobby on the opposite side past the main pool to get to our room (3104). This room was not in the villa section (we booked 6 mos ago) it was centrally located next to everything. It was a very pretty room. (We visited the villas section via trolly several times - it is the furthest section from beach but trolly goes back every 7 minutes and it is also quieter there. You'll also get to see some turkeys and peacocks there.

It took us about a week to get over our depression of being back into our nice Long Island environment. Everyone at the resort was very nice, polite and warm towards us. I wanted my daughter to experience the countryside so were took a truck safari w. Jonathan (tour guy spoke several languages) . We soared up the mountain, ate sugarcane, swam in the river, went to the beach, rode horses, etc.. This is a must do in D. R.

The buffets at the resort were very nice, good food everywhere.
I really hope the spirit of the dominicans continue to be a happy and loving one. When we were at the breakfast buffet we would be seated, waited calmly for our coffee, then ran to get our goodies. I noticed a few tourist that felt the waiters should hop faster - please pray for these empty people.

One of us had too many pina coladas (they have mixed drinks all over this resort). Please remember, too many pina coladas can cause you to sound like an orchestra in the bathroom!

When we were at the pool for lunch we ate at the Pizza place (they also have chicken nuggets & french fries). When we were at the beach they had burgers, hot dog, chicken, rice and beans, salad, fruits galore, wonderful. We also went to the three ala cartes - just book two mornings before you want to go. Caribe restaurant was the best.. The dominican coffee place was a nice place to sit in the evenings. There's also a place to internet and call back home w. reasonable rates (next to coffee place and small shops)

There are buses to casino and Palma Real Mall. Mall is small and a little high end. If you want a bargain go towards the beach on the right and the flea market there has alot of fun jewelry, coffee and beachwear. This was fun.

Only made it to the show at night once. We were alway too tired.

We had a great time and want to go back! Never got to use my pharmaceutical products. If you have any questions feel free to email me alquinones@optonline.net

We booked our stay thru USAir Vacations, which gave us the best pkg price. I searched enough ahead of time and was happy with the price we paid for four of us. We brought our son 37 and grandson 14, so we needed two rooms. Normally we pay for two close to what we paid for four, so when my husband would comment that something wasn't par, I would remind him that you get what you pay for. Overall rooms were very adequate. We stayed in the center of the resort, the closest building to the reception desk. Which put us near or central to everything, the pool with the swimup bar was in front of our building, the pizza bar a little further up, the main buffet building for breakfast was to the left of our bldg. We were close enough to the beach that it was a nice walk through another section with a small pool and a second buffet bldg. used for breakfast and lunch. the spa and exercise bldg. is directly across from that bldg. then a little further down the path to the beach. All the activity was at the beach including all night entertainment. We walked down two nights in a row, but most of the shows are in spanish and we know very little.
I was really glad that I had read reviews before going because I read that they take your towels early and don't bring them back til late...true, also no washcloths ever. So I brought washcloths and hand towels. Also no clocks in the rooms, I brought clocks.
Take lots nof sunscreen, we used spf 30 and only my husband got burned, but it wasn't bad, we just kept loading it on. Casme home with tans.
Food wasn't wonderful, the same pretty much everyday. Japanese restaurant was very good but not air conditioned. The Caribe restaurant was good and it was air conditioned. We didn't go to the Mexican restaurant since my husband doesn't care for spicy food and I had read a review that it wasn't so good.
One thing that I do want to mention is that most of the reviews complained about the reception desk being slow, not nice etc., so we were prepared to encounter the worst. We were so pleasantly surprised and caught off guard by our check-in . A young gentleman by the name of Julio was so friendly and jovial and spoke very good English (which was a big concern from reviews).
One other thing that I thought might be helpful to know is that there are 3 sections to the resort. I'm not sure which was built first, but we stayed in the middle and we were very happy with the accomodations from that section. The section furtherest from the
beach, seems like it's another resort on it's own. It appeared quiter and was really pretty lit up at night. That side is where the ala carte restaurants are.
Liquor is bottom shelf and if you want a name brand it will cost you around 7 or 8 US dollars.
Hopefully this helps,just remember you get what you pay for.
One more note, there's not much else to do besides lay by the pool and eat. Activities at the beach are okay but not much as far as night unless you go into Punta Cana.

What are all these complainers yapping about? Armed with some deep TripAdvisor reading about this place, two of us jetted off to Punta Cana. Checked in on a Sunday, checked out on a Wednesday.

BOOKING: I researched places based on our budget and found IFA VB among those listed on Expedia/Travelocity/Hotels/etc. I *almost* booked through one of those, until, on a whim, I checked the resort's website to see about availablity. Turned out, the dates we wanted fell inside a promotional window, so we got a 30% discount by booking directly through the website. Yes, 30%. Hooray.

Check-in & Checkout were unremarkable. Hello, we're here...here's your key, slap on the wrist band, off you go. Checkout was similar. OK, we're leaving, snip off the wrist band, here's your taxi. Ciao! (Taxi to/from the airport is 28 dollars each way & takes 20 minutes.)

Property in general: Spotless...and by 'spotless', I mean, without a spot. New-looking stones & tiles. Manicured landscaping. Fountains. Flowers. Chickens & baby ducks strut around. Zero trash, zero dirt, zero stains, zero cigarette butts or gum wrappers. Cleaning & maintenence staff swarm all over the place and it shows. White-glove inspection ready. Nice.

Room: We stayed in 4226. Room showed every indication of a very recent renovation. Smelled of fresh paint, new floor tile, fixtures were smart and modern. Other reviewers who pointed out the frosted-glass WC door were correct. It is what it is. 2 double beds, sheets and pillows were adequate, but then again I have no trouble sleeping anywhere, so I'm no help there. My main nit-picky pet peeve when I travel, though, is hotel showers. I usually just quietly tolerate the weak, lukewarm hotel granny stream, but not here. The shower is a heavy-duty blaster with no shortage of hot water. The shower is also newly renovated, with natural stone and glass bricks and gel/shampoo dispensers. Nice. TV/fridge/safe/towels...zero issues. Yes, your room key is needed for electricity & air conditioning, and all of that is shut off when you leave the room. Other reviewers who found that hard to comprehend need to pause for a moment and consider how smart a system that is. And the room cools off nicely again in minutes, not hours, after returning.

The beach is three minutes by foot, down a coconut tree-lined path. Plenty of beach chairs. Plenty of elbow room. The sand is powdery sugar and the water is clear with some grass that neither smells nor sticks. Swimming area is roped-off, smartly so, since there's a near-constant parade of waverunners, small motorboats, and Caribbean Festival party catamarans buzzing to and fro. Non-motorized water sports are provided by a commercial agency on the IFA beach. I got a snorkel/mask/flippers by plunking down a deposit which was returned when I brought the gear back. You can also sign out their kayaks, sailboats, windsurfboards, and bodyboards, all for free. Uniformed security officers patrol the beach, to keep aggressive vendors away. We were approached by a couple of the "My friend, my friend" types, but I've always been pretty good at making those people go away. Not dangerous, just annoying. The bazaar next to the beach has all the requisite t-shirts and painted gourds and souvenir bric-a-brac. Grill on the beach deals up burgers and hot dogs, bar has pina coladas and cold beer on tap. I'm getting nostalgic just picturing it.

Back to the resort: the pools are all unique and lovely. Main pool in sight of the reception is a kid's playground...if your kid likes a swim-up bar! Shooting fountains and water-soccer nets. And did I mention the swim-up bar? (I truly hope people were leaving the pool to take care of certain drinking-related personal functions.) Another pool, outside the reception, in the villas area, is quieter, more sedate. And at the tip of the resort property, furthest from the beach, is a jacuzzi bar, with four separate jacuzzis. There's a couple little shops on the property, a beachwear & art store, a pharmacy, souvenirs, and an internet center that charges 3 bucks for a half-hour online. The cafe/bar just outside reception is a perfect place to have one of a myriad mixed cocktails (with or without alcohol) and relax under fans on enormous comfortable chairs. That was our favorite spot. We did not take any outside excursions, and we did not attend the evening shows/performances.

Food: here's where I depart from many reviewers of this place: there is NOTHING WRONG with the buffets/restaurants here. The offerings at the buffet, especially at breakfast, were astounding. I usually don't pound a huge breakfast, but I went nuts on the breads and cheeses and yoghurt and fresh fruit. Lunch & dinner featured varieties of pasta, a chef manning the grill with steaks, calimari, pork chops, veal, chicken, local dishes like goat and unusual fish, salads and breads and juices and desserts and soups and excellent coffee. The water is purified and perfectly fine to drink, the buffet seating is uncrowded, the hours are generous, and the staff is cheerful and helpful. Seriously, if you're accustomed to finer dining than this, you should vacation at a far, far more posh place than this resort, Your Highness. You can reserve a table at one of two specialty restaurants, one Mexican, and one Asian themed. We ate at the Mexican place one night, it's a buffet as well. Excellent food, and an unhurried, pleasant change of scenery from the buffet.

Other guests: Vast majority of guests were Spanish-speaking. The rest were Europeans, mosty Eastern, according to my ear for languages. Polish & Russian. Much French, German, Dutch also spoken. We encountered almost zero native English speakers. However, language barrier with staff is non-existent.

Wrapping it up here, we left IFA VB stunned that we got such a value. A deep discount, a gorgeous and impressively clean resort, a beautiful and comfortable room, ample and excellent meals, helpful staff (but not pushy or disagreeable), postcard beach, sparkling pools, plenty to do if so inclined, plenty to NOT do if so inclined. We chose the latter. We sat on the sand, we walked miles of beach, we got comically sunburned, and now we're back home with awesome memories.