This was our first visit to the DR, and also our first all-inclusive! After having been to the Royal Catalonia, we are definitely in love with the all-inclusive idea! This resort was beautiful, relaxing, and enjoyable. However, I thought that for the amount of praise it was getting, the service should have been better. Not that anyone was rude or anything, that never happened. But I would have liked to have drink/food service at the pool, and esp the beach! You just have to sit around on the beach or pool and get your own drinks, which I thought was not so lavish. And I didn't think anyone really went out of their way to be extremely nice or helpful. They were just "there." The lady that sets up the reservations for the restaurants was not very helpful, and even had a somewhat nonchalant attitude. Same with a lot of the waiters. Another thing was the mixed drinks--they were very weak and watered down. I don't think either of us ever even felt buzzed!

The resort itself is very beautiful though, and very clean and feels relaxing. Having said all this, I would not likely return, only because I want to experience better service and feel more "pampered!" We are going to another AI resort in Cancun, better luck there!

This was a great hotel for relaxing. The beach was calm and beautiful. The sand is amazing. The water is clear in the mornings but gets seaweed in the afternoons.

Royal is the perfect place to relax. Take out a kayak or catameran for an hour and enjoy the view of the beach.

The rooms are beautiful and clean. We had some AC problems, but they fixed it after a day.

Food is good. People are friendly. Staff is very service oriented. You'll love this place!

My husband and I stayed from July 5, 2008 til July 11th. We had a wonderful stay. After reading some reviews I was a little apprehensive, but your vacation is what you make it, and we made the best of everything. We enjoyed realxing at the beach, never had any trouble finding chairs or shade. We also spent time at the pool which we enjoyed especially the swim up bar.

Our room was great, always clean and the refrigerator well stocked. We did have a little problem with no hot water in the shower, but the problem was quickly fixed after I reported it, the shower hose had a problem.

Our favorite restaurant was the Japanese, we actually ate there twice. My least favorite was the Italian, I think because of my choice nothing else. We ate at the Rodeo steak house and the Mexican and enjoyed these also. We had breakfast at the Gran Caribe several times and this was great.

We did do an excursion with Bavaro Runners, Papatony was our tour guide and he made it a lot of fun. I would reccomend this trip.

It is well worth staying on the Royal side and taking advantage of the activities on the Catalonia side, that side is usually more active, but then you come back to the quiet of the Royal side. Had fun talking to Jose, Dominique and Bassilo at the lobby bar at the Royal.

Overall a very relaxing fun vacation. I would definitely reccomend this hotel and look forward to going back one day.

We spent 5 nights, from June 30 to July 5, at the Royal Catalonia Bavaro and had a great time. I will list the good things about this resort and lastly list the very few minor things. Although this was my first time in the Dominican Republic, it was not my first time to the Caribbean, nor was it my first time to an all inclusive resort.

For couples, the Royal Catalonia Bavaro is a great place to spend a vacation. The beach is beautiful and the pool area is relaxing. While at the pool, ask Carlos to mix you his specialty drink. The people were all friendly and always gave you an "Hola" as they pass you by.

The food at the Thalassa restaurant was great. We did eat at the Carib buffet restaurant a couple of times and we didn't see any bad problems as stated in some of the other reviews. The Carib is open air and yes, there will be birds and insects, IT'S THE TROPICS. The food at the Carib was plentiful and had something for everyone. If you walked away hungry, it was your fault.

We tried the Japanese Steakhouse and the Italian restaurant. They were both great. The lasagna at the Italian restaurant was superb.

The resort grounds was well manicured and kept up daily.

It was great to be able to go the the other side of the resort and enjoy the activities and then return to the Royal side and relax. By the way, if you are not a Royal guest, the guard will stop you.

The nightly shows were fun. The entertainment team were fantastic. They are doing the activities at the pool and beach during the day and then do the shows at night. They are awesome. It's a different show every night and after the show, you can go to the disco.

Ok, to be truthful, I have to add the bad things to, so here they are.
We arrived around 4:00pm and our room was not ready yet. It was an hour later before the room was ready. We did receive a glass of champagne while we waited and enjoyed the view of the pool.

One day, after a day at the beach and pool, we found we had no water in our room. The problem was quickly resolved when I found our maid in another room and told her about it.

Another day, after a day at the beach and pool, we had no hot water in our room. This problem I had to go to the desk to get resolved. I found out the it wasn't just our room that had the problem. They were repairing the hot water unit, this took a little more time to resolve.

Other than those, that was the only bad things I found with the Royal Catalonia Bavaro. We never had problems with wash cloths as some have stated. We never had problems with rude people as some have stated. We never had problems with bugs as some have stated.

In conclusion, The Royal Catalonia Bavaro is not a 5 star resort. If we treat people as we would want to be treated, they will do a lot more for you. Even though tips were included, we tipped anyway and the service was great. Would I recommend The Royal Catalonia Bavaro? Yes. Is it the best all inclusive I have ever stayed at? No. Would I return to The Royal Catalonia Bavaro? Yes.