Reviews of Punta Cana? Edited for decision!

Good, bad, average.....I would love to hear what people have to say. And pictures are always a plus!

What are the reviews for the following:

Riu Palace Punta Cana

Grand Paradise Bavaro

So, based on the reviews many of you gave and what I read on Trip Advisor. I decided to forgo the above choices and booked a 5 night/6 day vacation at Punta Cana Excellence! Can't wait to go the first week in June!! DH will be surprised by the trip for his bday!

Message edited 1/24/2009 4:37:28 PM.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

We stayed at Sunscape the Beach which I think is now owned by Dreams.

Pros
Room was nice - Jacuzzi on the Balcony


Cons
The food at the resort was horrible except for one restaurant

The resort was for families. There were a ton of kids there. Our travel agent mis led us on that one.

Not really safe to leave the resort like it is in Cancun.

Had to take acidphillious pills because the food can make you sick

Message edited 1/16/2009 12:07:40 AM.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

When were you there? We were there in 2005. It was not good then.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

DH and I stayed at Excellence....I have a few pics in my album. The hotel was really nice and clean.The pool was huge and they had floaties to use.They had those big beach beds by the pool and on the beach which I loved.They had nightly entertainment which was also really nice. I think I loved everything about the resort other than the food...but I'm super picky,so ask others about that

The only time we left the resort was to go on tours. I never felt unsafe and the locals seemed friendly.

I don't think there are many restaurants/bars to venture off to anyway....
My advice would be to stick to the tours.......they were soooo much fun...

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

DH and I went to Punta Cana in October and stayed at Excellence. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. The roads are unpaved and made me nauceous but that was expected since I had read other ppl's reviews.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

I went and stayed at Paradisus. Beautiful place, very relaxing and good food.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

We also stayed at Excellence.
We LOVED it. The staff was very friendly and accommodating with any issues we had. We had a problem with our fridge (which was stocked w/soda, beer and water) and they replaced immediately. We thought the food was delicious. The rooms were big and clean.
The pool was very nice and they had a few hot tubs The beach was clean and as a PP mentioned, they had they beds and plenty of chairs
Here is the lobby

They have entertainment everynight that we really enjoyed. One night they have dinner on the beach, which was nice but bring BUGSPARY. I got so many mesquito bites.
Aslo something we didn't know and maybe it's common knowledge but we weren't aware of it, was men must wear collared shirts to dinner. Since we didn't bring enough DH had to buy 2 at the gift show.

We loved it here and plan to go back in about a yr or 2.


ETS: It's an all inclusive adults only resort. They also offer many off sight excursions.

Message edited 1/17/2009 9:50:59 AM.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

I went to Excellence as well for our HM. It was an AMAZING trip! I wouldn't recommend leaving the resort unless it's for an excursion. But the resort itself was beautiful and the staff is SO nice and accomodating. We had zero complaints and plan to go back on our 5th anniversary, although every trip we plan we contemplate going back sooner. I have tons of pics if you want to see them. Just FM me.

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

We've gone there three times in the past 4 years and LOVE it (the one year we didnt go, we did Riviera Maya for our HM and wasn't as much in love with it as we are with Punta Cana)

We are actually going again in 12 days!!!


Stayed at Royal Suites @ Grand Palladium in '06 (where we got engaged) It's our favorite resort of all time.

Majestic Colonial in '08 - pretty good

Royal Suites @ Palladium again in 12 days, to celebrate our engagement anniversary

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta?

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta? Edited for specific resorts

Can anyone offer any reviews on the two resorts?


Riu Palace Punta Cana

Grand Paradise Bavaro

Re: Reviews of Punta Canta? Edited for specific resorts

We didn't stay at the Riu Palace, but we stayed at the Riu Naiboa, which is on the same property. There are actually like 5 separate RIU resorts on the property. The Palace is the nicest one and only guests there can use their ammenities, though you can use all of the other places too. The food was ok at best, though I think the Palace food would be better. The hotels are gorgeous and on a beautiful long, stretch of beach. DH and I are beach/pool bums, so we had a great time. The spa was also ok at best, but who doesn't like a massage, even if it's not the greatest. There's a small casino, but it didn't offer that much and never seemed busy while we were there. We spent the most time at the Bambu section of the hotel because it was a younger crowd with a great swim up bar. The nightclub is alright, but they place A LOT of spanish music- or atleast they did when we were there.

Re: Reviews of Punta Cana? Edited for decision!

Bumping for update!

Re: Reviews of Punta Cana? Edited for decision!

I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Have a great time and I can't wait to hear what you thought about it.

Re: Reviews of Punta Cana? Edited for decision!

Posted by melbalalala

We've gone there three times in the past 4 years and LOVE it (the one year we didnt go, we did Riviera Maya for our HM and wasn't as much in love with it as we are with Punta Cana)

We are actually going again in 12 days!!!


Stayed at Royal Suites @ Grand Palladium in '06 (where we got engaged) It's our favorite resort of all time.

Majestic Colonial in '08 - pretty good

Royal Suites @ Palladium again in 12 days, to celebrate our engagement anniversary