Reviewers Rating: 
Excellent
Hi everyone,I recently (April 08/2002 – April 15/2002) went to the Barcelo Bavero Beach Garden Golf and Casino Resort and had an amazing time! I stayed at the Casino resort and loved it! Just so you know what kind of source this info is coming from I am a 22 year old single Canadian girl and I went with my 23 year old single Canadian friend. Below is various information I’ve researched from the different forums and my own personal experiences and opinions. I really hope this help some of you and if you have any questions please let me know.
Airport
Ø I was told to be prepared to pay $10 US/person for tourist cards upon arrival and $10 US/person upon departure however it was included in my vacation package so don’t pay upon arrival and then talk to your Rep. About your departure fee.
Ø If you want Cuban cigars or top quality Dominican cigars buy them at the airport duty free
Casino Resort
Ø Within casino complex is casino, theatre, gourmet spanish a la carte restaurant, buffet restaurant, piano bar, casino bar, pool bar and pool overlooking the golf course and theatre which hosts the Tropaclisimo show
Ø Pool is quiet and very sheltered from the wind
Ø Resort train comes by every 10 min.
Ø Room
Ø In the room there is a safe (free), coffee maker, hair dryer, dormitory style refrigerator, satelite TV (tons of good movies on all the time), table with 2 chairs, large balcony with place to dry clothes and a patio table and chairs
Ø We were in room #8059 and had a lovely view of the lake(with paddle boats), golf course and church
Ø We left a note on the beer fridge requesting how many we wanted with a $2 tip and when we got back the fridge was stuffed with beer, we then left a dollar thereafter
Facilities
Ø Garden Resort
Ø has the nicest pool
Ø beautiful vegetation
Ø good animation team during the day
Ø Beach Resort
Ø pool has the most activities going on
Ø pool bar was awesome at happy hour and had the best bartenders on the whole resort
Ø Golf Resort
Ø has shopping plaza (way overpriced!!!) with some nice shops and a buffet restaurant that opens to a central courtyard with a fountain
Ø Internet café $5 US/ ½ hour internet time (quite slow)
Ø Hair Salon best place to get braids
Ø Mini golf
Ø Beach massage is $20 US/person for ½ hour and well worth it (get at end of day cause man they grease you up)
Ø Horseback riding $20 US/person 2 hr. a.m. ride along beach or 1 hour afternoon ride through trails
Ø The beach market past the resort is an excellent place to shop. I got rum (best place to get it), paintings, jewelry, wraps, t-shirts, ceramics and tons of souveniers for $100 Canadian (now that’s a bargain)
Tipping
Ø Take a little something to tip the staff with. They seem to appreciate "goods" more than money
Ø Panty hose, nail polish, travel sized body lotions, tooth brushes, tooth paste, shampoo
Ø Stuff for their kids, Children's Tylenol, crayons, colouring books, school supplies.
Ø If you go on the Outback Safari the school supplies are given to the tour operators for the local schools
Ø We left a $2 tip with like a nail polish, soap and toy for the maid each day and she cleaned that place spotless. Hung our clothes, wraps, bathing suits, put our make up away and everything else – our girl rocked!!!
Ø We tipped our bartender a couple bucks every day and never had to ask for rum in out drinks or wait in line but they will not accept tips if management personnel is in the area
Food
* The 3 main restaurants all have line ups by 6:00 so either go very early or at 8:30
Ø Steak house
Ø Negative: House wine isn’t good
Ø Positive: Best salad bar, good for lunch (you can sit outdoors under thatched umbrellas and watch all the watersport's)
Ø Atmosphere: Cute cowboy/girl uniforms
Ø Advice: Order steak well done
Ø Recommendations: Sea and Surf was great lobster and fillet mignon, shrimp and garlic
Ø Mexican
Ø Negative: Margaritas not very good
Ø Positive: FOOD IS AWESOME!!! The buffet and menu were great
Ø Atmosphere: Really fun (I think everyone goes in sober and walks out drunk)
Ø Recommendations: Quesadillas at the buffet and Fajitas off the menu
Ø Los Pinos (Italian)
Ø Negative: Small portions
Ø Positive: It’s like being at an actual restaurant (you’ll know what I mean)
Ø Atmosphere: A little fancier looking than the other 2 restaurants
Ø Recommendations: The spaghetti was really good and the pizzas are quite good as well (a little on the greasy side)
Ø La Uva
Ø Negative: Only open from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Ø Positive: Great location and great seafood
Ø Atmosphere: So nice! You under little thatch huts right on the beach. It’s weird eating with sand between your toes
Ø Advice: Go an hour before you plan on eating as you’ll be on a waiting list for an hour. Also don’t go on a windy day!
Ø Recommendations: The shrimp w/garlic sauce and lobster tails are excellent!
Ø Garden Buffet Restaurant (I never ate there but this is what I heard)
Ø Negative: Bad breakfasts
Ø Amber Buffet (Beach Resort) I only ate breakfast there
Ø Positive: Excellent breakfasts
Ø Recommendations: French toast is so good!
Ø Drinks
* A lot of people were complaining about the drinks being too weak. Just be nice to your bartender and ask him for more alcohol (mucho rum) once he gives you your drink and he’ll pour the rum in right in front of you
Ø Advice: Always request rum in your drinks
Ø Recommendations: Presidente beer is pretty good, local drink Mama Juana only found at Casino bar, Chi Chi, Banana Mama, Miami Vice great drinks
Entertainment
Ø Latin dancing lessons everyday at the pool at noon and after every night show
Ø Beach Resort pool bar and Casino Resort are liveliest at night
Ø Tropicalisimo (I didn’t see it but I heard it was not very good) which you have to make reservations at customer service desk for at least 24 hrs in advance
Ø The buffet restaurant at the golf resort plaza La Dominica turns into a disco at night where all the resort staff come and it’s all merengue and salsa (we found it was all couples there and didn’t like it that much)
Ø Disco opens at 11:30 – 5:00 (men must wear long pants). The disco was quite tricky: some nights it was awesome and other nights it was awful. It plays different sorts of music every night (a lot of techno though) so don’t get discouraged if you go and don’t like it. We went every night sometimes leaving bored stiff at 1 a.m. and others at 5 a.m. having an awesome time still.
Ø Excursions
* We only went on the Catalina Island excursion all the others are ones I know they offer and what I have heard about them
Ø Catalina Island $70 US/person
Ø Leave resort at 8:00 a.m. and take bus for 1 ½ hours through the town of Higuey and through the Dominican (very poverty stricken towns but beautiful country side and our tour guide was so educated on the Domican)
Ø Stop at the town of El Chivon. The town is a replica of an old Italian town a wealthy father built his daughter in the 1800’s and it is beautiful! There is a church there that Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married at. The outdoor theatre that Frank Sinatra opened is so quaint and pretty. Other bands such as Ricky Martin, Julio Iglasias and most recently U2 have all played there.
Ø Take a short drive to the pier where we board a little yacht
Ø Drive out about 20 min to the reefs
Ø Go snorkelling for about 40 min. I have been snorkelling and scuba diving in many different places so for anyone who is experienced I think you will be disappointed. The coral is not coloured at all and is quite badly damaged (likely because of all the boats dropping anchors on the reefs). There is limited variety of fish as well. However if you have not been very often I think you will really enjoy it. My friend had never gone before and loved every second of it. Regardless it’s worth going and checking out.
Ø Back on boat for 10 min to Catalina Island
Ø Have barbeque with pasta salads, fruit, BBQ chicken and pork chops (it was really good)
Ø The rest of the afternoon we swam, tanned, played games, played volleyball, snorkelled more (the snorkelling here was much better!) and drank a whole of rum punch
Ø Get on boat again back to mainland
Ø Rode bus for 1 hr. and stopped at a supermarket/suvenier shop (good coffee there and they had Pringles which I can’t even tell you how excited I was to see)
Ø And back to the resort we went
Ø Overall it was a really fun tour. I also think it is very important to get out and actually see how the Dominican people live
* The rest of these trips is just various information I have compiled from the forums
Ø Catamaran Excursion $150 US/person
Ø Go to island of Saona
Ø Lunch included
Ø Speed boat to natural swimming area
Ø Scuba diving
Ø Shopping in Higeuy
Ø Scuba Diving $180 US/person (non-certified)
Ø Dive shop at hotel
Ø Includes lesson in pool, 15 foot dive near resort, trip to Catalina (includes ½ hour bus ride and boat ride to island), and a 33 foot dive near the island
Ø For an extra $40 US/person you can go on 100 foot dive
Ø Kontiki Party Boat $53 US/person
Ø Awesome afternoon of snorkelling, drinking, and dancing (eat before you go)
Ø Secluded Beach
Ø On the right if you are facing the ocean, you can see the tip of the beach
Ø Walk about 45 minutes down to the tip
Ø A bit past the tip a beautiful secluded beach
Ø Good snorkelling there
Ø Bavaro Splash
Ø ½ day snorkelling
Ø Drive a small speed boat out to a platform
Ø Snorkel off the platform
Ø Water Sports at Resort
Ø Parasailing ($84 US/2 people), snorkelling (bring own equipment if possible), banana boat rides ($4 US/person)
Ø Manati Park $25 US/person
Ø Ride to park 20 min.
Ø Sunset Cruise $10 US/person
Ø Excellent for photos
Ø Monster Truck Safari
Ø Highly recommended
Ø Glass Bottom Boat $5 US/person
Ø Poor visibility
Ø Some coral but few fish
Ø Outback Safari
Ø Learn a lot about Dominican culture
Helpful Advice
Ø You can pay extra for an upgrade at reception
Ø If you need a room changed you must be very persistent and go through the manager
Ø Go to orientation upon arrival (fast and full of info.)
Ø Not able to exchange travelers checks or get credit card advances for American money, only pesos at hotel lobby (you can go to the casino use your credit card for playing chips and then go cash in your playing chips)
Ø Don’t leave patio doors open (we made that mistake the first night we were there and me being the lucky one closest to the door got eaten alive, I also had an allergic reaction to the bites so the swelled and spread like crazy-not very attractive)
Ø Towel cards are given at reception (never say that you lost your towel just tell them you lost your towel card or else you will pay for the towel)
Ø Get to pool early to reserve a chair (put towel on chair and go to breakfast)
Ø You don’t have to pick up a sheet at the public relations desk to go to restaurants outside your hotel. Just sign paper after eating with room number
Ø Always offer less than half the price at flea market
* Make sure you have travel insurance! A girl that was in our plane on the way down was in the sun for 1 hr. her first day with a 30 block on and got 2nd degree burns all over her whole body. After a trip to the Resort Dr. she learned she is allergic to the suns UVB rays. Here we only have UVA rays and she had never been to the Caribbean before so she had no idea. Anyways, after medications, calls home to her insurance company, Dr. and who knows who else it cost her a pretty penny. This is just one of the many horror stories we heard related to the sun. Just please be careful.
Things To Bring
Ø Bug spray (for night shows) OFF or Skin –So –Soft
Ø Afterbite or Calomine lotion or something cause damn those bites are itchy (1 tube of afterbite was $20 American
Ø Take polysporin, as any scrapes, cuts etc. will not heal in the high damp humid climate and chance of infection is great.
Ø Light sweater or cardigan
Ø Wash cloths
Ø Stereo
Ø Insulated mugs
Ø Snack food (very expensive to buy there)
Ø Tanning lotion
Ø Beach bag
Ø Band-Aids
Ø Alarm clock
Ø Cream or whitener for coffee (no cream available)
Ø Underwater camera
Ø ***don't forget the Immodium***
So, I hope that helped in some way! You can email me with any questions at laneallison@hotmail.com
Have an awesome trip everyone and let me know what you think.
Allison Lane
Allison Lane
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