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Dominican Republic Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Iberostar Bavaro Hotel 09/14/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Excellent
Sorry this is so long..but wanted it to be thorough!
Reservation
I booked the reservation directly with Iberostar’s Head Office in Majorca, as I prefer to travel independently, I also find it sometimes works out to be better value doing it this way.
The reservation was handled efficiently by email and telephone.
Airport
We arrived at Santo Domingo airport which is the capital of Dominican Republic. The airport is reasonably efficient, however I would not recommend this airport as a point of arrival for Punta Cana / Bavaro due to it’s distance.
As I had pre- purchased our visas we were able to go straight to the immigration desk and avoid the enormous queue for the visa purchase counter. People were queuing for maybe 30 – 45 minutes to buy the visas and then they had to go and queue again at immigration. Punta Cana airport is not as bad, neither is La Romana, but it all depends on how many flights arrive at once.
TIP
I cannot recommend strongly enough however to anyone arriving to the D.R. to go to their local DR embassy and purchase in advance of the trip entry visas. The cost is $10 or if purchased in UK £8 per person. Living in London I went to the Embassy / Consulate (near to Queensway) and bought the visas. Very painless procedure, took five minutes. Can also be done by post.
Transfer
I organised the transfer by email with a company called Raphael Silva taxi’s. They were recommended by ???????????????????? They were very good, the fare quoted reasonable and they were waiting for us at the airport in a small mini bus.
The journey time took just under 4 hours of the most hair – raising journey. There are very few rules of the road observed and the roads themselves are full of potholes etc.
TIP
If you book independently, stay overnight in the US or wherever to arrive at either Punta Cana airport (30 minutes transfer time) or La Romana airport ( 45 minutes transfer time)
Check-in
Due to various flight delays, baggage delays and the long journey we arrived at the Iberostar 2 hours later than anticipated. After almost 20 hours of being up and travelling via JFK + the transfer from airport we were exhausted and tired. Arrival time 10pm local. We were greeted with the news that they had made a mistake, and overbooked and only had one room available for us.
The check-in guy was very apologetic and did not know what to do. I politely but firmly insisted that they find a room from somewhere, and give it to my two kids (teens). I then said that they had to be moved to near our room.
Eventually, after various discussions etc etc a room was found and we were promised that the following day they would be moved to a room next to us.
In spite of this disastrous start at no time were the check in staff rude or unpleasant or difficult. They were mortified that they had no record of our reservation for the second room.
Fortunately, I had all confirmation emails with me in writing confirming rates etc.
We were given our room key, labels to put on our luggage so that it could be delivered to our room, safe key and remote control for the tv.
Wrist bands are put on every guest. Under 16’s have a different colour so that they cannot be served alcohol.
A golf buggy drove us to our rooms. Within 5 minutes our luggage arrived. The bell boys do expect a tip as they hover.
Hotel Layout
The hotel has all its rooms in two storey blocks. A ground floor a first floor / upper floor .Each block has eight rooms. There are no lifts. If you are disabled or cannot manage stairs you would need to have a ground floor room.
The blocks are scattered along path ways all over the hotel grounds. They start up near the reception area, and run all the way down to the pool and the beach.
Room
The room allocated to us was exactly as we had asked for. We were in block 129 facing the sea on the upper floor. Room 1293.
The room was clean, well decorated, large and spacious.
We did not experience any smells of humidity, mustiness or cigar smells. However, if you are unfortunate to be allocated a room where the previous occupants smoked heavily I can imagine it would be very hard to clear the smell quickly. Hardly the fault of the hotel, just inconsiderate guests smoking in the room.!!!!
Layout of room
Each room is identical no matter where it is sited. The rooms on the ground floor have one very large King size bed. The rooms on the upper floors have two double beds. (4’6”). The beds were incredibly comfortable. It is feasible to push the two double beds next to one another if you are allocated an upper floor room and want to be near your partner!!
Beyond the beds, there is a low wall which separates the lounge area from the sleeping area. The lounge area consists of an L-shaped sofa/divan with a coffee table. These sofas, convert to two separate single beds if you have small children with you.
Above the bed is a large fan, which is very effective. The control is next to the bed.
The control for the air-conditioning unit is also next to the bed.
On the opposite wall side, there is a dressing table/ desk area. This is quite long and the TV is sited on it. There is one deep drawer in the unit, and next to the drawer is the mini – bar.
The mini – bar worked perfectly well. It is stocked with water, beer, diet cola (cola light), Sprite, Fanta and fizzy water.
The maid will refill the minibar as often as you want and when you want. This is included in the all – inclusive.
Opposite the bed, is the sliding door which leads to the balcony if you are on the upper floor level or the patio on the ground level.
To conserve energy, the air-con stops working as soon as the sliding door opens.
The balcony (patio) has a small extending rack to hang clothes, a small plastic table and a plastic seating area for two.
The entrance area to the room is where the wardrobe / closet is sited, and there is plenty of hanging space, but not many hangers.
There is one long upper shelf on top of the hanging area, and four deep shelves for clothes.
On the floor inside the wardrobe, underneath the shelves is the safe. This is very large, and we managed to put a video camera, ordinary camera, lap top, + documents etc etc inside and still had room.
The bathroom is fully equipped. There is a bath with shower in the bath. One basin, and slightly tucked out the way is the wc. And opposite a bidet. The bathroom is marbled and clean. The hotel provides shampoo/ shower gel, bath foam, mini sewing kit, comb and soap. All replenished as you need.
My opinion of the room.
We were delighted with the location of the room. We found it clean, no smell. We could find nothing to fault it. I asked the maid the first day we were there for more hangers, towels and to remove beer from our mini bar and fill it with water bottles. This was all done immediately.
She cleaned the room perfectly well. We decided to leave her a tip every day, as we felt that for $2-3 a day tip she deserved it. It is not necessary if you don’t want to, the service will be the same. But she was pleasant and willing and we wanted to.
Yes I did see the tiny ants occasionally in our room, and we even had a visit of one cockroach. But, this is the tropics. Having travelled extensively it is not a reflection of poor quality or standard of cleaning. It is an impossibility to make a room totally insect proof. If for some reason you feel you have too many the hotel will gladly and repeatedly spray the rooms.
The balcony was not very big, and not that convenient to sit out on it. However, it was still fine.
I cannot find fault with the rooms.
TIP
As stated by others, there is no clock. So either bring an alarm clock or use reception for wake up calls.
Beach
As others have said..a superb beach, white powdery sand and crystal clear water. Always plenty of sunbeds available no matter what time of day. Palapas on the beach provide ample shade.
It is worth noting, that we walked for a good 45 – 50 minutes in both directions along the beach, and we saw that none of the other hotels provided palapas or any form of shade on the beach.
To the right of the pool, whilst standing facing the sea is a small beach bar called “Siboney” This is open from 10 – 6 every day, and serves a selection of drinks, and also has fries and hot dogs.
Further along the beach are a selection of stalls which are a permanent set up from what we could see. To be honest, the selection appeared to be typical tourist fare and we didn’t even bother to look although we did see quite a few people buying from the stalls.
At the edge of the property on the beach, is the horses ranch. Every night between 12-15 horses would trek along the beach with their cargo of tourists. Again we didn’t participate so cannot comment.
Further to the beach itself, every day between 8-9 the beach in front of the Iberostar would be cleaned thoroughly and cleared of all rubbish debris and seaweed. Immaculately kept.
Pool
The pool is large and beautifully laid out. The water temperature is perfect, very refreshing whilst not being icy cold.
Every morning again, the pool and the surrounding areas are thoroughly cleaned. Spotless. Again no problem to find sunbeds or shade irrespective of time of day. We were there when the hotel was full and no problem whatsoever.
Throughout the course of the day, staff would pass by continuously collecting empty drinks glasses(plastic tumblers) and take orders for any replacement drinks.
The pool had a large area suitable for diving into, an area where games were played and on the opposite side the pool became shallow and walk in. perfect for youngsters and babies.
Further on from that, was the area where the swim up bar was located. This was always very popular but still always able to get served.
Gym
We did not use the gym in spite of good intentions.. however we did go to look at it. As others have stated it is really quite adequate .. there is an intsructor /trainer always on duty. No under 16’s allowed, and you must bring a towel.
The gym is open so cooled by ceiling fans, not air conditioning.
Food
Firstly I must say we are not gourmet eaters, but being a family of six we all have different requirements and likes and dislikes.
We found the food and its selection to be very very good. I just cannot understand what people can find to complain about. Firstly the buffets. Every night, they would change the theme of the evening slightly. There were various stations/counters where food was freshly cooked in front of you. The selection was so good. Always a roast of some sort. Always a large selection of vegetables and vegetable dishes suitable for vegetarians. Always a large selection of fish dishes of some sort.
A large selection of fruit and cakes for desserts.
Sure, some of the food would be repeated, but how many things can one do with a tomato salad?
We could have found different foods to eat every night even if they did not change some of the food.
Late Breakfast from 10 and Lunch is served down by the pool in the Los Bohios beach restaurant. This is transformed at night into the Steak house.
The breakfast choice is not as extensive as the main breakfast in the Los Haiteses restaurant, but we found the choice to be sufficient for us and consequently would have breakfast every morning there rather than trek up to the reception area for the main breakfast.
Again, the choice is enormous. The service impeccable. Plates cleared quickly away. The staff always take a drinks order which is unusual in self service restaurants.
I forgot to mention that every 2-3 days they do a special fun barbeque on the beach. These are in addition to the food served in the restaurants.
A la carte restaurants
We tried three.. the Steak House, the Japanese and the Gourmet restaurant La Ballena.
Firstly, men need to wear long trousers in all but the Steak House. It is written that in for the Steak House they are needed but as it is open air and not air conditioned they will not turn you away.
Secondly, the procedure is that you can book for the a la carte restaurants from 9 – 12 and again from 4 in the afternoon. I have read on many reviews that people say they were only entitled to two reservations or three according to the length of stay. I cannot comment on this, but I can say that every time we went to book we got the day and the restaurant we wanted, and not once were we asked how many bookings had we made. We did not feel limited in the number of bookings at all. If one wanted to, it is possible to book for a week ahead. It did not need to be for the same day, or even the next day.
The restaurants.
The Steak house…- we loved this, my kids loved it and we found it pleasant and tasty. There is a small buffet as a starter then choice of steaks or fish. For dessert a selection of four or five cakes + a fruit platter.
We went back to this restaurant four times !
The Japanese …- we were mighty disappointed. Nothing particularly wrong with the food, but it was the only place where we found the service lacking.
When shown to the table a menu is given to you, with no explanation of how one orders etc. It is not clear if it is necessary to order a selection or even how the food is served. We asked the head waiter to explain to us and he said he would. That was the last we saw of him!!
We were not impressed at all. The room itself is in pleasant surroundings and the d飯r is lovely.
La Ballena… This is the Gourmet restaurant and it is situated next door to the buffet restaurant. It is a fixed menu, comprising of a starter which was foie gras, lobster for main course and a chocolate dessert.
The food was fine very tasty.. however if you have picky children or even adults!!! You would struggle in this restaurant. If you advise them they will cook chicken as an alternative to the lobster.
All in all, we actually preferred the buffets. The staff rotate continuously. So the head waiter who was so useless in the Japanese restaurant the night we went, could be working in the main buffet restaurant the following night or in the Steak House the day after. So, the impressions we got are all very subjective. Had we gone on a different evening and had a far more co operative and helpful waiter then perhaps we would have enjoyed the Japanese more.!!!
Drinks / Beverages
No one in my family really drinks as such. But, there is ample choice of everything if you should want it. Wine is offered at all meals. Cocktails available from all the bars whatever any one wanted. Soft drinks and coffees and teas (including speciality teas) available as well. Excellent choice and continuously available.
Just a note here….. When we arrived I was determined that we would only drink bottled water, avoid salads that could be washed in water clean our teeth in bottled water etc etc.
After two days I gave up and drank from the water they served from their jugs in the restaurants. We were fine.
Weather
We stayed the last two weeks of August which is technically under the hurricane season. The temperature was hot ..very hot upper 90s and the humidity was also very very high… 90%.
We had one dodgy day when it was overcast and later rained, which was our last day. Apart from that it rained sporadically mostly at night between 8 –10 for about 20 minutes or during the night whilst we slept.
Tip
As mentioned by others take a small collapsible umbrella with you. If only that it is very frustrating to have spent half an hour doing your hair only to have it rained out! The trolley buggys do circulate but there are only a few for 1200 people.
Evening shows
We watched a few.. the standard is fine and they work very hard. They are not professional actors, just students most of them. However we usually would not stay up late preferring to get up early in the morning.
Disco
We didn’t go once when it was open but our teens did ..every night. They enjoyed it and said it was good. They had the odd moan about the music not being their taste but apart from that they thought it was good. The disco opens from 11 – 2am. We went to look at it and the d飯r is in the style of an old airplane. Cleverly done.
The Casino
We went to look at it on our walk to the disco. Quite small, with no airconditioning only fans. So it was quite oppressive in there. Easy just to walk in and out. Plenty of slot machines, a roulette table a black jack table and a poker table.
Excursions
We did not take any at all… however because we arrived at Santo Domingo airport and had a four hour drive to the hotel.. we saw a considerable amount of the countryside and surrounding areas. The roads are dire.. full of pot holes. The poverty is tragic. Children with no shoes, begging etc. Very sad.
We spoke to someone who did the quad biking excursion with his family, and said it was excellent.
Service
I have commented on the service under various headings. However to recap. We felt the service was superb. In every aspect. Maid service, Reception, Restaurant, Beach, Pool and the list goes on. Uneaten food and dirty plates were very quickly cleared away. This is important as everywhere is open, and if they didn’t birds would be scavenging for left overs. We saw one bird at a table in two weeks.!!
We were amazed at how hard the staff worked. Very long hours for a few dollars.
Check out
We were worried because we had read in some reviews that the checkout was not very efficient. We basically did not experience any major problems. We paid the balance the night before so that there would not be a last minute rush. We left our bags packed and ready inside our rooms, and went to the main breakfast by reception. Before going into breakfast we asked for our bags to be collected and when we came out we repeated it. We found we did have to ask 3 times before it was done. But because we had expected this, we had allowed plenty of time.
If you have a late check out there is a secure room where luggage and bags can be kept. I also understand that there are showers as well although we didn’t see them as we didn’t need them.
Shops and Boutiques
There is a hairdresser/barber tucked away at the back of the main clothes boutique.
There is a gift shop selling all the usual tourist fare, souvenirs, toiletries, alcohol, chocolate, drinks etc etc.
There was another clothes shop selling very nice items of clothing.
There was a photographic counter selling batteries and films etc.
A car hire desk. A jewellery counter. An excursion counter.
There is a full Beauty/spa centre in the middle of the resort.
Bavaro Resort
To clarify as it is confusing the Bavaro Resort comprises of three hotels. The Bavaro, the Punta Cana, and the Dominicana. All three are marketed as 5* hotels. However the Bavaro is definitely superior. If you stay at the Bavaro, you can go anywhere and eat anywhere in any of the numerous restaurants throughout the whole resort.
However if you stay at the other two, you cannot eat at the Bavaro restaurants.
The rooms are also different. In the Bavaro they are as described 8 rooms in a bungalow scattered throughout the grounds. They are all junior suites. In the Punta Cana and the Dominicana, the rooms are in one building on four floors which run perpendicular to the sea. Each hotel is a block in its own right, with its own reception. The blocks faced one another and were mirror images of one another. In all other aspects the Punta Cana and Dominican were essentially one hotel split for admin purposes. The nightly entertainment was split between the two, the disco was for all 3 hotels, etc etc.
The rooms were not junior suites and therefore smaller.
Airport Departure
We left from Punta Cana airport which is 30 minutes from the hotel. If you are in a large tour group and either with young children or elderly, I would suggest paying the additional $25 to go by private taxi to arrive at checkin prior to the tour bus.
The airport is clean, but NOT airconditioned and it was hot. The security is tight, and they randomly check everyone’s baggage. Dogs smell the baggage for explosives.
Don’t rely on eating too much in the airport it is pizza or pizza.!!!
Apart from that it is quite efficient.
Summary
I would absolutely and without hesitation recommend this hotel and this resort. I feel that Iberostar have found a formula that works, and have applied it to this hotel and it was great. The odd hiccup is to be expected anywhere, and nothing that happened to us which was negative in any way detracted from our enjoyment of the place.
The people are courteous and friendly.
The resort is excellent value for money. BUT please bear in mind this is the Caribbean, this is a poor country and even though the Bavaro is a 5* it is not the Ritz and cannot and should not be compared to it. It definitely deserves its 5*. However it is not what I would call a glamorous or elegant 5* hotel that can be found in major cities or Europe. It is a holiday hotel. http://www.dominicana123.com/
If anyone has any queries that I have not answered, then I will be only too happy to try and assist. I know that this review is very long winded, but I felt that although so many people took the time to write excellent reviews which I used to help me choose this hotel, there were always various things which were left out which I would have like to have known.
My email address is jessie161616@hotmail.com
Happy Holidays!!
Chantal
 Read more Caribbean Travel reviews at TripAdvisor
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