My wife and I, along with one other couple, just got back from our stay at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro. We stayed from February 3rd to February 10th, 2024. We all were very happy with our experience at the resort. We've stayed at a number of All Inclusive resorts over the past 20+ years. This was our 8th or 9th stay in the Dominican and it didn't disappoint.

Pros for the resort:
- Food was good to very good
- Grounds are beautiful and well kept
- Beach was nice and had plenty of chairs/tables for lounging
- Pools were beautiful
- Spa and Gym were small but nice
- Rooms were nice and housekeeping did a great job keeping them clean
- Staff were terrific (Especially Ana at Front Desk, Oscar and Jorge at Laplaya, and Zuleika at the Piano Bar)

Things needing improvement:
- Loud Noise into the Late Night. We actually switched rooms from 4424 to 4449 to get away from the loud music played by staff late into the night around the pool area. There were multiple nights that we had to wait until after 11:15 for the sound to die down enough to sleep. Many of us felt this entertainment either needs to be moved inside or turned down a great deal.
- No Adult Beach Volleyball Court. I enjoy playing beach volleyball during the day and the only net to play on is at the family side of the resort. This meant that there were always many young kids playing along with the adults. I feel the adult side should have its own net so we can play an adult game without harming young children.

All in all, we had a great trip and wouldn't hesitate to return.

10 night stay from January 30 to February 9.
In all, it’s a very nice hotel and we would go back.
Not a party resort, super relaxed and quiet.
Check-in was quick.
Room keys are on your bracelet, a first for us and we loved it.
Within 20 minutes we were in our room.
Room is big and clean, bed was comfortable.
Yes, the “standard” rooms are a little old and in need of an update.
Everything worked and we had all we needed.
There are only 2 “standard villas”
The rest are Premium and Privilege

Food
There are 5 a la carte restaurants in the Royal side.
Reservations can be made at the reservation desk or through the app/site
I used the app and was able to get reservations for all 10 nights.
Asian Tao Cat 7/10
The Sea Blue 6/10
Barcelona Origens vegetarian n/a
pizzeria Sorrento n/a
Siwichi 7/10
Thalassa, buffet twice a week, Mexican and Dominican nights 8/10 the rest of the time it’s an a la carte 8/10
Lunch buffet was great, salad bar was amazing,
Breakfast had all you could need and more.
We did not go to restaurants in the family side.

Staff 10/10, very professional, friendly and helpful.
Tips are appreciated.

2 pools with shade and sun
The problem was the chair “reservation”
The majority of the chairs are all taken by 8 am, but people only show up at 11 or noon, some would even use the room towels to reserve chairs at the pool and beach, extremely annoying.

Beach
Clean and lots of shade.
Once again the problem was the chair reservation.
And half of the beach is roped and reserved for the Privilege and Premium guests, barely ever saw anyone in both sections.
Please people if you want to listen to music, use headphones! Respect the others!

Over all we had a great vacation and would recommend this resort.

I greatly enjoyed my stay at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro. A group of 8 friends went on this trip and we had a lovely time. The rooms were clean and spacious while the grounds were expansive and well maintained providing a lovely view from our balconies. Our rooms were centrally located and just a short walk to the beach, pools and numerous restaurants.

Each room had a mini fridge, coffee station, a large tub, a shower, water closet, king sized bed - super comfortable - and a sitting area. There was also ample room for our luggage. One small thing that could be improved on would be having a dedicated charging station for electronic devices. It wasn't a big issue as we just unplugged the TV and the coffee maker so we could charge our phones and ereaders but it would be one of those little perks that elevated the room.

All the staff (from gardeners, laundry, housekeeping, maintenance, food service, front desk...) were friendly and helpful, always responding to our 'Hola' and 'Buenos Dias' with a smile and/or cheerful reply. Jazmin, Ezequiel, John, Marta, Laidie, Lily, Mariana... these were just a few of the many staff we encountered who made us feel welcome.

As for the food, it was excellent and plentiful. Breakfast buffet was at Thalassa and we loved trying all the different fruits, the plantain mash, fresh juice, bacon, sausage, croissants, omelettes... It was one of the favourite parts of the day. Of course, then there was the lunch buffet with numerous choices, the fresh fruit smoothies at the beach, afternoon tea/coffee at Aromes, pre-dinner drinks on the patio near the piano bar. We ate at a different restaurant every night (Asian, Italian, Mexican...) and still didn't touch on them all. One suggestion we have is that at times the portions were too big and we wished we'd had the option of ordering a smaller steak or whatever the meal of the day was. We hate wasting food and, because the entree was so large, sometimes we skipped dessert and/or the appetizers. Smaller portions would have allowed us to have a sample of everything.

It is important to note this is an adults only resort and is very quiet and relaxed which was exactly what we wanted - no loud music, crowds or constant activity. If you want to sit by the beach and read, take long walks or watch the waves while sipping freshly made fruit smoothies, this is the place for you! If you prefer more action, you do have the option to sign up for snorkeling, paddle boarding, parasailing, golf etc and it is an easy walk to the family area where you can join in exercises on the beach, try your hand at the casino or do some shopping.

If the opportunity arises, we would definitely stay at this resort again!