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A magnificent hotel resort with exclusive, white sandy beaches, crystalline Caribbean waters, palm trees lining the coast and abundant vegetation throughout the complex. Coral reefs along the beach allow guests to enjoy the rich marine life of the Caribbean Sea. It is located in Playa Cabeza de Toro (Punta Cana), one of the best beach areas in the Dominican Republic. The complex is situated 20 km from the International Airport of Punta Cana and 47 km from Higuey.
Carretera Cabeza De Toro, Punta Cana 23000 Dominican Republic
Catalonia Bavaro Beach Golf And Casino Resort
15,027 reviews
Getting there
Car recommended
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Nestled in lush surroundings, Catalonia Bavaro Beach Golf And Casino Resort offers an array of amenities that guests have found delightful, including its scenic gardens and a variety of dining experiences. The resort's vibrant atmosphere, often filled with the sounds of Spanish music, is a hit among families, though the volume of music receives mixed reviews.
While some guests commend the affordability and certain upgraded rooms, others are less impressed, citing cleanliness and maintenance issues in rooms, along with inconsistent service that ranges from attentive to sluggish.
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Neglected
Value
Mixed
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Abundant
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Stayed in a "Privileged" suite with ocean views (room 1812), one of very few with this location steps from the beach and beach-side buffet. It cost a little more but was definitely worth it. Fabulous two room suite, with two balconies, two bathrooms, large jacuzzi tub and windows! There are many other rooms and suites here, but few with nice views and some are a few minutes of walking to the beach. Beautiful grounds. THe beach was soft fine sand, well groomed and clean. Was able to find shady pulapa every day and enjoyed the clean water and many palms on the beach. Beach side buffet was fine, nothing spectacular. The big "international" buffet near the entrance was better with more choices. We ate at all the specialty restaurants with mixed results. THe Japanese was very good, as was the steak house. Some items on Caribbean were very good (Jerk Chicken). The Italian had a nice atmosphere and great service but just ok food. Service generally was excellent, and we made sure to provide extra tips to bell boy, maid, guy who took us out to the reef for snorkeling. Do pay the extra for the reef snorkeling - it is truly amazing to see all the fish and some of the reef still living with corals, sponges, sea fans, sea urchins. Free kayaking every day as kayaks are available. The multipart pool was huge, clean and did not feel crowded. There is a toddler pool. Other guests included LOTS of young families, people from all over the world- fun to hear so many different languages!
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Date of stay: December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I spent a week in September with my family at this resort. The place is really beautiful, safe and very well kept, the photos on Trip Advisor seem to be a little bit outdated. Maybe the hotel had a recent renovation and they didn't update the photos? We stayed as a family and decided to choose the "Privilege" category and we feel it was totally worth it. Tourists that visit this place are mainly Italian, French, German, Argentinian and Chilean. Our room was new, spacious, well designed, very comfortable, with new furniture and with a beautiful large double shower. The beds were really comfortable. Good sized and modern TV, minibar filled everyday, the cleaning ladies were very courteous and were always looking after the room, not only the standard once a day. The animation team is simply amazing, with at least one show at night in the resort theater (which was pretty amazing) and two parties or games with the guests. We specially loved the "Lion King" night, where they asked the kids visiting the resort to take a part on the show! The food was good, a lot of variety at the buffet, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are also other themed restaurants at the premises, our favorite was "Yuca" which had typical Dominican food. The beach is gorgeous, no rocks, no algae - just warm transparent water with colors ranging from light green to blue. The resort staff was very friendly and made sure we had a great time - special thanks to Freddy, Tempora and Javier!!!
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Date of stay: September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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We stayed for 2 weeks at this resort and on the whole we thought it was very good. The place is absolutely spotless and the room was great. We paid extra to get a privalidged room which was very comfortable; our only issues were we were without wifi and TV for 3 days and there is not much water pressure. We didn't see the other rooms but the privalidged package basically gives you a different room, a roped off area of the beach and 10% off any purchases at the resort, including spa, golf etc.
The spa and massage services around the resort are very good and also the watersport facilities very good value.
The golf courses were both good and we played every other day at the 18 hole course which is about a mile down the road. We only played in the afternoon which was a good move because it was very quiet and the wind tended to pick up a bit which made it cooler which was nice (still 28deg every day). The golf was complimentary however they charge you for a buggy which is $30 each. Compared to other courses in the area it was very good value and the course was in good condition.
The only downsides of our stay was all the A la Carte restaurants offer a very poor standard of food. I think the Italian was the worst to the point where people were getting up from the table and leaving to go to the main buffet. The main buffet was however very good with plenty of choice and freshly cooked food at different stations. The alcoholic drinks throughout the hotel were pretty poor and are either watered down or just very low in alcohol.
One last point is to avoid going to the Exclusive Traveller Club meeting which is an absolute con that will burn up at least half a day with high pressure sales techniques to sucker you into paying a huge amount of money to join this time share style club. The expectation is for you to sign up there and then despite not even being allowed to read through the contract. My advice if you are interested is to read all the negative reviews on the internet first as they very much reflected our experience.
So apart from these minor points we had an amazing stay and would certainly visit this hotel again.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Privalidged room was good and freshly decorated
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Resort was beautiful but rooms were mediocre at best. They didn’t have a clock or many plugs. There’s an ‘upgraded’ room for an extra $20usd/person a night but not sure what they are like. The food was OK. Some of the ala carte restaurants are not open every day so you have to see what is open, what day.
There are a ton of mosquitos... we were eaten alive even with bug spray! Pool was nice but they never had towels.. out of 7 days we were there, they ran out of towels at least 4-5 of the days. The majority of the staff do not speak English so if you want to come here you should either know how to speak French or Spanish. Drinks were ok.. some were super strong that you couldn’t drink or some you could barely taste the alcohol.
There Wasn’t much for children to do at night so If you have only 1 child with you, be prepared that they are going to be very bored. There was a game room but different employees had different rules: one night we were told that we couldn’t be there bc my niece was under 13 (even though signs posted said you could if you had an adult with you), one night they told us only 1 parent allowed in there at a time, most of the games are missing pieces.
We celebrated NYE here and that night was the best night of the whole trip.. the buffet was amazing and the entertainment was good as well. Shows were nice as well. The sand on the beach was nice but the water was not, there was a ton of seaweed (which i know is not their fault), they were constantly trying to clean it while we were there. Overall, having travelled to many other places, I don’t think this was a 5 star hotel hotel at all. We were disappointed.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you plan to visit this resort, please don't. the service and attention is bad they do not treat the Dominicans well they are so rude and offensive to them we receive a lot of mistreatment and racism from the employees and security called Alexander in the main pool that man offended us and spoke badly for us all our stay at the hotel we went to customer service and they did nothing they ignored our complaints because it is a hotel that does not care about the customer and less if you are Dominican. I am disappointed with this hotel. I will never come back. I regret that I had my vacation here. I would never recommend it to anyone. I have photos of security that mistreated and offended us. Regarding the covid protocols, they do not have any, they do not clean the table or the chair in the restaurant, they do not have any distance from the people at the table, they do not take your temperature in the restaurants and all tables are surrounded and crowds in the pool and bar The employees do not disinfect anything, chairs, tables, or utensils that they use to prepare food or drinks. It is not a safe place for this situation. I Visited another hotel chain in Punta Cana a week before, where the covid protocols existed and it was a safe place. trustworthy. This hotel in Catalonia was not ready to open, they are putting customers at risk and they continue to ignore the protocols that the authorities require to them.
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Date of stay: September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Social Media Catalonia Hotels and Resorts, Sales at Catalonia Bavaro Beach Golf And Casino Resort
Responded Sep 4, 2020
Dear Kendri, We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may experience while staying at our hotel; And of course, thank you for your comments that always help us improve the quality of our service, paying more attention to the possible deficiencies pointed out in your writing. Please allow us to clarify that we carry out our Clean and Safe protocol to guarantee the safety of our guests and that of our entire team. Compliance with these measures was endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and Public Health in the Dominican Republic, after 100% compliance with our facilities, with what is required in the general protocol of tourist activities. In addition, we are an active member of the HS CONSULTING Company, which is an English company that watches over health and hygiene and constantly monitors all aspects related to health and hygiene standards within our hotel to ensure our guests. Undoubtedly, the reports that HS Consulting sends us show that we operate with high standards of quality and hygiene. This is corroborated by the COVID-19 Prevention Health and Safety 2020 certification, for complying with the established global standards, recently granted by said company. We accept the affirmation of the clients as a personal opinion. Everything they report to us will be highly valued by the Quality department. Regarding the service, we care that our guests receive great, friendly, respectful service at all times and without distinction. We constantly train our team in customer service skills, emphasizing those aspects and the most positive comment that we have received since our opening is about the great attitude of our team, including our Dominican guests. Please receive our apologies if we did not make you feel welcome or well cared for. We will review your comment with our team and emphasize our standards in our training programs. We look forward to welcoming you back to provide the kind of experience you have come to expect from us. We will be delighted if you give us the opportunity to once again have you as VIP guest and let us pamper you in the way we treat our guests. Sincerely, Social Media Catalonia Punta Cana
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The hotel and service are excellent, we have great a time thanks to Pedro Maria and Ely Jazmine from the restaurant. The only downfall of the resort is the food ! The buffet is extremely disappointing, you’ll find better food in a Chinese buffet. Even the on the thematic Restaurant is really bad , they can’t even cook a fish the right way. Food has no taste, blank , the juice they offered are powdered juice ( tang ) , not variety on the menu at all , the same thing for breakfast everyday. The mangu was blank and cold , the salchichón was Raw, they don’t have fried cheese. Overall the food sucks , even some of cooks and owners are from Spain their paella was the worst I’ve ever tasted. The only good food was the pizza from the pool. Be prepared to starve to dead or just eat pizza. The meat for the hamburger is boiled , they don’t even throw the bread on the grilled to warm, they give you the bread straight from the bag , no lettuce , no tomato for the hamburger , just meat and cheese not even Melted. Sushi is not fresh , out of a box from the supermarket. The white rice from the buffet was a mixed of Raw rice and overly cooked.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Social Media Catalonia Hotels and Resorts, Sales at Catalonia Bavaro Beach Golf And Casino Resort
Responded Aug 25, 2020
Dear Samanta, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Our guests comments and observations, such as yours are vital for improving the details in our services. We regret to read that our food offer did not meet your expectations. Please allow us to apologize for these situations and taking advantage of the opportunity, we would like to share that our resort, follow the highest standards of hygiene, that means that all the products that we use to cook our food are fresh. Our resort accomplishes with the high-quality food and beverage standards, and it’s an active member of the HS CONSULTING Company, which is an English company that watches over health and hygiene and constantly monitors all aspects related to health and hygiene standards within our hotel to ensure our guests. Indeed, the score ratings we receive from HS CONSULTING demonstrate that we operate with high standards of quality and hygiene. Thank you for bringing these matters to our attention in order to improve these shortfalls with the Excutive Chef and his team. Hopefully, we can welcome you back to deliver the kind of experience you have come to expect from us. Best regards,
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After staying at another (newer) Catalonia resort last year, when our travel agent suggested this one we were excited to try it.
There were several similarities, the landscaping and exteriors were beautiful, restaurants were the same, the large main pool and beach areas were great. The disappointment came from the rooms. You’d be hard pressed to find one without issues of some kind-likely due to the age and lack of recent renovations. I’m sure it’s been tough with travel restrictions but I hope business picking up will allow them to reinvest in the resort.
My parents had to change rooms twice for a/c not working and a leak (only to still have a leak in the third room). Ours had no hot water in the (tiny) shower and a faulty safe. We also never got help with those things or the washcloths we requested-likely because so few staff members seemed to understand English. I get it, it’s not an English speaking country, but we’ve had less trouble with communicating in other resorts that were also non English speaking. My sister also had to change their room and still had trouble in a Privilege suite.
For the money it’s probably still a good deal but after staying in a newer location of this brand, we were disappointed with the overall experience. Please see my review of Catalonia Riviera Maya for reference.
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I did not expect all the staff to speak English, however a language barrier is not an excuse for being absolutely rude and unhelpful. Everything in the hotel is a little bit dirty and broken.
We repored a few things the first day (public bathroom locks broken, hand soap missing from public bathrooms and the list goes on). None of the defects were fixed in the 5 days we stayed.
On the 3rd day of our stay they commenced a construction works right by the pool, drilling most of the day.
Someone threw up just by our sun bed and we had to ask 3 times for it to be cleaned, finally, the cleaner just used a hose to hose the sick in to the pool.
It is so hot in the main restauran that one can't even eat.
There are a few restaurants that you can book and have a la card meal, this must be booked in advance, some of them are impossible to get into and the food is far from great.
On arrival, noone bothered to introduce the faccilities, we were told to scan a qr code which wouldn't load due to weak wifi - the staff explained this is as the hotel is full and all guests are connected to it - how unexpected, perhaps they should make sure it works even at full capacity.
Just don't bother booking this hotel, it is about 20 years behind. The staff have no customer service skills whatsoever.
The only helpful and nice people were the lady who looks after guests who book through booking.com, most of the cleaners, gardeners and the staff at the bar for guests who book the "priviledge rooms" and a few restaurant staff. Everyone else seemed like they were actually unhappy you are asking them anything.
I have worked in customer service and I undertsand that not all expectations can be met, but there is a polite way to explain things. I am from Czech Republic so my expectations when it comes to customer service are very low as the customer service level is very low and and in general people are rude.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simply put do not stay at this hotel. On day one they put me in room which smelled strongly of urine.. to make matters worse I found blood stains throughout the room. The food at this resort is disgusting (the one good restuarant being the statehouse) the manager of the hotel (female, glasses) Late 20's.. early 30's was incredibly rude. When asked what the rate was to add a guest I was told $72 Per night... an hour later that changed to $127usd per night. When asked why the excuse given was we gave you a special rate that has since changed in one hour. I will absolutely NEVER stay at this hotel again. Clean up your damn beach it's absolutely disgusting!
The female manager in question finally changed the rate I was given back to $72 after having to yell through the lobby.
I'm absolutely disgusted beyond belief and will be posting this same review all across google
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Social Media Catalonia Hotels and Resorts, Ventas at Catalonia Bavaro Beach Golf And Casino Resort
Responded Aug 4, 2020
Dear Taylor, Thank you for sharing your experience. We are definitely sorry to hear that this is the impression with which you have returned home, especially when the actions we took as a follow-up were merely to provide a better experience. We would like to clarify that the initial room you were assigned was checked before your arrival and was in good condition, however, an immediate change was made when you requested it. Regarding the rate offered to add one more person to the reservation, it corresponds to the one we had in effect at that time, once our Manager got involved and knowing your case, a discount was made. Rest assured that at Catalonia Hotels & Resorts we always work to offer the best rest experience, we learn from our mistakes and we get better, and we do it much better when the way to ask for assistance is in a friendly way as there is no need to address it in a foul way. We appreciate your stay and hope that your next visit to the Dominican Republic will be much more positive. Best regards,
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This all inclusive hotel is great for a relaxing holiday in Punta Cana! We loved the well kept grounds and flamingoes and ducks on site. The junior suites are a little dated but very clean and provide all you need - with a little fridge stocked daily at no extra charge. Food is plentiful and of good quality. Like the idea also that you are given vouchers for the 4 little separate restaurants for a more special dining experience- however would give the Rodeo steakhouse a miss. The Yuka Caribbean restaurant was especially good ! My only complaint is the fact there are two separate hotels on the resort The Royal and the family one and I don’t know why you need this! Our TUI rep Fray was very helpful when we had a room issue and was on hand to advise us on the resort in general. The beach is lovely here but go early to get a sunbed! We liked the creperie for a sweet treat on the beach and the snack bar serving lovely fresh baked pizza & hotdogs by the pool! Felt very safe here in the complex and our trip to Santa Domingo was delightful with TUI. Really enjoyed our first stay in Dominican Republic at this resort.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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