Barcelo Bavaro Palace - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

32532 reviews

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  Birthday trip

  I was not happy that there was only one person in such large restaurants who was bilingual. I speak only English and know only a little Spanish and had a very frustrating time communicating my order to the waiter or waitress throughout my visits to the restaurants (all inclusive stay). They were very courteous and many times we were not successful in getting what we wanted to order.

  Jan 30, 2026
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  Needs a lot of repairs and updating

  We had stayed here at Barcelo for the previous 2 years, but this year we noticed a severe drop in maintenance of this resort. About half of the elevators don’t work. We had some elevator issues last year, but it was way worse this year and it doesn’t appear that repairing problems is a big priority. One alarming issue was that our bathroom had ceiling floods on 3 different occasions during our stay. We were given different accounts of the problems each time they were reported to management and maintenance. Water was pouring from the ceiling so we had huge messes on all 3 times. A minor issue was that our door entry was sticking and very hard to open. You had to really work to get into the room, which was highly frustrating. We kept emailing and phoning the management and maintenance, also alerting housekeepers to the various issues. We even met with one of the premier managers as we had paid for the premium package and suite. We were promised some massages and a facial as compensation for our many inconveniences, however at checkout we did not receive all of the promised compensation. To be fair the staff is super friendly and they try to please. Food is fair at best. The resort needs to be updated and a lot of repairs are needed. We are not going back as it’s a lot of money to spend to be upset and inconvenienced.

  Jan 30, 2026
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  Great Value and Lots to do

  First Time here. I've been to other spots in DR. Melia etc and Barcelo has great value. Lots to do. Food is good, not perfect but not a lot to complain about. Worth getting upgrade to get concierge

  Jan 30, 2026
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  Mediocre service, bad food

  Started at check in, in the premium lounge. Somehow forgot about us and we sat around for an hour waiting to be called to find out they were helping newer arrivals. Then our room wasn't ready till an hour after check in time (we had asked for an early check in as we had an overnight flight). Then they wouldn't bring our bags to the room after they said they would be brought for us so I had to go all the way back to the front to drag them to the furthest building. Tried to contact management about it, but no response. Asked at the lounge and was told no manager would be made available to talk to me. Staff doesn't seem overly friendly - some outright rude. Food is simply put, not good. Everything is room temperature. We had the access to al la cartes every night, and still, everything was cold. Potatoes would be a cold and hard. Meat room temp. Kotyo was the one exception as it was cooked in front of you so was at least hot. Getting a drink at dinner could be difficult sometimes, even water would go unrefilled. My medication went missing on our second night as well - was in an obvious pill vial on the bathroom counter. Nothing of any significant value, but really - a little more care could have been applied. Rooms were reasonably clean though. Dusty under the beds (noticed while looking for my pills), but no bugs or mold etc. This was our second trip to this resort and will be our last. Was good in Jan of 2020, but it's fallen way off since.

  Jan 30, 2026
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  Wonderful Vacation

  Second time visit and enjoyed our vacation very much. Got off to a rocky start as they had a mix up at the premium level registration process after photocopying our passports accidentally gave them to another couple. Fortunately we realized we were missing our passports as soon as we got to our room. Although they made this big mistake to their credit they quickly informed their security team and within a few hours after reviewing their security tapes they discovered the problem. Took another day for us to get them back as they had a delay in being able to track down the couple that had our passports. That evening went to our dinner reservation for the Coral restaurant only to find out that it was being reserved for a large private event and they shuffled us off to the Santa Fe restaurant which it was obvious they were overcrowded. Took an hour for someone to take our orders.I actually timed it on my phone so I am not overly dramatizing here! It would have been nice if they could have informed us about the change as we may have chosen differently ! Anyway, the rest of the week was perfect, highly recommend eating in the restaurant for dinner rather than the buffet. The service was amazing and in my opinion the food was better this year than last year. All of our dinners meals were very good. This was our first time eating at the Chez Gourmet Restaurant located in the Adult only Barcelo Beach Resort was terrific! Spend the extra money for the premium level as you will have greater access to the restaurants. If people writing bad reviews about the food then maybe they spent way too much time at the buffets which I assume would get a bit repetitive, loud and with little personal service. If you are looking for a more quiet and relaxing experience than book a room on the far end close to the adult only area. My wife and I prefer the beach and away from the noise. You will not be disappointed with the view! We ate our daily lunch at the La Brisa which is the only waterfront restaurant. Loved it! We golfed twice and very much enjoyed the course, well maintained and had some very challenging scenic water holes. The room we had was waterfront and was spacious, clean but my opinion was a bit outdated. Hopefully they have plans to remodel which again in my opinion would put this resort truly in a 5 star category. We are looking forward to return again next year!

  Jan 29, 2026