We were unwelcomed in this hotel, hospitality is not the greatest, actually there was no hoapitality. Waiters and waitresses were very rude, they did not give us a friendly smile nor ever say "enjoy your dinner". Drinks came to us when we finished our dinner. Since there are other barcelo hotels nearby we were able to take the trolley there and experience other restaurants, big mistake the service was still the same and the staff still miserable. Our room had a few cockroaches and so did the restaurants. We don't know how we continued our stay there but we did. We took it upon ourselves to take a walk to Paradisus Palma Real, and the resort is gorgeous, I regret not staying there, that place is definitely a Palace not Barcelo!!!
Please, please do not stay in Barcelo it is old and ghetto. Spend a few extra bucks on Paradidsus Palma Real, you'll get your monies worth.
DEF. NOT GOING BACK

We (My husband and I) booked our vacation thru Apple Vacations for our 20th anniversary and did the all-inclusive. (we are 41/40)
The Palace was recommended by a co-worker who stayed there about 2 years ago.
The Phila. Eagles Cheerleaders were doing their photo shoot for a calendar down there and shared our flight to and from Punta Cana. (Of course my husband liked that!)
We didn't check into our hotel until around 8pm, reception was fairly quick on that and we were given a complimentary fruity drink with a pineapple garnish while waiting. (very tasty)
The bellboy took our luggage to our room and inside we found a guide/map of the facilities and surrounding area. We were on bloque 5. (I believe there are 6 bloques, with reception and the buffet area being central on block 3, the La Pina beach grill was at block 5 or 6 along with the local shop area and watersports on the beach) Block 1 had La Brisa (Seafood restaurant, excellent)

The room was clean (a little on the older side) and it had a stocked mini bar/refrigerator with bottled water, coke, sprite, brama beer (local stuff) and hazelnut wafer bars. We also noticed a 4 cup coffee maker and coffee packets, complimentary shampoo, conditioner, combs etc.. The counter tops were a little scuffed up but very clean in the bathroom, everything worked great, the shower had good water pressure and plenty of hot water, the plumbing worked fine.
The bed was on the older side but had a mattress topper and was comfy to sleep on. We found 2 additional pillows in the closet along with a velour blanket.
The air conditioner was cold, there were no windows just the balcony door (it didn't have a sliding screen) so sleeping with door open wasn't an option. We found if we turned the air off, the maids turned it back on, so we left if on during the day and shut it off at night. The only negative thing about the room was some dust on the lampshades and on the bedboard (rattan weave holds it) Everything else was spotless.
The T.V. only had 2 American channels (CNN both of them, you could pay for more but we didn't spend much time in our room, so didn't see the point)
First night we had dinner at La Brisa and had the broiled lobster and seafood salad. It was the only night I had a little acid reflux,
most likely from eating dinner at 9 and going to bed right after.
All the food was great, we did not have any stomach issues.
We also did not see mosquitos, flies or any other bugs. So all the bug spray and immodium came back home with us.

We were not scheduled to meet our Apple rep until 6pm so we just went to breakfast around 930 at the buffet. They had so much food! I stuck with light meal of scrambled eggs and a croissant and a slice of cantaloupe, my hubby had eggs, bacon and sausage links and pineapple.
We were not sure about the water so we stuck with coca cola at first, but soon learned the bottled water is really bottled water (we read some bad reviews on some places, this wasn't the case here, they have treated water and it was safe to brush your teeth etc and get mixed drinks with ice.. but we still drank the bottled stuff for drinking water)
The beach is gorgeous, they rake any washed up seagrass everyday, there are no annoying bugs (like the greenheads on the Jersey beaches here) or no seeums.
I heard May was the rainy season but we only had 2 minute quick rain the first day and the rest of the week was sunny, air temp ranged from 82 to about 88 and water temp was around 77 to 80's, the pool I would say was 77-78. The pool was also very clean, the swim up bar was great. The local drink is coco-loco's and they are yummy.
We spent most of our days on the beach and here and there at the pool. We did the marinarium excursion (Half day) to snorkel with nurse sharks and stingrays. First time snorkeling and we loved it. Then we went to natural pool area to swim, party and drink more coco-locos. Mr Sharky and his crew were very entertaining and we had a good time.
Because they don't do daylight savings, even though we are on same time zone in Maryland, it got dark at 7pm and the sunrise was before 6am.
There was a tram train that came around every 15-20 min to go to other Bavaro hotels or the casino. We choose to stay at the Palace, we didn't see any reason to go anywhere else.
For the most part even if you don't know spanish (I know a little from high school) they can figure out what you want. I did bring a Eng/Span dictionary just in case.
Oh they give you a towel card (one per person) where you get fresh beach towels each day near the pool area. Some people did "save chairs" in the pool area, but the beach area was no problem finding chairs in the sun or the shade.
The water was great, so clear and no shells or stones to hurt your feet. You don't need aqua socks unless your are going near the coral reefs on an excursion.
Our favorite restaurant for dinner was La Brisa - broiled lobster and seafood salad, they also have good pizza (thin crust) and calamari.
El Bohio was also good, we had a crab special with rice and fried sweet potatoes.
La Pina was good for quick bite to eat (they have steaks, various fish, hot dogs, burgers and chicken - too cook to order) with rice, veggies, french fries and salad stuff.
The buffet always had so much food (we stayed away from the lunchmeats to be safe) but the salads and everything else was fine. Yes there were one or two birds that flew into buffet area but the staffed shooed them away and removed any item (usually rolls) that the birds touched.
The staff was usually on top of things. Once in awhile they were slow getting back drinks, but 90% they were quick.
If you go on any excursions, they drive a little like Nascar drivers so don't be shocked. We got were we needed to go without incident.
Even though it was an all-inclusive, we did tip the maids and the mini-bar guy every day (they are 2 different people) and bar tenders.
If you want clean towels all you have to do it place them on edge of the tub.
We used our coffee maker (TRY the coffee- it is great!) we used the bottle water of course. The best place for coffee is the bar right next to reception area. Fresh ground.
Oh definately bring SPF 30 to 50 if you normally wear SPF15. And reapply everytime you get out of the water. I did get my nose fried the first day and did get burnt on shoulders- that turned tan, my nose peeled down there at end of week.
Our shower also had shower gel, shampoo and conditioner dispenser along with the complimentary bottles. So don't worry if you forgot them.
Yes they did have topless women sunbathers, and men in speedos, but only in beach area (not the pool, well except the speedo guys) which wasn't a big deal. There were not many kids around in May and it seemed the natural thing in that setting.
This was our first trip out of the country and we had a great experience. Would go again in a minute! The hotel was well worth it.
Our Apple rep (Raluka) booked our excursion and was very helpful on all our questions.

excellant hotel , paradise , food was great beach was a beauty, can't wait till next year and will return , booked through west jet vacations and everything went great

I would ABSOLUTLEY recommend this hotel to friends. Though it was very quiet and had limited nighlife, the hotel grounds were picturesque. The rooms were clean and spacious, the food was bad but, I hear that is to be expected anywhere in the Dominican Republic?? Besides, losing weight on vacation is always nice, right?! :)

The hotel staff was very friendly (Especially after they learned my sister can speak Spanish) The room was cleaned everyday and we recieved unlimited towels. Our balcony had a GORGEOUS view of both the perfectly maintained gardens and the beach. We felt safe at all times, especially considering we are two girls in our early 20's traveling alone. Security posts all around the resort. The pool was clean and fairly large, we spent the majority of our time on the white sand beach only steps away from our room. There were always lounge chairs available, the beach stretches for what seems like forever.

This hotel is definitley geared more towards a relaxing getaway for newlyweds or a couple of any age. I would not consider this resort if you are looking to party THERE IS VERY LITTLE PARTYING HAPPENING AT THE BARCELO! It was pretty much empty until the last day of our visit. I would absolutley stay there again...