Our family went 3 boys 18,21,23 and our parents. We've never been to the Dominican and it was simply magical. I think regardless of you age and situation this place can pretty much accomidate anyone from Honeymooners to retired couples, to partiers, to a family with small kids. You will not leave unsatisfied.
Advice: Make sure to have reservations at the theme resturants for the evenings because the buffet is not good.

awaiting our family of 5. We were impressed by the beautiful lobby area , with it's gleaming marble floors
and wicker furnishings. Wonderful pools surrounding the main dining area are filled with Chiclid fish (
and several native birds eating them for your entertainment), but that's were it ended. After a 6 block walk
to our room, and another 4 block walk to the beach, we knew we would be kept in shape without visiting
the workout room, which is very small considering the size of the resort and the sheer numbers staying
there. Food offerings only continued to dissapoint as the main buffet was a disaster,with very little if
anything offered in the way of Carribean style food, and only one fresh seafood being served daily (
varying from extremely bony fish to the life threatening warm water? lobster served at the Christmas Eve
dinner which sent my wife to the lavatory within 5 minutes and to bed for the rest of the evening.) If
steam trays of limp hot dogs, hamburgers , overcooked poached eggs and the like is your idea of edible
fare , then this place is right up your alley. The weekly beach dinner was even scarier with trays of
mussels sitting in 75 degree weather without even ice to cool. There is another restaurant situated between
the beach and the swimming pool where similar fare was offered, and unfortunately swim wear is not
allowed. The bavaro also has 4 "Gourmet restaurants" which require advance reservations. Try the
Japanese if you care to find the bavaro's interpretation of Sushi , fried rice and 3 other poor
impersonations. The French was a little better, they had the rude French part down pat, with plates being
removed from the table while others in our party were still eating, and we came away with a distinct
feeling of being rushed through, although the place was half filled. The chilled wine awaiting us at the
table was a nice touch, but after choosing it was whisked away and we were served partially emptied
bottles from other tables. The main pool was very nice , clean & well maintained , but we found it hard
to relax as the staff was constantly featuring a daily activity in the immediate area over a loudspeaker
drowning out any chance of relaxation. Our rooms were relatively clean with the exception of the
occasional lizard, German brown cockroach, and mosquitoes. As the sliding doors were without screens,
there was no chance of a cool tropic breeze at night, unless your enjoy playing the lottery with the recent
outbreak of Malaria listed on the CDC website of outbreaks at Punta Cana resorts in the past month.The
staff was mostly cold and in some cases downright rude , especially the ground keepers on the golf carts
riding on the same paths as pedestrian guests giving no quarter. After a few days we did notice that each
patron was issued a colored wristband indicating his country of origin, and we turned ours over to reveal
only white, which lowered the amount of time we were ignored, especially at the bar . Speaking fluent
Spanish here is definately a must. It seemed the staff were insulted by use of anything else, although told at the outset that language was not a problem , which is
interesting as the Bavaro's Logo is in English, and they certainly accept dollars as tips .
We took 2 tours the Outback tour to the inland($85.00 per person), which was quite informative and a
good time, trails were rough and through mountainous regions, while the other was a combined
Catamaran/Speed boat ride to an island ($85.00 per person), which was quite beautiful, only to end on a
rough note when our guide had to physically wrestle the command of an open cigarette style boat w/ twin
200 H.P. Yamaha outboards away from an obviously drunken "Capitian". A main feature of this tour
was a stop a starfish pool which lasted 10 minutes out of an 8 hour day. At least we arrived back safely. The Apple representative was useless, unless selling you something.
We also went scuba diving($85.00 per person), and this was the absolute highlite our the week and I
would highly recommend. Snorkeling at the beach on the other hand left one of our group severely stung
by a jelly fish , which is not the resort's fault , but on the other hand we did not appreciate the water sports
attendant disdaneful lack of interest in our parties mishap.


We left this all-inclusive resort with the distinct impression that they had got our money up front and were out to
get more, with many hidden charges occuring throughout the week.

At least we did not stay in Phuket .

Just got back from a week trip at the Catalonia Bavaro and must warn all future travelers!
The food was inedible with flies circling the buffet lines at all times.
The customer service was completely lacking. None of the staff tries to make your stay more comfortable in any way at all. In most cases, they are not only apathetic to your needs, but outright hostile.
We didn't have hot water in our room FOR THE ENTIRE 8 DAYS! We complained every day and they waited until day 5 to even come and check on it. One day, there was no water AT ALL!!! There were no apologies by the staff or management.
The rooms were in awful condition, things were broken, the refrigerator barely kept things cold, etc...
I could go on and and on about this hotel but just wanted to let people know what I wish I would have known before going here.
There are many other resorts in Punta Cana--pick another one!

I was in Catalonia for a week from dec 16-23. I went with my boyfriend and one other couple. We are all between 23 and 25 years old. This place was great. The grounds are very nice (considering they just had a hurricane!) the rooms were great (I don't understand the complaints at all, the rooms were big, mini bar stocked, beautiful bathtub, full length mirrors, comfortable king bed, fun decor of blue and yellow caribeen theme).
The resort is HUGE and the main bar lobby area is very nice with lots of room to sit and mingle. The bar staff are very nice. I have a suspicion these people leaving negative reviews wouldn't be happy anywhere they went and decided to be miserable before they stepped off the plane.
The food was pretty good for a buffet and LOTS of selections, as well as lots of variety and always several tables where a cook was creating something fresh, a pasta bar, and steack grille, or seafood. The beach restaurant had less selection but still pretty good- great grilled sandwiches and fresh fruit. Out of the A LA Carte restaurants the Japanese and the Frech were by far the best. I ordered the lobster at the french and my boyfriend had the steak and they were both perfect- and I live on the coast so I do know good seafood!! I would probably pass on the italian though- it's just pasta and you can get that at the buffet.
The Pool is beautiful and huge and the perfect temperature and is clean. Apparently the negative reviewers don't realize that when you have an outdoor pool some bugs will inevitably get in the water, but it was cleaned daily and gimme a break it was cleaner than any home pool I've seen!! The beach was gorgeous and the seaweed was cleaned up everyday( I saw this happen) The water is shallow for a long way out and great for kids. All the non moterized sports are free so I tried wind surfing-fun!! There was bacci ball and painting lessons and aerobics and nightly shows so I don't know where this "nothing to do" attitude is coming from in some reviews. Even if you didn't want to do windsurfing, kayaking, painting, aerobics, dancing lessons, volleyball, or water polo, there's always drinking by the pool, eating at the great restaurants, going to the disco, sitting on the beach or just soaking up the sun. We also went on the JAMES BOND boat tour and snorkeling- highly recommend it!
I loved this place and PLEASE DISREGARD all the negative reviews- some people will never be happy.

Feel free to email me with any questions