Came back April 26/08. Beach was "AAA", activities and entertainment was great, but all excersions were extra, please book only with reputable on-site bondable tours. Vendor's were very aggressive with unreasonable prices to start, must bargain! Come prepared with anti-diarrhea med.(imodium), even the most cautious could get sick. Room service was terrible, for all-inclusive, we still had to ask for towels, coffee, sugar, stirsticks, water, pop,garbage bags,ashtrays, and any phone calls were never answered. Our safety deposit box key, worked in other rooms in other buildings!! Room service left our front and patio doors unlocked every day, be prepared to speak spanish or french. Guest services were non existant, but $$ and patience paid off. Hot shower's only happened one day as the cold wouldn't work. Use the coffee machine with only water to shave. Gift shop prices were unreasonable for everyday stuff, ex. $5.00 Euro. for travel size tooth-paste. Bring your own band-aides, peroxide, skin-care, tan lotion (30-50 SPF) eye-care, ex. or pay!! Sexual advances from tourist's and one male staff member.

Me and my boyfriend (Mid-20's) stayed at the Barcelo Dominican Beach from the dates of April 19th - 24th. We loved it!! We are from the USA, and we went with an open mind knowing we were going to a 3rd world country. I have been reading the reviews like a maniac keeping up to date on what people were writing. I have to say this... You get what you pay for and then some!

FOOD: The best that it could be for eating food that is not from your country. Barcelo tries so hard at accomodating everyone visiting their resort. There are so many Europeans, Canadians, etc. Not a lot of people spoke English, but I kind of liked that. I thought it was cool, to see how others communicate. That being said, we are all accustomed to different types of food. I am a true Italian and I have to say the pizza was really good... We did go to the Japanese and that was awesome! That was my favorite, great dessert as well! The buffet's breakfast was soo yummy!!! So many different options, and for those that don't like to try anything new, there was always, fruit and yogurt available. My boyfriend did get very sick on the 2nd to last day. I was worried about him, but at the gift shop you can pretty much get anything you need. We got immodium and pepto bismal.

PEOPLE: Very nice! Everyone: travelers, entertainers, workers.. Great! Very accomodating! I was impressed at all of the different languages they spoke!

POOLS AND BEACH: This place is the best! Always chairs available on the beach, little huts for those that like the shade. 3 different pools, in which we went to all of them! Our biggest decision was should we go to the pool and if so which one? The beach had so many activities going on at all time. The boys that entertain the beach are hysterical. I pretty much laughed all day at them. The water aerobics was cool too. Soccer balls, volley balls, ping pong, pool tables. There was just so much to do!

Drinks: Very good, if you tip them they will make you a frozen margarita, if not you get a mix. They were yummy as well... Oh and there beer (Cerveza) was sooo good, and I dont even like beer!

ROOM: I loved our room. Loved it! High ceilings and nice balcony. We did not pay money to upgrade we were happy as is.

I was very happy and I am sad that I am writing this review because I am home! Overall I am very impressed with Punta Cana and the Barcelo Dominican. I truly believe that they try very hard and they want everyone to always be entertained!!!!!!

Please contact me if you have any questions.. Otherwise... ENJOY!!!!

We went with First Choice and the company was marvelous as well as the Rep at the hotel (Jacki). They can't do enough to help you and try as much as they can to ensure your stay is enjoyable. We went to Kenya with first Choice and appreciated their customer service so much that we went with them again this year. Didn't even bother going with anybody else. We had dietary needs that were linked to medical conditions and they were really good.

Hotel is under new management and the Barcelo group have spent money already making improvements. Unfortunately, the hotel has three blocks that are very old and run down - Barcelo have plans to refurbish these but if you get one at present - yuck! We were moved three times during our two weeks stay and this was the worst part of the holiday. Blocques 2,3 and 4 are horrible. They are damp, mouldy, old, small. Our room had cockroaches and the water was dripping down the walls.

The hotel do help by sending in the fumigators and cleaning but it is made worse by the fact that some of these rooms do not have extractor fans in the bathrooms. Damp central!

The air con smells and if you are asmathic you will suffer. They came and sprayed something in the air con vent and it seemed to help.

If you can afford it - book a Caribbean spa suite room as these are of the size that you would expect in a regular room elsewhere in the caribbean. Unfortunately these are not assigned at the regular price (which is already not cheap).

Beach is beautiful, sea is clear and warm. Beach bar and beach cafe with snacks. Pizza all day long. Really good buffets. We are strict vegetarians and were never hungry - quite the opposite. We have all put weight on in two weeks! Chefs and waiting staff are really helpful and work hard.

People were tipping all the time. We didn't do this and tipped at the end of the holiday. We took a suitcase of old clothes and toys and gave them to the staff - they were very grateful. Hotel has good systems in place and you just sign a form to say that you gave them stuff.

Do not expect things to be done immediately - it just won't happen. Not because they are lazy but just because that is how it is. The hotel has lots of staff and has a nice safe resort feeling. We are all relaxed and have had a good holiday. We met lots of nice people from all over the world and learnt some Spanish too!

Lots of Canadians, French, Belgians come as well as Brits. Everyone enjoyed the entertainment programme. Kids club is good and in the shade. Lady who runs it is very good and the kids love her.

Lots of people that we spoke to had been moved two or three times - the same as us. Unfortunately, many said they would not return - BArcelo need to bear in mind that lots of people agreed with the comment that the rooms are small for the price that you pay. Also the fact that Blocques 2,3,4 are horrible. Bearing in mind that for the same price, families would get two interconnecting rooms in other places e.g. Southern Palms, Kenya - you don't get much space for the money you pay.

We would go back because the resort is lovely apart from the rooms in the above mentioned blocks. First Choice rep was amazing but she is moving on to Greece for the summer. Food was great as was the landscaping and beach.

this being my 3rd trip to the dominican, and having travelled to cuba and mexico i would say that this resort is about average. the grounds like most other resorts is well kept and maintained. the rooms are like most others. nothing special but who cares. the food at the buffet tasted great and was one of the better i have had in the dominican but that being said i did have stomach issues the next day everytime i ate at it. on that note the al cartes where above average for most resorts. the italian was decent stay away from the cannelonni as it is just a big mess of cheese and when i say that i really mean that. we were a group of 10 travelling and even the biggest cheese lovers couldnt eat it. we ate at it 2 times and the filet mignon is great, also if you want to try something else order another dish as they have no problem serving additional dishes. the brazilian was not to bad some of us didnt like it but i found it pretty good. u get to try all the meat so if you dont like it just push it aside. the japanesse is just like any other japanesse anywhere else you stay in the D.R it is a great show and good food. the only thing i can complain about the japanesse is how salty it is. the mexican was probably the most dissapointing of all as the salsa was super hot and the chicken fajitas were subpar. also if you want the japanesse you have to be at the buffet for about 6:30 in the morning to be able to book it. not to freak anyone out but we did see first hand a WORM found in one of the buffet dishes. the staff picked it out and just moved the spoon around in the dish and left it there to be eaten. maybe that is why i had stomach issues i have no idea. the beach is great and there are alwasy lots of loungers to be had anytime of the day as well with the pool area. nice big pool with a great swim up bar, and the water is very warm in the pool and in the ocean. the ocean is very calm here and great for swimming. the beach has lots of palm tress so if you want some shade pretty much not matter where you are there is alwasy some to be had. the nightly show / entertainment is by far the worst i have ever seen in my life absolutely terrible. the only good night was thrusday and friday as these were probably some of the better shows i have seen in the carribbean. so 5 terrible nights and 2 great nights. the only good thing was the band that plays every night from about 6 to 9. every friday they have there beach party! it was pretty good but have fun trying to get a drink on the beach as they allow the locals in with day passes and they all get served first and flood the bar like sharks. if you want a drink go into the brazilian restaurant they serve drinks till early in the morning. it is just off the beach. if your younger and looking for night life this is not the place for you. the disco is massive for resort standards but is usually dead and all they play is local music. they say they have a 24hr bar but that is pretty much a joke we had to tip the manager and bartender very hansomely the first night there to get this option and they only guaranteed us drinks till 5 am and that was basically only beer and rum drinks. the pizzeria is open till i think 6 in the morning and is alright but gets old pretty quick! you can also get some drinks here aswell it is attached to the brazillian where we partied every night. if you ask the bartender in the brazillian he will put on any of your own CD's. one last bad thing. when we went to check out they tried to charge us 6 US bucks for calls apparently we had made. yes we made one so i agreed to pay 2 US now this took me being a jerk to get it reduced. but please dont put up with them bullying you as all they see us tourists as is money. i know it was a whole 4 bucks i saved but it was the principal of the whole issue. for first timers if you do venture out of the resort or when they set up there little flea market in the resort they will try and get every penny out of you. barter like crazy. if they want 40 bucks for a necklace offer 8 and if they say no just walk away they will chase you and you will get it for that price. dont every pay more then 25% of the asking price. so all that being said this resort is alright dont get me wrong. i have stayed at alot worse 4 star resorts. the staff were alright maybe not as friendly as other resorts but still this resort is definetly a 3.5-4 star. the only reason i will never go back to this resort or any other barcelo is because they cater to french canadians and europeans. i love the europeans actually we partied with them all week but the french canadians are so rude, ignorant and wont talk to you or even give you the time of day if you speak english. it is really sad when people here you speak english and come up to you and say wow it is so nice to hear english. this resort was 95% french canadians, and the rest europeans and english speaking nations. all i can say is thank god we were a group of 10, or this would have probably been the worst vacation ever! go and have fun this resort is not near as bad as others i have been to.

matt