Punta Cana Princess, Punta Cana

My wife and I went here on our honeymoon and it was a very nice place. As an American you are the minority. Mainly Spanish and European but that was cool. The grounds are beautiful, food was good (not excellent), rooms were nice. Our view was great, we could see the ocean, pool and grounds, however this was after we complained to management and switched rooms. Our original room faced the entrance to the resort and "dining hall". The pool and ocean were behind us. So just be careful with that. Not much to do on the resort besides relax. The beach/pool beds were awsome; swim up bar-awsome. The beach was full of activities if you want to pay for them. All in all we had a great timeand it was very nice. I would suggest 5-7 days, we stayed10 and it was almost too much. Be sure to bring closed toe shoes and pants if you are a man, you will need them to get into the restaurants on the resort.

I have followed reviews of this resort for a couple of months prior to going there. The only good things about this resort are the pool and beach. Nelson at the pool bar was great and bartenders at lobby bar- that is it. Upon arrival to resort, we wanted something to eat so we went to the beach restaraunt where all there was to eat was chips and cold melted cheese. We were then told to move outside (this happened multiple times to other people in the middle of eating) to order food so they could set up the dinner tables, so we thought ok no big deal. We waited outside at wet tables for 30 minutes with no order taken. There was no where else to go get food so pool bar it was. We thought maybe we just didn't know the system yet, but were a little shocked being new arrivals and not having any service at all. When you go for dinner, 50% of the time you will sit at your table for at least 20 minutes before you are even acknowledged or receive a glass of water. Italian food was ok but the only spice known seems to be salt. Fondue restaraunt seemed really cool but it wasn't. Again service sucked and we only made it thru the appetizer before walking out. Tex Mex- worst service of all. Wait was over an hour at all times and we kept getting asked if we had reservations(there is no reservations) Very rude waitstaff. At Tex Mex I ordered a steak, on the menu it said comes with mixed vegatables. I have a severe allergy to mushrooms so I asked them if there are any on this steak dish (which I heard was supposed to be really good). They said no. When I received my plate, my steak was covered with mushrooms! Again I said I can not eat mushrooms and I need a new cooked steak. He said ok, brought the plate back, and the chef took the plate and wiped the mushrooms off and gave it back!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched him!! At that point I was so disgusted and again walked out. Don't order room service if you are very hungry. This was only the second night of our stay. Expect a 2 hour wait and half of the room service menu you have to pay for. Room service options: continental breakfast or you can pay for eggs and bacon, before 10 pm- pizza, hot dog, soup and salad, and chicken, flan and fruit. After 10 pm- hot dog, pizza and chicken. Nothing is good-tried it all. Certainly wasn't going to pay for the food- I was at an all inclusive resort! Lunch and dinner are ok and only at the main buffet. This is not about being a picky eater, it is about bad quality and horrible service. Don't go to the Dominican Beach night! We thought it would be a nice time eating on the beach, however before you could even get to the beach, you had to walk thru multiple local vendors that were allowed to set their tables up and try to sell you everything. No is not an option to them, they will keep persisting you buy something!! They would even grab your arm if you tried to walk away after saying no thank you! One poor woman even got her drink spilled all over her dress by them grabbing her arm! With this being said- we didn't even make it by the first table! Who wants to be harrassed on vacation? With all of these problems- our last two days were at another resort because we could not stay at Punta Cana Princess any longer! We called from the other resort to check out and they said we had phone charges worth $12 (which could not be paid over the phone) So my response was "you should owe me money- I left 2 days early!" I told him I left because of the service and food and I was told that it was not their problem we didn't like it and that they didn't force us to go to Punta Cana Princess! I was told I was speaking to the Guest Service Manager. So needless to say, I would not even refer this resort to my worst enemy and wouldn't return for free! The best thing about the trip to this resort was the people we met (which had all the same problems just shared). Please email with any questions- I will be happy to help you not make the worst mistake ever

On July 1st to July 8th 2008, my travel mate became very sick from the water or food at this hotel along with about 20% of the other guests. She went to a Tropical Disease Doctor upon her return home and was given the antibiotic CIPRO. Here comes the important part... I researched several of the other hotels looking at reviews and it appears there is an outbreak of a very deadly food or water borne disease at most of the major hotels in this area. You can look for yourself at the reviews for the Punta Canta Princess, the two sister hotels, Tropical Princess, Caribe Princess, and the more expensive hotels, Excellance, and the Iberostar Bavaro. It appears this outbreak started in June and is still going strong. Not everyone comes down with this, but should you develope any stomach upsets, or more while staying the Dominican Replublic...see a doctor immediately! Also, make sure you get Medical Trip Insuance too! It is a beatiful third world country, and despite the fact of the health problems, it is a country with friendly people, beautiful beaches. SHA, NYC

I went with a few girlfriends for Memorial Day weekend. We had a wonderful time! Positives: * Beautiful property. It's definitely what you would like when you go to an island. The landscaping was just butiful :) I love that the hotel has two properties. One geared to families and the other to adults. Of course, we stayed at the adult hotel but it was good not to have to deal with kids running around and so forth. * Service! The people are really hospitable. Solomon at the front desk took great care of us. (I read another review that said negative things but he was absolutely GREAT to us). * Our room came with little gifts that went a long way and was very thoughtful (i.e. towel shaped like a bird, bottle of rum, cigars, fruit basket, etc). * Activities. The hotel has activites planned. They had pool dances during the day and things such as karaoke at night. It was fun! And they have a casino, theatre, etc. * Misc. My friend left her portable DVD player in one of the restrooms and one of the staff returned it to us. The honesty was very much appreciated and we were extremely grateful. Negatives: * Not sure how to explain but the rooms have this moisture in them...it may be from the humidity but nothing ever really dried. * The service on the property was GREAT except for this one girl that worked in the buffet/restaurant. I didn't catch her name but she was just rude. * I'm the type that loves the jacuzzi and sauna. These two were in a bit of a seperate area and closed entirely too early (6pm) for a resort. Just a tip if you are visiting DR...Please be sure to bring OFF. The mosquitos are fierce! LOL Best of luck!

We love the physical plant and locale--it is jaw-dropping gorgeous. The beach, the clear, aquamarine-colored water, and the resort grounds themselves are second to none. Unfortunately, the service is average at best, and abysmal at worst (hunting people down just to come and take your order is not my idea of great service). There's a swim-up pool bar, but no poolside drink service. Every now and again someone would wander through the VIP beds on the beach with a sangria, but mostly we were left to our own devices there, too. The food was also bad, and made my wife sick almost the entire week we were there (my stomach is a little stronger, but I still had indigestion a couple of nights). Then there's the attack mosquitos (take LOTS of Cutter/Off, as well as a fogger for your room--you may think I'm kiddng, but the place is built right next to a swamp, and the bugs are fierce), not to mention the sand fleas (no barefoot strolling on the beach at night). Overall, we were very happy with the beach itself, but awfully disappointed with the food/service, which brought this to a 4 star resort with a 2 star staff. The internet connection here is also a joke (333 kbps download, 90 upload on a wireless connection via my laptop, and only four PC's for the entire resort), so don't pretend that you can work online while you're here.

We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess for 5 nights. The hotel is beautiful. The service is pretty good. The beds and pillows however, are hard. The food is awful! We all had upset stomachs every night. Additionally, the service at the restaurants were very slow.