The Puntacana Hotel, Punta Cana

Our first night in the junior suite ended with over fifty flying bugs in our room. After seven calls to the front desk, having many bugs land on me and crawl in my bed, and being blamed for leaving the door open (which was not), I received a new lower grade room. But that was only due to the act that I demanded one. There was never an apology nor a check to see if the new room was good. The food was horrible, not traditional, and way overpriced. The resort is not near anything and there are no activities, unless you pay. The service was horrible. I bought a bottle of sunscreen for $40, which here would be $12. Save your money!!!!! I wish I did!

the beaches on the resort were beautiful. The hotel was nice as well. was curious as to how the casitas/villas were. The staff was very friendly, the majority of them went out of their way to assist us. The food and drinks were pricey but good, if you are on a budget best option would be to stay at an all inclusive (burger is about 12-15 US dollars+ tax and gratuity which is automatically included in your bill). This is definitely not the place to stay if you are looking for nightlife, not much to do but that was ok with us because we wanted to relax. Overall a fun and new experience.

Want to relax? Want good service? Want to have fun? There is only one answer: This is it!!!! Enjoy it as we did.

My husband and I had not had a vacation since we had our son almost three years ago. Our son stayed with my mother-in-law back in the states while we got to spend 5 glorious days together in paradise. The staff was friendly and they were more than happy to teach us some spanish. Take a phrase book with you if you don't speak spanish. It will help alot. This hotel isn't a party hotel. It is perfect for lovers and honeymooners who are just into each other and beautiful scenery. We brought bug spray, but we really didn't need it. I got bit once on the last day on my ankle. It is pricey so be prepared for sunscreen costing $30 bucks. Just bring your own and you will be find. We exchanged our money, but we didn't have to. Unless you are leaving the resort, every place takes US dollars. And you want to keep dollars on you to tip anyway. A dollar or two is all you need for a tip since the tip is already included in your package. It's isolated so you feel like the only people on the island. I cried when we were leaving. I can't wait to go back!!!!!

I don't have a lot of good things to say about this resort. While it was not an all inclusive resort, the prices were out of line for virtually everything. For example; a hot dog at the pool bar was $10.00; a Corona beer was $8.00. The quality of the food was below average and certainly not worth the premium prices. They clearly took advantage of the fact that you had no other options but to pay their prices (a cab fare to Palma Real was over $60.00 round trip). After 11:00 PM, forget about getting anything to eat or drink on the property. If you want any kind of night life this in not the place to stay. The staff wasn't horrible but you'd think they had never had an English speaking guest on the property. In fact, almost every single guest was English speaking and hardly any of the staff could understand any english at all. Furthermore, there was nowhere on the property you could even get change for tipping so, not surprisingly, I saw no one tipping the staff. Overall, there was nothing outstanding or spectacular about the Punta Cana Resort with the exception of the water views. Management appears to be totally clueless. It definately does not deserve a 4 star rating in my book and I would never go back. Next time we're definately going the all-inclusive route. Live and learn.

We went to the punta cana beach resort with a big family group and it was perfect for that. Price was reasonable and the set up was great - we had 4 beach villas all very close together. Beach is beautiful and the diving was superb. No night life at all, but that was fine for the group. Food was decent, although not spectacular.

Staff not friendly or helpful. They overcharge you for everything, especially at bars and restaraunts. Service at the bars and restaraunts is slow so prepare to wait. The only good thing about this place is the beauty of the water and beaches. Never going back. Went to Cap Cana, caleton club for a party on same trip and it was a whole different atmosphere with fun, friendliness, honesty, etc. from the staff. Made a world of difference. Never stay at punta cana resort.

Positives--Great views -Beautiful golf course -Nice pools and tennis courts -Food overall was good -3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and large living space was just what my family needed -Extra long beach area with lounge chairs and lots of sand and sun The staff and food was excellent at the Anani and Mamma Venezia resturants. Negatives--La Cana buffet Most of our meals were here. The service was terrible. You ask for water or coffee etc. be prepared to wait or have to ask two or three times and may not get it yet. It was the same with silverware too. The staff was so disorganized and they seemed to move in slow motion. They acted as they wished you were not in their section. When you purchased a cola, they brought the bottle and small glass,filled the glass and took the half full bottle. Now ask for a refil and you get charged full price again. (10 ounce bottle) The coffee was never hot. Just warm. The rooms There was no clock. We ask several times for a coffee maker. They always said there was none available. The maid always had coffee packets on her cart. Someone must have had one. The resort does not have wash cloths. The maid may or may not leave a hand towel. We could not get her to leave any extra towels. There are no chairs in bedrooms and the large chairs out in open living area were too much trouble to get into bedroom. The large open (to outdoors) living area was nice, but insect repellent did not stop their bugs. Each bedroom had a refrigerator. One did not work and the others only cooled, never cold. The beach, pools, and other activities. Many times they were out of beach towels. They were short on lounge chairs. The ocean water and beach has lots of seaweed. The staff did not work very hard at trying to keep the beach clean. I understood non-motorized activites were included. Wrong! We had to rent their bicycles. Overall we had a good vacation. We are not complaimners. Maybe if we were some of the problems would have been minimized. I thought if a resort had a FOUR STAR rating you should not have put up with this kind of treat- ment. Therefore I give it only TWO & ONE HALF STARS.

We were an extended family group of 11, including three young children; for us Punta Cana Resort and Club really worked. The staff did a great deal to provide us with especially convenient accommodation. Both the quality and cleanliness of the accommodation, and the physical setting, were the best we have experienced. It is not all-inclusive--lunch and alcoholic drinks are not included. We found paying for drinks (although they are not cheap)no issue; on the contrary, it seemed to enhance to tone of the establishment and we never say any sign of overconsumption. Charging was not always consistent but, overall, we were certainly undercharged for drinks. Sailboards, kayaks, sailboat, etc were usually readily available, without charge (or hassle or waiting), as were beautiful tennis courts. The golf course is spectacular and not overly expensive for resort guests, particularly after 1 pm. Service was certainly a focus. We found the staff very friendly and helpful, and there were always lots of them available. A service charge was included and the staff did not seem to anticipate tips. This is not a resort for singles and it is not a party place; there is little in the way of evening entertainment and few activities where guests (except for the children)would meet others. From the other perspective, privacy is easy to achieve. The beach is so extensive one never feels crowded. Physical activities (sports) aside the atmosphere is relaxation not action. For us, this was an opportunity to be with siblings/children/grandchildren, and the environment was close to perfect. We intend to return to this resort.

The resort is really nice, all the details are there, the places were newly renovated, well maintained, clean and comfortable. We were in the villas, and so had our own open sitting areas, bar fridge for water and beers we bought from the bar, and even a coffee maker if it was too far to get all the way to the buffet for breakfast. Beds, showers all very nice. The beach is spectacular. There were tons of lawn chairs although shade got a little hard so we set out towels in the morning to be sure. Excellent sand for sand castles, swimming in the ocean was super calm, although there are waves and fish. Not much snorkeling for us, but the wind was up so we went windsurfing and sailing with the small plastic catamaran that was great fun, even in low winds. There was shuffleboard, a restaurant for lunch on the beach, and everything else you might expect. The food options here are quite good for a large resort. We were on the MAP, and had our choice of the buffet or two restaurants for dinner each night, one ostensibly Italian and the other French(?). Pants were required at the restaurant, and shoes for the gents at the French one, which forced Richard to run back through the rain one night, and then suffer silently in the frigid air conditioning thereafter! All in all the food was excellent quality, with something for everyone at the buffet. Personally, I recommend both the Dorado and the pork, they came out very tasty on many nights. There is tons to do on the resort itself, and we did tons of things. Tennis was high on the list, with beautiful clay courts and really nice staff. The best time was either before 8:30 AM or after 4:30 PM (dark at 6) so make sure to plan around it. Golf was the same, super hot in the middle of the day, but a beautiful course. I played nine holes (terribly) and really enjoyed the ocean side holes where you hit the green or the beach! Diving was good but not great, the sites are enjoyable with the ship wrecks really worth checking out and fan coral and colorful little fish everywhere. We went out on a rough day, and experienced swell all the way down to 20 m, less than 5m visibility, and had to stay really close not to get lost. Then we went out on calm days and saw 15m or more and had a great time.