Melia Tropical All-Inclusive Resort, Punta Cana

I must say, some of the reviews on here are way off. My wife and I just got back and had a great trip! Very relaxing. We upgraded to Royal Service, and I think it was a smart move. The check in (something others complain about) was smooth and quick in RS. Plus the private pool and beach with bar service and waiter are awesome. The beach is a huge difference, simply in the chair, umbrella and bed availabilty. Also, waiters bring you drinks which you don't get in the other portion of the beach. Food wise, there is quite a selection. The buffets are pretty typical, nothing outstanding, but the restaurants for dinner are great. The Gabi (RS restaurant) is also great for all meals. I did hear complains from guests they could not get into the restaurants. That is something that RS guarantees, and again is worth the upgrade charge. In the restaurants, there was such a great variety. I had 3 different types of lobster 3 nights, and other great dishes too. As far as lots of walking, it is true that the rooms are not right near the beach, but my wife and I enjoyed the short walk (5 minutes) to the beach to work off some of the big meals we ate. Plus the grounds are gorgeous, filled with exotic birds, so its a neat walk. There is a train that comes around ,and in RS you can always have an employee zip you to the beach in a golf cart. All in all, great time, and relaxing. Service was good, rooms were nice and fairly updated, and the drinks were great too. Plus you can't beat the overall value.

I like to stay at Melia properties & the Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana was no different. It has been 2 years and although I like to see new places every year I must say that I will never forget the incredible service that we received. The Santa Domingo excursion was a very nice side trip that was offered from the hotel. I was disappointed with the tourists actually when it came to tipping. A tip indicates that a great job was done (or will be)... we had 5 star treatment!! The people at the resort and tour guides are incredible!! Do not... I repeat... do not step one foot over the line of your giant property on the beach... you will be hounded to death and will find it incredibly difficult to get back to the "safety zone". I realize that it is a very poor country... however... we never ever found any type of decent deal on merchandise so we only came home with a few magnets & post cards when we went to Santa Domingo. That was kind of a bummer. Also, I will never go in August. Duh. We were sweating like all get out - looking like hags... LOL... and the staff was all smiles and not one bead of sweat. I'm jealous! Unless, things have changed drastically... and I doubt it... you will be very pleased with your choice in staying here!! Oh, and no time shares... you'll have to tell a lot of fibs (which made me feel a little annoyed). Otherwise... have fun!! The pool is fabulous!! The indoor spa is equally fabulous!! The food is incredible!! Enjoy!!

My wife and I just returned today, and couldn’t wait to get on here in hopes of saving people from making the same mistake that we did. We were there for a friend of ours wedding, and other than being able to be a part of their special day it was terrible. We arrived on Saturday, and my husband and I were checked into the kids section with two single beds??? We paid the extra money to be in the Caribe side and apparently that didn’t matter, all they kept telling us is that they were over booked and they had no room for us. We spent the first day and a half of our trip trying to get our room switched, each time that we called or went to the front desk they kept telling us what we wanted to hear and yet did nothing, as we were losing more and more time of our vacation we got a little hostile explaining how it was unacceptable and still were passed from one person to another, none really caring what our situation was (the worst service that I have ever had). We also spent two days trying to get our safe programmed. Just a little heads up, if you plan on bringing any over the counter drugs, tampons, pepto –bismol etc. I would advise you to keep them in the safe as our maid decided to help herself. The food was disgusting, and the employees were some of the most disgruntled people that I have ever encountered. All that you are in this resort is a number. The resort is way too big, it’s like a giant camp ground and extremely frustrating to navigate. They have a train that comes to drop you off at certain check points on the resort, good luck finding a seat during the evening, and hope fully you don’t mind waiting because it only comes by every 20 min. My advice to you is not to book here, there are many other resorts to choose from, this one is most definitely not worth the money.

I really enjoyed my stay in 2008. It was way nicer than I expected. Very friendly staff, the pools were wonderful and clean - along with the clean pool and beautiful beach. I did get the Royal Service - which I suggest getting.. then you have a more private pool and a restaurant open and food at the pool.. ifyou dont always eat at the times the other restaurants are open. Overall.. a wonderful resort- would definatley go back.

ALL THE REVIEW ARE THE SAME ,WAIT HOURS FOR A ROOM,NOT CLEAN, UNFRIENDLY STAFF, NOT EVERYONE COULD BE WRONG ? FIND A BETTER RESORT FOR YOUR $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Everything was wonderful. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food was delicious, rooms were spacious and clean.Beach is as beautiful as Hawaii.Pools architecture is outstanding. Family vacation of 9 people ranging from 18yrs old to 69yrs and everyone had a great time. Entertainment was plentiful on the beach and in the lobbies. Would go again in a heart beat!!

WHAT I LIKE: great sand, spacious comfortable room, variety of bars and restaurants, big pool. friendly staff. Very pretty landscaping. Very few drunk college spring breakers. Largest variety of tourist I've ever seen, we saw americans, russians, italians, germans and french. WHAT I DON'T LIKE: Way too big- 20 minute walk everywhere. Train only runs one way, so it saves no time. Two lobbies, so the disco is in one, and the casino/theater is in another....more walking. All water sports are reserved a day in advance. so you see a boat sitting there and the people that reserved it never showed up, but you can't use it becasue it is technically "reserved". No HOT TUBS!!! Never been to a resort with no hot tub, well they had one in the spa, but men and women are seperate, it is indoors, and closes early. (The whirlpools you see in hotel pictures is actually cold pool water) Pool closes at 7, beach at 5-- way too early for us. Reserve your dinner every day at 9am, if you call late, you will eating at 10pm. Lots of bugging you to sit through the rip off "vacation club presentation". No charging things to the room. No credit cards. So you want to buy a picture, order a nicer bottle of wine, pay for internet- you better have CASH. (Don't convert $, I think they prefer US $) There is a credit card machine, but it has kept many cards and now your card is lost, and they can't open it. This resort has pepsi products, not coke- bummer. Again, it was very pretty, but unless you get the deal of a lifetime, spring for Sandals or Beaches, it is worth it.

This place was absolutely amazing, very beautiful and very clean. I really don't know why people are complaining that the stuff doesn't speak perfect English...there were so many Europeans there and no one complained that the attendants did not speak fluently their languages. The food was absolutely amazing! there was huge variety of quality food for breakfast and lunch and the food in the restaurants was superb. The place is pretty big and using the little open train to get around was great part of the experience. I would love to go back there anytime

The Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana is a wonderful resort to stay in. It is true, if you can upgrade yourself to Royal Service, do so. It does make a world of difference in your stay. There are parts of the hotel that are older so of course you will find some things not as comfortable as an upgraded suite like the Royal Service. My husband and I have been going to the Melia for four years and we love it so much, we bought a villa in Cocotal across the street from the Melia. I still book our reservations at the Melia if our villa is rented. The staff is always helpful, the drinks are GREAT and the beaches are supurb. Dont be afraid to leave the hotel to shop the Palma Real Plaza. It is very safe and there are always police around for your safety. The Jelly Fish is a must while you are there. The beers are cold after a hot walk on the beach and the lobster tails are the best you will have in Punta Cana. If you decide to go outside the all inclusive on night, try "La Yola" restaurant by the airport. The cab ride might be $20US dollars but the night will be unforgetable. The dinners are wonderful (a little expensive) but well worth the trip. You actually dine on fresh catch and the view is unbelievable. The old saying "You get what you pay for".

The hotel and service were overall subpar, since this was supposed to be one of the best resorts there. This is also supposed to be an all-inclusive resort. ROOM: We waited over 3 hrs for our room. When we finally got to our room, the a/c and fridge didn't work & the toilet was dirty (stained) and was obviously not cleaned, missing towels, missing soap bars, and the shower head was broken. It took them several hours to get to our room to "fix" the a/c. They "fixed" it by turning the a/c all the way up and putting the ceiling fan on high, vented humid air blowing around the room. If you ask the main desk to speak to a manager on duty, they'll tell you that the manager isn't there or they don't have one on duty. Don't believe them. The manager we spoke to said that they always have someone there. He was able to get us another room where everything worked. SERVICE: The staff were unfriendly & uncaring. No staff to service you at the beach or pools. A resort with bad or no service isn't much of a resort. I came here for a wedding. The bride was scheduled to have her wedding on Saturday at the gazebo. The day before her wedding, the hotel told her that her wedding would be OUTSIDE the resort at a completely different hotel and everyone would be bussed there. This was unacceptable, so they rescheduled for Sunday instead. We found out that they switched our wedding with someone else's. Some of the guests from the other wedding said they missed the wedding because of the switch. FOOD: HORRIBLE! Even at a restaurants, their food was like subpar buffet food. They are many restaurants to choose from, but for me who's used to cruise-like eating, this resort disappoints. You're not allowed to take food out of the restaurants, not even at the buffet! None of them are open 24/7, only during certain time slots. Breakfast is served at 1 restaurant. If you missed it, you must go to the other end of the property for their snack bar (it's a good 15 min away), which is the only place open between breakfast & lunch. God forbid they had lunch food placed out and you were there for the snack bar, you're not allowed to take any of it until lunch time. All restaurants are open for dinner from 6-10. You must make a reservation to get in. "All-inclusive" doesn't mean all-you-can-eat; you can't order more than 1 item per category, like 2 entrees or 2 desserts. For an all-inclusive, I expected it to be more like the style of a cruise along with the quality of the food, but it was nowhere near that. ENTERTAINMENT: Their daily activities aren't worth mentioning. They have 2 theatres, a casino, a night club, and after midnight, only 1 bar is open. For such a huge resort, I found that very surprising. Maybe most of their guests go to bed at 9?? You can compare an all-inclusive resort to a cruise. Everything is included in the price, not counting excursion-type activities. In this case, food, drinks (including alcohol, but very limited), the use of their facilities (including their spa & jacuzzi), and tips are all included. Here's the fine print. Playing a round of golf is free, BUT a golf cart is required, which costs $70. Room Service isn't available unless you paid for the Royal Suite. Water sports that don't require a motor are also free. This was confusing because there are several other companies by the beach that offer the same service but charge. I was never able to find a water sport that was free. The hotel offered scuba for over $100 for 2 hrs, part of which was training in the pool. Internet access is either at the business center or by the lounge areas and isn't free. The property's beautiful, very romantic at night. If it weren't for the wedding and for the fact that everything was already paid for, I would've left this resort the night I got there. I would NOT recommend this place to ANYONE, poor service, bad quality food, the price I paid for 5 days here I could've taken a Meditteranean cruise for 2 weeks and everything's 100 times better.