Catalonia Royal Bavaro

We are very thanksfull with Danilda, Erik and Clemente. Very good service.

Had a wonderful time here. Danilda was wonderful as was her staff. Highly recommend this resort.

The resort has beautiful grounds, impressive palm-lined areas and an attractive lobby. I also appreciated the glass-bottled water, good shower pressure and decent room amenities. However, I paid US$181 for my stay and expected more. The room feels noticeably dated, with older finishes and furniture, and the A/C never brought the room below around 26°C, which affected my comfort. The coffee setup is also very basic - a traditional filter coffee maker rather than an espresso or capsule machine. Food was acceptable but not particularly memorable for me, and I would personally rate the overall dining experience below what I’ve experienced at some Princess and Dreams properties. The gardens are beautiful, although some areas could use more color and attention. The pool also felt crowded enough that I couldn’t find a lounger. I eventually went to the beach, but the sea was affected by sargassum during my stay - a natural condition and not something I would blame on the hotel. Overall, a pleasant tropical setting with some genuinely nice features, but the rooms and overall level of finish feel dated for the category.

We chose Catalonia Royal Bavaro primarily because it is an Adults Only resort. We wanted a peaceful holiday, a good pool, a nice beach and a standard that justified the price. Unfortunately, the reality has been completely different. The problems started at check-in. We were offered a very expensive upgrade to an “Ocean Front” room. Because of the price, I asked to see the room before paying. What we were shown was unbelievable. The building was old and undergoing renovation, there was loud construction work taking place, and instead of a beautiful ocean view, opening the doors revealed a high wall blocking almost the entire view. How can this reasonably be offered as an expensive “Ocean Front” upgrade? I had already paid extra for a Premium room. The first room we received, on the second floor, looked nothing like what I would expect from a Premium category. Paint was peeling from the walls, the minibar was empty, there was a very unpleasant smell, the furniture looked badly worn, and part of a structural pillar blocked the television when watching from the bed. Once again, we had to waste our holiday time viewing another room and moving instead of enjoying the resort. We also had a very unpleasant experience with the staff member transporting us and our luggage. After the first journey, he held out his hand and clearly expected a tip. Tipping should be voluntary, not something a guest feels pressured into giving. After receiving nothing, his attitude during the next journey became noticeably worse. He drove very fast and dangerously and at one point we came uncomfortably close to another vehicle. Eventually, we were given a room on the first floor, which is acceptable. However, the biggest problem came the following day. The resort had two swimming pools. One was already extremely busy and noisy, so we mainly used the second pool closer to the ocean. Even this pool was showing signs of poor maintenance, including loose tiles, but at least it was quieter. The following day, without any advance warning whatsoever, the hotel fenced off this pool and started renovation work. We received no prior notice. Based on the information we were given at the resort, TUI had apparently not been informed in advance about the closure either. The result is that Adults Only guests have effectively been pushed into one much smaller, extremely busy and noisy pool. There are not enough loungers or places to sit, and some guests simply have nowhere to settle. For me, this is completely unacceptable. I specifically chose and paid for an Adults Only resort because I wanted a peaceful holiday, not to be packed around one overcrowded pool because the hotel decided to start renovation work during our stay. I personally went to speak to the manager and explained the situation in detail. I told him that having access to a peaceful pool area was one of the main reasons we chose this particular hotel. Unfortunately, the manager was completely unhelpful. He offered no meaningful solution, compensation or alternative. There was no real attempt to improve the situation for us. I also asked whether we could be moved to a room with private pool access, especially as many of those rooms appeared to be unoccupied, but no reasonable alternative was offered. This is perhaps the most disappointing part of the entire experience: closing one of the two main pools without warning guests, carrying out renovation work during their holiday, and then offering virtually no assistance when guests raise the issue. The beach is another major disappointment. During our stay it is difficult to describe it as the beautiful Caribbean beach many people would expect. The shoreline and water are brown from the huge amount of seaweed being washed in by the ocean, and in many areas there is a very unpleasant smell from decomposing seaweed. Anyone choosing this hotel mainly for the beach should be aware of the current situation. Our first evening in the restaurant was also very poor. Service was chaotic, cutlery was missing, and when we asked for some, a member of staff brought it over and practically threw it onto the table. I would rate the food at around 3/10 – nothing that justifies the supposed standard or price of this resort. The resort is currently noisy and affected by renovation work. What frustrates me most is that when booking through TUI, I did not receive any clear warning about the extent of the renovations or the possibility that important hotel facilities could be closed during our stay. Had I known this before travelling, I would never have booked this hotel. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend Catalonia Royal Bavaro. For this price, I expected a peaceful, high-standard Adults Only resort. Instead, we have experienced renovation works, a closed pool, an overcrowded remaining pool, room problems, poor service, disappointing food and a manager who, even after hearing all of our concerns, offered no meaningful solution. I strongly suggest checking the current situation very carefully before booking and seriously considering another hotel.

My wife and I visited here in August and had a wonderful holiday; we would definitely recommend this hotel. The Catalonia Royal Bavaro is adults only, but is attached to the larger family hotel. As guests of the adults only section, you also have access to the facilities in the family side which is a nice bonus. We stayed in the privilege section, which comes with a few perks, including an exclusive section of the beach. The grounds were well maintained, although when we went there were some works to buildings going on, but these were not intrusive and did not impact our stay. The rooms were spacious, and cleaned to a good standard daily. They were slightly dated in that there were limited sockets available. However, there was no way that we were going to let not having our phone next to us at night time ruin being in a beautiful Caribbean setting on holiday! The staff were lovely, and always willing to help - they are a real credit to the hotel. The front of house staff in particular were great as we saw them have to deal with difficult customers on occasion, and they always managed the situations professionally. Bar staff were always friendly, and quick to remember your favourite drink. We generally went for the à la carte options for food and really enjoyed our dinners. We particularly liked Sea Blue and Beloved. We ventured to the family side for the Italian and steak house, but did not like these as much. Breakfast and lunch were also delicious, and there are buffet and table service options available. We preferred to spend our time at the beach where it was peaceful and also had a cooling breeze. However, the two pools were also popular, with the top pool a choice for those who wanted a more lively time. A word of warning: the vendors on the beach will try and engage you. If you want anything, make sure you discuss and agree the price first - we saw some people with disputes after they had photos taken but had no idea of the price. If you politely say no thank you, they leave you alone and soon learn that you are not interested in buying from them. Overall, it was a wonderful holiday and we would definitely stay here again.