Punta Cana Princess

So disappointed wish we had stayed elsewhere

Based on the way this resort is advertised and the reviews, my husband and I expected a relaxing, luxury adults-only honeymoon. Instead, we encountered one problem after another from the moment we arrived. This resort is a 4 star property at very best, completely misrepresenting its advertised rating. On arrival, our room was 28°C with a broken fan and a broken shower. After raising this 5 times and being ignored by reception repeatedly and kept being told “someone is coming to sort it”, after 3 hours I asked us to be moved to a second room, where the room temperature was only slightly better, however the main light and phone were broken, and the hairdryer was hanging off the wall. I even emailed the Guest Services Manager the morning after our arrival to lay out all of these failures from our first night, but I received absolutely no response, which is completely out of order. To make matters worse, our key cards repeatedly deactivated throughout the trip, and our bed sheets were changed only ONCE during a two week stay. If you want to relax, avoid this place. There is zero noise management. Bars and entertainment teams blast music at maximum volume to compete with one another. At one point, music was clashing from four separate angles simultaneously (and this is just in the daytime!) Worse, the afternoon pool "entertainment" consists of staff bringing up intoxicated guests to twerk and gyrate at the front of the pool. It is incredibly tacky, trashy, and completely shatters any "luxury spa" atmosphere. Entertainment staff are excessively pushy, sitting on guests' sun loungers when they try to relax, and we even witnessed staff waking up sleeping guests to force them to participate. Entertainers also force their guests to add 5* reviews which is completely out of order! The pool itself was another huge issue. The water quality is visibly poor and it was literally sending everything green, ruining swimsuits, clothes and inflatables, which points to a severe lack of proper chemical balance and maintenance. The main buffet is of poor quality, heavily plagued by blackbirds picking food off open stations and flies buzzing around uncovered fruit while staff do nothing about it. Basic items like bacon were only available once in 14 days. The à la carte restaurants were overall okay, but it depends on which staff you get on the night on whether you get a good service or not. With the exception of a rare few, the majority of the staff are actively rude and dismissive to guests. A bartender named Yeicol at the pool bar repeatedly and intentionally refused to serve us, making eye contact 5+ times over 10 minutes while ignoring my husband until we walked away with no drink, this happened on more than one occasion with this bartender. A male spa worker named Eden subjected us to intimidation and harassment, physically chasing us when we politely said "no" to a sales pitch, and staring at me blankly and aggressively for 10 seconds on a separate day to the point I felt very uncomfortable. The only good things I can note is the grounds are beautiful and the groundsmen work very hard to keep on top of it. Also, Felix, a pool cup collector. Felix demonstrates true 5-star hospitality. Every morning he greeted us with an authentic smile, helped with our parasol, and came to bid us a lovely farewell on our last day. Management needs to completely overhaul their staff and take a leaf out of Felix’s book. Avoid this resort if you are looking for a 5* resort or any sort of relaxation.

I don’t usually write reviews, but when I do, they are usually on the positive side… NOT THIS TIME! This resort I stayed in was hands down the worst resort I have stayed in in all my 30 years of travel to tropical resorts. My stay at Punta Cana Princess All Suites Spa & Resort was one of the most disappointing resort experiences I've ever had. Based on the way this resort is advertised and the reviews, I expected a relaxing, luxury adults-only vacation. Instead, I encountered one problem after another after another from the moment I arrived. Let’s start with the room! First it was clearly outdated and in desperate need of renovation. The furniture was worn, the room did not feel clean, and there were obvious signs of poor maintenance. The air conditioning in the first room was not working so we had to change rooms. The next room the A/C either did not work properly or struggled to keep the room cool and comfortable, making it difficult to sleep. Speaking of sleep… my bed felt like a hard lumpy pillow, and it also leaned. Did I mention that they moved us from a king room to two twin beds ☹ For a resort that promotes itself as a 5-star destination, the accommodations fell far below what I consider acceptable. Cleanliness was another major issue. The room felt neglected, and it was obvious that housekeeping and maintenance standards were lacking. Housekeeping would just make the bed and clean nothing else. There was toilet paper stuck to the wall, and they never got that off. Daily my key card would stop working and I had to go to the front desk every day… sometimes several times a day. The shower water would run past the shower door, so we had to put a towel down to keep it from running onto the bathroom floor. It took them until 12:30am to bring us washcloths. We also had to put a towel down at the front door because the gap was so large that mosquitoes would get in the room. When problems were reported, they were not addressed in a timely manner, leaving me frustrated and feeling like guest satisfaction was not a priority. The food was another huge disappointment. Many of the meals were repetitive, and the quality simply did not meet the expectations of an all-inclusive resort. The dining experience overall was underwhelming, and the food was the worst I have ever had at any resort I have ever been to. There was one restaurant on property (the Fondue restaurant) which was some of the worst food I have ever had in life. If there is a review out there that says it was good… they got paid to say it! Customer service was inconsistent throughout my stay. While a few employees were friendly, many seemed uninterested in resolving guest concerns. Luis was absolutely the best! That guy wanted to make sure we were good at all cost! I do have to mention entertainment. I felt sorry for those kids. They were there from 9am until midnight. The same 5 kids for 7 days in a row! Chico, Milney (that might not be how she spells it) and Baby (that’s what I called her) were awesome, but the routine was sooo boring! They had to do the same thing (routine) every day. The DJ was disconnected except for the foam party, which was the only time he played different music. The check-in process was slow, communication was poor, and it often felt like legitimate complaints were ignored instead of taken seriously. The only bright spots were the resort grounds and the pool (kinda). Unfortunately, those positives could not make up for the poor accommodations, disappointing food, lack of maintenance, and inconsistent customer service. Many other guests that I had spoken to had experienced the exact same problems. The recurring complaints about outdated rooms, poor air conditioning, cleanliness issues, maintenance delays, and weak customer service suggest these are not isolated incidents but ongoing problems. I cannot and will not EVER recommend Punta Cana Princess All Suites Spa & Resort to anyone looking for a true 5-star vacation. I hope management takes these concerns seriously and invests in meaningful improvements, because the resort has great potential but currently falls far way short of the expectations it creates. It was so bad that I don’t ever want to go back to Punta Cana EVER again in life! To whoever reads this all the way to the end. If you book and stay here, you have been warrened.

On the whole a good holiday. Have been to DR several times and this hotel compared okay with others. Issues on arrival were sorted out without too much delay. Main buffet restaurant was okay, choices sometimes a bit strange but we could usually find something. We ate at all 3 al a carte - steak house wasn't really as you had to pay 50 dollars if you wanted steak. The options if you didn't want to pay were Mexican. The Italian was just about okay with limited choices. The seafood was by far the best, we ate from the buffet there at lunchtime and several times in the evenings. Lovely place to sit afterwards having a drink overlooking the sea. There were a good number of sunbeds on the beach, but the hotel was nowhere near full so that might not be the case when it's busy. However, the beach area was spoilt by people bringing their own music devices and playing them loudly. The beach bar played a variety of music all day so there was no need for anyone else to play their own. If those people had been considerate and wore earphones we would have had the peaceful quiet holiday we went for. Music was played loudly around the pool all day which is why we prefer the peace of the beach. A security guard is on duty all day and night. We asked several times if they would ask the other holiday makers to turn their devices down. They basically ignored us and went back to eying up the younger girls in their swimsuits. Quite what they were there for we never did work out. Due to the lack of consideration from other visitors and the disinterest from hotel staff I would not return to this hotel. So if you want constant loud music, often from several different places all day this is for you. However, if you want some quiet and peace go elsewhere

We had the most amazing trip, so much to do in Punta Cana. The staff in the hotel were great, friendly & helpful, Alexander especially. Honestly amazing experience.