Riu Palace Bavaro

Our experience at the hotel was very disappointing. When we arrived, the front desk staff did not explain how to turn on the lights in our room, and even after contacting customer service several times, they were unable to provide an answer until we went back to the front ask again. The overall service was poor. We requested towels multiple times for room and had to ask at least three different times before receiving them. The restaurant was also a major disappointment. The food we ordered was served cold and after 3 different try of the restaurant with same outcome we finally give up, and the buffet was not much better. There were flies throughout the buffet area, which was very unpleasant and concerning. The beach was covered with a large amount of seaweed and did not appear to be properly maintained, especially compared with the neighboring resort beaches, which were noticeably cleaner. The souvenir shop was another disappointment. The prices were extremely high, and the staff were rude and unprofessional. Instead of assisting customers, they often stood around chatting with each other while customers waited to be checked out. When asked a questions they roll their eyes at you and sigh. Overall, the hotel needs significant improvement in customer service, cleanliness, food quality, and staff professionalism.

We are currently staying at RIU Palace Bavaro with our family, and unfortunately an issue with management has completely changed our impression of this resort. On our very first day, we went on a banana boat ride right on the beach in front of the hotel. During the ride, my teenage son accidentally lost his resort wristband in the ocean. We did not even realize it was gone until afterward. When we reported what happened, we were shocked to be told that we would have to pay $250 USD for the lost wristband. We explained that he is a teenager and that the wristband came off during a water activity on the beach directly in front of the resort. This was clearly an accident. Nevertheless, we were repeatedly told that there was nothing they could do and that we were required to pay the $250. ( “That is our hotel policy”) What has disappointed us the most is the way management has handled the situation. We asked them to show us clearly where this $250 charge was disclosed and agreed to. A fee this significant should be made extremely clear to families at check-in, especially when guests are wearing these wristbands while swimming and participating in water activities. We came to RIU Palace Bavaro expecting a wonderful family vacation. Instead, from our first day, we have had to spend part of our vacation dealing with management over a $250 charge for a wristband that accidentally came off in the ocean during a banana boat ride. A family resort should understand that accidents happen. Good hospitality is not simply about enforcing a policy—it is also about listening to guests, being reasonable, and finding fair solutions. Unfortunately, the way this has been handled has left us extremely disappointed. Unless management resolves this appropriately, I cannot recommend RIU Palace Bavaro to other families. If you are traveling here with children or teenagers be aware of this policy and ask specifically at check-in what you will be charged if a wristband is accidentally lost. This is not how we expected our family vacation at RIU to begin.

This is a very nice all-inclusive resort with generally very good food. A very solid value. In terms of the entertainment, some of the dance shows are very good, particularly the Dominican Show, Super Latino, and the Circus show. A few other shows, like the "Las Vegas" one, are a bit dull. The night club DJs keep the dance floor bumping, but we didn't care much for the color party dancing around the pools at the Riu Party complex -- the nightclub was more fun. The kids loved the water slide park. My biggest complaints: (1) The gym equipment is in neither the Bavaro property nor the Macao property next door (at the gym inside the spa) are kept in working order. The Bavaro gym had a treadmill out of order the entire time, and there's a ton of competition for the remaining two treadmills in the morning, and the Macao property's chest press machine was broken. (2) The Sports Bar is not kept clean late late at night, and quickly becomes gross when people go there to hang out after the night club. The need at least one and maybe two additional staff bussing tables and cleaning the food area at the Sports Bar at night. (3) The steak at the Steakhouse was dry and not well cooked. Surprisingly, the steak at the less-popular "American Country" restaurant was excellent. These were small complaints in the scheme of things, but I'm listing them here in hope that the management read them and work to improve.

Overall the hotel was great and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The night entertainment sucks and needs a lot of improvement.

Whist the holiday at the Punta Cana, Dominican, was excellent there were couple of things that could be improved. The size of the pools were disappointingly small and got very busy, very quickly each day. However, there were always beds around all pools and also convenient to the sea. The Sea was not always pleasant to swim in due to seaweed. The cleanliness of the the hotel was faultless. I did find that the attitude of some of the staff not very friendly, especially in the food places. The majority of the staff were amazing and polite and generally made us feel welcome. The music around the pools was particularly loud at times and did not necessarily need to be at that volume. When people were learning a dance it was particularly annoying with the repeats of the same tune over and over again.