Royalton Bavaro Resort & Spa

I will give some context that you may find useful. I have only been to one other beach resort ever. It was in DR but in a different area and was an adult only resort. This trip was a family vacation that was dictated by school schedules so this trip was during easter - spring break. In my group was 4 adults and 4 teens. We stayed for 6 nights in a Luxury Junior suite. I attempted to get in touch with ANYONE at the hotel for help with our room selection a month before our trip and it was a nightmare. I needed to have 2 queen beds in both of my rooms along with the pull out couch for us all to be comfortable but could not get help from anyone via email or phone. Some useful information I was able to gather after weeks of emailing was that they do not have adjoining rooms that both have queen beds. Fine. An email offering a room selection tool online (for a fee at check in) was sent out about 3 weeks before our trip and that turned out to be useless really. In the tool, every room had a picture of a king bed but said it had 2 queens. I knew they couldn't all have 2 queens because of the information I got before about the adjoining rooms. After some back and forth along with information that I got in some of my emails to the hotel, I did use it and picked 2 rooms that were next to each other and hoping they would each have queen beds. We got there at about 8pm and immediately red flags were everywhere. Check in was chaotic and took a long time. They gave each of us bracelets with our key for the room on it. At the desk we put 2 adults and 2 teens in each room. When we got to our rooms I realized we didn't get the room config I thought I had secured. I went back to the desk to ask about changing the rooms and they said they had no other rooms available. Ugh Fine. They also realized that I never paid that fee at check in for using the online tool and wanted to collect right then. I never paid it. Also while I was there I requested that we get sheets, pillows and blankets for the pull out beds that we were using in each room. I feel like that should have been in the room already. It took multiple calls but we got what we needed for the pull out beds. So we had 5 people in one room and 3 in another. With the room keys already allotted and attached to our wrist this meant that one of us didn't have access to the room that we were actually sleeping in. None of this was ideal but we made it work. The room was dated, dirty, had a moldy basement smell and showed wear and tear from the humid climate of the island. Also, can we all agree that the tub in the middle of the room is dumb and a waste of space? There were no outlets in sight other than a sketchy one that was hanging by a thread on the wall. There was a malfunctioning light that would randomly turn on during the night that was annoying. Our shower was backed up leaving us to shower while wading in water. It would drain but it was obviously very slow so we had to stagger our showers to avoid it overflowing into our room. The duvet on the bed was sad looking, wasn't covered in a sheet or anything and provided little to no warmth. The first time they cleaned the room they didn't change the sheets. So we removed them the next day to ensure they would be changed. We came back to find that they remade the beds without the flat sheets. So that one barrier between us and that sad duvet was gone and we were cold. After the first night I knew we needed more blankets. I called, I went down and talked to the desk, I talked to our concierge, I called again, I used the app. I tried everything. It took 3 days to get all the extra blankets that my family needed to sleep comfortable. Then I hid them each day in fear they would disappear. At check in we were instructed to download and use an app for all of our restaurant reservations, room service, etc. As Marriott Elite members they gave us white wrist bands at check in that said Elite. We were not told what they were for or what they meant and honestly it didn't do much from what I could tell. What it did do is alerted the "concierge" at our building to chat with us. He appeared helpful at first assisting with restaurant reservations that were unavailable on the app. But that relationship eventually broke down after we accepted an invitation for a sales pitch breakfast in the diamond club area that proved to be a waste of time. BTW, the diamond club breakfast is just seating at the steak house next to the buffet but breakfast is still from the buffet. We were told that if we sat through the 90ish minute presentation with a rep from Prime Travelers Club that we would be gifted free use to a cabana ($200 value) and a ride on the surf wave thing. We knew going into it that we were a no and that we were just doing it for the free cabana. We spent over 2 hours with them and politely declined every offer they gave us. We left with vouchers in hand to schedule our cabana. The desk to schedule the cabana was right outside the office for PTC and when we got there we were told that they were all booked until after we left. How convenient. We were annoyed but decided we would talk to our very helpful concierge about it. But of course we couldn't find him. We really wanted the cabana so we went on the app and scheduled a paid cabana spot. We knew this would be an extra charge but we wanted it. The next day we went to the cabana area and were told that we were not on the schedule and they were all booked. My husband and BIL were heated! We went back to our building to find our concierge and get this fixed. We argued that he lied to us, wasted our time while dangling this prize knowing that we wouldn't get it. He made some calls to fix it and showed me proof of the schedule for the new date of our free cabana day. Our last day we spent in a cabana and it was a fabulous way to end our stay! Also I have to add, in the 6 days we were there I didn't see a single person do that surf wave thing. I don't think it was operating at all. I was able to successfully make most of our restaurant reservations on the app during our first night there. It only allowed you to book 3 days out though. We wanted to hit every restaurant that the resort had to offer. So we got help from our concierge. He changed some of the reservations that I had already made and added some that I had not been able to book yet. His help with that was the only real value he offered. With the exception of the last night there. He booked the steakhouse for us because the app said there was nothing but he insisted that he could get us in. I had forgot what time he said the reservation was for so I went to ask. He wasn't there that day but there was another woman there filling his space. She showed me her list that had names and it had our name with a reservation at 6:30. We get to the restaurant at 6:30 and they say you're late it was for 5:30 and said to wait an hour. We waited. Went back up and they still had nothing. We were not alone. There were groups in front of us and behind us all complaining about how they made reservations and are being told there is no room. There was a wedding party in there and I think they double booked. Some honesty the first time we arrived would have been nice instead of waiting for hours. Overall the food was just ok and the restaurant experiences were not ideal for various reasons. The buffet offered a lot of different food but it was kinda sloppy. It was best if you got there right when it opened. The breakfast there was just ok. The Italian place did do a really good fire oven pizza that we got daily at lunch time and my kids very much enjoyed the gelato spot. Ocean Side offered subpar seafood and chewy steak. Hibachi was VERY loud, only half of us got the appetizers, they never asked again if we wanted drinks and it gave a rushed vibe. Brazilian steakhouse had a sad looking buffet spread for apps, the meat was good, the sides for the table were not refilled. Dinner at the Italian place was VERY slow but otherwise good. The beach is not private, allowing venders to wander the beach and the lounge chairs in the sand to sell their wares. The beach itself was great. The sand was clean. The beach was long and ideal for those that like those long walks on the beach. The water was a perfect temp and wasn't overly crowded. It was a daily struggle to find some place to sit that was in the shade. Which is why we were so desperate for the cabana experience. After lounging on the beach for several hours we were scolded by another guest that we were not following the towel rule. This dude put towels out and then left for hours. I don't agree with that. At our last stay in DR there were pool people that helped you find a place, keep you in the shade, move chairs, identify abandoned seats, etc. We would compensate them for it and I think it was a better experience overall having assistance. The drink service by the beach was great. By the pool not great. The swim up bars were packed with loud and rowdy young adults. It was a walk to get drinks from a bar away from the pool that wasn't crowded which wasn't a huge deal but was obviously missing that catered to feel. The lazy river was freezing, not fast moving, they didn't provide floats and was a hot spot for those rowdy kids. It also offered a swim up grotto bar. There was one pool in the middle that we enjoyed. The crowd was chill and we felt the most comfortable there. I'm sure I'm missing something. There was a lot wrong going on. We found ways to enjoy our stay together in the sun and sand. But I don't think I will ever visit a Royalton ever again. We are loyal Marriott members and will continue with their properties but this will not be one of them.

Let me start by saying hotel needs work. key point I would like to make is go butler service as for Anthony!!!! He made our whole vacation worth the trip. He was great and very attentive to us Restaurant are ok average buffets are overflowing and drinks are great. The women of the island seemed to be upset that we were there on vacation. While the male workers fell over them selves to help you. We needed to get transported to the lobby sometimes for dinner that's is difficult we walked a lot. My daughter and her friend had braids put in at the spa. The women took my cash when I checked out they said I owed but I paid cash and the hotel told Me they don't take cash as payment. So I was out $40. No biggie. We still had fun

Fantastic resort. Room was very spacious and almost perfect. The shower head did not clamp so always at lowest level and was some mildew on tiles but otherwise the room was perfect. Pools were nice, beach was pristine. Lazy river was out of this world and the drinks were great. Food was decent. Service was hit and miss as a few were pushy. The staff that are forced to upsell on commission are extremely persistent and that was my biggest issue. I went there to relax and that was not relaxing. Also it gets very busy on weekends and did not enjoy people snorkeling in the lazy river going the wrong way. Obstructive and a bit A big reason we actually did get to relax was our assigned butler Félix Garcia. He was calm and got anything we needed taken care of immediately without any need for follow-up. Highly recommend the diamond club upgrade.

I had a spectacular experience at Royalton Bavaro with my husband and 8 month old. Wilkins Astacio was a huge part of our great experience. He did an amazing job as our butler and we will be coming back because of him. We are so grateful that we had him as a butler. He was organized, timely , and very efficient.

This was our second time visiting the Bavaro. It was an amazing time! The staff was incredibly friendly. Our favourite part was floating around the lazy river. Wandi, Johnny and Isael from the lazy river bar were very funny and friendly. They made us many crazy and unique drinks and shots. Grazie and teppenyaki restaurants were our favourite. The hibachi chefs were great entertainers and made amazing food. We will be returning in the future!!