Barceló Bávaro Palace — Hotel in Higüey

We stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace from 23 - 31 Aug this year in a Family Junior Suite with premium level amenities.||1. Check-in was confusing as where you thought you were in line the other guests in the lounge were waiting their turn sipping champagne and relaxing on couches. After about 15 minutes someone finally told us to take a seat and we would be helped shortly. The process went quite quick once we were seated. ||2. The distance between the main area of the resort and our room was significant. I meant to get an estimate, but it is easily a 5 min walk a quick pace. We were in 2328 for reference. ||3. The room was absolutely AMAZING! Our 13 and 11 year old sons were thrilled with their double beds and private bath and shower. My husband I were equally impressed with our king bed and bathroom. The water pressure was amazing and there seemed to be an endless amount of storage. The balcony was beautiful and we had an oceanview and the kids took advantage of the jacuzzi. ||4. Cleanliness was top notch and the room was well cleaned, although one day she told us we had to leave so she could clean and was quite forceful about it - enough so rushed ourselves out of the room.||5. As an early riser I did not want to wake my family to make coffee, seeing as the Junior Suite Lobby was right down the stairs from our room I expected them to have coffee, tea, or even water. There was nothing there and I never saw anyone engaging with the staff and there seemed to be no reason the lobby existed. So I walked the seven minutes to get a cup of coffee to find out that nothing was open yet. ||6. The beach, at a distance it is picturesque and the turquoise blue you see in photos, in reality the seaweed is far more out of control than I expected. There were full dump trucks in the mornings hauling it away but by 10 it was all back. This caused the water at the beach where you can swim to be a dark murky brown. The smell of the seaweed in the sun ensured we did not go back except once to kayak. If you see a warning from your travel advisor it is quite extreme. So our beach holiday - turned into a pool one. ||7. The pools were incredible, there were quiet areas, party areas, and water pressure massagers throughout. We had unlimted access the the Pirate Waterpark and were there every day and had a blast on the waterslides and in the wave pool. The best part is the water was warm! Shade is however hard to come by in the surrounding areas where the loungers are. ||8. The food. The food was incredible, having the premium level allowed us to eat at the restaurants each night (which we booked two months in advance) but also at Coral for breakfast and lunch. I think ate at the buffet once, and if the kids were not interested in the restaurant they loved ordering room service. Our favourite hands down was the Mexican restaurant, but there was complaints about any of our meals. If Coral has tomato soup on the menu, make sure you try it. My only complaint would be the lack of a "snack bar" near the water activities. ||9. The drinks were lacking and very watered down. The areas that served drinks were all clustered around the main area and with a seven minute walk to your room there was no enjoying anything other than the beer in the minibar. Although we are not heavy drinkers it was very clear after watching their "generous" pours and not tasting any alcohol that it was watered down. We did not discover the cocktail menu until almost the last day. That being said - they made a great mojito (Would likely have been better if you could taste the rum) and had pina coladas on tap everywhere. For the Canadians - they had Clamato and made a great bloody ceaser with muddled lime in it. I will say it was the one drink when I asked it to be made with Tanqueray that I could taste alcohol. ||10. The Spa - They a special where you could get a massage for 40% off if you booked within the first 48 hours. My husband and I both booked 80 minutes and agreed they were the best massages we have ever had. So good that we said if they matched the 40% we each book one more. Keci (sp) was absolutely incredible - with the discount it came out to $99 USD for 80 minutes and was worth every penny. ||11. The train....there is a train that moves around the resort - if you want your seven minute walk to take 40 minutes on the train - jump on! At one point my son and I sat waiting at one location for 15 minutes while our driver chatted with someone. ||12. We 100% expect language barriers when traveling to a foreign country and while it was challenging we were generally able to get our points across between our french and rudimentary Spanish. What suprised me is how we would be completely ignored in order to serve people speaking Spanish first. Although we tipped generously we were often ignored. ||13. If you made it this far....one evening I left my family at dinner early to go back to our room to find the door wide open. I was by myself and terrified. I went downstairs and low and behold there were two staff in the Junior Suite lobby, a manager and a maintenance worker. I told them I would not go into the room until it was thoroughly checked, they accompanied me upstairs and asked me if anything was missing and I pointed out they had not checked under the beds, the closets, behind the curtains, or the balcony and I would not enter the room until they had done so. At this point I was very overwhelmed and started crying (one too many Netflix documentaries it seems) when my family showed up. It was very disturbing for my kids, but after a thorough search it was clear the room was safe. They indicated that we likely did not close the door properly and it got blown open. They were going to check the security footage for us. My husband I went down after and the door in fact did not latch and nothing was missing, but I reiterated why my fear was genuine a woman alone in the situation. He continued to tell me over and over again to be quiet about it and not to say anything about to anyone. I asked how many staff had walked past our room based on the security footage with our door wide open and they were not willing to respond to that. The next morning when the manager saw me he once again reminded me to be quiet and not tell anyone. ||Overall, we had a great holiday but feel that people need to understand how spread apart the resort is and to be prepared to get your steps in if you need anything. Treat yourself to the spa - think about the amazing pools and food, and don't kid yourself that it will be a...

We stayed at this hotel in early June for nearly two weeks. Overall, we had a good vacation and don’t regret coming here, but we won’t be returning (this was our fourth time in the Dominican Republic, so we have some points of comparison).

Check-in/Check-out: Check-in was painfully slow. Despite having only four families ahead of us, we waited over an hour and had to fill out endless paperwork. The process could definitely be more organized. Check-out, on the other hand, was quick—but we got lucky as there were no lines at the time.

Beach: The beach is long and beautiful. There were quite a lot of seaweed, but staff cleaned it daily. Occasionally, some unpleasant things would float in the water, but that’s nature, not the hotel’s fault. The sand was mostly clean. The main issue was the lack of shade. Families with small children had to wake up very early to grab one of the few natural trees that offer good shade. Umbrellas would make a big difference. There are plenty of loungers on the beach, but by the pool they’re all taken by lunchtime. Beach towels are old, and often had stains or holes.

Room: We paid for an upgrade from Building 8 (near the golf course) to Building 4 (near the beach) for $30/day, and it was worth it. The room was charming, though a bit dated. Excellent water pressure, always had hot water, and the jacuzzi on the balcony was a highlight—we’ll definitely miss that! The bed was huge and very comfortable. On the downside: housekeeping was inconsistent. We received fewer towels each day and had to chase down cleaning staff to get more. On our first day, there was even a letter left behind from the previous guest—not a huge deal, but not ideal either. The TV was ancient, the remote barely worked, and we couldn’t even turn it off with it. Forget YouTube or screen casting. Wi-Fi was poor—slow and constantly disconnecting. Minor annoyances: one sink drained poorly, the scale had dead batteries, and the minibar was rarely restocked. Also, the key chip on our wristband didn’t work when we first checked in, so we had to walk back to the reception to get it fixed. Then, halfway through the trip, it suddenly stopped working again. Thankfully, staff fixed it quickly

Food: The food was decent! We found a few dishes we really enjoyed (pesto seafood pasta, rice with stew), tasty desserts and coffee, and lots of fruit. They often had 4–5 kinds of fish and a wide salad selection. The grilled meat was too overcooked for our taste, but the stews were delicious. Could’ve used more variety, but nothing was terrible. We didn’t get sick, which is already a win! By the end of our stay, the hotel filled up and the buffet got very crowded at peak hours. Wait staff couldn’t always keep up with drink orders—not really their fault, just too many guests.

À la carte restaurants: Our top picks: La Brisa, Santa Fe, and Dolce Vita (those medallions were amazing!). The Mexican restaurant was disappointing. As for the Japanese one, we couldn’t get a decent reservation time—even at the end of our stay, the earliest available was 9:15 PM, so we skipped it.

Bars: Great overall! Bartenders were generous with the alcohol. Not all of them knew how to make a Margarita, but the mojitos and Coco Loco were fantastic. The sports bar had a great vibe too.

Grounds: Well-maintained, though we wished for a bit more greenery. Sometimes it felt more like walking through a shopping mall than a tropical resort.

Shops: As expected, the on-site shops are overpriced. We highly recommend taking an Uber to Jumbo (about $10 each way). Sunscreen is $10 there instead of $40 at the hotel. Cigars are $7 instead of $30, and coffee is $5 instead of $15. However, there isn’t much markup on long-sleeve swimsuits, which are lifesavers for those who burn easily—highly recommend bringing or buying one!

Overall: We relaxed and had a good time—and that’s what matters most! To anyone who has already booked: don’t be scared by the negative reviews. The downsides are mostly minor. It’s still beautiful Dominican Republic, and you’ll definitely find...

We went during off-season (hurricane season) and this is my honest review of the Barcelo Bavaro Palace.

For those who are looking at the place, a few things to note:

Barcelo Bavaro Palace is on the same property of Barcelo Bavaro Beach (adults only). You can take a tram between the two connected properties or walk ~15 min. If you are on one property, you will have to pay a fee to dine at the other unless you paid for a premium room. I’d suggest that you stay at the same side if you are going with friends/a large group because the walk can be annoying. Premium level comes with an air conditioned check in/check out but they only have 2 people to check you in so you might have to wait. The longest we waited was 10 min but we got to sit down in the air conditioned lounge with a drink so it wasn’t bad. Premium also comes with free room service which is worth it because it is $$$ otherwise ($15 meal/person). The resort is gated and quite huge. If you are on the Barcelo Palace side, it’s easiest to get to the lobby/pool/stores via the beach side walk. Most of the shops only take credit card. You should get small bills for tips in the lobby for the service folks. You should book a van with the hotel. Overall a A+ experience. It was listed at $62 but was actually $80 because of the tax so double check those prices!

Now the review:

Cleanliness — overall B-. The room was dusty and we had premium level so who knows what the regular rooms looked like. I highly recommend you bring sanitizing wipes to wipe down surfaces. The room itself was beautiful.

Room — B+ highly recommend you get yourself a premium level room. Room service is expensive without it and you get better amenities. We got an ocean view premium level which was amazing. The bathrooms was huge and we could see the beach right from our room. I recommend you tip your room service and cleaning folks.

Service — D- the service was overall the worst part of this trip. I got a call late at night from the front desk— premium level— telling me that I underpaid my deposit. The guy told me that I had to come ASAP in the middle of the night to come to the lobby and if I don’t pay it, it is “unfair because I’m the one on vacation and they will take it out of my pay check”. This was extremely odd that the resort would take it out of his paycheck and I was surprised at the attempt to guilt trip me. By the way, they actually owed me $$ of credit so if you end up going here, make sure to get receipts!! Overall the premium level employees were rude even though we paid extra for it.

The restaurant employees were very focused on getting tips, which wasn’t the most professional vibe but the hotel should pay their employees more.

We only spoke English and most of the employees were Spanish speaking. This was difficult at times because of the language barrier (making reservations or asking for certain requests).

It’s almost impossible to get a dinner reservation the week of despite everyone overbooking and the restaurants being mostly empty. I called the concierge and premium level more than 4x and they either hung up on me (said I was being transferred) or told me that the system was broken. You need to book before you stay.

Food — food was not 5 stars. I am a foodie and it was a C+ overall. Breakfast was good and the buffet did have some good food. The fruit and juice is delicious, but everything else was a gamble. My friends went to the Mexican restaurant and they left because there were roaches on the table. You have to be careful.

Property— B+ the beach was beautiful and wasn’t crowded at all during off-season. The water was warm but you can’t really see what you are swimming in. Not too much seaweed. The main pool by the Palace side lobby is very nice. It’s large and clean.

Safety— I felt safe on the property but not so much in my room. The deadbolt was not working and service workers walked in multiple times in the evening after knocking 1-2 times. They meant well but this felt really unsafe. You need to fix the dead bolts...