Circle at Paradisus Palma Real — Hotel in Higüey

I stayed at the Circle in January of 2019. About a month or 2 after it opened. I had purchased a vacation club back in May of 2018 at the Circle before it was completed. This marks my 4th time in the Dominican and in Punta Cana. To date this was my favorite vacation and by far the nicest place to stay in the Dominican. In this review I will tell you first about the things I did not like. Being that this was my 4th time in Punta Cana, I knew I needed a ground transfer to and from the airport. I was sent a link to purchase a transfer from someone at the Circle. I went online and per the link I was sent I booked and scheduled a round trip transfer for $88 for 2 people. 3 days after booking and paying for this, I received another email from someone else at the Circle saying I would be receiving a complimentary ground transfer. I wrote back and explained that I had no knowledge of a complimentary transfer and that per a previous email I paid for one. I tried to have my money refunded but to no avail. So, I paid for a service that should have been complimentary. The next thing I did not like was that per my Melia Rewards account (Not anything to do with my vacation club), I should have had a complimentary room upgrade for my birthday. When I arrived at the Circle, I was offered a room upgrade, but was told it would cost me an extra $500. I did NOT upgrade. Per most Melia resorts, you do have your own "butler" during your length of stay. Our butler was Rodolfo. While he was very nice, he was not much help to us during our stay.I was not toured around the grounds, I made my own dining plans, I made my own spa appointments and figured out how to get back and forth to the beach myself.Aside from confirming my ground transfer back home, Rodolfo didn't do anything for me. As a matter of fact, he was incorrect about the time the gym closed, incorrect about the rewards and points and never booked my spa services for me. Lastly, I didn't like that there ants in my room! I called the desk immediately and was told someone would be right up. 30 minutes later there was still no one. The woman cleaning the room took care of the ant problem for me. All that being said, there are some fantastic points about the Circle that should be mentioned. One of the best things about the Circle is the food.I have not been a huge fan of the food in the Dominican resorts prior to this trip,this resort changed that for me. One of the best places for lunch and dinner on the property is Mangu. The food is of great quality and the staff is awesome! Angel Losol is server here and deserves a special mention. He is attentive and makes sure you get what you want and need.The next best thing about this resort is the drinks! At an all inclusive the drinks are usually not good. Most of the time the drinks are watered down and made with cheap ingredients. Not here. All top shelf alcohol and fresh ingredients are used at the bars here. The pool bar is no exception. Drinks are top notch and made by some of the nicest staff at the Circle.Jazmin Molia and Lorenzo Jean are who you will want to see. The bar is called Rum Juliet and you will not want to miss sitting in the pool, drinking craft cocktails in a beautiful setting. The resort itself is ultra clean and very modern. It is quite and relaxing. A laundry bag,beach bag and a plastic zip bag for valuables at the beach are given to you in your room.Also, beach towels and an extra throw blanket is also given as well as slippers and bath robes.These added bonuses are what make this resort stand out. Bell boy Junior Pena and Willy Cid are also bright stars at this place. They were so helpful in helping us with our bags and aiding us in our stay. They always remembered our names and went out of their way to be helpful.I have to say that this is my favorite place to date in all of Punta Cana. I can't wait to go back and would recommend this resort to anyone looking for a high end,...

We have been Melia members since 2010 and signed up in Paradisus Palma Real. We have never stayed here since and last year we converted the membership to Circle and they offered a free week so we tried.

I give three stars for the new construction and our upgraded room and staff who made this trip better. More below. The few stars off are due to food being bad, some not so friendly staff and sales team very pushy.

So here are the details.

The best: Kids Club. The habitat. The staff is absolutely amazing. Susana and Alba greeted us with open arms everyday. There were others and I have left a review and added Habitat on Google maps If it wasn't for them and taking care of our special needs son, not sure how this trip would be.

staff at the restaurant. Chef Rafael made this trip so much better. Gino at the member bar made awesome drinks. Jackson at reception bar also made great drinks. Cheytan went to Vento to prepare a special drink for us. There were many more at buffet and at other restaurants who took care of us. Went a above and beyond their ways to get things for us and kids.

The good mgmt listened when we complained about food and service on day 1. Ivette from concierge mgmt and Effron from dinning both listened and made sure our experience was better for rest of the stay.

we had our breakfast ordered screwed up same morning 3 times. Once we spoke to mgmt, it never happened and we got a call after each room service to check on our order to make sure it was good.

Aqua Marina steak, fish taco were good. Maui burger, Pica chicken and grilled chicken at Mangu was good. Norwegian egg at Mongu breakfast was great.

Gino and Jackson did awesome job in making delicious drinks!

our concierge Juan Rivera made every effort to take care of our needs. So thanks to him for making our trip better and taking our feedback and relaying to appropriate mgmt chain.

The Bad.

we tired Vento as well and food was horrible. We could not even eat it. Read my detail review on Vento's page.

some staff at the mangu bar and at buffet were not very happy to see guest and gave unwelcoming feeling. We go to Mexico every year for 7 years and it has never happened once!

the food. Long list but some main things. Pancakes are like rubber. Waffles are also different textures. Amor restaurant had bad food the first night we had dinner. The ravioli was canned food, beef quality wasn't great and fat was cooked like rubber, lamb chops were over cooked and meat was chewy. Drinks at Mangu were ok. Lobster at different restaurant was also chewy. Spicy tuna at Kao was cooked and porterhouse at Mina wasn't even Angus quality I think.

choices were limited for someone who doesn't care about steak and lobster. Chicken was often cooked to dry.

sales needs to calm down. Our sales rep was veey friendly and the person who offered us the upgrade numbers was also very friendly. I told my concierge that we just upgraded and will not be doing again but he insisted so we went. I tried not to be rude and walkaway and told them why it doesn't make sense for us to upgrade. The sales rep listened and asked us to speak to the numbers guy. He kept on asking us to add more and brought in another manager who asked to add even 10k options in our plan which adds 0 value. It was as if they just want to have a deal done regardless if it makes any sense for their customers. Last year when we converted to Circle, our rep listened to us and gave us something that worked. Be customer centric guys!!!!

There is a huge difference between "listening to someone" and "waiting for your turn to speak"!!! Sales team should focus on listening!

We also heard similar complaints from other guests about food and sales team. This is not looking good guys. You won't have repeat customers.

I am still at resort and...

Very good visit to Paradisus Grand Cana, previous called Circle, now renamed to Falcom’s Retreat. We traveled with another couple as our guests and stayed in two master swim-up suites. The rooms were beautiful, well appointed, and comfortable.|Very relaxed stay and wonderful weather. The pools were almost like bath water – cool enough to be refreshing with no cold shock on initial entry. |Overall maintenance of the resort was excellent. The landscaping was lush and well maintained. The pools are pristine – great job by the pool maintenance people. Kudos to Christelle Luchini, the resort manager, who took time to talk with us several times and is doing a fantastic job maintaining the excellence of the resort. |Our housekeepers did a great job of taking care of us and our suite. A hint for those who customarily leave a tip for the housekeeper: Because it may not be the same person for the entire stay, we take an envelope for each day labeled “Camarista, gracias” (which means Housekeeper, thank you), put a daily tip in it, and leave it in a spot easily seen for her. |Service in the restaurants was again excellent. Every server we encountered was courteous, helpful, and made us feel welcome. Special mention for exceptional service to Marilin Villa, and Andres at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. And to our fantastic sommelier, Jose Vasquez; he is very knowledgeable, made great recommendations and even asked which restaurant we were visiting the next night so he could be sure to find us. |We like eating at the buffet for most meals because of the variety of selection – you can always find something you want – and the consistently excellent service. |We also highly recommend the steak house, Karnica. My t-bone steak and my wife’s lobster were very good, and available at no cost for Infinite Black members, as was the terrific Spanish red wine recommended by Jose. The wait staff was attentive friendly; special mention to Kendal Traveras. |Our best meals were the two times we ate at Aqua. Food and service were the best I have ever experienced anywhere. Angela Mercedes, the supervisor there, has built an excellent team. Thank you to chef Abraham Calderon and wait staff of Emmanuel Gomez, Leonardo Ramirez, Wharton Taylor, and Emily Baylosis for providing superb dinner experiences for us and our two guests. |Our personal concierge this trip was a tag team of Cristian, and on the days he was off work, Marianelly. We received fantastic service and our concierges were extremely attentive and provided us with a wonderful relaxing vacation. |We always get massages at the spa. The therapists are very skilled and did a great job. The spa itself is spotlessly clean and well run. |I played my usual inconsistent golf game but had a great time playing 18 holes twice at Cocotal. The course was in good shape and was not crowded. As a bonus the complementary refreshment cart made several passes to help me stay “hydrated”. |Our prior visit we had our 6 year old granddaughter. She loved the pool and what she really enjoyed was the Kids Club. This is a wonderful experience for the children and to give the parents a break. The instructors in the facility are highly motivated and trained to entertain the children. Cameras are located in all the playrooms. They provide meals and take the children to the water park, which is fantastic. This is a four-star experience for your child. Recommend for all families. A family we met on this trip said their children preferred this resort to the Disney parks and cruises...