Hotel Catalonia Punta Cana — Hotel in Higüey

This resort does NOT deserve the ratings that it has , do NOT waste your time here. Upon arrival there was problems with check in as our RESERVED rooms were given to someone else. They seperated our family into two rooms : 2724 and 2108, two rooms which are extremely far apart. Entering the first room , 2724, we start to notice some issues. There are no washcloths, the tv remote is not working, the phone line is cut and doesn’t work, the balcony light was broken, the bathroom door would not close, and the balcony door would not open properly. Then in the second room , 2108, there were also no washcloths , the tv remote was also broken and there was only 1 working outlet. Absolutely outrageous. We then decided before going to reception to hand in our complaints we would go get dinner at the buffet. The dinner was horrible, there are birds everywhere trying to eat your food, it was room temperature , drinks had no ice, and when ice was brought to us it was half melted. Service took very long as if the workers did NOT want to be doing they’re job. Then we arrive back at reception to fix the rooms the man states he will move us to villa 17 the next day so we could have closer rooms, that did NOT happen. The wednesday when we were told we would switch rooms, reception told us we would be unable to move to those rooms and we would be moved somewhere else. As we waited for carts to come help us move rain poured soaking us and all our things. We got to the new rooms, 2513 and 2514, and still no washcloths. We had asked on repeated occasions about the washcloths before ever even receiving them. The first new room , 2514, there were still no washcloths, the tv was fuzzy and we couldn’t see anything, the toilet wasn’t flushing properly and would be left running, the safe was broken, the bathroom door doesn’t fit properly into the frame and there was water POURING into the room in multiple different areas from the ceiling. In the second new room, 2513, there was still no washcloths and only 1 bed. We did not ever recieve the rooms that we saw online , and not once did the hotel try to compensate for their mistakes. Instead the hotels used things like bribes to try and make us FORGET about all the horrible service. The workers barely speak any english and are EXTERMELY rude and unhelpful what so ever. The resort over charges you for items and almost never have what is asked for. 24 hour room service doesn’t even work, when we try to text the resort on whatsapp we are left with no reponse. We were late to events TWICE due to inconvenience of the hotels and how the staff poorly manages their time. When calling the staff to fix the leaking water from the celiling we were left waiting outside for an HOUR just for the man to come and “fix” the leaks. The man did NOT fix anything and instead dried up the water with our towels and left the room when we tried to tell him about the other leak of water, the leak was never fixed. Staff takes too long to do anything and always does it with an attitude. Restaurants? Not worth it. The food is mediocre at best and almost never have open reservations even though the restaurants always look empty. The beach is absolutely disgusting and needs to be cleaned of all the seaweed build up. The amount of people on the beaches pretending to work for the resort just to scam people is ridiculous. Nothing is open passed 10pm. No good services and people do not understand the concept of personal space, you can’t get anything good and your trip will be ruined solely due to poor services. 6 days. We stayed 6 days and nothing was ever fixed or changed and we never got compensated for our issues EVER. Worse resort experience ever. Would not recommend, would not stay here again. 0/10. disappointing and...

ROOM: After a long day at the beach/pool, you want to come back to a nice hotel room where you could relax and unwind. Unfortunately, our room was far from a relaxing place. Our room smelled like mildew, the floors felt so sticky, the walls look like they painted over molds (see photos), and the mattresses and pillows were stained! The brown blankets smelled really bad like they haven’t been washed in a long time. We end up not using the brown blankets during our entire 7 days stay there. The remote control for the TV was broken and all the channels on the TV did not have good reception so it was just all static. We booked a family deluxe PRIVILEGED room, which was supposed to have a bunk bed for kids as they advertised online, but we did not have a bunk bed. Instead, we only had a pull-out bed. The AC vent also looked like it has not been cleaned in years as we could see a thick layer of dust in it! (See photos).

BATHROOM: The bathroom was extremely, absolutely disgusting!!!! I have no words to describe how nasty the bathroom was! I hated taking a shower because the drains were clogged up and took a while for water to drain out! The shower would flood up as I am taking my a shower. We called maintenance to fix the drains, but the maintenance guy only used a plunger and did not fix the problem at all. I showered with my shoes in as I did not want to go barefoot in the shower because of how nasty it looked! The bathroom smelled like mildew and you could see molds around the bottom of the shower doors (see photos).

ROOM SERVICE: As a PRIVILEGED guest, it was advertised during booking online that we will received 24/7 room service. The room service only included requesting for towels. Whenever we requested for drinks, they told us to “go to the bar”, and of course, we could not request for food service either. My family and I have stayed in numerous resorts in other countries, and this is the first time we’ve experience such a terrible quality of room service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: The employees in this resort always seemed like they hated the guests. They are always rolling their eyes, and they did not have the hospitality demeanor at all. The employees acted so annoyed and bothered every time we ask a question. One time I asked a lady where the nearest bathroom was and she did not even let me finish my question and immediately said, “I no English”. She did not even look at me, nor stop. She continued to look straight and kept on walking. At dining areas, the employees always gave us attitude whenever we ask for a refill on our drinks, and sometimes they don’t give us drinks at all. Most of the time our dirty plates on the table would stack up high because none of the employees would come pick them up. They have fountain drinks areas, but no guests are allowed to fetch their drinks from there because the employees were supposed to get the drinks for the guests.

We’ve called several times about our clogged drains in the bathroom and our TV, they did not seem to really care about our issues. They did not make sure things were fixed or even try to offer a different room.

DINING: Food was actually the best compare to all other resorts we stayed in. They are always out of plates though and so guests are always waiting for clean plates before they can get their food. Also, the dining areas in the buffet restaurants do not have air-conditioning , so you will be extremely hot and sweaty as you dine!

Overall, I will not recommend this resort to anyone. I will not be return to...

Where do I even begin. We traveled from Atlanta, Georgia for our friends bachelorette trip with very high hopes and were VERY disappointed. When we arrived at the check in desk, we were immediately told we had to upgrade our room to the privileged package in order to stay with the rest of our group. We were told the package included room service, discounts at the store and spa, and a private beach and bar. Not only was the private beach and bar not private, but you could not relax due to CONSTANTLY being accosted by solicitors trying to sell you things. These people were persistent and would not relent unless you were rude. In addition, the phone in our room did not work, nor did the website (which was acknowledged by the front desk) work, so we did not get to enjoy our room service amenity. We reported this issue every day and were completely ignored and blown off by staff. On that same note, any issue that was brought to the attention of the staff was blown off or dismissed. My friend attempted to ask about the amenities offered and was told, “you look tired. Go take a nap, eat something, and come back later,” and that was not even the worst of it. That is what promoted a meeting with the manager, who continually said, “we did not fail you on anything. None of your complaints apply here.” The food was subpar, the drinks were watered down, and the staff were rude and very un-accommodating. On a positive note, the overall aesthetic of the resort was lovely and well maintained. The bartenders were nice and enjoyed interacting with customers. That’s where the positive remarks ends. The room itself was ok, not the best not the worst. We had 4 total rooms with our group, and each room (although the same package) contained different amounts of towels, pillows, and other necessary items. One room even had stained sheets and couch cushions. Asking for more towels or pillows was unacceptable by the housekeeping staff, as they would blow you off or straight up say no. The food options were limited at certain times, even though it was advertised as all day availability. The snack bar at the pool, as well as the buffet, required full clothes and shoes, no exceptions. Once in the snack bar, the servers harass guests about keeping their coverups on, even though it is a stifling and sweltering heat due to no air circulation. The food options were limited and very tasteless. It was most disappointing being in a new country and never having even gotten to try their food. Unfortunately, all 9 of the girls in my group agree that due to the poor service and unwillingness to accommodate or even hear out our concerns, we will not be returning to this resort, nor the country of the...