Royalton Punta Cana, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort & Casino — Hotel in Higüey

So I will start with the positive so that way these people will no be looked over by the end of this review. Joel at the check in desk at the Hideaway and the young girl with braces (name i never got) who worked at teh lounge of the Hideaway were the shining stars of this mess of a "resort." They treated us the way everyone at this resort should be treating people, with a smile and a hello, not as an inconvenience.||Let's start with checking in: We arrived on Sun the 6th around 4pm in the afternoon. We went up the ramp to the car park on the second story and was the only car there. There was me, my husband, his mother and sister and her 4 year old. Lots of luggage. There was about 4 or 5 guys just hanging out. They were talking among themselves, on the phone, didn't even acknowledge us as we unloaded all the bags. We finally had to ask for help. With the little help we got we made our way to the check in desk and that guy couldn't have been less interested in checking us in. First off he never smiled, in fact looked just annoyed. He was constantly looking over us, yelling to his friends/co workers walking by. At one point he disappeared for about 10 minutes with no explanation. My husband, who is from the DR, asked him for a ground floor for his mom, who has walking issues, was quickly dispatched with a no. The mom said don't push the issue because it was late after driving because we were going to check back later but she just wanted to get to the room. My husband and I stayed at the Hideaway and that check in wasn't quite as painful. The greeting at the lounge was warmer than the reception desk. I didn't meet Joel until later.||The buffet: what a mess! The food was just ok. I usually ate at the make your own pasta bar and everyone found something they like but it wasn't anything outstanding. The servers, again, couldn't be bothered. No one seemed to know who was monitoring what tables. Usually at a buffet the staff is responsible for a certain tables. This was a free for all. We constantly had to flag someone down for a beverage and we were LUCKY if we got more than one with each meal. ||The reservation system on the app: So dinner reservations at the sit down restaurants opened at 5pm the day before, so we were told. So every night at 5 my husband would go on and try to make reservations somewhere, ANYWHERE!! The app always said "no availably due to restrictions." It said that every night whether we put 5 ppl in the reservation or two. The two of us were able to snag one reservation at the steakhouse at 9:45pm, 15 minutes before they closed. That was a little rushed. The food again was just ok. We were also able to snag a reservation for the 5 of us on our last night there at the Chinese place for 8:30pm. I did go the desk and they took us early, 6pm, because the place was and stayed empty during our dinner. My husband's and my food was really good but his mother's and sister's dishes were gross. That was problem, these places were vacant as we walked by to the buffet, because we had no choice but to eat there, and then were still empty when we left. My husband and I was told about the steak and seafood buffet for Hideaway member and we got there around 915pm, the dinner was until 10pm. The steak and the lobster had clearly been sitting on the heat of the grill for waaaayyyy to long. The steak on the skewer was so tough I didn't even finish the one cube I bit into and the lobster was so dried out and nasty that neither of finished that. We mainly ate the sides and salads.||The pool: If you want to relax in peace and quiet forget it. The pool/s are relatively close to one another and they are all right next to the main pool where the music is so loud and the DJ is always yelling into the mic. It was also packed at all times, the water was especially cloudy in the pool with the swim up bar. You couldn't escape at the beach either. I was warned, not having been to the DR before not to leave the resort because of peddlers (bird photos, jewelry sellers etc) well this place just allows to come right up to you in your chair in the resort!!! So even if you are far away enough to not hear the DJ scream you are constantly being pestered to buy something. The drinks were just ok in my opinion, kind of watered down and cheap booze.||The room: The room was just ok, nothing super fancy but it was so hot!! We called about the AC and he came and checked it out and said it was fine, using a temp gauge but clearly it wasn't. We tried the next day but by the time they said they would be there we were checking out anyway. Using the app to contact the concierge it says most times will respond within five minutes well you can imagine. We contacted them about the A/C and that was relatively quick, a little more than 5 minutes but when we contacted them about dinner reservations, maybe thinking that route would get different results than the app, never heard from anyone about that.||Checking out: As I mentioned before we stayed at two different places. My husband and I checked out with little fuss from the Hideaway. When we went over to collect the rest of the family they went to the upstairs, where the car ramp is, to check out and I volunteered to take several of the bigger bags down to the lower car area and wait for them so we could just walk to the car. I got yelled at. An employee, who spoke little English, kept trying to tell me to go upstairs to leave. I do not speak Spanish and I'm trying to convey that we are walking to the car after they check out. He just kept on me about not being down here, have to go upstairs, we can't bring the car here etc etc. Eventually someone helped me tell him that we were going to walk to the car once they arrive, we were not going to drive into this area. He finally let it go. When I sat on the bench I ran into another guy who was from the US and we compared notes. He brought it up, I did not. He also said he would never be back and it was one disappointment after another. ||The only thing was decent the water park. The 4 year old loved that place and we did as well because it was actually quiet. Still the overall vibe from the beverage stand and the snack place was....we really could give a s**t that you are here, we would just rather you go home. The same as the rest of the resort and supposedly this place calls itself luxury. This was my first visit to an all inclusive and I am 56 years old and I was thoroughly thoroughly disheartened. Luckily my husband and I went to Sanctuary Cap Cana after here and we blown away!!!!! Already planning a second trip in Feb to go back there. I will be reviewing that in a...

We just returned from our stay at the Royalton Bavaro Resort and Spa. While we had a bit of a rough start, overall, it was a good hotel, but definitely not a 5*.

Starting with positives: Beach - is clean with plenty of shade. I walked along the beach & in comparison to the neighboring hotels, Royalton had one of the best beachfronts with no seaweed issues.

Main buffet - The food was good, offering a wide selection/variety for both breakfast/dinner.

Grounds - well maintained & always clean. The size was perfect. Unlike other resorts (Bahia/Barcelo) where the complexes are massive a trolley is required, the Royalton was not too overwhelming & yet it didn't feel small and crowded. Everything was walkable without feeling exhausted. There were plenty of chairs/loungers, both in the shade /sun.

Lazy river/pools - Lazy river is a must try, kids/adults enjoyed it. There were five pools in total: the sports pool, main pool, diamond pool, the kids splah pad and a well shaded toddler pool. None of the pools ever felt like it was overcrowded.

Some suggestions for improvement that would elevate the resort to a 5-star experience:

Check in process- it is a terrible process. We arrived with another family to celebrate our daughters upcoming bday. Prior to the trip we requested for ajoining rooms with 2 queen beds. Upon arrival, they were unable to find our reservation, we were placed in separate buildings. The other family got one king and a roll out. We walked into a room that was already occupied by someone else. Thankfully, we got our room sorted out after a solid few hours. The other family was not so lucky, they had to changed a total of 4 rooms over the course of 3 days. Needless to say we were at the front desk a lot & these check in mishaps seem to be a reoccurring theme. There was one flight that arrived at 12pm & majority of groups were waiting north of 4 hrs before getting a room. Many complaining about not getting the rooms they requested & the overall time it was taking to resolve room issues. We heard a lot of empty promises about coming back the next day after 5pm & they will have the "right room". Many guest we spoke to agreed the check in process needs to be much smoother.

Beach towels - They need to implement a better system for distributing beach towels to ensure there are always enough available for guests. There should be a limit on the number of towels each guest can take or an exchange process to prevent shortages.

Tip-Go around 4pm to get your towels for the next day otherwise you will be out of luck or try your luck at the diamond pool.

Room maintenance - Rooms are clean, and the staff do a great with housekeeping but the rooms itself are in need of some TLC. The wear & tear of the rooms are starting to show.

Ice cream - Lol yes ice cream, one of the things I look forward to at resorts is hard ice cream. The ice cream at this resort was very disappointing, no matter where you got the ice cream it was soft. It would be melted before your first bite. Invest in equipment that keeps the ice cream at the proper temperature to prevent melting before guests can enjoy it.

Time share- These guys were relentless, they were everywhere. We got a wake up call from Natasha most mornings asking us about our stay and telling us to come pick up our welcome gift. Even after we spoke to her and told her we weren't interested. Beware. They need to limit the presence of time share representatives at the resort and ensure that they are not overly aggressive in their approach. Respect guests' decisions if they are not interested in participating in time share presentations.

A la Carte reservation system - it is nice that there is no limit to the number of a la cart. However a better reservation system is needed. Aside from the zen, the other restaurants are on a first come first serve basis. Most times the lines start at 5pm for 6pm dinner. Unless you were diamond members or slipping the host/bulters some usd. You would have to waste an hour waiting in line.

2 tier level of service - Diamond...

I recently stayed at the Royalton Punta Cana and felt compelled to share the disappointing experience I had — particularly given that I booked the Diamond Club at what is marketed as a 5-star resort. Having stayed at other genuine 5-star properties, the gap in service, hospitality, and overall experience was striking.

Arrival Confusion

Despite clearly communicating to my Nexus transfer driver that I was staying at Royalton Punta Cana, I was dropped off at Royalton Splash. I tipped the luggage handler there, only to be told by the front desk that I was at the wrong location and to "get on the train" — a vague and unhelpful instruction for a first-time guest. I eventually realized she meant the shuttle and headed toward it, but quickly realized no one had arranged for my luggage to be transferred, so I had to retrieve and carry it myself.

The trolley driver offered zero assistance to me or my wife and simply dropped us off at Royalton Punta Cana, vaguely pointing us in the right direction. Again, we had to drag our own bags inside and up to the Diamond Club Lounge — with no offer of help.

Diamond Club Check-In

The check-in experience was equally underwhelming. There was no welcome drink offered until we asked for one. Around 5:40 PM, we were introduced to our butler, Antonio. He offered to take our luggage, but after hearing other guests say they’d waited all day without receiving theirs, we decided to carry it to the room ourselves — especially since we had a wedding welcome event at 6:00 PM to attend.

Despite the Diamond Club package promises, we never received the complimentary beach bag or sandals.

Butler Service I look up reviews before hand and I see Antonio mentioned often which is why I was happy to get him. I am not a demanding guest and asked very little of the butler. I requested a single dinner reservation and asked him to meet us on our departure day (12:15 PM) to say goodbye and collect his tip — and also to finally get the beach bag. He never showed up.

While Antonio seemed friendly, he was clearly overworked or disengaged, and the butler service was entirely worthless compared to what I’ve experienced at other high-end resorts.

To top it off, I later received a message from Antonio saying he accepts PayPal if I still wanted to tip — despite him failing to assist us when it mattered.

Food Quality

The food was among the worst I’ve experienced at a resort:

Buffet meats were tough, dry, and poorly seasoned. Burgers were rubbery, nachos bland, and meatballs hard as rocks. At the wedding dinner at the Italian restaurant, a four-course meal was promised. Instead, we were served only calamari, pizza, and meat, skipping a full pasta course altogether. On top of that let me not get started with how they treated the guest and bride..

Hospitality: Or Lack Thereof

This was, without question, my biggest disappointment. Outside of a few kind individuals, the staff consistently made us feel like a burden:

At the resort shop, the cashier didn’t greet me — she simply told me “It’s 8 dollars” with a clear attitude. At the sports bar, a server approached me with “What do you want?” — no hello, no welcome. I ordered a burger and wings. He walked to the back and watched TV, never even placing my order. The bar was nearly empty, so there was no excuse. Despite tipping frequently and generously — \

5s and \\

The only pleasant staff members was the woman working at the café, who smiled, greeted us warmly, and made a great iced caramel macchiato. We gladly tipped her \$10. Juana in the diamond club lounge and the bar tenders between both reception desks.

Final Thoughts

I booked the Diamond Club expecting a level of service and hospitality that matches the price and 5-star rating. What I got felt closer to 2 or 3 stars — poor communication, a disengaged butler, bad food,...