I booked a two week holiday to Catalonia Bavaro for a surprise for my girlfriend's 21st birthday. I didn't tell her till the morning of her birthday (a week before we were departing) so I had to make sure all my bookings were right.
I booked through Instant Travel, who booked it under First Choice. It cost me around £2200 all inclusive, which was a bit steep but acceptable for this type of holiday.
The next day the holiday was reduced by £600, which put me on a bit of a downer but I soon forgot about this! Neither Instant Holidays nor First Choice would accept my complaint so I had to get on with it.
The flight over to the Dominican Republic was excellent. Lots of leg room on the flight and the staff were excellent. First Choice also provided you with a small travel pack (free of charge) with eye phones, tissues, toothbrush etc.
It took around 8 hours to fly to the Dominican, and the flight was very good.
When we arrived at the airport it was raining really badly, which got me slightly worried about the weather forecast. Little did I realise it often rains in the Dominican, but mainly in the night or little 5 minute showers during the day. We were met in the airport by hulu girls and a fantastic band, this got us in the spirit for the holiday even after a long flight.
****HOTEL -First Impressions****
On the drive upto the hotel, our first impressions of the ground were excellent, tennis courts, golf course, and the front of the hotel and lobby were fantastic, very luxurious. The xmas tree was still up as we arrived on the 28/12/06. This also looked gorgeous.
****CHECK IN****
Our check in wasn't the best. As there was around 25 people checking in at the same time, the reception staff were a little too busy. But they were kind enough to direct everyone to the nearest restaurant. Many of the new guests were complaining but we just took a seat and as we didnt rush off the reception staff checked us in within ten minutes.
We were then taken down to our hotel room by buggy. The porter was also very helpful and we tipped him as his carried our bags upto our room.
One of my main recommendations is that you get lots of small change. Staff at the hotel are always lovely to you, but if you give them a small tip every couple of days they treat you like royalty.
****THE ROOM****
Our room at the hotel was superb! Loads of space, a big bed, massive bath (this was my favourite part of the room), a hammock on the balcony, lots of wardrobe space. The room had everything you need, hairdrier, coffee making facilities, television! There was also a small seating area with a couch and table. Also a mini bar which is obviously free as its all inclusive.
****GROUNDS****
The grounds of the hotel are 5star, really beautiful! There is a river and a pond set in between the rooms and a wedding area which is truly beautiful. The staff are working many hours of the day to keep the area looking this good. We passed a few drinks to them out of our mini bar and they were very grateful in the baking sun.
There is also a beautiful fountain in the lobby area which is also set in amongst fish filled water.
****SERVICE****
The service around the whole hotel was brilliant, the maid topped up your mini bar everyday, and the rooms was also cleaned every day without fail. Even if you were there in he morning the maid would return later in the day. The bubble bath, shower gel and soap was also refreshed every day!
There is a bar on the beach, one in the pool (yes in the pool) and one at the front of the hotel. All the staff were very helpful and friendly, and whatever cocktail you can think of they would do their best to make it. My favourite was the strawberry daiquiri! One small problem was the language barrier, but your in another country so try and learn a few phrases and the staff really appreciate it.
There is four a la carte restaurants and two normal restaurants, as well as a pool snack bar, a creperie and a pop corn machine at the front by the main bar. You will never go hungry in this place. We used to take some extra bread and feed the fish on the beach.
You can only visit each of the a la carte restaurants once a week and you need to book your tables in these. Try and plan when you will visit the restaurants and book asap as they are soon booked up! All of the a la carte restaurants were excellent but the Frence and Japanese were extra special. Again a tip for the staff in these restaurants never goes a miss as they work very hard for the guests and a small amount of change from you means a lot to them.
****BEACH****
The beach area is excellent, lots of palm trees! Its like a postcard picture. The sea is nice, but there is often a lot of sea weed, but what do you expect in the sea. There are always beds and unbrella's available and we spent most of our days on the beach.
****ACTIVITIES****
There is a man who comes round with all sorts of animals including a small monkey and lizards so you can get your photo taken with them. I got one taken with the monkey as he was particularly cute.
There is always something going on around the pool area, from arobics to salsa dancing and there is also many sporting activites going on. There is a football pitch within the grounds, a golf course, tennis courts, table tennis, volley ball and even archery. You can even have a go at art lessons.
There is also the usual water sports, including sailing and canoeing.
No matter what type of holiday you want you can do it here, for most of the holiday we decided to relax, this is why we spent most of our time at the beach. (Pool area can get a little noisy at times).
One of my biggest recommendations would be to go on at least one excursion each week. We went on the safari and the saona island excursion, both of these were wonderful. Lots of rum flowing and dancing!
There is also a small shopping mall within the hotel which isnt the cheapest but they dont rip you off! I bought a few pairs of swimming shorts.
How could I forget the small gym that they have, we didnt go near this place!!!!!
****NIGHTLIFE****
The nightlife at the hotel isnt the best, they put a new show on every night, these shows are very good but not really our cup of tea. Lots of dancing and music!
There is a casino within the complex which we went to a few nights, very good but obviously this is not all inclusive.
Only the front bar is open of a night but there is plenty of seats and couches!
There is also a nightclub which opens around 11pm, this is open till 2-3am I think. We spent a few nights here and this was also very good. Music can sometimes be a bit mixed, but you get used to the Dominican Meringue in the end!
****OVERALL****
This hotel was excellent, the service was good, food was brilliant, staff were extremely helpful and the grounds were beautiful. I couldnt expect much more!
There are not any downsides I can give, I've heard people complaining about the sea weed, but what can they do! Also heard people complaining about staff not speaking english, but your in another country, what do you expect.
I dont think I have covered everything but if I remember more I will come back and revamp my review!
More details
Sightseeing
Good
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
