I spend my last week in the Dominican Republic at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Hotel in Punta Cana! The hotel was the second one created in Punta Cana back in the 80s, and a couple of years ago it was reconstructed and devided into two parts – one Adults Only Hotel – Bavaro Beach and one hotel open to everyone – Barcelo Bavaro Palace.
The Barcelo Bavaro Palace is the main hotel as it has most of the facilities, such as the spa, the gym, around 10 restaurants offering various cuisine, a shopping centre, casino, bowling and much more!
The Barcelo Beach on the other hand is a much more private and relaxed place! It also has a couple of restaurants and a few shops, but if you want to use the rest of the facilities you would have to go to the Barcelo Bavaro Palace!
For that reason, we decided to stay at the Palace! The two hotels are connected through a pedestrian way (one at the beach and one at the entrance of the hotels and they are less than 10 minutes walking from each other. There are also trains that can take you to different parts. Apart from the two hotels, there are also other facilities such as a golf court that are situated inside the property! It is the second biggest property in Punta Cana and you do need to use the train to get from one part to another unless you like long walks!
I love all-inclusive resorts with a massive park and green area, as I think this is really the idea behind such resort. You get in and you do not need to go out of there! You can go for walks, you can do sports, you have a great variety of restaurants and bars, and many other activities too!
We had the premium access and I would absolutely recommend you to get that if you want your holiday to be 100% amazing! With the premium access you can go to any restaurant and order anything you want including drinks for no additional costs. Some of the restaurants are only available for premium access guests and your room is also an upgraded one! We stayed at a beautiful ocean front junior suite that had a Jacuzzi on the balcony and we enjoyed it so much! There is nothing better than being in the jacuzzi and watching the sunset in front of the ocean!
Apart from the amazing beach with crystal clear water and white sand that goes for kilometres, the hotel also has various pools where you can relax, enjoy a drink and get tanned! If you are adults only you can also use all the facilities at the Barcelo Beach hotel, the beach there tends to be even more relaxed, but even at the Barcelo Palace hotel, one of the pools is Adults Only, so you still get the chance to relax in a quiet place if you prefer to not go to the other hotel.
During our stay at the hotel, we did one tour with Vacaciones Barcelo (the tour agency of the hotel). We decided to go to Santo Doming – the capital of the Dominican Republic, which is around 2:30 hours drive from the hotel.
It was a totally worth it tour, as you get to see and learn a lot about the culture and the history of this country! If you just stay in Punta Cana you will not get to see the real spirit of the country, but if you visit at least the capital you will get to see a completely different side of Dominicana!
We spend the day at the old town, exploring the museums, the markets and the beautiful architecture! My favourite part of the tour was the Chu Chu train that took us around the whole old town! The houses you get to see there are so colorful and pretty! We also got to see the memorial of Christopher Columbus, where arguably his tomb is! The other place that claims to have it is the Cathedral in Sevilla!
We also organised our airport transfers with Vacaciones Barcelo and had the nicest driver! Everything was organised very well and we absolutely loved our stay! I got to see a few of the other hotels in Punta Cana and in my opinion the best one you can stay at is the Barcelo Bavaro Palace! A lot of the people I met at the resort were also in the same opinion and some of them were going there a couple of times every year! I met a Russian family who visited the resort 22 times and they were completely convinced that it is the best one they have visited in the Caribbean! So if you are planning to visit Punta Cana and you are not sure where to stay, I highly recommend you to book this hotel. I am sure you will not regret it!
Love,
Tina J x
