This hotel was fantastic!!! I have no idea how people would rate this hotel any less than a 5 star. If you are well traveled and know the history of the Dominican Republic then you would know this resort is well above par for the all around experience. Food, service, rooms, beaches, excursions, and anything else was there for us and we didn't even have to think. This resort is simply excellent and do not think twice if you have the chance to book this resort. My 3rd time to the DR and because of this resort my best experience yet!!!

Hotel was 4-star - we liked the open air pavilion style, the lounge and buffet. The beach was great - not too crowded and perfect for swimming (not boogie boarding or snorkelling though). Hotel staff kept the beach very clean and intereacted well with guests. The pool was impressive but too crowded for us most days - more suited to young people and families than seniors. Enjoyed the nightly live stage performances. All hotel employees were very friendly and helpful. Overall a good relaxing week, but a week was enough.

the hotel's room need renevation.

The resort grounds themselves are gorgeous, it's a large resort and if your villa is closer to the beach you have quite a walk to the lobby. The beach is very nice and clear water and beautiful sand. The food is good, something for everyone and no one in my party got sick. The only complaint I would have is service at the buffet for supper, they were slow to serve you drinks or sometimes didn't serve you anything and the long walks were daunting. The room we had was clean, and modern with a nice view, anything we need they brought to us. Another complaint I had is there was a lack of chairs at the pool all the time, and most of the time at the beach as well which was very frusterating. Being in Dominican there was a strong language barrier.

We arrived at the hotel at 11:30 am. There was no welcome cocktail. There was a special check in for "privilege" but the "unprivileged" got their rooms right away. They left our suitcases in the front driveway all day. They told us that check in time was 3:00. By 4:45 pm, we STILL did not have our room ready. Nolitours mentions early check in...hilarious...we were late by 2 hour! By this time, we demanded to be able to at least put our suitcases in the room and get dressed. They kept saying that the resort was over booked. How is that our problem??? We finally grabbed our bags to walk to the room-there was no concierge-we had to ask for help!!! When we walked in our room at 5:00 pm, they were putting in mattresses and the floor was soaked the room smelt like it hadn't not been used in years. We were so desperate for a room that we just left our bags and was given the room keys closer to 6:00 pm. throughout the day, i told them that i did not want to be privileged because the "normal" people were being treated much more "privileged" than us. We never got a "pillow menu", room service took 2 hours to get and we NEVER had WIFI in our room.Not once. We never got a $30 voucher for the casino. We always had to ask for bath towels and beach towels. The turn down service was pathetic. They also say w get a discount on spa services, but of course hair braiding isn't included, but they don't tell you till after it's done. The thing that got me soooo upset was that thursdays were "shopping day" and they never told me this. I went shopping on Tuesday spending over $200 USD and Friday spending over $300 USD. When I mentioned this to them, they could have AT LEAST given me the discount just as a nice thing to do for a customer who has not had every "privilege" they paid for. They didn't. They were actually rude about it. In closing-do not trust Nolitours when they try to upsell you to "privilege". Not worth it! I am going to write my complaints to everyone involved and i am hoping I can get some money back in good faith and in the name of good and honest customer service! I will be putting this on trip advisor as well. Itravel 2000, Noltiours and Catalonia Resort in Punta Cana, you will hear from me!

weather was great, food was great, hotel is starting to show its age....

This was the most enjoyable holiday ever. Priveleged is absoluteley the best way to go. Close to the beach and pool. Staff were really nice and eager to please. Manager is French Canadian and knows what Canadians are looking for in a vacation...and I was not disappointed.

Catalonia Bavaro is a vey nice resort complex. Big but not too big. One pool, but a very nice gigantic pool. The beach was beautiful, lots of palm trees and shade if you want it. Never a shortage of beach or pool chairs. The buffet was adequate. We tried 3 of the 4 a la carte restaurants. Mexican and japanese were good. Our room was very nice, but the pillows could use replacing. Service was very good. We arrived late and were not told about how to locate our privilege consierge. I was a bit annoyed with Air Transat rep as they did not tell us about the free bus to Punta Cana.

Nice beach ,nice pool,adequate rooms,ok food,2 of the 4 a/ la cart were very nice(italian and Japanese) The property itself was expansive and beautiful. 4.5 overall .

The hotel is a good value but they seem to be having issues keeping up. The service was poor, there were several complain about rooms without AC and there was not a lot of variety in food.

Semaine tres agreable. personnel professionnel et attentif. Hotel propre et bien entretenu. Bonne nourriture. Grande variete de salades et fruits tropicaux. Plage de sable blanc.

We moved to the Royal Catalonia Bavaro. So my review will be on this area.

Like most places, you cant please everyone. We had a great time - staff was VERY friendly. Paid to upgrade to Priviledge level - was worth it.
The steak house a la cart left something to be desired, but the other food was great!

C'est mon premier expérience à Catalonia, pour un hôtel de 5 étoiles, je leur donnerai 3. Je voyages beaucoup et j'ai été souvent dans les 4 et 5 étoiles mais cet resort ne vaut pas 5 étoiles et payer très chers pour un 5 étoiles...j'ai toujours lu les commentaires avant d'aller bien sur que les gens ont leur propre opinion mais je ne voulais pas me fier seulement aux opinions des autres, j'ai toujours été vérifier pour voir et porter les jugements par moi-même....

Voici ce que j'ai vécu durant 7 jours...le lobby et les paysages sont beaux, moi, j'avais réservé une chambre privilège...croyez-moi a mon expérience d'avoir été à plusieurs resort de 4 & 5 étoiles...la chambre ne valait pas la peine de réserver dans le privilège, très petit, les prises électrique me tombent quasiment dans ma main, très dans une chambre de privilège, ils mettent une rideau douche en tissu qui a mon avis est très ordinaire, par contre ils changent nos serviette de plage à tout les soirs dans la chambre des privilège, pour un hôtel de 5 étoiles qui utilisent des serviettes de plages déchirer et réparer je trouves ça très ordinaire...le lendemain de notre arrivée, piscine est très petite mais la plage est très belle..ne vous attendez pas à voir du services pour les boissons à la piscine ou à la plage car il n'en a pas, il y a seulement des staffs qui passent ramasser vos verres sales alors si vous voulais boire, rester près du bar pour éviter de marcher loin pour aller chercher à boire. Leur buffet c'est le pire que j'ai vu, j'ai pratiquement pas manger durant mes séjours mais il faut que je mentionne que leur pizza au feu bois sont excellent, vous trouveriez la pizzeria près de la piscine.

L'animation très ennuyant durant le jour, les spectacles le soir c'est bien

Les soupers à la carte, c'est bien en générale, si vous allez au restaurant italien, essayer leur soupe aux fruits de mer...excellent. Vous trouverez une crêperie près des shoppings, la crêpes elles-même sont réussie sauf pour les garniture.

Les boissons sont à laisser juger par vous-même

À notre retour à notre chambre, étand donner que nous sommes dans un club privilège, ils devait avoir une tournée de nuit, c'est-à-dire, ils repassaient à faire quelques ménage et à faire note lit pour la nuit ...hé bien...il n'y avait qu'une petite tapis à terre à côté de votre lit et la chambre n'a pas été faite, de plus, à ma grande surprise, ma taie d'oreiller était sale et la couverture aussi, comme il était passé 02:00 am du matin, je n'ai pas plains, le lendemain, j'ai été voir au bureau réservé au club privilège pour leur faire de cet incident et en même temps leur donner mon point de vue, je me suis faire répondre par cet person " si vous venu me voir c'est que vous voulais que les choses soient arranger", je m'attendais à plus de courtoisie de la part de l'employé...j'ai dû me plaindre ailleurs pour qu'on me change de chambre...

Pour ce qui est les services donner par les staffs sont en général bien...

Le service wi-fi est gratuit mais le réseau est pourri, très difficile d'avoir le réseau.

Comme je vous ai mentionnez au début, je ne voulais pas porter aucun changement sans voir par mes propres yeux...

Do not go here the security sucks I was robbed and my eye socket was shattered, my friends wrists were broke trying to block there swings with the caveman club they beat us with by a bunch of locals who got onto the resort through the beach area security saw the whole thing and did nothing and the next day said we were to blame. The place sucks the rooms are leaky the double beds are 2 singles pushed together the shower's never had hot water, the staff was ignorant the desk staff were the only one's who spoke any english. The whole place is run down and is a 2 star at most. I travel everywhere and this place was crap. Do not go here. Im telling you big mistake. We were moved to the VIK hotel and it was way better and it was rated a 4 star. The VIK was awsome Catalonia was !@#$%^. Oh ya there wifi never works at all so foget trying to use a laptop even in the lobby where it's supposed to be great ummmm ya how bout NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

was very happy with the service that was
provided to me would recomend this resort to my friends. was dissapointed inthe pillows which I had a hard time
sleeping I do wish they had a better
golf package to me for the price I paid
The restaurants very good except for the mexican which I was sick after eating their food Japanese was excellent and the italian as well.If I
were to go again I would like 10 days
instead of 7 because it goes so fast.

food good, rooms good, location good

Je le recommande

It was nice beach, nice food, nice service, but management was not fast responsable

We arrived late and were greeted with a hotel respresentative. He gave us packages with checkin details. When we arrived at resort we were taken to our rooms....we were very impressed because there was no waiting in line at the hotel for checkin..... We were in the Privileged section of the resort which had rooms closest to the beach. Our verandra had a hammock and nice sitting area. We received excellent service in our room and the staff were very professional and friendly. We enjoyed the al a carte restaurants nightly, the Japanese was the best, we were disappointed with the Mexican. The resort offered a wonderful lobster dinner for $19, it was excellent, we celebrated a birthday that evening and the staff joined in with a cake and birthday song, great fun. We were disappointed with the house wine that was offered throughout the resort, it was very water down....We enjoyed the beach everyday, kayaking and sailing were available hourly for no cost. There was lots of activities throughout the day. All and all we had a very relaxing holiday...would recommend this resort.

Nice place with beautiful nature but without any normally services. Everything looks like "money payd and f-y buddy!!!". absolutely no reaction on complaints. You have to spend a lot of your time to get something with is normally even for HW-motels.

Overall my experience at this resort was great. The beach was spectacular and one of the best I've ever seen in the Caribbean with the calm water and not much coral in the roped off area. It would have been nice to be able to walk for some distance in either direction from the main beach but since nothing else was groomed it was tough and not entirely safe (glass, garbage, etc). To walk to the other resorts to the left one should definitely wear sandals or shoes. The staff appeared to be friendly and most were able to speak French and English (better French) There were a lot of people of different nationalities at the resort and it was hard to find English-speaking people for the most part.
Everything from the shuttle to the hotel and checking in to checking out and catching the shuttle back to the airport went smoothly and we had no surprises. The front desk staff was very friendly and helpful and our room was always cleaned very well. The hamoc on the deck was a nice touch and I would recommend staying on an upper level.
The average age seemed to a older for the first part of the week (60 ) and there weren't many younger couples staying there (we are in our mid-20's). It was SO nice not having any spring breakers or roudy individuals at the resort but it would have been nice to mingle with some younger people who spoke the same language.
All in all it was a great trip though and I would probably go back again for the beach and the water!

Bel hôtel, très vert, propre, agréable. Toutefois, la bouffe n'est pas digne d'un hôtel de ce classement...C'en est insultant!

I FEEL THE ROOMS NEED TO BE RENOVATED/UPDATED. OUR FAMILY WAS FORTUNATE, BUT OUR FRIENDS HAD NO HOT WATER, NO TOWELS, AND NO AIR CONDITIONING. DEFINITELY PAID TOO MUCH TO HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE. THE POOL, BEACH, AND GROUNDS WERE BEAUTIFUL, BUT I WAS VERY SURPRISED TO SEE ALL OF THE SEAWEED CONTINUOUSLY DRIFT INTO SHORE...YUCK.

I found that alot of the staff was difficult to communicate with as they did not speak english. Our basic needs were not met, such as towels. Rooms are outdated and sheets and towels are stained. On the upside the rest of the facility was nice, so if you don't care if your room is undiserable then the resort is not too bad. The a la carte restaurants were pretty good and the main bar was good.

L'hotel est très bien, propre et bien entretenu. Le personnel est cortois. Je retournerais, mais avec une chambre à l'étage et dans la section privilège.

An overall good place to stay, the only downfall was there were not enough staff at the Beach Bar and the Lobby Bar to accommodate the amount of people.

Would definately recommend this resort.
We had a wonderful experience everthing was beyond what we expected.

This is a rather old resort and it should be rated as 3.5 stars. Two yrs ago I went to a 4 stars melia tropical and it is much better. I would not recommend this Catalonia bavaro to family with small children. First of all, I found a nail on the beach chair and broken glass on the beach. Also cigarette buds on the sand. A la cart doesn't have kids' menu. Kids' club is not idea for children under 3. Animation team was excellent as others described. Shows were enjoyable. If u want to eat lobster then walk along the beach pass a dock then ask local fishermen about buying lobsters. 12lbs or so should be around $140. By the way, free Internet is really slow and flaky so choose non-peak time to use it. Oh did like the room setup bc they had one single bed beside the queen bed so fit 4 of us quite well.

Just returned from a weeks stay at the Catalonia Bavaro in Punta Cana (Dec. 30/11-Jan. 6/12). We travelled with Nolitours and Air Transat. Overall the flight there was uneventful….just the way I like it.
Our check in was quick and I was happy to see that the hotel honoured all of our requests for our accommodations (centrally located villa, upper floor, two rooms side by side and near friends that were to be arriving the next day).

Grounds: This hotel is large. The grounds are beautiful and impeccably maintained. Workers are always out snipping and clipping old school……..no power tools. Free Wifi in the lobby which was slow as expected, but it did work.

Front desk: If you were persistent, you could make things happen. We had a bug problem in one of our rooms which was handled within a few hours. We did have to speak to 4 different people prior, but I learned that if you go directly to the manager, things happen quite quickly. Other smaller requests such as towels or help with the safe (which is free) were handled very quickly and with one phone call.

Rooms: We stayed in Villa 24, top floor, a very centrally located and quiet location. The rooms are spacious and clean. We had a king sized bed (one king mattress, not two twins pushed together, as other reviewers had reported). The beds were horrible and the pillows even worst. Showers are very small and dark. The tub was huge. Overall the rooms could use a bit of TLC, as there were some loose tiles on the floor and the shower could have used an overhaul (some mold and cracks). The hammock on the balcony was a nice touch. The rooms were cleaned daily and the maids were happy to supply any “extra towels or supplies that you may require. Fridge was restocked daily with water, beer and pop. My only complaint is that the fresh towels were delivered quite late in the day, which meant we sometimes had to wait to take our showers. Not a big deal. The water pressure was a hit and miss. We tipped the maid a buck or two each day and she seemed happy with that.

Food: This is our 3rd time travelling to the Dominican. The food at this resort is not the best I have had. I am a picky eater, but I did manage to find something to eat at every meal. There are two buffet restaurants (one by the beach and pool and the other in the lobby). I found the food at the main buffet in the lobby to have a better selection. Of the four a la carte restaurants, we went to only two. The Japanese and the steakhouse (twice). The Japanese was very good and they did the cooking at the table….a nice touch. The steakhouse was okay. They do not take reservations, so go at 6:30 when they open. The pizza by the pool is awesome and in great demand. Be prepared to stand in line for the pizza, it’s worth the wait.
The New years gala in the main buffet was very nice. Lots of selection and lots of seafood. Don’t forget to try the crepes! The crepery is located where the shops are (near the lobby) and open from 4-11 everyday. Get the chocolate……have two! Say hello to Corina, as she is always smiling and friendly.

Beach: Beautiful and very long. Lots of seaweed, but the hotel staff was out ALL day going up and down the shoreline raking it up. Can’t beat mother nature. The beach had beautiful white sand and many palm trees offering lots of shade if you want that. Be down early if you want a spot under the palapa. There is a beach bar located near the volleyball nets. The water was fairly calm for the most part. My husband snorkeled just off the beach and fed banana to the fish, which ate right out of his hand.

Bugs: The bugs weren’t bad at all. I came back with only one bite and my husband a kids had only a few. I think most were from the sand flees on the beach. A bit of bug repellent and all was good.

Pool: Very large and picturesque. Be there early to find a chair and palapa. The towel hut is by the pool. They were often out of towels which became frustrating and a bit of a challenge when you needed a fresh one. The pool area was very loud and busy. Lots going on…..water polo, aerobics, dance lessons, etc.

Entertainment and Animation team: The nightly entertainment was not very good. It reminded me of a bad high school production. Having said that, we did not watch most shows, but we did stay for the Michael Jackson show which was very entertaining. The Animation team was always out and about. However, they did direct most of their attention to the French speaking guests. There was always something going on should you choose to get involved.

My huge complaint has nothing to do with the hotel itself, but rather the tourists. For goodness sake people! Spending the money to go on vacation does NOT entitle you to act and do as you please with no regard for others! I was shocked at the behavior and belligerence of some. Clipping toenails on the beach…eeewww, snuffing out your cigarettes/cigars in the sand, or tossing them on the walkways, budding into the food lines, taking the WHOLE tray of pizza despite of the line of people behind you and just generally being rude, demanding and obnoxious to staff and other guests. Really?!!?

Overall, this hotel was beautiful. I think, however, that they need to make some adjustments to better accommodate the large number of guest (especially in high season). They seemed to have difficulty keeping up with the number of people.