La Romana

I visited the Catalonia Royal La Romana the end of May, 2023. This wasn't my first Catalonia Royal stay, since I stayed at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro a few years ago, so I had some ideas of what to expect, I thought. I'll break this down into pros and cons from a Canadian traveller perspective. Pros - the resort itself is beautiful and meticulously maintained. There were workers on hands and knees all day pulling weeds and trimming grass - The beach is clean, sand is perfect and the water the clearest and cleanest I've seen in the DR with no kelp - rooms are fairly spacious compared to other places, but we did pay for a swim-up room, so not sure what the base rooms are like - check-in and out was nice and easy with a welcome cocktail - the transfer to and from the airport was included in our package and was on time - access to the larger, family oriented Catalonia Bayahibe next door, which I used a lot for the buffet and a couple of restaurants - no obnoxious vendors on the beach. There is a small flea market/shopping centre down on the beach and vendors walked back and forth all day, but if you were in the beach chairs, they wouldn't even speak to you. - there was always enough chairs to sit at the beach or the pool and not too many did the towel reservation thing in the early morning - wi-fi seemed good throughout the resort Cons - not a lot of other Canadian visitors and not many workers there speak English, which made it difficult getting things we needed or wanted at the restaurant, bars or stores or from cleaning staff - the Royal has 4 or 5 a la carte restaurants, but only has a breakfast buffet usually, except 2 days a week, they have a dinner buffet, but they are small and not much selection. A la carte are fairly quick though, at least the couple times I ate there. If you are a picky eater, you might struggle to find something you want - room service is available 24/7, but choices consist of mainly a hamburger or fried chicken, not much else and if you don't speak Spanish, you can't order anything else basically - the resort uses an app for all menus in restaurants and to actually book the restaurants, which makes the language gap easier, but you always need a phone with a barcode scanner app to order or book anything. Great idea, but I don't want to go on vacation and have to rely on my phone for anything, especially to get something to eat - the biggest con to me was the room options, pricing and advertising. If you book, you'll see a selection of room choices, but none of the photos or information is correct, not even on their own website. I ended up paying way too much for a swim-up room which appeared to be one thing on the website, but turned out to not be close to that at all. I was very disappointed, since I could have went to a MUCH better resort for what I paid. This point alone is enough to keep from re-booking this resort again. - we had a mouse in our room for two nights, but the resort seemed totally shocked there was one there and they caught it quickly. It is possible it came in with someones luggage though. No big deal and they acted quicklly to rectify - the Exclusive Travelers Club will try and call you and get you to go to the lobby under the guise of a “welcome package”, but it ends up being a sales pitch for an expensive time share type membership…don't fall for it. I learned this from my last visit in Bavaro, so I didn't even answer the phone - the room cleaning was great for half the trip, but a staff change half way through saw it become non-existent essentially. We were supposed to have fresh beach towels delivered every evening, and the first few days we did, even if it wasn't until 9 or 9:30 pm. The last few days, nothing. - the food selections weren't great, but what they did have was tasty. I found myself eating 99% of the time on the family side (Catalonia Bayahibe) which had a larger buffet and was open more frequently for breakfast, lunch and supper/dinner - the beach is beautiful, but the layout of the resort means it's a little hike to get there from one end of the resort to the other. They do have a golf cart that takes people back and forth every 15 mins though - most staff weren't pleasant at all, with a few exceptions. I brought a couple hundred dollars for tips and used very little, because I rarely saw anyone going the extra mile to provide good service. The only exception was the room cleaning staff the first few days, which I tipped generously. Seems no one else really cared if you were happy or not there and could care less about a tip, which seemed totally different than it was a few years ago. I don't tip to receive good service, I tip to reward it and that's how it should be. I just saw very few instances to tip.

We stayed here 5 years ago and returned October 2019. Check in: quick and easy kudos to Guerara and front desk staff for great service Room: we booked Privelege. Rooms are remodelled and extremely clean, everything you need and more! you get extra A la cartes, BEACH: 5 star! Water semi calm for snorkeling, amazing beach sunsets, and great for long walks. The only downfall: The privelege is special section on beach BUT it was behind the Elite Travellers Club. and was only a small section with better beach chairs. This is my one complaint: When we were here 5 years ago, privelege was the VIP. Not anymore, you need to upgrade to The other adults only section or buy the vacation club package. FYI. Pool: have a beautiful large pool. It is under construction at the time, should be open by peak season. Food: plenty of options, food and a la cartes great. Staff: SUPER friendly. The best staff in Bayahibe. We are beach people so the segregation on the beach was the deal breaker. That being said, we upgraded the second day to adults only resort. I will have another review of that property. You will be fine at this property, we just wanted a few more perks for the VIP.

First of all, I got debilitating food poisoning after eating at a seafood restaurant here, so that's that. Also, we had asked for honeymoon accommodation, which included a bottle of wine, appetizer platter, fresh fruit, early check in, etc. But we had to wait around for hours for our rooms. And when we finally got to the room, it had none of the honeymoon items, and had two beds. We were promised a new room with honeymoon items with a king bed the day after. Next day arrived, we did get a new room. And instead of the honeymoon goodies that was promised, we got: two plastic cups of orange juice, two plastic cups of what tasted like gogurt, three store bought croissants, and a plate - a PLATE of jam with a cling wrap. It was a shoddiest hodgepodge of things, what a joke. So honeymooners, beware. Front staff seem lazy, determined not to help the customers. The crew are friendly enough and working hard to restore the damages to the ground after the hurricane. It's loud at all hours of day and night with booming music and loud group activities by the pool.

Overall, we were very pleased. We went with our 5-month old son and needed to go somewhere appropriate for him (ability to go back to room often and quickly). This all-inclusive was great and our son was a hit with staff and other vacationers. The food was okay - it was what I'd expect and there was a lot of choice. I did find some of the other vacationers really pushy at the buffets. There were always shady places to sit at the pool and beach - though at the beach the best spots were always taken. Tips: Drink the mojitos!! The espresso machine in the "steak house" has the best coffee.

Hotel was very nice, friendly staff. very good service.

Good weather , perfect beach, food at buffet only ok , no English speaking people staying here, entertainment at night not very good, no beer in minibar in room, entertainment at pool not very good

Let me start by saying, we had an amazing week! This is one of the typical Dominican Resort, not too fancy like the newer hotels. We were a group of 4 adults, 2 couples. The staff treated us well, A la Cartes were great. Suites are spacious. Grounds immaculate. BEACH: The Best part of the hotel! One of the best beaches for snorkeling, swimming. Stay to the left of the pier. The right of the pier restaurant has lots of coral, should bring water shoes. I spent the week between my floating device and snorkeling. The most amazing sunsets you will see over the Caribbean. ADULTS CLUB Definately worth the upgrade, you get the VIP lounge which is air conditioned, better liquor, snacks all day and awesome coffee bar. The Adults Club restaurant served meals for breakfast and lunch. Special section on beach, upgraded rooms, premium wifi throughout resort. The Basic Resort: Buffet: Like any other buffet, you have your grilling stations, fruit, salads. This does get monotonous but there is nothing wrong with the food. Service was hit and miss. Don't be shy serving yourself if the restaurant is full. The A La cartes were all wonderful. The Japanese and Brazilian were our favorites. Service was great. Room: We had a top floor beachfront suite. Spacious, lots of water pressure. Our whirlpool soaker tub wouldn't hold water in it as the plug was broken. Only a minor issue. Recreation: The foam party was a blast. There is a disco onsite that goes until 2am. There was Zumba, step classes, and aquafit. Dance lessons, beach volleyball, bocce ball, lots of activities. Grounds: Beautifully kept, main pool is large and very nice. There are no elevators and lots of walking. The VIP pool is quiet and a nice place to relax. Dominicus Beach is definately one of my favorite areas. I have also stayed at the Catalonia and the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace. Would I return? YES but only at a certain price point.

Worst Vacation First some shared info in general that I always try to share at the beginning of my reports. Use a certified travel agent. They are your first recourse when something goes wrong and they will advocate for you with the carrier. USE YOUR ROOM SAFE. At all times. Do not leave your room unless you have cash or other valuables locked in the safe or on your person. Many of the reasons people report bad experiences is due to bad service or theft. The hotel will not take any responsibility or replace what you claim was stolen. Don't drink the water while in the Dominican Republic. Don't even brush your teeth with it. It is not potable at all on the resorts. Chances are if you hear of people getting seriously ill they drank the water. The sites and carriers don't advertise the fact. If you go to your orientation once you get there they do tell you. So don't skip your orientation. If you arrange your stay yourself, i.e. don't use a carrier, I'm strictly talking all-inclusives here, use some common sense. They give you bottled water not just as a courtesy but out of necessity. Drink the bottled water until you learn the lay of the land. If you go off resort and aren't sure then drink Coke or beer. The only all-inclusive I stayed at that I didn't have to drink bottled was in Panama. But be careful. Don't flush the toilet paper. Throw it in the trash. They are not connected to city water and it clogs up the plumbing. Do tip. This is a poor country. The people work hard and make way less than anyone in Canada makes for sure. It doesn't always equal better service but at least we are helping these people out. Be polite, a Hola or Buenos dias, tardes or noches goes a lot way. So does por favor and gracias. Everyone should travel with manners. Arrival: Arrival was quick as there was only four arriving. But we were greeted with neither a cool towel or drink. Room: The basic room is what they call a Studio. It had neither a patio nor a balcony. It's an enclosed hotel room with a kitchenette. Bathroom with tub but no stopper in case you want to have a bath. A free safe, a TV, wall A/C. Just very basic. Basic wouldn't be so bad if they actually cleaned it. The bath tub had never seen a sponge and cleanser, it was black. A dead bug sat on the floor of my bathroom all week. The fixtures were not made to shine. The shower head was clogged and could have used some CLR. Most egregious was that the shower liner was black with mould. In short it was kind of disgusting. There was spilled nail polish on the floor, wall and door when I got there and no effort had been made to clean it up. Don't the cleaners have supervisors or heads of housekeeping that check their work? I'd be embarrassed to charge for a room that was this dirty. The minibar was supposed to have water, soft drinks and beer. There was only 2 bottles of water. As well there were supposed to be 2 beach towels in the room. There were not. After my orientation when I mentioned these things, that changed. But c'mon they had 4-5 hours to get the room ready and create a good impression. The food is horrible and repetitive. The fruit juices were never cold. It was never hot. They don't have proper chafing dishes to keep things hot and as it is open air there are a lot of flies, etc. There is also no ice cream. The desserts were not cold and melting. They do pizza very well and on my last day there they had incredible fried chicken. But nothing is labelled in English so it is hard to tell if it is not obvious what you are eating. Saturday night they had a fish night and nothing was labelled. I had no idea what I was eating. If I had had an allergy to shell fish I would have been in trouble. They have nothing really guaranteed gluten free. They have one a la carte which only seats 20 people above the lobby. You have to be at reception at 7am to book it. The one night I went it was Chef's surprise. It's a 3 course meal. It was ok, although the menu had very bad English translations and the steak was grisly. We didn't get a steak knife. And still had paper napkins. They used to have a coffee shop but the shop front was empty. I have never had to buy snacks at a resort before but I did at this one. The service in the restaurant is slow to non-existent. It was hard to even get your water glass refilled. One day after about ½ hour I went up and filled my own water glass. They didn't like that so much. They spend most of their time taking away your dishes. I suppose because I was a solo traveller they felt I wasn't worth their time. The grounds themselves are kept nice. As I travelled there in July there was never any problem finding a seat at the beach or by the pool which was nice. But there are so many flies, mosquitos and small almost invisible flies that are there to bite you! I came back with so many bites! The bar, unlike many AIs, did not have a specialty drink. Some of them have their own cocktails. When I asked the bartender if they had a special drink he didn't understand me or pretended not to know so I ordered a pina colada. They didn't seem to have any activities. There was a water activity pool for kids with a slide etc. but it looked pretty decrepit. No animation crews. At night they had a sax player around the one bar outside of the open air buffet. There were excursions you could book and I did book one but it was to Soana Island which is a tourist trap really. However I did have 3 problems that they were able to resolve. First problem, I had no hot water in my shower for a couple of days. At first I thought it was just the time of day and they ran out, then I thought I had to let it run for awhile. Nothing worked, so I mentioned it to the front desk and it was fixed by next day. Second problem is that Canadians like to use wash cloths. I know it's mostly a North American and West European thing. Anyway I had to ask for them a couple of times. The second time I Googled the Spanish translation, wrote the maid a note and got 3 the next day. Third problem was that one day my A/C just quit. I called and they sent someone right away but they could not fix it. The front desk person told me that a specialist would be there the next day at 9am to fix it. And it happened. It was fixed. Another strong point is that they have free WiFi on the beach, by the pool, the buffet and the lobby. Departure: Departure was uneventful and smooth. Although for some reason I was on a flight that flew in and out of the Punta Cana International Airport. It left later in the day. On the morning of my departure I was eating breakfast and had not packed and a man came from the hotel and told me my bus was at the front. I almost had a heart attack. I thought that maybe my flight had been changed and no one told me, although I had checked the book in the lobby the day before. So I told him I was flying out later and he put the rep on the phone. I told her that I was leaving later and she realized I was on the other flight. Nothing gets your heart started faster than thinking you only have 10 minutes to pack! At any rate I will not be going back. It was pretty much the most miserable vacation I've had. As a solo traveller there was absolutely nothing for me.