Can't say any thing about the Bararo Place, but I had a lot to say about the Iboerstar Bavaro. I have copied my review from Debbies' Dominican Republic Travel Page. This is a source you might want to check out. Many more resorts are review and there is a great deal of information available. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.
Spent one week at the Iberostar Bavaro. It was the best Rest & Relaxation trip I have ever had.
Did take the trip to Sanoa Island. Would not recommend it.? On the bus to the Caribbean Sea, for over? two hours. On the catamaran, for almost two hours to arrive at a? lovely island for a lousy lunch and some sun bathing and swimming. I could have done this at the resort and had a great lunch. You are told that snorkeling is available. It is, only if you bring you own equipment. The only drink available on the boat is coke and/or rum and coke. On the island the drink is the same with the addition of sprite. Most any place to tour is a long distance from the resorts. I wish I would not have wasted the entire day on this trip. I prefer half day trips when I am on vacation. Did talk to people who enjoyed the Monster Truck trip. But it also is all day.? Not too many half day trips on Punta Cana because of the long distance from anything. Manatee Park is about the only thing that is close. I understand that it is an enjoyable trip.
Food at the Iberostar Barvaro is very good. By having the all inclusive package at the Bavaro, one can choose to eat and drink at the Iberostar Punta Cana and the Iberostar Domicana This gives one the option of two gourmet restaurants, a pool restaurant, an Italian restaurant, a sandwich snack bar,? three buffet restaurants-one at each property. Some people felt that the food was not geared to children. I did see some guest had brought peanut butter for their young children. There was so much variety at the buffets, I can?t imagine that children couldn?t find something to eat. But then again it has been a long while since I have had small children.
?Drinks at the Iberostar are International.? Reservations are required at the gourmet restaurants the Italian and I believe the Mexican. These reservation must be made twenty four hours in advance but no later than 6:00pm the day before you wish to eat there. You may think that this is strange when you go to the restaurant and see that there are very few people in the place. I? think they use the reservation to know how many people to expect. I did hear from people who had stayed at other resorts, that they had to make the reservations very early in the day. If they didn?t they were shut out of eating at the fancy places The set-up of the accommodations is 8 individual suites, two story units spread all over the lovely landscaped grounds. Because of this set up there are very few suites facing the ocean. All suites have a balcony or a patio. a television, a refrigerator, air conditioning, a ceiling fan, and a hair dryer,? There is no radio or clock.
Beach towels, and chaise lounges are supplied both on the beach and at the pool. There are plenty of umbrellas at both areas, but one must get to the beach early in order to reserve an umbrella. Everyone does reserve an umbrella even though signs are posted not to reserve. The beach is the best walking beach I have ever? walked. The beach is 23 miles long. Needless to say we did not walk the entire length. A Catholic Mass is offered at 6:00 pm Sunday Evening at the Bavaro. I don?t know if there is masses at the other two properties, but they are so close that one can walk to the mass at the Bavaro.
A late check out is available for approximately 300 peso?s about 20.00 US dollars. We were able to stay in our room until 5:00 PM. a great help when the pick-up for the flight to Cleveland was at 6:25. Bottle water is included one can get as much as is wanted from any of the bars and restaurants. Be sure to drink it and use it for brushing your teeth. The tap water is undrinkable. Avoid eating anything that can?t not be peeled, uncooked vegetables and the salad. I did eat tomatoes & cucumbers, but I peeled them.
Every evening there is a dance review that begins about 10:00. Prior to it there is about a half hour of audience participation. This portion is all done is Spanish. So if you don?t speak the language you might be lost. We did not speak the language so we had to figure out what was going on. However, when ever there was a language problem with a server, they would get a server that could translate for us. A? disco goes from 11:00 until 3:00am. Never stayed up for this.
There is a casino at the Riu Palace which is walking distance during the day, but I would recommend a cab in the evening. It is only $4.00 US. There is also a casino at the Paridisus which I walked to during the day, but we didn?t go there at night so I have no idea what a cab might cost. Marleen - March 1999
