A night at Barcelo AI, Punta Cana.

[PeterInBrat]

The main buffet was better in general, but they are in dire need of a hands on institution chef. They are spending a ton of money on the big upgrades, but they would save a bundle and put out better products if they upgraded the food and drink service.

I had Fett Alfredo for dinner. Not bad, but I had to get parmesan cheese from the salad bar to add to the B?chamel sauce. Another station that could use some better equipment and staging.

 

[PeterInBrat]

The main dining hall was really quite nice. Plenty of at table service~ before you could blink twice they'd give you a new glass of beer or wine, and they cleared away dishes as soon as they were ready to go. Self serve coffee would have been a nice option..

 

[PeterInBrat]

My thinking is if this is what it looks like at a $200/night hotel, what would it have been like at the one for $50? We really dodged a bullet..

 

[KyleMackey]

If you ask the staff if it is OK to take some food back to the room and they say yes then in moderation that is fine.
When I was a Viva in LaRomana in July, we found a stray gato with poor eye sight that lives in the brush landscape
between buildings. And we ask if we can take some food for the gato and the staff was fine. The gato always lay close to the
sidewalk at night because people come back from the buffet, smart.

 

[melphis]

My wife booked us into the Barcelo Occidental on their website. It couldn't have gone better. The gate guard looked at our reservations (couldn't read english) then let us in. It was 400 for 4 nights for both of us. Food was really good. Service in the buffet was slow.
After we checked out we learned that the pool bar, pool restaurant, and lobby bar were shut down for reno's.
We have booked directly with many hotels here and have never had a problem.

 

[SKY]

The main thing to make sure you have at these hotels is the Confirmation No. Not many people working here can spell foreign names. But the number will work where the name will not most times.

 

[rubio_higuey]

My thinking is if this is what it looks like at a $200/night hotel, what would it have been like at the one for $50? We really dodged a bullet..

You overpaid, and big time, and I already said that.

 

[rubio_higuey]

The main thing to make sure you have at these hotels is the Confirmation No. Not many people working here can spell foreign names. But the number will work where the name will not most times.

Absolutely correct, I already stated this in my earlier post. I always, but always, call in advance, to get the confirmation number from reservations department inside the hotel. Not the tour operator's reservation number, the hotel's own confirmation number as it is listed in their system. Sometimes they can spell the name wrong (they usually re-type the reservations they get, from one system into another), or they reverse the given and last name, etc. I know how flow of reservations data goes, so I know where are weak points, and there are several, unless you book directly on hotel's own website (usually the most expensive option, with the exception of Barcelo) and even then, a resort chain with multiple locations in several countries usually distributes the reservations through a centralized reservations department into individual resorts' departments.

Calling in ahead already saved me some trouble several times during many many years I have been practicing this policy.

 

[keepcoming]

Agree with the above...the Barcel? website has some very good deals. Their website often has the best "sales" posted over the weekend and on Holiday's. Like I said previously it is not one of the best resorts but not one of the worst. Funny about the pizza because on some of the "travel" websites many state how they love the pizzeria pizza. We did enjoy the lunch at the Mexican restaurant as opposed to the buffet. One of the things I like is the view from the room, unbelievable ocean front view. These were their "renovated" rooms in buildings 1-4. We have talked about doing another quick weekend trip there over the holidays.

 

[PeterInBrat]

I was in building seven. Both bedside lamps visibly broken, TV wouldn't work and the clock radio was blinking 12:00. They are doing a lot of capital improvements, but they need to do more bottom up maintenance. I was just happy to have a hot shower again after three weeks.

As for price, you don't get much wiggle room on haggling when you're standing at a front gate with your luggage in tow and no reservations. Obviously, we won't be going through a local travel agency next time.

 

[PeterInBrat]

My wife booked us into the Barcelo Occidental on their website. It couldn't have gone better. The gate guard looked at our reservations (couldn't read english) then let us in. It was 400 for 4 nights for both of us. Food was really good. Service in the buffet was slow.
After we checked out we learned that the pool bar, pool restaurant, and lobby bar were shut down for reno's.
We have booked directly with many hotels here and have never had a problem.

Was that in high season? Barcelo in Dec at $100/night would be quite a deal.

 

[playacaribe2]

Was that in high season? Barcelo in Dec at $100/night would be quite a deal.

Barcelo just recently completed purchasing the Occidental brand and properties, so that would not yet be a high season rate.

But it is/was an accurate rate ($450) for December using the Barcelo website and applicable discounts. Perhaps it is a one time promo as they get up to speed with the properties.

High season begins next week.....and the numbers usually go up significantly.

With Barcelo....their own website yields the best pricing.



Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[PeterInBrat]

I'll have to check, but I think the original AI was suppose to be Occidental, but it wasn't branded as Barcelo. I have a photo somewhere of our visit to their glamorous, bano free front gate. Still unclear why our confirmation didn't go through despite our having a number. Could have been the travel agent, could have been the hotel. They could have overbooked, just like airlines do.

 

[melphis]

Was that in high season? Barcelo in Dec at $100/night would be quite a deal.

It was last week. Wife and I 402 tax in for 4 nights. Daughter was around 300 with single supplement.
It was really good but renos have since started

 

[Tamborista]

I'll have to check, but I think the original AI was suppose to be Occidental, but it wasn't branded as Barcelo. I have a photo somewhere of our visit to their glamorous, bano free front gate. Still unclear why our confirmation didn't go through despite our having a number. Could have been the travel agent, could have been the hotel. They could have overbooked, just like airlines do.

Did they give you extra tupperware for you uncomfortable wait @ the front gate?
You should find a knapsack that holds one of these next time, and empty the jugo station, so you can go home with a tank of OJ next trip.

terrible tambo.