Barceló Bávaro Palace - All Inclusive

“offseason - amazing experience!!!”

I wanted to post a review of our stay in Oct 2024. There were so many mixed reviews out there. Overall, I’d give it 4.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ We stayed at Barceló Bávaro Beach Adults Only We had a premium swim up room. We were in the Premium Club. I’ve included a photo of the stated premium benefits.… more

I wanted to post a review of our stay in Oct 2024. There were so many mixed reviews out there. Overall, I’d give it 4.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ We stayed at Barceló Bávaro Beach Adults Only We had a premium swim up room. We were in the Premium Club. I’ve included a photo of the stated premium benefits. Food Insights: Adults only side has 2 buffets. All of the sit down restaurants are at Beach Palace, which is a quick trolly ride away. (You can also walk). I think there might be one sit down on the adults only side (Chez?) but never went there. Beach palace side has many restaurants, shops, bowling, mini golf, and casino etc. Their buffets are much larger. We found all the food options to be quite good. There are dress codes for a few restaurants and they are enforced. Room Insights: Our room was satisfactory. Bathroom is a bit ugly and showed its age(bad repeated paint jobs, old tile work, etc) BUT was functional and clean. Double vanity in L shape gave us plenty of of space. Bed was comfortable, room amenities were as expected. Swim out was worth it. We enjoyed being able to cool off and unwind in our own pool each night. Adults Only Resort: We loved it. The grounds were beautiful. Plenty of pool space and pool chairs, many spots with canopy shades. Extensive beach area with plenty of chairs. We never needed to “hold” chairs. Always lots available! Bars were great, drinks were well made. Bartenders were very competent and easy to communicate with. Buffets were as expected. We could always find something to eat. Staff was pleasant. Room service menu was pretty good as well. We stayed on adults only side during the day for our pool and beach time. Beach Palace: We went to this side for most of our evening meals. This side is definitely busier since it has all the amenities. Also beautiful and clean! Cool rooftop bar overlooking the pool. We also watched football in the sports bar. We checked out the casino and played digital roulette. Pros: Overall it was a great experience. I would come here again and get the same package, same room. The views were amazing. Beach and pool were fantastic. Food was good, drinks were great! Dirty Monkey was yummy! Cons: Not many and certainly not very important ones... The trolly isn’t labeled and goes to 2 different parts of the resort. We took the wrong one and ended up on a 10 minute scenic route (which was actually fun!) but wish trains were labeled. The staff at the premium club do not speak very good English. I found that odd for the premium club. I don’t expect much of the staff to speak English, but would have expected it at the premium desk. I wish the resort had an app. It could also help with some of the language barriers, if it could translate requests and such to the guests preferred language. Using Google translate helps, but the app would be really handy for activities, reservations and requests. The restaurants, especially the hibachi restaurant, have zero air flow. It was HOT in there. Everyone at our table was sweating and fanning themselves… and that was before the cook even fired up the grill! So just keep that in mind. We went through more clothing than planned because we were always sweaty. 🥵 😂 My husband and I travel a lot. We sometimes splurge for higher end resorts and sometimes we go for more budget friendly. I consider this one of the best budget friendly trips we have ever done and would absolutely do it again. Lastly, I believe being at this resort during the off season may have been a difference maker. Didn’t feel crowded, good service, plenty of beach chairs… I have a feeling it might be very different during peak season, so keep that in mind. Happy travels!! PS - We booked an trip to Saona Island (Catamaran/speedboat/Open Bar & Lunch) through Trip Advisor... it was AWESOME! We also booked Dune Buggies to Macao Beach, farm & water cave... it was also a great experience. (Also booked through Trip Advisor) Enjoy!!

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