My husband and I stayed at this resort April 17-24. First of all I would say that like many/most resorts in the Caribbean or Mexico the rooms in this resort would be more like a 3.5 star but the rest of the amenities would be a 4 star including food. The room was very clean though and we only had a problem with one pesky mosquito on a few occasions. We had upgraded to the VIP, which although not totally what I thought it would be, was still great because it was soooo close to the main pool (and on the main floor) so going and putting a towel on a pool chair was the easiest thing in the world and I was grateful for that. And yes -- bring your own facecloths, I don't know if employees steal them or what, but it is really tough to get one. This is not the first time I have encountered this in my travels.

As stated, the beautiful lobby - which is really spacious and has a very nice bar is way too far from the rooms. I think this really puts a damper on night time socializing with other guests. I really believe that in light of this design, they desperately need a good size beach or pool bar so people feel they have an alternate entertainment option to the nightly shows. For this reason, don't be looking to party to hard at the resort.

The grounds are beautiful with the ducks, birds which make calls like monkeys at night and peacocks. It's nice to walk around there but bring comfortable shoes as it is quite a trek from the lobby to the rooms.

I found the food to be very good and I have travelled extensively in the Caribbean, Mexico and also in Europe. The variety is fantastic at the buffet restaurant and we ate there every day for breakfast and lunch, and the first night for dinner. All other nights we ate at the a la carte restaurants, with the Italian and Mexican being our favorite. I didn't want to try the Chinese and Brazilian because I had read/heard that both were not as good. Surprisingly, the Ribeye steak at the Mexican restaurant was very good - not tough, although the steaknife might as well have been a butter knife. We also ate at the one gourmet restaurant (french)- can't remember the name. It was very nice, and I found the service at the a la cartes to be very good - and much better English at these restaurants.

Pool bar - swim up bar is really fun and Jose is very fun even though his English is limited. He really needs some more interesting shot glasses for his never-ending MAMA JUANA shots. If anyone is going, I think he would love a new shot glass or two. He is very entertaining and we became fast friends. He even called us at home when we returned. You have to realize that they get more French guests, so they don't get to practice their English as much. They are eager to learn so make the effort and they will too. Be nice and tip if you feel it is deserved. These people work 11-16 days in a row without a day off. How nice could you be after all that time on your feet?

The beach is of course second to none. Shopping is ok but I was disappointed by the lack of quality of the silver (spoiled by Mexico obviously). Barter religiously. We bought 2 paintings (unframed) at the market down the beach - about $190 for both - one was an oil and both were quite large. Also bought coffee beans by the pound for $4 each (4 of them) at the same place.

Don't be stupid and forget to pack the immodium you bought (like I did) or it will cost you $9 for 4 tablets. Fortunately, I was fine after taking one. Bring lots of sunscreen, we did and never got burnt, which was nice. Bring bandaids for those new shoes you may be wearing for the first time (or aren't used to walking in) - ladies you know what I'm talking about.

There's a guy at the beach bar who makes a delicious drink he calls "especial" with bananas and chocolate - it tastes like a banana split. He got tipped everytime I asked for that.

Went to the casino the first night - there's a free shuttle there and back - it was nice. Did have a spa treatment - forced my hubby into it too. The body scrub was awesome and massage -- Julia is probably the strongest if you like a deep massage like I do. Wouldn't recommend the manicures/pedicures - they are quite ammateur for the money.

All in all a really nice getaway. I would go back with my kids next time and hopefully it will be in April also because it isn't too crowded then (except Easter week - beware around that time).

This was a girlfriend getaway. We were there from April 30 - May 4th. It was beautiful. I have read several reviews some good but most were bad and I have to admit I was SCARED!!! But don't take the other reviews for granted, you have to experience it yourself.

When you first arrive at the airport, you'll be greeted by women dressed up and willing to take your pictures with them. You will be able to purchase these when you leave for $8. They come out very good. I wanted one, but my girlfriend beat me to it it and they only make one copy.. :( After that, you go through and pay your $10 tourist card and get your luggage. You will have men trying to take your luggage and carry it for you. I wouldn't of done it, but my girlfriend had already gave our stuff. They help you to your information desk and YES they expect a tip, so if your not a big tipper, then I suggest you carry your own luggage. They will try and bug you, but be strong and keep walking.

Once we got to our apple vacation desk, he showed us to our ride and they took us to the hotel. It's about a 20 minute ride from the airport to the hotel (unless you have other stops on your bus as well, then a little longer).

Once we got to the hotel, we checked in and it was BEAUTIFUL... The lobby was so nice, the staff was friendly. Everyone said "HOLA". It didn't take us long to get our room and since we were VIP (which I sugget), we had to meet with the guest services to get all of our information, such as (internet, motorized sports, and massage) coupons.

It was beautiful weather all week. It only rained Friday night really hard and Sunday morning (for like 5 minutes) dispite what the weather channel said. The beach was GORGEOUS... I have never seen a beach more beautiful. Water was great. Yes, you have women walking around topless but this isn't just at the beach, they also do this at the pool. It didn't bother us though.

The food - well that is a different thing. At the buffet, they have a lot of different things, I didn't care for the buffet, but for breakfast I got an omlet and potatoes, nothing else. For dinner, I only ate cheese & pepperoni pizza. The Seafood restuarant - NASTY!. The Mexican place, DELICIOUS, as well as the Italian (momma mia).

The rooms - they were very nice & clean. They are dated like in previous reviews, but very clean. Our mini fridge was stocked every day and we didn't have to request nothing. The only thing I suggest is, if you plan on tipping, do it when you leave. We didn't tip until 2 nights before we left and on the last night, they didn't give us our turn down service. We were in room 2222, our balcony faced the family pool and ocean, GORGEOUS!!

The pool bar was good, JOSE & OZZIE are the men at that bar. The manager Carlos was very nice as well. The Beach bartender was KELVIN, he was MY FAVORITE. If you gotta try a drink, try the banana mama or ask Kelvin for "bed breaker", very good. Also ask Kelvin for "Killing Me Softly".They will keep trying to have you taste their "mamajuana", some liked it, I HATED IT. Too strong and NASTY.

Over all, a very nice place. If I had to say a bad thing, it'll be about SOME of the guests. We met some very nice people from England and all over the states, but then we had met some "ignorant" guests from London, but you ignore the ignorant people and enjoy yourself. I would love to take back my husband & daughter. I hope you enjoy yourself if you go and I would consider upgrading to VIP if you haven't already. Well worth the extra money.

I hope you find my review helpful.

please know that if you are going to this resort they do not have washcloths or face cloths so take your own with you...Room was ok..it was clean...however to find the light switch to the lights was hard..
they are on the side of the table that the lamps are on..one of our lamps you had to wiggle to get it to even work....the beds were just beds so if you are looking for luxury this isnt the place for that..
the pillows were small with alot of lumps in them...we asked for an extra pillow two times on our 3 night stay and never saw them although was told that someone would bring it. The food was not so great..not alot of taste....best dinner for us was the italian resturant..great service and food had a little better taste. The hot tubs/jacuzzis by the pool we expected to be able to sit in those in the evening but once we got to them they were cold. The rooms are not very soundproof as it sounded like the people next to us were in our bathroom. The beach was the best part of the trip..very soft white sand...although if you are coming in from the US and are a family be aware that there are alot of topless women...Please also be aware that there is little english spoken...you may want to catch up on your spanish or french before heading down there...and take alot of one dollar bills for tips...even though it is all inclusive they do like to put their hands out for tips....and when shopping alot of the places will tell you that they do not have any ones for return change (ex: we paid $56 for 7 t-shirts handed them $60 but they didnt give us US change back as they stated they had no ones)...The sun is very hot...take plenty of sunscreen ....hope your experience is better than ours...

Customer service at the resort does not exist, when we asked for towles, or extra soap they would tell us in 5 minutes and they never show up.
The bedding, blankets,e.t.c. was old and worn, there were 3 tiny very soft pillows in a king size bed.
My husband's brand new polo shirt with the tag still on was taken from the room, we reported the incident but they came up with nothing, if you do stay at this resort, please lock up your valuables in the safe box.
We've been to Punta Cana 3 times prior to this, we never had any problems.. the staff at the resort needs to be educated in customer service and learn to speak some decent English.

The food was nothing special, leftovers from dinner were made into a different dish for next day's lunch.
The specialty restaurants were anything but specialty, we went to the Italian restaurant, (Mama Mia) and ordered white wine, the waiter comes by and before I could stop him he re-filled my glass with red wine, the waiter had no clue what he did wrong..
At the Chinese specialty restaurant I hadn't finished all of my soup, and when the waiter came to take the bowl he was looking inside and stirring the left over soup with the spoon, I was mortified, I thought he might pour it back into the pot, that incident was very creepy and weird.
The maids were more polite than the customer service at the front desk, they deserve a tip every day.
My husband and I have been to most of the islands in the Caribbean, our stay at the Caribe Club Princess in Punta Cana was the worst.