I have been a travel agent for 11 years and have traveled all over the Caribbean. I have been to the DR several times, several different resorts in different regions. I have stayed in Punta Cana three times. Every time I leave, I tell myself that I am never going back there but a few years later, I soften my harsh attitude, forget how poorly I was treated as an American and head back there, optimistically hoping that THIS time will be different. Unfortunately, my hopes have been dashed each time.

I booked BBP as a family trip to celebrate my niece's high school graduation. As our departure date grew closer, the reviews here got more negative, focusing mostly on the lack of customer service. I still ventured on this vacation with an open mind, thinking that these travelers were exaggerating and it couldn't possibly be as bad as they were saying. Well, let me tell you......every word they write, about the poor treatment that the hotel staff gave them, is true.

From the moment my family and I checked in, we were made to feel like our presence was not wanted and that we were a nuisance. With a few minutes of getting to the room, I was called and told that my credit card receipt was missing. The card was swiped for incidentals and had my card number, expiration date and signature. I then spent the next hour at the front desk on the phone with Amex, canceling the card. While waiting at the front desk, my sister came to me and said the kids' room had a waterfall of a leak in the bathroom which flooded the hallway and was running out the front door. So while I was dealing with Amex, I was trying to get the kids another room close by. I was told there were no rooms close by and they would have to move 3 buildings away. That was not acceptable. In the clerks' conversations back and forth with each other, I understood that the room the kids were assigned to should not have been given out in the first place. I was told there was nothing they could do. After more discussion and arguing, 3 rooms suddenly appeared.

After that, we dealt with ongoing shunning and ignorance. The wait staff in the restaurants made us feel like we were inconveniencing them because we had to have 2 or 3 tables together for the group. Sometimes they brought you what you ordered, sometimes they did not. Many times, what we ordered did not look like what fellow foreign diners had ordered. They got bigger portions or were told about different specials. There was one time when we all ordered sundaes and we got the smallest ice cream dishes when the table next to us got huge parfait glasses. I will say that we had one pleasant dining experience at the seafood restaurant. Marisol was our waitress and she was very pleasant and friendly towards us. What a difference that made!

Over the first few days, we tipped everyone....housekeeping, bartenders and wait staff. When housekeeping didn't restock the fridge, towels or amenities after asking several times (and having left tips a few days in a row), I told everyone to stop tipping. If it meant no better service, why do it? Likewise with the bartenders and wait staff. We would be standing at the bar and be completely ignored or they would take our order and then take a few other orders and serve the others first. One waitress dumped a glass of soda down one of the kids' backs and didn't even say she was sorry.

The day before our departure. I stopped by the front desk to ask if we could keep one room until 2:30 the day we were leaving because the shuttle wasn't picking us up until 2:45. I was initially told no, then I was told that I'd have to pay $35. I went back the next morning and asked for a front desk manager and made my request again. I explained what I had gone thru with the credit card the first day and that keeping the room 2 1/2 hours after checkout shouldn't be the much to ask considering the inconvenience I had to deal with at check in. I was told I could only have the room until 2. What is 30 more minutes???

We spent the morning at the pool and beach and we all headed back to the one room we had kept to freshen up before we went to lunch. Apparently they deactivated our card key so we were unable to get into the room. That was pretty much the straw that broke all of our backs.

So that is my less than positive experience at BBP. Yes, the beach is beautiful, yes, the hotel has a lot to offer its guests (although very spread out and not always convenient), and yes, the food was not bad at all (desserts all tasted the same though and drinks were quite bad). But the lack of politeness and the obvious fact that they do not appreciate American tourism makes me never want to go back there and I will never send any of my clients there.

You never really stop to think about how people treat you affecting your vacation, but it does. When you walk into a restaurant and nobody acknowledges you or they roll their eyes or they tell you they can't put 2 tables together, it gets very frustrating. I'm certainly not expecting anyone to roll out the red carpet for me but service with a sincere smile would be nice. I met a few people at the airport who stayed at other resorts and had similar experiences so I do not think this pertains only to BBP.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions about this experience.

I just got back on the 1st and I had the Best experience in the Barcelo Bavaro Palace the workers were really nice and friendly , they had really good food if you like latin food really good shows and my kids loved it the have day care for you to leave you todlers while you experience the massages the pool and beach you can pay 15 american dollars to have your self a nanny for the day to take care of your children who are under 2 years old and from 4yrs old - 12 yrs they entertain your children with games actiities, train rides all types of activities I am sorry but everyone who has a bad review on this hotel are crazy. First of all you have to remember you are going to the caribbean to a Spanish Country were all the speak is spanish and were they speak very little english or no english if you go to another country or spain or where ever you know you are not going to under stand them if you want an english speaking vacation stay in AMERICA dont experience in other countries. Dominican people are known as very nice and with a funny caracter. and I am American but you see the worker are tierd that is because they work from 5 am till 12 pm straight wont you be tierd if that was you? BUT I DO RECOMMEND that if you are not a latin food lover or are a very grumpy person who only expect an english language and dont under stanf the fact that you are in a counrty where all they speak is spanish DONT GO STAY IN AMERICA.

Let me start by saying the Punta Cana airport is very hot but a nice experience. We did not have a hard time gettting our luggage. We got to the resort check in lasted about 10 minutes.
The room was beautiful my room number was 2070 bloque 1. The air conditioner was ice cold when we walked in the room. The room was very clean and smelled good. The mini bar was stocked with everything. The food was great and a big selection. Do take imodium ad or pepto bismol. The beach is beautiful and the pool was awesome it feels as if the pools is on the beach that's how close the beach is. The staff is great hard working people they are there when you wake up and when you go to sleep. The resort is super clean and huge. The night entertainment is wonderful make sure you go to see the shows. This resort was great for me and my family. Both my daughters loved it ages 11, 6. I would go back in a minute. Those of you who like the pool make sure you wake up early by 7:45a.m. to go put towels on the pool chairs they go really fast. No need to worry in the beach always chairs they have plenty. Don't pay attention to the bad reviews it appears some people just can't be pleased. THIS RESORT IS TRULY PARADISE GO AND HAVE FUN YOU WILL NOT REGRET AND DON'T FORGET TO POST YOUR POSTIVE FEEDBACK THIS RESORT DESERVES IT ESPECIALLY THE STAFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed at the barcelo bavaro palace from 6-07-08 to 06-14-08. I took this trip with my two sisters. I have to say I wanted to leave after the first night.
Never in my life have I been treated so terrrible. I was made to feel like an outsider for being an american. The staff at the hotel were extremely rude if you do not speak spanish. They made comments like " Americans and no familia". I was with my family.
The staff ignored you and pretty much pretended you were not there. No help at all. We attended a show at the tropicalismo. were not waited on at all. I had to get up leave the show and go get bottled water from the bar in the lobby. All other latin americans were served no problem. I paid the same amount of money as they did.
The beach was the nicest part of the whole trip. The hotel itself smelled of mold. The food was so so. But then again we ordered and we were brought some thing totally different. The buffet was disgusting, birds and bugs everywhere. Right on the buffet tables.I was sick almost my entire trip. I lost 5 lbs.
Our room had three people in it, we only had two of everything. towels, coffee mugs, etc, It was as if the staff was put out to bring us one more towel.
Our apple vacation rep at the hotelwas not helpful with this issue either. He gladly took our money for excursions but that was about it. If I had known, I would have called apple to request to move to another place. Apple should take this hotel off their website.
One other big issue was the maid staff would leave our sliding glass doors unlocked after they cleaned, We had it locked and the pin in the bolt. We were missing items. I almost wanted to not have my room clean so they did not come in.
Tips to future travelers: Do not stay here if you are american. They make you feel terribly unwanted.