July 19, 2005

Iberostar Message Board

This was our first all-inclusive holiday and it exceeded our expectations! The Iberostar Bavaro is the most amazing place and the two weeks we had there was not long enough! There is not enough reviews from people from the Uk so I hope this review makes up for that as our thoughts are from a British perspective.

We travelled with our two young children who are 5 and 7 and some family and friends and we got married in our second week here. Our guests stayed at the Dominicana and Punta Cana, which are the two resorts next to the Bavaro.

THE POOL
The pools were very good always clean and the not very deep which was good for the kids. There is a deep section to the pool nearest the sea if you wanted it. The pool bar area was also nice and I can't recommend that part of it enough! Our youngest daughter had an ear infection in our second week here and also a sore ear on our return to the uk which our GP said may have been due to highly chlorinated water. I would recommend ear plugs for kids to prevent ear problems if they are in the water alot. We did not have a problem with getting a sunbed on a morning and didn't reserve them ( like some were doing before breakfast !) We generally got to the pool at around 9.30 and there were plenty of beds. The Iberostar Friends are on the go all day and there are lots of activities if you want them or you can just relax, they wont bother you. There is a kids club at the sister hotel next door at the Dominicana, but our kids didn't use it so we can't comment on that.

THE BEACH
The beach was amazing, the sand sooo soft! The sea was an amazing emerald colour and it was perfect. The sea was calm the whole time we were there and there was a gentle breeze. The part of the beach opposite the Bavaro is the best I think as its the flattest. When you are on your sunbed under a palapa you can see the kids playing at the water's edge. Move further towards the Dominicana and there is quiet alot of sand piled up near the waters edge preventing you from seeing anything while you are under a palapa. The sunbed reserving gang were more noticeable on the beach as very early on in the morning the front two rows of beds get towels thrown on them. It does say do not reserve the beds but they carry on anyway. All I was bothered about is making sure the kids have a bit of shade if they need it and not wanting to sit so far back on the beach that you may as well be at the pool !

THE APARTMENT
Our apartment was on the ground floor number 1282 which is next to the beach and at the end of the complex on the right if you were looking towards the sea. It was very nice and very quiet. The apartment was very clean no smells , I found one bug and one lizard on our first day and nothing else for the rest of the stay. The maid service was excellent and we tipped her every other day a couple of dollars. She always left flowers dotted around the place and she did funny things to towels! She cleaned and replaced the towels daily.

THE FOOD
The Buffet at the Bavaro was amazing. Have never seen anything like it. So much choice everyday you didn't know where to start first! Because we had guests and family staying at the Dominicana and Punta Cana we got to try their buffets as well as ours and they were all great. The only problem we had was getting together to eat at the specialty restaurants. We found as we were staying at the Bavaro, our guests could not use our facilities but we could use theirs but that didn't include all the specialty restaurants! Our tour operator didn't make it clear enough in the brochure. We could go to only 2 of there restaurants which were La Marimba Tropical ( seafood) and a Mexican restaurant! We only ate at la Marimba, it was alright but nothing amazing. We also managed to get into the Punta Canas Steak restaurant by the beach and that was really nice. So we ate at the buffet most evenings so we could all be together! The choice and variation form night to night was so good you didn't have to worry about all the other places to eat, everything was nice & fresh. Salads, icecubes etc were washed/made with bottled water. The only restaurant we went to at the Bavaro was the Mediterranean gourmet seafood restaurant. We had our wedding dinner there. We had to pay for passes for the evening so that our guests could eat + drink with us and that restaurant was really nice.

THE WEDDING
My partner and I got married here well into the second week of our stay due to our tour operator 'Thomas Cook' lack of communication with our hotel. Bearing in mind we booked our wedding package with them eight months before we flew. The day after we arrived we spoke to our rep about seeing someone like a wedding coordinator to discuss our wedding arrangements as no one had mentioned anything at check in. He said we would have to speak with one of the coordinators ourselves at the hotel. When we did they knew NOTHING about us and had no judge booked for our wedding the following week! Yaniris our wedding coordinator managed to quickly start arranging our wedding and because it was a last minute thing the judge was only available on the Thursday of our last week! The day went fine and we got married in a gazebo in the lobby surrounded by water and fountains. We had photos taken in the gardens and on the beach it was amazing. We will do a wedding review in the weddings section for those that are interested in our experiences! The hotel looked after us in the end and I wish we had booked it directly with them. It would have saved lots of stress!

EXCURSIONS
We only went on one excursion and that was to the island of Saona. Its was the best day of our lives! We can't reccomend that trip enough! We didn't book it through our tour operator as they let us down with our wedding so we decided to book through an american firm called Apple. Glad we did as they did a good job! The trip entailed a small coach trip to the town of Bayahibe then catching a speedboat 'James Bond style' for nearly an hour to the island. Part way there they stop at a natural sand bank and you can just jump out the boat in waist deep water and pick up large starfish off the seabed! They then take you to the island where you can chill out. There was a barbeque for dinner and bar all included in the price of the trip. We stayed on the island for a couple of hours then came back on a catamaran which took a good two hours. The crew took very good care of you and there was plenty of cuba libra flowing so it was the most relaxing afternoon ever!

THE GROUNDS
I haven't been anywhere so spotless in my life. The gardens are well kept and there are peacocks strolling around the place including baby ones while we were there. There are flamingoes in the lake surrounding the main buffet as well as exotic birds. Didn't see a drop of litter anywhere. You won't find anywhere else cleaner.

LAST POINT
Would recommend taking a large insulated mug/cup for the drinks at the bar when you are at the pool or beach. Preferably with a lid on. The bar staff serve beer in half pints and sometimes not even that. Small plastic glasses for the pool side or beach. Its not long before you're back at the bar again !! Did see some American people who had got decent sized insulated cups and its definately the best way to drink!

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This review is the subjective opinion of a Iberostar-Reviews.com user and not of Iberostar-Reviews.com.