First Big Tip. Go by Budget car rental and get a map of Punta Cana and Bavaro Beach area (Playa Coco Mapa Turistico Bavaro/Punta). I had other maps but the one I got from Budget saved the day. Oh, suggest you rent a car. Driving is tuff. But you can get around and see/do much more.
Note: The budget office where I got this great local map was the main office approx. 6-8 kil west of airport. Good luck.

Only went to Punta Cana for 2 nights. Quick 'check-it-out' trip from Florida. Will definitely return to Barcelo Casino and Bavaro Beach area. If you decide to stay at the casino lodging, it is only a 5 minute walk to the beach. The tram takes much longer.

When I return I will most likely spend 3 nights at Barcelo Casino (I am not a gambler) and then move west (on the beach) to a lodging near, or at, the Bavaro Princess. Interesting shopping area. Plus all the beach and good stuff too.

Barcelo - The food was very good. Plenty of selection and good quality. Lobster, fresh fish, etc. Never had any beef as to many other items to try. Was able to secure room for approx. $73 a night (all-inclusive). A Bargain.

Good luck, think you will enjoy. Unless you expect 5* 'stuff,'

Finally, I have traveled extensively and have established a personal standard. Max of 3 nights anywhere (unless place is extraordinally great).

Stayed at Barcelo Bavaro Casino Resort last week for 4 days with 5 female friends. The staff was less than stellar; they were rude, slow, unprofessional, did not speak any English, and they still expected to get tipped (in US dollars only). The grounds were well kept. The food was mediocre-- no typical Dominican dishes.

The casino was alright, and the swimming pool was nice. The rooms had the necessary items, but they weren't outstanding.

I would personally choose a more prestigious establishment to stay in if ever I return to the D. R.

We just returned from Punta Cana's Barcelo Bavaro Resorts. My friend and I stayed from April 21-26. It was a well needed long weekend of R&R. It was great!

I must admit I was alittle scared after reading other reviews, but I do not have one complant. The people were friendly and the beach was beautiful. Service was slow pased, but I did not have anywhere to go. Our resort was a short walk to the beach. We spent all of our days at the Beach Resort. I really enjoyed that although we were staying at the Casino we had acess to all the other resorts and imenities. I would reccomend all of the restaurants except the Italian. We had no issues with long lines or service. One day we went on an excursion of swimming with sharks/sting rays and a booze cruise. It was fun. At nights we went to shows at the Beach Resort. The subject matter changed nightly, but was also fun and often interactive. Overall, I had a great time and would go back again.

I never thought I was a picky person when it came to vacations until I stayed here. My fiance and I went here for 5 days to check it out for our wedding. Thank God I came here before I invited my friends and family.

We booked our trip at the Barcelo Golf Resort. When we went to check in, they had bumped us to the Casino (which is the furthest hotel from the beach). We get to our room at the Casino hotel only to find out the AC was broken and mildew was growing everywhere. It was even in between the sheets of the bed! We couldn't even sit on the bed let only sleep. My fiance called the front desk to let them know of the problem and to request another room. The front desk said "everything is full". This in itself is hilarious because I saw the same few people during the entire 5 days I was there. After waiting 20 minutes and not getting a call back, we packed up and went down to the front desk with all our bags. After making a huge scene, we finally got a nicer upgraded room. There are problems of small ants in any room though because there aren't any door jams to keep them out.

FOOD-this food was so digusting I wouldn't even feed it to my dogs. There was food there that I couldn't even identify. My fiance and I were struggling every meal just to find something we could swallow without gagging. Not to mention every single restaurant in all 5 hotels was the same. A lot of times they would serve meals from the night before as breakfast. Everything was always cold and stale. Toward the end of our trip we took pictures of the food to show our families how nasty it was because they wouldn't have believed something could be so bad. Trust me, unless you don't have taste buds, you will not eat at this hotel.

DRINKS-good luck getting one. It took at least 20 minutes to get a drink because they only ever had one bartender on. They also didn't have much of a selection at all. They have one kind of beer and pina colodas. You have to ask about 5 times to get alcohol in your pina coloda. They really couldn't make anything else. All I wanted was a cosmo and they didn't have cranberry juice anywhere.

BEACH-the beach was nice. There isn't any snorkeling available off the beach. We decided to go on a snorkeling excursion for $55 a person. It was very disappointing. We went out and didn't see anything fascinating at all. Save your money.

SERVICE-worst I have seen. I am not sure if it was bad because I am American or if they just hate everybody. They ignore you, take forever to make you a drink and we had to get our own water at dinner because nobody would pay attention to us. Everyone there claims they don't know anything. We asked the front desk about booking the snorkeling excursion and he said he didn't know anything about it. Now, don't you think someone at the front desk should know about these things?

POOL-was nice and relaxing. Bring some cards or games because there isn't much to do.

The Casino was very small and not too many people seemed like they were winning. The gift shop was a rip off. They wanted $3 for a bag of MMs, $10 for cards, and .50 cents per band aid.

I hated this place and will never go back to Punta Cana or any Barcelo Resort again.