My husband and I stayed at the Catalonia Bavaro from April 17th-24th. We booked with Nolitours and flew Air Transat. From the moment we arrived in the Dominican it was a breeze. It was organized at the airport; the bus was nice and cool and got us to the resort in what seemed like moments. The check in was quick and efficient and they even had a boxed lunch for us, as the buffet had just closed for the night. We got to our room, which was lovely and cool, no bugs in sight at all during our stay. The shower is small but the sunken tub was beautiful and roomy enough for 2 people. The property is quite large, the grounds have beautiful lush gardens and trees, and the pool area was large and very clean. The beach was spectacular. I was at the beach every morning at around 7am and I can say that the staff was everywhere, cleaning and sweeping, even in the pool, cleaning the walls. There were many lounge chairs available at the beach, but to get a covered cabana, I think you had to get up in the middle of the night to reserve one. This was the only negative.

The food was plentiful and very good. My husband is very picky about his food and he never complained once. His plate was always full. The roast chicken and pizza are by far the best I have eaten. There were pancakes, crepes, fresh fruit, cheese, cold cuts, cereals, baskets and baskets of bread and sweet breads, fresh fruit and juice, eggs made to your specifications. Excellent over all. The only drawback with the a la carte restaurants is that they book up very fast. We were able to go to the Steak house twice because the others were booked. The food there was great. I had the rib eye; hubby had the t-bone, melt in your mouth perfection. The baked potatoes were quite small, but the steak was huge. The drinks were a bit watered down but not to bad.

The animacion team was wonderful. They seemed to work non stop…Wondered if they ever slept. They co-coordinated volleyball on the beach, aerobics, dance lessons, they were at the disco…seemingly everywhere.

The beach vendors were a bit aggressive, you need to be wary about the prices, but if you haggle with them, they will come down.

I have read a few negative comments about this resort and all I can say is that if you want to be treated like a superstar with everyone at your beck and call, then perhaps this is not the place for you. If instead you want to kick back, relax, and have a great time, go for it. I know we will be returning next year.

Cheers

We stayed at the catalonia April 20-27/2008.
Our flight: We booked thru nolitours/air transat and booked club class,definitely worth every penny. our flight down there was a bumpy ride,quite a bit of turbulence.when we arrived at punta cana we had a slight problem with our baggage,as someone else had taken one of our suitcases.but a very helpful baggage guy at the airport helped us out and got our luggage back to us.people need to check the luggage properly when it comes off the conveyor to make sure it is their own.after all the delay at the airport we were shuttled to our resort by a private shuttle service, it was a nice quiet ride and arrived at the resort in no time.

Check in: Our check in at the resort went quite fast. we were so hot and thirsty decided to head straight to bar for a drink instead of going to our room first. Our room was in Villa 4, excellent view of the beach. We were at little worried about the room and were going to upgrade to the royal, but our room was very clean and spacious.we had a kingsize bed. the jacuzzi tub was awesome big enough for both my husband and me. the shower/toilet area is a bit on the small side but who cares its not like your sleeping there.we did however during the week see 2 big bugs in our room,may have been cockroaches not sure,but asked the front desk to spray around the doors and the were quite helpful.

Resort layout: lots of beautiful lush gardens, with various types of birds around.The workers around the resort work very hard to keep the resort very clean. all the restaurants are located at the front of the resort with the exception of one buffet which is located
by the pool/beach area. also by the pool is a snack bar with seating where you could get a variety of foods.they had burgers but didnt try them.
but had the roasted chicken and pizza which
is awesome, to die for. we definitely didnt go hungry.always tried
to eat something different everyday. the pool is a good size and
always hung around the pool bar area. the bar servers are great,
ask them for a drink they'll make you anything. their is one girl at
the pool/bar,we tipped her well and she always had another drink ready for us. there was not much activity around the pool
mostly at the beach. we did enjoy some days at the beach, beautiful white sandy beaches and the water was warm and clear. it is a small beach and yes there is some seagrass
around, but my husband is a diver and the water is beautiful clear
The resort is not huge but a good size so there is a bit of walking
to do. For those who are avid divers go to dive shop located on the beach and talk to Franco and Lee the divemasters they are the best. my husband and i did a scuba/snorkelling trip to
catalina island which takes up the whole day but definitely
worthwhile. My husband did 2 dives, a wall dive and anoffshore
dive while i who does not dive did the snorkelling, it was awesome. after the trip a lunch is included in la romana.

The al a carte dinners: definitely book these as soon as you arrive.if you dont you may be disappointed.If you talk to your rep
you may be able to book the same restaurant twice.

The Parisienne: this one was by far the best and our favourite.
my husband had the grilled lobster and i had the filet mignon.
we also bought a bottle of white wine which was very reasonable
in price,added it on to our room bill.

The Mexican: was our second favourite one. i had the prawns
and my husband had the stuffed chicken with crab, and of course
corona beer which is included. food very tasty and you can spice
it up for those who like it hot/spicy.

The Japanese and steakhouse were a tie. a hard decision too
make. the japanese was good but we've had better at other resorts. it was quite hot and smoky in there. At the steakhouse
we had the seafood cocktail as an appetizer which was prepared
in a dressing sauce/like a thousand island,which was really good
I had the t-bone steak which looked big but there was not alot
of meat on it,but very tender.my husband had the ribs which were
pretty good,could have been a bit more tender.

As far as nightlife. The animation team work and practice hard for
the shows. there are theme nights,evernight something different.
the best show was on saturday night which is Grease night,it passes the time while having a few cocktails and waiting for
disco to open at 11pm. at the disco they play a variety of music
for everyone to enjoy, which is open til 2am. And if you have the
midnight munchies have a hotdog at the vendorstand outside the
disco, fills the void, and very tasty. the buffet closes at 10pm for dinner. there is also the creperie located in the shopping area,
where you can have various types of crepes. they are really good.

Overall we had a wonderful time with lasting memories. met alot
of wonderful people from all over, and some who we will be lasting friends. Remember you are on domincan time,there is
no rush,enjoy and go with an open mind and we will definitely return..

I just recently had my wedding at this hotel and had 35 guest down with me, The hotel grounds are beautiful, the wedding was amazing, the wedding planner was very helpful and everything to do with the wedding was more then what we expected, Dont let others tell you anything bad about this hotel, cause everything is great. From the Food( by the way the best chicken and pizza i've had in a while) The ala cartes are awesome especially the japanese. The Beach is amazing and huge, Also this hotle is located by it self so you dont have 50 hotels cramped together like down the beach about 20 mins. This is the first resort i have been to that i would love to go back to. And by the way if you go down, Find Fernando (head entertainer, also speaks 5 languages) Tell him Chris From Canada says hi

I have stayed at the Catalonia twice now. On both occaisions I had a fantastic time. I love this resort so much I have booked to go again.

Grounds - The gardens were beautiful, very pleasant to walk around. Lots of ducks! There is a small shopping area on resort but the prices were alot higher here than if you brought them from the local towns.

Food - This was Ok, plenty of choice. The Snack Bar by the pool which served chicken and pizza was particularly good.

Rooms - The rooms we stayed in were clean and appeared to be well maintained. There was always plenty of drinks in the fridge. The maids were very friendly and left fresh flowers in the room everyday. Loved the hammock and the rocking chair on the terrace.

Staff - All of the staff were very helpful and worked hard. The Animation team worked expecially hard and long hours, they encouraged alot of people to take part in the activities, there was no pressure to do anything you didn't want to.

Entertainment - There were activites all day accross the resort and the evenings mainly consisted of a live band and/or karaoke, live shows and there is a disco on resort which is open to 2am.

Beach/Pool- The beach is beautiful, the sea was lovely and warm. The pool is very big, has a swim up bar and a jacussi area. The water seemed to be a bit on the cold side but was welcomed relief from the heat. There were plenty of sunbeds on the beach and by the pool and plenty of shaded sunbeds. Recommend if you want shade arrive early as they all seem to be reserved if you arrive at a normal time!

Trips - Saona Island was a long day but worth it, take plenty of sun cream and mosquito repelent for the beach.
The Outback Safari was a great trip, the day we went on this trip it rained all day but it was so much fun! Make sure you take plenty of money as there are several stops where you can by local produce at low prices.

I only know very basic Spanish, ordering a beer etc, I found the staff could all speak reasonable English, but I would recommend that you do learn some Spanish before you go. The first trip to this resort there was a mainly European clientele but the 2nd time I went the clientele appeared to be more Canadian, American and Spanish.

TIP - Remember to take some low currency notes, eg $1 or $5 dollars for tipping, I ended up tipping someone $20 for taking my case to the room!