I'm staying here for a convention in Barcelo Convention Center which is adjacent to the hotel. I would never ever stay her again if not for the same reason.

The hotel staff is not happy at all. They are very rude and never show a smile. They hate their job. At least that is what you get if you don't tip. BTW all-inclusive says "tips included". Do not enforce that provision. You must tip if you want a smile.

Nightly shows are very unprofesional. Not that I'm expecting a broadway performance, but have been to many properties alike and shows are far far better.

There's good food, but the selection is not enough if you are looking for something healty or a kid's meals. Beverages take from 2 minutes to 30 minutes to arrive, you may be lucky... Or not.

My wife also got a stomach-ache (read about this in another review). Got yogurth and veggies. Went to the farmacy for some pills. 10 pills of a basic stomach-ache drug that normally cost 3 USD were sold at 19 USD.

This is not the only case. Forgot your deodorant? 2oz deodorant for 12USD. And the classic "the farmacy is not associated with the hotel". Come on! They rent the space from you. You must enforce fair prices at your premises! Not wal-mart prices but double at most, not 7 to 10 times more expensive.

We got a nice, clean room. Beach is great. Service does not exist. They do not care about guests. There's noone to complain about anything. Noone would listen. They just don't care.

Will never come back.

My family and i just returned from the great Punta cana,i really have to say that for us it just keep getting better,after three years some things aren't tyhe same but overall i still love it ,the Hotel remains the same but when we go back in a couple of years they will all be new in the Barcelo complex, the food very good,the service is fine ,the pool ok and super fun,the beach a perfect caribbean spot,the tours are spetacular we did the jeep safari the ranch were tthey take you was lovely,crazy wheel macao this is my favorite beach over there ,Manati Park is for all the family to spend a fun day and the newest tour Wild Ranch Canopy that is awesome very well paid and the place is spectacular i really recomend it you'll love it , and like i always say go with an open mind this is another country and not everything is going to be perfect and enjoy your'e on vacations.

Arrival- This was my first all-inclusive vacation. My past vacation’s has included Myrtle Beach, several locations in Florida, and two Caribbean Cruises. After we booked the Palace I read several questionable reviews that made me nervous but I thought the author’s must have been hard to please. I owe the author’s an apology because they hit the nail on the head. This trip was booked with a total of 14 people who helped contribute to this review.

I was anxious to arrive at the resort and have a week full of fun and relaxation. We arrived at the front desk to an unfriendly staff who did not want to honor the upgrades we paid for. They were not very welcoming at all. We were stuck in a cheaper room for 36 hours before we were finally upgraded. Our travel agent spent several hours working to resolve this situation before we were upgraded. The customer service was lacking in all aspects!

Food – Most of the restaurants are included when you stay at the Palace. The best food I found was the small grill next to the ocean (Next to the 6000 building). The cooks were friendly and the seafood and steaks were grilled while you watched. The steakhouse was also good. The buffet was an open concept and birds would fly in and eat off of the buffet and your plate if you’re not close enough to detour them. Besides the ice cream and cheese cake, the dairy products had a lot to be desired. The ham, burgers, sausage, and hot dogs had a weird taste. I have a tough stomach but I am still having cramping after being home for two weeks.

Service – The housekeeper was polite and did an excellent job. The wait and bar staff had about 5 people who were pleasant throughout the whole week. Service was typically slow and unfriendly. The same items ordered from a menu would be completely different when served. It was nearly impossible to get refills as you ate and be prepared to spend one hour each time you have a meal because they are slow. The bar drinks were good when you could get service and they do not skimp on the alcohol. The premium liquor upgrade was a sham, do not waste your money!

Rooms – Clean but outdated. Reminded me more of a mid class hotel than a resort. My room had a funny smell and 3 nights our room was infested by several flying ants that enjoyed crawling on us while we were trying to sleep.

Pool – Awesome and very clean

Beach – Beautiful powdery sand and gorgeous turquoise Caribbean water.

Golf – The course was OK and 3 rounds of golf were included in our package. I would rate the course a 5 out of 10. The green fees were included but the cart costs 30.00 per person. The fee was high for the quality of the course.


I assure you that I am not hard to please but I was very disappointed in this trip. I am used to the friendly servant style service of a cruise but I felt unwelcome at this resort. If you are undecided I would definitely stay away from this resort and may reconsider the Dominican all together!

The El Presidente beer is good!

The next group trip will be in Mexico!!!

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.