Iberostar Punta Cana

Brace yourself for a long review... but it's totally worth reading! My boyfriend and I organized this trip 3 months in advanced and were super excited to go as we had never been to the Dominican Republic or an all-inclusive resort for that matter. With our incredible luck... our flights were cancelled a day before our trip due to Hurricane Irma and honestly, I started to panic. Fortunately, after hours trying to get in touch with a Cheap Caribbean representative, we got our flights rescheduled and flew out as planned. The representative could not have been more courteous and was such an amazing support. After a long day of travelling, we got to the resort a few hours shy of the 3:00 pm check-in time. Before even putting down our suit cases we were given a delicious fruity frozen drink while we stood at the reception. We were given our all-inclusive bracelets (which you must wear during your stay if you want access to all the common areas), and two towel cards in case we wanted to go to the beach or for a dip in the pool before our room was ready. We opted to go have lunch instead and just go for a walk. The food. Oh my goodness. My boyfriend is not a big fan of buffets, mainly because quality isn't usually good... but both buffets at this resort were absolutely amazing! Not to mentions the servers were always available and quick in refilling water and asking for drink orders. The buffet food was fresh and had so many options to choose from. There are usually 2 or 3 people in different areas of the buffet cooking meat and fish non-stop in order to ensure freshness and that the food does not sit out for long. The buffet areas (but not sitting areas) were also air conditioned so that was an added bonus. Again, everyone was so incredibly friendly, especially if you showed them you were willing to attempt speaking in Spanish! Although my boyfriend barely speaks it and he did just fine as well. The restaurants were nothing short of amazing, although it can be tricky to get a reservation. Luckily the Iberostar staff will sit you down the day of, or the day after your arrival to reserve dinner. The steakhouse was definitely the best decision we made while staying there, and the Mexican and seafood places were also both amazing! All the food was fresh and cooked extremely well. Again, all servers were so gracious and always available. The way the restaurants are set up is that the appetizers are set up as a buffet and you can get whatever you'd like, and then choose 2 to 3 courses for your meal (sometimes a soup, entree, and a dessert). All three restaurants were amazing. The entertainment was also great. Every night there was a different show scheduled from 9:30 pm until 10:30 pm, and servers are constantly walking around making sure you're comfortable and have a drink. We didn't get a chance to watch all the shows during our stay, but the Michael Jackson tribute show was great! The performers were all very talented. The room itself was always very clean, and although there were minimal signs of wear and tear in the bathroom, as a germaphobe, I can assure you everything was cleaned very well. Every day after the beach and our showers, the bathroom would always have some sand (although we were very careful to rinse off before entering the room) and the house keeping service was very good at making sure everything was spotless. They even left cute little towel animals in the room every day. The bed was very nice and quite large (king sized)... sometimes I felt like I was even sleeping alone since the bed is so spacious! Our last day (that just so happened to also be my birthday), house keeping even left a bottle of champagne with two glasses in the room and a happy birthday card. It was a very thoughtful gesture! The beach was great. Although you're not allowed to reserve beds, people did it anyway which was a little annoying, but regardless, it wasn't too difficult to find a spot (although a few rows down from the shore). Every day you can rent out the kayak or catamaran for an hour (although you need lessons for the latter), and we definitely took advantage of the kayaking during our stay. A little rough getting used to it at the beginning, but the hard work payed off, and it was a great activity! Overall the beach facilities (towel service, pool, suntan beds, beach umbrellas, bathrooms, etc.) were all very clean and up to date. If for any reason there was a problem with something, you could approach any staff member and they'd take care of it almost immediately. For activities, we booked everything online, but realized we wanted to do another excursion as well. The Iberostar activity rep was very friendly, and most importantly honest about everything, so if you don't book your activities online, don't worry, because you will have a chance to book last minute at the resort (although online might save you time during high season). Overall, although I am most likely going to travel to different cities, I would 100% stay at another Iberostar resort. It was lots of fun, extremely relaxing, and such an amazing experience! I will be returning to Iberostar and booking through Cheap Caribbean. One last tip though... don't skip out on travel insurance! You never know when it will come in handy!

Need more non meat choices since I don't eat meat.Too much pork options.Great resort and friendly staff !

This was an enormous and exquisite resort. It felt like paradise. However the food left much to be desired as it was an abundance of greasy, American and European fare where I would have preferred more authentic cultural food. There appeared to be a disparity between the food options at the dining hall near the beach vs the various dining halls on the other side of the resort. The beach/poolside dining was far superior. Also although I loved meandering around the resort grounds, my elderly parents found it exhausting because the resort is so expansive. It's imperative to inform visitors with impaired mobility of the scope of the resort and perhaps aim to place them on ground loots closest to the beach/pool area. Other than that my family and I had a fantastic time as the entertainment options (casino, spa, night shows and the bars were great). I would absolutely return with a group of friends to enjoy more adventurous, offsite excursions. But the resort is literally too big of a challenge to navigate for anyone with limited or impaired mobility.

This was a nice resort. The room was decent (paid extra for beach front view - definitely recommend). The AC was so/so. The bathroom was so/so. But other than that, no complaints! We knew what we wanted to pay and what we wanted out of vacation and got almost exactly what we expected. Beautiful beach, nice pools, friendly staff, and extremely well kept grounds. Food options were only okay - but this seems to be the same at most resorts. Drinks were good! "Reservations" for dinner were confusing. Book before trip if possible. Very few Americans at this resort, which wasn't bothersome, but noticed.