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What we liked                                                                                 

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Lush greenery (in comparison to newly built resorts around)

Walking paths throughout the beach line

Strong WIFI signal at the lobby

Catamaran experience without a guide after a short lesson

  

What we didn't like

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Incompetent check-in process 

Intrusive service in every facility

Timeshare sales everywhere (the resort uses the gym facility as a sales headquarter while the gym and kids room are moved to the basement) 

Overcharging internet rate in the room (internet in non-upgraded rooms is paid)  

Local sellers trade goods right on the territory of the resort along the walking paths

Misleading schedule for group exercise classes

Careless housekeeping service

Permanent beach erosion

Inability to swim at the resort beach due to huge sand bags in the sea

Low quality cocktails and mocktailes

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The Resort

Sunscape Bavaro Beach Punta Cana Resort & Spa is a good example of a budget holiday resort that portrays themselves more that they are. Modified images of the beach and some facilities on the website, unreal advertisement about entertainment and abandoned customer service unless the guests decide to upgrade their room, are the descriptions of this holiday destination.               

 

The territory of Sunscape Bavaro Beach Punta Cana Resort & Spa is adjacent to the Sunscape Dominican Beach Punta Cana Resort & Spa. It means that the resorts are located next to each other and technically guests from both resorts can freely walk throughout the whole territory. There are no signs prohibiting guests from Sunscape Bavaro Beach entering the territory of the Sunscape Dominican Beach and reverse. In truth, the territory of the Dominican Beach is available for guests who upgraded their room to the Sun Club membership or who are part of the timeshare club. The pool in Dominican Beach is only for upgraded guests as well. There are no restaurants, bars and entertainment on the Sunscape Dominican beach territory, except a private lounge and private snack bar available for Sun Club members only. The question about upgrading the room to the Sun Club membership starts at during check - in time at the reception desk. The front desk personnel are moderately pushy and try to convince guests to upgrade the room for additional expense stating all the advantages of that part of the resort, including renovated rooms and more quiet space.

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A restless atmosphere at the Sunscape Bavaro Beach Punta Cana feels everywhere. It radiates throughout its facilities, activities, as well as people who work there. Daily loud and repetitive entertainment program, exaggerated service or its absence and constant sales, including the timeshare sales. Moreover, local sellers are allowed to trade their goods, such as painting, clothes, jewelries and wood souvenirs, on the territory of the resort, setting up their stalls next to the entrances to living suites and restaurants. If guests would like to avoid interaction with the traders there are no paths to do so.

 

Gastronomy, in summary, can be described as good as what you pay for. It is simple and repetitive. Two restaurants, Bon Appetite (with French cuisine) and Da Mario (with Italian cuisine) serve more fine and specialized dishes. The restaurants are open alternately. A pan - Asian restaurant, Chopsticks, during our stay was open/closed randomly without any notice and not according to the daily program schedule. We did not see choices for special diets such as gluten and lactose free options in any of the restaurants.

 

We booked our room at the Sunscape Dominican Beach, but were given a room at Sunscape Bavaro Beach without any reason. After the raised question on the next day the answer was that guests have to upgrade their room or be part of the Sun Club in order to get a room at the Sunscape Dominican Beach. 

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Overall, the resort does not reflect the promised  "unlimited - fun" mood creating unclarity and disbalance between age groups staying here and the purpose of the vacation.

The invisible feeling of a burden make some guests to feel unwelcome and often uncomfortable. Lack of professionalism, manners and sometimes understanding of English creates confusion and frustration among other guests. 

 

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Location of the Resort

The area where the resort is located is in the resort town of Punta Cana, which faces the Caribbean Sea on the most easterly side of the Dominican Republic. This town is famous for its entire beachfront districts like Punta Cana (same name as the name of the town), Bavaro, Verona and Macao. These districts have the largest amount of resorts along the beautiful, walkable, 30 mile (48km) beachfront coastal strip. Close-by activities in Punta Cana include safari, zip lining, discovery cruises and adventure parks. The most developed - the Bavaro district - has a variety of restaurants, shopping malls, pharmacies and European stores.

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Sunscape Bavaro Beach sits between two hotels: Hotel Vista Sol Punta Cana and Chateau Del Mar. The space between these hotels and the resort is unattended and not cleaned. Some locals will try to sell their goods there, walking directly toward each guest and inviting them to the stores.

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We personally found the advertised activities and promised, over-hyped experiences are poorly organized for the price guests pay.

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The Rooms

Our Deluxe Pool View Suite was spacious, clean with a light, underwater-themed wall decor above the bed and blue colored bedding and pillows. The suite had balcony with a table, two chairs and drying rack.

 

The resort gives several options for suites and upgrades: 

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Option 1: Deluxe Tropical View Suite.

Base option with a view to the gardens.

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Option 2: Deluxe Pool View Suite.

Slightly more expensive than the Deluxe Tropical View Suite.

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Option 3: Deluxe Ocean View Suite.

Highest category before Sun Club upgrade.

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Option 4 (Requires an upgrade): Sun Club Deluxe Jacuzzi Tropical View Suite.

More spacious room with a separate living - room area (but not separate room) and private Jacuzzi. Guests have access to Sun Club amenities.

 

Option 5 (Requires an upgrade): Sun Club Deluxe Jacuzzi Ocean Front Suite.

Same size room as the Sun Club Deluxe Jacuzzi Tropical View Suite with a separate living - room area (but not separate room) and private Jacuzzi. Guests have access to Sun Club  amenities.

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All rooms have the bed options between one king bed and two double beds.

* We recommend to confirm your choice at the reception during check - in.

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As we stayed in the Deluxe Tropical View Suite I will provide the description of our experience.

The room was located on the first floor close to the pool area. The building itself was the closest to the beach facing the walking path to the beach. The regular noise from the pool area and daily entertainment in very close proximity did not allow us to rest or open the door at any time, except night time. The noise was not acceptable and very disturbing.

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The room had an acceptably comfortable lounge chair, table, open drawer with hangers, safe, as well as a balcony comfortably sized for two. There were European sockets around the room, including the bed, the lounge area and the bathroom (110V). The drawers below the table TV had enough space to fit clothes from two pieces of luggage for seven days. The mini bar had water and one bottle of soft drink.

 

The bathroom had a standing shower and two sink vanity. The size of the bathroom is adequate for one person at a time but would be small with two people inside. Standard toiletries were present. No bathrobes and slippers.

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Overall, the Deluxe Tropical View room matches the image shown on the the resort's website. But that is about it regarding the comfort of stay and the service in the room. Housekeeping does not exist until the front desk is called specifically and asked to clean the room. Toiletries are not replaced and neither are towels and water. Personnel are loud and disrespectful during the rest time hours.

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The Beach

The beach has permanent erosion, which means that the waves wear away the land and remove sand from the beach, making the walking paths very narrow. The lounge chairs are located on an elevation. Part of the chairs stand on uneven land. Every time guests want to go for a swim they have to climb down from the elevation.

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Though the erosion is stopped and the beach is cleaned by the staff every morning, the huge sand bags in the water, which protect the beach from further deterioration, do not make the view pretty and the swim enjoyable. The water, overall, is pleasantly warm and clean.

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Renting a car experience

Renting a car in the Dominican Republic can bring unpleasant surprises, leading to frustration and ruining the mood and the feel of the adventure for what the car was intended to be hired. To avoid these surprises it is always useful to read information presented by travelers and reviewers, like us.

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Firstly, our experience showed that the price on the car rental on any website in DR does not include the cost of the apparently required car insurance. The price of the car insurance exceeds the car rental price at least three and sometimes even four times (!). Before booking and paying in advance it is important to confirm the final price of the car, including the price of the required insurance. 

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Secondly, if you are planning to rent a car from the resort, make sure you are aware of some details. Allow yourself enough time to speak with the car rental representative, negotiate the price, terms and conditions and the return time. Make sure the representative writes down the pick up and the return time on the contracts that you are going to sign. As a caution do not sign any papers that are not translated into the language you understand. 

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Thirdly, together with the representative, inspect the car, take photos, note any scratches, damages and make sure they are recorded on a check up list. The same procedures have to be done when returning the vehicle.

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We booked a car at a car rental place outside of the resort. Since we were not aware of the additional required car insurance purchase, the deal online looked good and trustworthy. Additionally, we booked it through the well know website orbitz.com. Upon arriving at the rental office, we were told that we had to pay an additional amount for the insurance that was not included in the car rental price. The amount was three times bigger than the price for the car. We refused to use the service and returned to the resort to book through them.

The car rental experience at the resort went smoothly as we took all the precautionary steps described above. And yet, on the next day we received a call stating that there is a problem with the car. After explaining that the car was inspected before and after, the representative called back within two minutes, telling us that there had been a mistake and everything was, in fact, ok with the car.

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The Stay Experience

Sunscape Bavaro Beach Resort & Spa proclaim themselves as a 4 star resort and this is the main issue. It attracts tourists envisioning their vacations in different ways, thus creating a stressful environment and unsatisfied feelings for everyone. The Resort is a combination of poor customer service, unappealing noisy atmosphere together with the wrongful idea about what standards of quality should be like.

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We can't recommend this resort to anyone and reviewed it for the purpose of comparison.

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* we are not associated with any resort we review. Our assessments are purely based on our observations, knowledge and experience!

* some of the photos on the display are the property of Sunscape Bavaro Beach Resort, but have been personally confirmed by us for accuracy.

 

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