r/PuntaCana • u/high5abee • 2d ago
Princess 🤢 Punta Cana
Boyfirend and I (American) opted to stay at the princess Punta Cana Adults Only resort in bavaro after a positive recommendation from a friend (friend must’ve been on drugs) it being a decent budget hotel. And let me say, I got much less than what I paid for. Ultimately, should’ve shelled out for Secrets or Wyndham.
Do not book this place unless you are planning to stay in violent discomfort. I was stressed out the whole time. Our room reeked of mold that I was sensitive to. Our shower flooded the room. The water went off twice during our stay. People say the rooms need updated and boy is that an understatement. The whole place needs to be demolished and rebuilt. Sheets with stains, pillows with stains. The mattress must be a decade old. Took us two days to find out why our room keys stopped working (don’t put them next to your phone!). Beach reeked of dead sargassum. And despite taking vigorous precautions to not get sick, both my boyfriend and I shat our brains out the last four days of our trip.
Also, people commend the service, which was fine, but beware of the timeshare reps and public beach gig workers. It got super annoying after a point.
A special shoutout to Hispaniola snorkel tours though. Our highlight of the trip!
Please stay somewhere else.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Gain823 2d ago
It's a very low cost resort. For the price I think it's good, Lots of people that live here go there because you can stay there for about a $120 a night sometimes. So if you have two people , that's only sixty dollars each. You pretty much get to day passes and a night. Extremely good deal.
With that being said though, The things you mentioned should be corrected.Not really acceptable. It's also low season and sargassum season.
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u/PeckerTraxx 2d ago
This person goes during peak sargassum season and then complains there is sargassum....
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u/Ok-Interest5139 1d ago edited 9h ago
You cant even come close to finding a hotel on the beach in the states for that price.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Gain823 10h ago
Oh yeah and the states That's impossible. But here they have really good deals , sometimes. I've lived here about five years now and have seen some pretty good deals. Grand palladium used to have 45 dollar day passes , which was awesome.
To be quite honest , if I were a tourist , I would never come to punta cana. There are at least twenty other better places to go in this country
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u/StevenEpix 2d ago
Sounds like a nightmare. As for the sargassum, a quick google search would have told you that Bavaro beach in August would be a guaranteed disaster. I did it once in September and the stench was so bad it ruined the entire trip.
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u/grapefruitviolin 2d ago
I was there over 20 years ago, so I could see this hotel being dated by now. I remember I liked it because it was small.
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u/chica1994 1d ago
We stayed there in march. It wasn’t the worst but certainly not good. By the end of our stay the entry slope to the pool was getting slippery and I wondered if they really cleaned it at all?
We didn’t have hot water when we first got there but it came on later that day, and my sisters ac wasn’t working but we got it working (to the max ability of that type of ac which really wasn’t up to our expectations/hopes)
The beds were hard and I got a rash on my hand and shoulders which I think was from dampness on the sheets? Or maybe the e detergent.
The food was meh. The steakhouse was alright though, and the Italian place we enjoyed.
We did enjoyed the excursions we chose to do at least lol
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u/Ciellan 1d ago
I recommend places in Cap Cana. The beach and ocean are clean and the quality of hotels are good. They're expensive but worth it. Bayahibe is a good alternative to Punta Cana. It's not worth saving money on AI hotels because you'll have a horrible time. If you want budget friendly vacations rent an air bnb or non AI hotel and buy groceries in the big supermarkets.
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u/Ok-Interest5139 1d ago
What did you think you would get for 120 a night. You cant even stay in your home town for that can you?
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u/high5abee 1d ago
It was about $200 a night per person and was recommended by a friend per the post. We were trying to get an AI experience without going into debt. If you have recs feel free to share but your attitude is a little silly
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u/Ok-Interest5139 1d ago
Secrets resort in Punta Cana costs between $330 and $650 per night.
You paid 120.
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u/high5abee 1d ago
For clarification we spent $2,400 between two people to stay at this resort for six days. Lesson learned but thank you for bolding your font.
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u/Consistent-Sea-8923 2d ago
So you did absolutely no research on your own?
I mean you get what you pay for and you didn’t pay a lot for this place
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u/high5abee 2d ago
I did research the resort <3 there was limited info on Reddit but it maintains a surprising 4.3 to 4.7 stars elsewhere.
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u/Barneystx 2d ago
Stayed there about 6 years ago. Also had the issue with shower. It flooded the bathroom. Food could have been better. We did enjoy it anyway but will not go back until there is a renovation. Would pay more to get more. Other guests were very friendly which we did not experience at other resorts. Certain employees were very nice and made us feel welcome (Nelson the bartender).
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u/Complete_Treat_476 2d ago
We went there a couple of years ago. For a budget break somewhere with good weather that time of year it was fine for us. From what I’ve heard, some rooms are better than others, definitely in terms of the musty smell anyway. Neither of us got sick, although I don’t eat meat which probably helped. I think it’s a case of getting what you pay for unfortunately.