Bavaro (former Korona)

Overall a very good family stay at Barcelo Bavaro Palace beautiful grounds, great pool areas, and comfortable rooms. The only downside was check-in, which took a long time and was a bit frustrating after traveling. Everything after that was smooth, and we’d still recommend it for families.

Our stay was marked by multiple serious issues across the entire property. We encountered major safety hazards, including a broken tile in the pool that injured a baby and a cracked toilet seat that caused an adult to get hurt. The restaurants consistently served low‑quality food—often undercooked, cold, and poorly presented—while the dining areas lacked proper cleanliness. Service throughout the hotel was extremely unprofessional: staff ignored requests, reacted with irritation when concerns were raised, demanded tips to perform basic tasks, and management never showed up despite repeated calls. Even the assigned butler failed to respond and offered only excuses. The spa and other facilities also showed clear signs of neglect and insufficient cleaning. Overall, the experience revealed severe operational failures, poor maintenance, and a complete disregard for guest safety and customer service.

The resort is beautiful and very well mentained. The rooms are a bit run down but nothing too serious. Our biggest issue was the food and the service at the restaurants/buffets. The food was always cold and had no taste. Very bland. The servers were serious and at times looked bothered by our requests and questions. We wouldn’t ask for anything out of this world. Regular requests like, Can we have some silverware? Can we have more water? Can we have some lemonade? Most of them looked like they didn’t want to be there. In one restaurant, we weren’t even asked if we wanted desert.

The bad experience began right at the check in, which was the longest check in I've had to do in my life. We had a junior suite with 2 double beds for for 2 adults and 2 kids. The double beds were extremely small so very uncomfortable for a couple of adults to sleep in. Following this, nobody advised us that the air con couldn't be turned off and we did cause we have kids with asthma. As a result, the room got completely wet and when I asked what was the problem they just told me to turn the air con on again. I did and after waiting for half a day there was no difference. So finally, I had to waste quite some time going from one desk to the next to get it done asap. The quality of the food deserves a chapter in itself. We were a group of 14 and most of us at some point got diarrhea. The buffet has hundreds of options but only a handful of things tasted barely Ok. The restaurants were hardly any better. The place in itself is dirty, the common restrooms are not cleaned frequently enough and several had toilets that didn't flush. Many amenities don't work (the jacuzzi in our second room) or are run down (the catamarans). The Wifi is terrible, being a group of 14 people, we had to communicate via chat and in most of the rooms as well as other key areas like the main pool, the signal is poor to non existent. I have no clue how such a place can have 5 stars. I wouldn't go there again even if it were free.

Excellent experience Luis help with all of my needs at front desk