This trip was myself and my partner, both 24; my mom who is 54 and her friend who is in her 40's.
We booked our trip with Apple Vacations before we read any reviews. After we read the reviews we were a little worried, but figured that many of these people must just be picky, and never satisfied. After all, we have been on many other vacations that we LOVED, yet we still met people that were not happy. Let me tell you, the bad reviews are true. We waited 4 hours to get into our hotel room, and many people from our flight waited even longer. Someone from our flight ended up taking the keys from the front desk and handing them out to us. For whatever reason, they had most of the envelopes with keys and everything on the desk, but would not hand them out to us. I believe some rooms were still not ready and they did not want to anger some people by only handing out some keys. We had two rooms total, and both had issues. One room the air conditioning was leaking onto the bathroom floor, but it worked great so we didn't bother complaining. We also found a large cockroach in this room. The other room the A/C did not work at all, and it took 2 days to get it fixed. Even after if was fixed, it barely worked and was very noisey.

The food was OK. We were not able to get reservations for the restaurants until the 2nd day since the reservations desk closes at 3PM, well after we finally were checked into our room. Luckily my mom's friend wakes up very early so we had reservations for every other day. We loved the Japanese restaurant, and most other restaurants were pretty good as well. The mexican restaurant was the worst. I was already starting to feel sick at that point, and then after a few bites of the mexican I had to go back to the room and lay down. The food at the buffet was usually pretty good. The drinks were awful. There is hardly any alcohol to choose from, unlike other all-inclusive resorts we have stayed at. Even non-alcoholic drinks are hard to come by, unless all you drink is soda. There is no orange juice (just some orange drink, like Hi-C) or any juices at all for that matter. The margaritas at this place are the worst too. The worst food was at the beach, which is the Brazilian restaurant turned into a buffet for lunch. There is a guy cooking hamburgers, but no cheese, and hot dogs that dont taste like hot dogs at all. There is pizza available by the pool available 24 hours, but that was usally pretty bad too....if you could even get some. This one spanish couple went up in front of us the one night, and litterally finished off the 4 pizzas that were sitting up there. They completely filled their plate with every piece of pizza that they could fit, not leaving any for anyone else. We finally just left after waiting 10 minutes for more pizza to come out.

The staff was very rude, at least to us who didn't speak spanish very well. The spanish speaking people always received the best service, especially at the bars. it takes forever to get a drink at the bar, mainly at the pool bar. There is usually only one bartender running the whole thing and he always helps the spanish speaking people first. The waitors at the breakfast buffet were always being smart. When my mom's friend would ask for a little cream in her coffee, they would litterally get one drip in and walk away. The first time it was funny, but by the last day she finally took the carafe from him and poured it herself.

The beach was gorgeous, except on the 2nd to last day there was some type of oil spill, i guess from one of the many boats that fly past all day, and it had made its way up the beach. I saw it when i first went in the water, and stayed away from it, but later forgot about it and it got all over me. It smelled awful. Another couple we met complained about the same thing that day. Also the vendors parading the beach make it hard to enjoy. They will stand right in front of you rambling on about whatever and won't leave you alone. There was one vendor that kept shouting at the top of his lungs for parasailing. Imagine someone standing right in front of you, shouting for the whole beach to hear.

One nice thing about our vacation was that we met some very nice people. We met some people from our own area, as well as a family from Michigan and a nice couple our own age from Canada. We even met a nice couple from Germany, and few people from Italy. After reading the reviews I was surprised how many english-speaking people we met. By far the highlight of the trip was that i won $170 from the resort's casino....at least it made me feel a little better about the trip. All said and done, i will never stay at a Barcelo resort again, and most likely will not return to the Dominican Republic either. We had a much better time in Mexico.

We were incredibly happy with our stay at this resort. The beach is beautiful (every morning, workmen are out there cleaning up the seaweed) and incredibly safe (there were always security personnel on the beach patroling the resort, in a very non-intrusive way that made us feel safe) and the grounds of the resort were lovely.

We ate almost every meal at the buffet and with a little tipping of our favorite server, we were treated like royalty. The food was fresh and delicious. And we absulutely loved topping off every meal at the cafe with a little cafe con leche or cafe dominicano.

Our room was clean, more than sufficiently air-conditioned, the bathroom immaculate and our little terrace had a beautiful view of the beach. We tipped the cleaning lady generously as well and she was very attentive to our needs. We booked through Apple Vacations and our Apple rep was also incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and helpful throughout our stay (our travel with Apple from take-off to check-in and back was very easy, reliable and without a hitch).

The "negatives" concerning our trip are as follows:

-- It is VERY HUMID there, so, even with our room thermostat set at 75, it felt FREEZING in our room. Everything would stay damp and our luggage had what we now call a "damp Punta Cana" smell when we returned to the States. The floor (a nice Carribbean tile) was wet practically the whole time we were there because of the humidity (but the maids mop the floors in every room and in the hallways every day) -- I guess in a 5-star the rooms would come with a de-humidifier.

-- It is true (based on some earlier reviews) that when you call the front desk sometimes you're transferred around and the phone keeps ringing and ringing.

-- The buffet did sometimes see some flies around the food. But not like a lot. Like if you're having a picnic or something...it's al fresco dining, so what do you expect?

-- We only ate 1 meal not at the buffet, we went to the Spanish restaurant. There are 2 reservation shifts and then one "open" seating shift. We did the open seating and the other tourists were such jerks about everything, literally pushing & shoving to get a table -- the restaurant should have invited people in, table by table; instead we were literally CURSED at by some of the other tourists just because we were at the front of the line...

-- Which brings me to 1 MAJOR NEGATIVE: The OTHER TOURISTS, who seemed to want to be just fundamentally unhappy. We were having such a lovely honeymoon-style vacation and everywhere we turned, there was some irate dissatisfied person. My conclusion (and I work in the tourism industry in New York City as a licensed sightseeing guide), is that people are often on their WORST BEHAVIOR while on vacation and don't seem to know how to take things in stride.

-- The gift shop is cash-only and there was only 1 cash machine on the whole property and it was actually right OUTSIDE the entrance. It was broken for a day or two, right when we needed cash, so we had to walk about 10 minutes to another cash machine. This wasn't actually all that bad since it was a beautiful walk along the beach to El Cortecito, a little fishing/shopping village.

A couple other things we read in the reviews that proved to be true:

-- A little Spanish goes a LONG way! My husband is fluent in Spanish and I'm pretty good. if this were not the case, I don't know how we would have fared.

-- Tipping will indeed get you what you need. Not satisfied with the level of service? Encourage them with a buck or 2 (or a Euro or 2, or 100 Dominican pesos).

Overall, however, our experience was WAY BEYOND POSITIVE. I just put these negatives in there so others would know what to look out for and so they know that a lot of the outlandish claims of horrible conditions at this resort, at least from our perspective, seem to be blown WAY out of proportion. Everybody should also know: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER OUT OF YOUR FAUCET (I think this is why so many people, according to the reviews, seem to get sick); it's fine for brushing your teeth and know that all the water served at the resort (including the ice cubes) is SAFE, it's just the faucets you should not drink out of...just be smart and keep a positive outlook and you'll have a FABULOUS VACATION!!!!!!

A couple other "stats" 'n' things: We are a 30-something couple from New York City who travel a great deal with 4 & 5-star accommodations, though this is our first experience with an "all-inclusive". We would not recommend this resort to people who want a quiet honeymoon. We like to party (dance, listen to loud music, etc.), so we felt very at home here, but if we were the quiet type, I don't think we would have felt as comfortable as we did.

Either way, enjoy your vaycay!!!

Where do I begin? Apple rates this resort 4 star, it barely makes 1. From the beginning, we requested and were told there would be a portable bed available for us since there were 3 of us to 1 room. Not true. We had to pay a 270.00 upgrade to get a "suite" w/a third cot (not a bed). The suite, 10X12, had a serious leak and bubble in the tiles above the tub in ceiling of the bathroom which we thought at any time would collapse, the safe was broken and we had to carry everything with us at all times, the one time I forgot a bracelet my father gave me on the bathroom sink I came back from the beach only to have it missing. I was sick! I told the manager (same one complained about the safe to) about the theft and he asked why we didn't use our safe??!! No apology, nothing! The sliding glass door to our room would not lock, we notified the front desk of all of this 3 times and finally gave up. The maid would only give us 2 bottles of each, water, soda, beer per day. There were 3 of us in the room. No unlimited anything! The food in every area was horrible. Buffets were fly infested (horribly)and food was undercooked. Lost power and water during the 24 hour storm. Obtaining a drink at any of the 4 bars was near impossible. Minimum of 20 people at all times waiting for service from the 1 bartender per bar. Drinks were horribly watered down. All three of us had the same complaints. We're not picky or like some people can be. I'm perfectly happy with a bologna sandwich and a tent on the beach. It's just that we all agreed that the only, ONLY, thing we enjoyed about this trip was each others company and support given the mess we'd gotten ourselves into. We've all traveled w/Apple before and had marvelous trips! I love Apple and their staff who are very professional and so friendly. But this trip, this place...was terrible! So very very disappointed!!!

After reading the varied reviews, and having already booked our "dream vacation" it was with mixed trepidation that I anticipated our vacation at Barcelo` Dominican Republic. This is a totally honest review by someone who considers "roughing it" a hotel with out room service".
Coming from the USA, and going into a country who's national language is Spanish; my family and myself "brushed up" on minimal phrases and terminaogy. After reading "most" of the reviews, I also "braced" myself for staff that was "rude" and "uncaring". What I experienced was anything but that. Friends had advised me that since our check in time was at 3:00, to pack our swim suits to enjoy the day before we could check in; and we did just that. Upon arriving at the airport, we found our apple represenative was very easy to find. He directed us to our airconditioned bus; and our transition from the airport to our resort was very easy and stress free. Upon arriving to the resort, we found that the staff was very nice; and pre- checked us in- and invited us to enjoy the facilites while our rooms were being prepared. We found that if you attempted "some spanish" that most of the staff was more than willing to meet you more than 1/ 2 way. We encountered a small wrinkle the first night being given an older room in the 4th building - the room was older - no lock on the safe, the blow dyer didn't work - and the mattresses were lumpy and old - but it was rectified the next day - so not a real issue. We were then given a lovely room in the 7th building on the third floor. Very very nice. On the whole - I have to give HUGE kudos to the grounds keepers who manually kept the grounds, beach and walk ways pristine at all times - even during tropical storm Kay. While down there - we experienced a severe tropical storm. It was one day of rain - in which, the staff had "rainiy day" acititives to keep the guest amused. Big kudos to them for that. The beach was nice and well kept. Not sure why other guests did not enjoy - but we sure did. The only annoying issue was the vendors who were allowed to roam the beach in order to make a buck. To be fair, the security guards were very watchful; and if it appeared that someone was not wanting to be pestered, they shooed the "vendor" away. Small bad point - the beach bar was never stocked well - it ran out of ice, water and soda before 11:00 am every day. Also - the bartenders who worked this bar catered mainly to the spanish speaking guests only. Everyone else had to wait - a very long time - to be served. Best bar in the complex? Hands down - the main pool bar - the main bartenders Armando and Antonio are the best. They run the top side and the pool side to perfection. They were always stocked with everyting and were plesent to everyone - even the really drunk 18+ year olds..... As far as the food. My family and I are not really picky; and found something to eat no matter what. I would say, If I had to complain about anything, it is that limited ability to get a 7:00 or 8:00 pm reservation at any of the resturants. The best dinner we experienced was the Brazilian. The most mediore was the Mexican. The buffett was not bad at all. Very nice breakfast and lunches for all 8 days. As far as our experiences with the staff - they went out of their way to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. I will admit that we tipped a buck or two here or there for the bartenders and our maid - but we always had our room fridge stocked to the gills and our drinks were plentyful and our service was quick. Speaking of our room fridge - small tiny issue- but as an FYI - you CAN NOT get diet coke in your room. If your are a diet coke fanatic as I am - get over it or pay for it at the gift shop - which is my only real beef with the entire complex. The entire 8 days we were there - the visa/mc machine at the gift shop was out of order - leading me to believe that they just wanted american dollers - AND be prepared - if you want to buy a 20 oz diet coke - it's going to be $2.75 ea american money. It is what it is. All in all, we had a fantastic vacation. The staff is nice, the people you meet are nice, the food is okay; and the grounds are pristine. It is after all only a 4 apple resort - so you get what you pay for. I would highly recommend the apple trip to Saona Island - it was the highlight to our vacation - and really worth the $$! For pictures, please feel free to go to flickr.com and see my Punta Cana Pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27701746@N06/?find=cmarano21%40verizon.net. Also - huge kudos to our apple representative Santos who was very interested in making sure that our vacation was everyting we wanted it to be. If you are on an apple vacation - and don't tell your rep any issues you are experiencing - shame on you - they are very willing to make everyting as wonderful as possible.
Would I go back again - you betcha - I absolutely hated to leave. Would I recommend this resort - again - you bectcha. All I can say to those of you who had a bad time - you did not make the most of your vacation - and you only looked for the bad - which is what you would do no matter where you went. If you go with an open mind - and the idea tha you are going to have a good time - you will. If you are looking for things to condem - I am sure you will find them. One piece of advice for the latter group of people - stay home - and quit writing those bad reviews- you ruin several good nights sleep for those of us who can find the good and fun in whatever we do.