It would appear the majority of the negative comments are due to the Spanish speaking Dominicans not being totally fluent in American. Not many Canadians or Americans at this resort mostly Europeans. Food was very good at the Royal Suites resturants the swim up rooms are some of the nicest rooms anywhere in the world. Lobster was avialable to Royal suite guests at any of the other resturants and was very good and would be grilled anyway you asked for it. The resort is adults only and there were never any issues with children the beach is private with security guards. Nice touches were the personal pizzas and fruits brought to you on the beach. The only time I had to get a drink in two weeks there was when I wanted to get up and get one pool and beach service was the best I have seen. Service for us was mostly good however we do have limited knowledge of Spanish and that help quite a bit. We will definitely return.

Went with 2 other couples - each of us had different rooms, us new section standard king room, the others in new section swim up - Very Nice! and the other couple in a king room in the old section by the pool. The new section is quiet and hotter during the day as it gets less wind off the ocean. The swim up room is a great upgrade - same as ours inside but a lovely deck off the back right into the pool.

So this place is hard to pin down rating wise... The rooms are modern and large, nice furniture, nice modern lobby and the grounds are gorgeous. The beach area is outstanding, especially compared to the other resorts within the palladium complex. Lots of palm trees and tiki umbrellas, loungers and beds - one of the best beaches I've seen at any resort. Usually I lay by the pool, but the beach was the place to be. As for the pool - it was on the cold side. Weather was good, mid 80's sunny everyday, and standing in the pool at the swim up bar was way too cold for me. The Palace pool next door was warmer, but dilapidated in spots.

The staff service was good and bad. Max who checked us in was fantastic and a few other servers were great other than that, rough! Huge language barrier. I called to use the pillow menu 3 times, I was hung up on, then transferred to the wrong person, then I think transferred again to the wrong person because when I tired to order a pillow the man replied " No, pizza, hamburger, fries." I think he thought I wanted room service?? This went on for quite a while. So we never took advantage of the pillows, but my friends said the down pillow was great!
The butlers are non existent. Very tough to make a reservation, as they make them for you. They are only at the desk for a couple hours in the morning to do this, yet ours was rarely seen. We called the extension as the note on the desk advised, only to be hung up on. Another time they spoke some quiet low gibberish and hung up. We called another time and the woman said they were having a "briefing" and to call back in 10 minutes, meanwhile we could hear them watching tv in their little room. We stood around in the boiling heat, called back no answer. We eventually abandoned all hope of using the building 53 service so we'd track down a building that had a butler. Make all your reservations the first morning, as they do fill up. The Mexican Restaurant was good, and the Royal Gourmet was pretty good too. Otherwise I wasn't very impressed with the food. Everything kind of tastes the same, they must put the same seasoning spice in everything?? Veggies were low quality, and surprisingly the fruit wasn't that great either. I lived on bread and meat essentially.
All six of us agreed it wasn't the best food compared to other resorts, with the exception of some good meals of course!
The Japanese show dinner is great too.

The spa is gorgeous - worth going to!

So it was an average experience, the look of the place and beach is 5 star but the service and food is not 5 star. Between the 3 of us there were inconsistencies, margarita pizza from room service was different every night, sometimes delicious, other times gross. Once it never arrived at all. Our breakfast from room service was utterly terrible, our friends had a decent one, so who knows!

I guess for the price of an all inclusive you can't expect the world, but compared to other all inclusive resorts this isn't the ultimate.

My husband and I just returned from six days at this resort. Overall, I would give it a 3.5 of 5. There are some aspects which in our opinion prevent it from being the truly end resort it wants to be.
HIGHS-
The Property- the grounds are lovely, wonderfully landscaped and maintained and very clean. I hardly saw a loose paper floating about. It is a former cocounut plantation so there are tons of palm trees and greenery. The beach is truly beautiful; white sand, turquoise water and tons of huts with shade, as well as hammocks. The suite rooms are very spacious with nice terraces. Tons of pools with abundant chairs, beds, and huts.
The weather- Excellent. Low 80s in the day, but always a balmy breeze and warm at night in 70s.
Things to do: We did the swim with Dolphins at Dolphin Explorer and it was awesome. An unforgettable experience.
Spa- very nice. Had a great couples massage with jacquzzi.
LOWS-
Service- The service was average overall and at times poor. In general there is a lack of attention to detail and an unwillingness to put in any extra effort for guests. We heard a lot of we don't, we can't, or sorry no. For example, I was told at midnight that I couldn't order a bottle of water with my room service pizza and had a call a different number for beverages. When I did call that number it just rang and rang continuously. People would come to take our order at dinner and then look as if they'd forgotten something and leave without saying a word and reappear 5 min later. I saw a guest ask for coffee at a bar to be told there was none until later in the day, but then 5 min ltr noticed one of the staff pouring himself a cup! The bar nearest our room was out of rum cream-our favorite nightcap- for over two days and never oh we'll get it for you or it will be coming tomorrow. Just no don't have it. We were supposed to be able to customize our mini-bar but it took 3 phone calls & a personal visit to the butler to get two bottles of tonic water. Over the course of a few days these combined experiences proved frustrating.
Food- I will put out the disclaimer that I live in the NYC metro area in a very varied and competitive restaurant scene, and have a high standard for good food. Nonetheless, we found the food to be extremely average. Most dishes were either bland or over salted to the point of almost being inedible. It seemed that the same brick of mashed potatoes was on every plate. Best bets were breakfast at the Royal Gourmet or some of the items like the cheese and hams on the evening appetizer buffets.
So basically, if you are looking for a lovely spot, good weather, and have a high tolerance for food and service missteps, you'll be fine. However, for the money, I think there are better high end options on other islands. This is my third time to DR and food and service have been a pervasive disappointment.

Lets just say, dont listen to the people who rate this place with a bad review, they obviously cannot be properly pleased anywhere they go.

Everything about this place is spectacular, the swim up rooms are beautiful, everything in the rooms are marble and clean. The food was very good, lots of restaurants to pick from. We really liked the French restaurant which is only available to The Royal suites guests. We also ate alot at Las Torres, Breakfast was really good. The pool and bar area are very nice, hard to get a lounge chair as people get up at 5am to throw their towels and sandals on them. This is the same anywhere you go though. the beach is private to the royal suites so its very nice. The gardens are clean and tidy. Gardeners are out there every day cleaning them up.

The butler service is great, Our butler was there every day and night, some people say that they never see theirs. Our room was restocked daily with food and drinks.
The price was well worth it, do not listen to the bad reviews trust me.

We will be back in the folllowing years.