Stayed in the Iberostar Punta Cana Jan 25 - Feb 1, 2012 and had a very good vacation. Food was very good but after a while the buffet food gets bland because it was always the same. Would have been nice to be able to reserve more of the specialty restaurants, especially since it is never a space issue at the restaurants.

Beach was unbelievably beautiful with blue/green water and fine sand. Could walk for hours back and forward on the waterfront. Pools were also nice and well kept.

Rooom was nice but the bedding could have used an upgrade.

Staff was very accomodating but language was an issue if you didn't speak Spanish, even at the restaurant reservations table it was evident that communication in anything but Spanish is iffy. If you were able to communicate the staff did everything it could to help.

Since this is a European vacation chain, most of the guests are European and one of the things we immediately noticed was the smoking rules are no where near what North Americans are accustomed to. It was impossible to watch a nightly show or be in the bar without being around smokers.

Getting use to seeing topless overwieght seniors or in their speedos also takes some getting used to.

The nightly shows were entertaining but would rate them as high school caliber.

All in all a very good vacation with only a few minor irritants.

It is a bit late fo rmy review but wanted to add it anyway. We traveled in Novembe 2010 over Thanksgiving break. This is a great place to stay if you are travelling with younger kids. There is a lot to do for the youger kids. We were traveling with 10 & 12 year old. The kids were bored since they were in between kids and adults. There isn't much to do for Tweens. The seafood restaurant is only you are a seafood lover. The Asian restaurant was EXCELLENT! our second best restaurant was the Mexican. there is a coral reef just a few feet away from the beach on the side by the kayaks. The staff was great and very friendly. We had the same waitress the entire trip, Juana, she was excellent.

The whole experience was excellent from the staff to the food to the accomodations. There were many vacationers, but it never really felt crowded. Kawana Polanco's team do an excellent job of making us feel welcome and that they are glad to have us staynwith them.

This was our second year in a row staying at the Iberostar Punta Cana.

When we arrived our room was not quite ready. (We arrived at 5 pm.)

We waited about 35 minutes. We were very happy to get the room we had requested in advance. (Ocean front 5247) This room faced the ocean and during our stay the staff trimmed the palm trees in front to give us an excellent view of the ocean and the pool.

Our room had a king sized bed and flat screen tv.
The bed was quite comfortable and the bar fridge was filled daily.
The air conditioning and ceiling fan worked well.

If there was one thing the hotel could improve it is the lighting in the bathroom. We found it rather dark.

The food was ok at the resort, good variety and never hard to get a seat.

We did not have a problem getting a pool side lounger daily. Although I'm an early riser and usually was down at the pool by 7:30 am.

It is difficult getting an al a carte reservation at this resort. Although the buffets are good, my complaint would be there is never any spots left for reservations at the al a cartes. We stayed 1 week and only got to reserve two spots. My advice, (although we did do this) is reserve when you arrive.

The staff are very friendly. (One of the reasons we keep coming back) The star entertainment staff really get the guests going and work extremely hard providing good entertainment.

The weather: This year was mixed. We arrived on a Thursday evening to light showers. It rained for the next 3 days. On two of the days it rained very hard for a few periods. (Not a short misty shower as has been described on reviews before) We only saw the sun a few short time periods from Friday until Sunday. Then the clouds moved off and we had great weather from Monday until we left on Thursday. Daytime highs around 29 C or 84 F. Quite windy every day. Nightime lows around 23 C or 75 F. You did not need a jacket at night.

The beach sand is like talcum powder and the ocean quite warm.

Trip tip: The duty free store on the resort had two bottles of Barcadi White Rum for $ 24. (1 Litre each) This is a better price than the duty free at the airport.