Lovely hotel, lovely grounds, lovely staff ... shame about the food.
We paid our first visit to the Dominican Republic recently and generally enjoyed our stay, but the food was nowhere near the four Ts rating that Thomson award it or the five stars that some companies profer.
It's sad because the a la carte restaurant at the Royal could be a real dining experience. They try so hard, with the food nicely presented and the staff so attentive, but too often we found the offerings did not match the menu description and sometimes were at a loss to what we were really eating.
We did not try the tapas bar, while the other restaurant on the Royal Bavaro site was basic food of variable quality. The breakfasts were fine and I suggest taking a good fill of these.
At the bigger hotel on the site, the Bavaro, there is a huge restaurant which in many ways resembles a Butlins offering being extremely noisy. There was a vast offering of both cooked and buffet food but much of it was unappetising. We used this area at some lunchtimes but avoided it in the evenings.
Of the four a la carte restaurants on this site we found the American okay with the sirloin steaks the best offering. The Italian was well below standard, the Japanese was always fully booked and we did not try the Mexican, which seemed to be almost empty much of the time.
The main hotel pool was fine if a little cool while we enjoyed our strolls along the sandy beach on a daily basis. There are plenty of loungers here though it was too windy to sit there for most of our stay.
We attended the early entertainment at the Bavaro which featured two excellent Italian singing brothers nightly and a rather strange old Italian guy on a organ. The later entertainment was poor. There was a piano bar player at the Royal but not of any real quality.
We went on the Outback Safari trip with Thomsons and it proved a fun day if a little expensive. Our rep Sonny was a pleasant guy but was called away to another hotel area for much of our trip.
Don't expect a quiet time if you like to lounge by the main Royal Bavaro pool - some of the visitors are extremely loud. There was one large group of some 20-plus from Chicago - both men and women - who screamed at each other across the pool for much of the afternoons. Fortunately they left on the fourth day of our visit. Sadly the management did nothing about them though I understand they fielded a number of complaints.

My husband and I stayed at CRB from February 1st to the 8th. Before I get into more detail I would like to state this resort met all our needs, was exactly as represented, and we would easily consider a return trip.

The resort grounds are stunning although some vegetation requires a few more years to mature. The rooms were very clean, and housekeeping was constantly running in and out throughout the day. Beach/pool towels were typically replaced in the evening, usually around turn-down service (sometimes later). All items (linens, bath towels, refreshments, decorative fresh flowers, etc.) were replaced daily. Our bar fridge was cool at best, even at the coldest setting. No biggie though. We were located in building #36, third floor, closest to the beach, facing the fountains. We also had a partial view of the ocean from our balcony. The décor was lovely, and the bed was very comfortable, our only complaint was the air conditioning. We had it on full blast and the room still felt very warm and humid. On the 2nd day we requested a dehumidifier (as others have posted before in their reviews) and it made a slight improvement. We couldn’t believe the amount of water that was emptied from the unit each day, it was shocking. I think this accounts for the “musty” smell some people mention, but we didn’t really notice that in our unit. Lastly I think it’s important to mention how quiet the units were. Honestly we never heard a thing, other than the odd door closing throughout the day. The villas/rooms really are peaceful.

We found the pool closest to the lobby a little dirty (typical sunscreen grudge and some debris from vegetation), although we did see staff trying to keep it clean. The pool bar is located here, along with plenty of lounge chairs and palapas. They play music at the bar, but it’s very toned down... nothing loud or annoying. Aside from our first day at the resort, we did not return to this pool other than walking by to get to the lobby or Thalassa’s.

We preferred to spend our time at the infinity pool, which in our opinion was much cleaner – but you also got a view of the beach :) There seemed to be fewer lounge chairs here, and the typical “towel games” took place for the covered double loungers very early in the day - typically gone by 7am, some even as early as 3am (you know who you are).

We ate at Cata Tapa, Thalassa, Sea Blue and Mikado. We found the food to be very good for the most part, with the biggest inconsistency being temperature. Sometimes it would arrive nice and hot, other times lukewarm at best. Service was generally friendly and quick, but the odd time lacklustre and slow. The bar staff was excellent, and the quality of drinks very good.

Although very windy, we loved the beach. The royal side was very small (and shallow) compared to the family side, but equally as enjoyable. The staff tried their best to keep the beach clean, and were constantly cleaning up seagrass from the shore. We had two evenings with rain which unfortunately made the ocean very murky the following days. Otherwise it was very clear and calm, even on the windy days. Honestly we were thrilled with the snorkelling at the resort, one day we even spotted a very large starfish (one of the highlights of our trip). We also managed to see stingrays, sea urchins, lionfish, french angelfish, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, blue tangs, and much more! The onsite dive site only rents masks and snorkels though, no fins. In the coming years the reef will mature and attract even more fish.

For those of you in the younger crowd, please note the majority of guests I would say are over the age of 60+. This was not an issue for us (I’m 36 and my husband is 41), as we were seeking a quite resort. If you’re looking for entertainment, casino’s, animation staff, etc. then you might want to look elsewhere or book the family side of the resort. But if you’re seeking a quiet and peaceful vacation, simply for rest and relaxation, this is the resort for you!

Unfortunately during our trip, I happened to have a accident. The infinity pool is surrounded by a floating floor of coral tiles which is supported by metal bars and plastic/resin clips on each corner under the tiles. On the morning of our 5th day, my husband and I were walking to the beach and I happened to fall through one of these tiles. The drop was approximately 12” which resulted in me badly bruising / scratching the bottom of both feet, one ankle and one knee. It was very painful, and I still have some stiffness and residual bruising. Thankfully I was helped by another guest that happened to be a paramedic (thank you Brian) and nearby staff. I was taken to the on-site doctor, cleaned up and given some meds inflammation and pain, along with a tensor bandage for my ankle. Our issue with this whole incident was that the GM didn’t check to see that I was alright once made aware of the accident. We had to go to him, to explain what happened, adding our concern for the safety of the tiles and for others this might happen to. When I fell one of the staff members mentioned that one of the corner brackets was broken, so really it was an accident waiting to happen. To try and smooth things over, we were upgraded for our remaining two nights to one of the 2-story pool villas, given a romantic dinner on the beach and a massage gift certificate.

One thing I will highly recommend, and unfortunately was a direct result of my fall, was the romantic dinner on the beach. It was magnificent, and indeed it was very romantic. You can pick from a variety of set courses, and we choose the beef tenderloin option. The food was by far the best meal we had there, extremely tasty and very plentiful. We lucked out that evening as it didn’t rain and there was a beautiful full moon making the ocean glisten / glow with each breaking wave. It was windy but our little private hut was draped with curtains that blocked most of the wind. Husbands need to take note as you can scores some serious “brownie points” if you decide to book this. This was one of the most romantic evenings we have ever had!

As this review has become a novel of sorts, my only other comment is regarding the lack of a smoking policy. People were smoking everywhere – by the pools, on the beach, during dinner, etc. As non-smokers we prefer properties with a non-smoking policy, with dedicated areas for smokers. I know other resorts do this, but not here. I noticed buildings and areas within the restaurants labelled as non-smoking, but people were still smoking whenever and wherever they wanted – we never noticed staff correcting this.

All-in-all, accident aside, we had a wonderful time and loved CRB (our second Catalonia property).

Reading the reviews before our trip I had trouble understanding how the reviews could be so varied. Having been to the resort I can now understand. Parts of our time (1/12 thru 1/20/12) there were absolutely fabulous and other parts left us scratching our heads and chuckling to ourselves.

The front desk staff was great. We had emailed asking for an upper floor non-smoking room and on check-in they made mention they had received our request and were able to accommodate us. I also watched them process a full bus full of new guest in less than 15 minutes all while making every one of them feel like they were the most important person there.

The bell staff was friendly and very professional. Never did I see them with their hand out or waiting for a tip but they were always appreciative when you showed your appreciation with a few bucks. This was true of all the staff we encountered.

We enjoyed the golf course and the staff at both pro shops. Juan was very helpful with making tee times for us at the 18-hole course and we enjoyed visiting with him. A real gentleman. A crew of a half dozen or so was hand aerating the greens will we were playing. They would stand aside while we played up. When my wife chipped one in from about 50 feet off the green I don’t know was more excited them or her. I do wish they would have had golf balls with a logo on them but no problem.

We only had trouble with chair hogs on two of the days and only at the pool with the swim up bar.

We were in room 3841 which is the north-east corner of the non-smoking building. The room was nice with plenty of storage space. We did have a musty smell once or twice but it cleared quickly when we opened the doors. We did lose power one night and water for a couple of minutes one day. Hot water was plentiful. The room attendant service was all over the board. Some days were good and some bad. The only thing consistent was the room was never attended to until after 4:00. Then she’d be back around 6:30 to turn the beds down. It sure seems like a waste. Why not just combine the two visits. Getting pool towels for the next day was always an adventure also. The mini bar is also a bit of a misnomer. We did need to call maintenance twice to address problems with our safe. The first time was kind of freaky, in a good way. I called the front desk and before I could sit down there was a knock on the door and they were there with fresh batteries. The guy must have been standing outside our door because it didn’t take him but 20 seconds to get there.

We had no complaints with the bar service at the beach or the infinity pool but at the other pool it was a different story. There were times I saw the pool attendants come around twice before the bar wait staff came around once and when they did they sometimes wouldn’t bring your drink back. Smiles and cash didn’t seem to help. It was easier to get up and get a beer myself.

The restaurants were the biggest disappointment, especially Thalassa. The first couple of mornings the service was good but the food so-so. To make scrambled eggs they would crack two eggs on the grill, cook them a couple of minutes, flip them, cook them another couple of minutes, and then chop them up and try to scramble them. Other mornings we found empty bins of bacon and hash browns that never seemed to get refilled. The last morning we went to the family side and found we should have taken all of our breakfast there. They knew how t make an omelet, scramble eggs, and their food bins were attended to. The service at Thalassa was another problem that didn’t change from breakfast to dinner. (We didn’t try lunch) More than once we were seated and got up and left after not being waited on or even acknowledged after 20 minutes. I could maybe understand it if they were busy but they weren’t. Rather than complain it was easier to get up and walk to a different restaurant or skip breakfast. Our meal at the Italian restaurant was probably the best followed by the Japanese. We found the Mexican restaurant food bland but the workers tried hard to make it a nice experience. The steak house staff also tried hard but the best steak I had wouldn’t measure up to the local Sizzler/Ponderosa. We did enjoy the SeaBlue restaurant although their menu is limited.

At the end of the day we probably wouldn’t come back here but I wouldn’t discourage others from visiting. We just felt it didn’t measure up to other AI in the same price range that we’ve visited.

Upon arriving at the hotel a readily available amount of friendly staff greet and meet you with cocktails, similarly once you have attained your room key a bell boy service will drop you off at your villa - once there your luggage will follow as it is a country where tipping is expected a couple of dollars for a tip for this service will not let you down.
For food lunch would be the sea blue an excellent grill restaurant during the lunch time, for buffet the thalassa has everything from a continental to a vegetarian and also includes cooked foods orders are taken from the tables again the standard of food is always beyond reproach and the staff always available for refills on drinks, dinner has three options - thalassa has wide selection of meals ranging from pasta to steak, sea blue becomes a steak, chicken and fish grill and the tapas has a good selection - also to consider if staying on this side (18+) you have access to the restaurants of the bavaro recommended come the American grill and Mexican which are behind the drama and show stage. Finally the room service cleanliness of the pools and they upkeep where amazing. Cannot fault the staff, service or the experience a destination worth while!!