Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana

We visited the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana in January 2020. We had a fantastic time! -the staff are fantastic! We were upgraded to a presedential suite upon arrival and the room was large, spacaious and beautiful. We were greeted off the bus with bell boys who labelled our bags and took them right to our rooms. We were then greeted inside the large beautiful lobby with champagne. - our rooms were ready immediatley and we were shown the way by another staff member. We were on the first floor in a corner room on building 5b. The location was perfect, it took less then 2 minutes to walk to the central pool and beach. And less then 5 minutes to get back to the main lobby for entertainment, shopping and resturants. -the food was fantastic. Our group of 7 didnt have any complaints.We tried most of the A la Carte resturants, along with Ciao which is the temporary main buffet while Marketplace is being renovated. We also enjoyed the Pizza resturant for lunch, it was the best pizza in the resort. We also ordered room service several times and were never dissapointed. The service was quick and the food was always fresh. - the bartenders were so cheerful and friendly. They all made really great drinks and kept everyone smiling. The bartenders in the resturants at night were equally as great. We were also served by the floating waitresses around the pool and the beach. There was always someone filling your drink as soon as you were empty. We never felt like we needed to tip to receive good service, we were treated great either way! -Rooms were cleaned every morning by 9:30am, sheets and towels were changed each day and we never had any issues with having enough towels, the maid always left lots. -We attended the time share meeting which lasted a little longer then they promised but the sales rep we got was really nice and gave us lots of tips about the resort, we were promised 3 excursions and even though we did not buy into the time share we still received the excursions with no issues. We chose the Off Riders which was so much fun! It takes about 2 hours start to finish and you visit a farm where coffee is made and they tell you how the coffee is made and give you free samples. After the 5 minute presntation you are able to purchase items. They dont put any pressure on you to buy anything but are willingto to help if you want something. After the farm you go down to a local beach which was nice, but it was really windy so the waves were really bad. They bring photographers to the entire excusrion they take pictures and offered us little family photo shoots on the beach. The pictures turned out really nice and we purchased them after and combined 2 families together and for 190 photos for $120. They did a really great job on the pictures and they were emailed to us right away! We also did the dolphin and snorkeling excursion. This one was ok. It was a cool experience to get to swim with the dolphins but it isn't something any of us would want to do again. During the interactions we all felt bad about working the dolphins os hard. The grounds are kept really nice here and there is a little pool and huge splash pad you can use after, as well as a little ourdoor snack shack you can get food. The food was decently priced and was really good. Be prepared for outrageous prices on the photos and they are really strict about not taking your phone for your own photos. They provide lockers for your to keep towels (that you need to bring from the hotel. towels are NOT provided and cost $30 to purchase). We were offered a photo package for $375 before we even got into the pool with the dolphins and we turned it down. After we were done we went inside and they still wanted $300 for the photos or $40 each picture you wanted. We didn't enjoy the excursion enough to pay that much. For not being able to take your own pictures they charge WAY too much. The snorkeling was ok, it was a really rainy and windy day so there wasn't alot to see. They also pack so many people on the boat there is barely enough standing room for everyone. They offered beer and fruit kabobs and ham and cheese sandwhiches on the boat for no extra cost. The guides of both excursions were both really excellent. Especially the off riders guide he was great! We had a third excursion booked the Slingshots but unfortunatley we werent able to go as 2 people in our group for sick with a cold. -We also rented a gold cart for a few days so we could tour around the resort and check everything out. It was money well spent for us and the kids loved it. There isnt alot of parking for the carts but we just parked off to the side on the grass somewhere and no one seemed to complain. It was $90USD per day to rent the carts. - The beach is beautiful and huge. Unfortunatley it was quite windy while we were there so the ocean was really rough. They had red flags up 6 our of 7 days we were there and one day the flag was yellow. The lifeguards on duty at the beach are really attentive to what is going on in the water. We watched them have to resccue someone who got pushed out to far in the waves and was to exhausted to come in. They had both men out in a matter of 2 minutes. There are people walking up and down the beach selling cigars, jewellery, sunglasses ect. They are willing to come down a little on price, but also dont bug you if you tell them you are not intersted. We talked to a few of them and they were really friendly. We also got our daughters hair bradied, it was a little pricey we talked her down to $60 each but she did a really good job. -the kids pool has 2 waterslides and a splash pad. Both are really well kept and have lifeguards. There is also a bar and little food shack that has french fries, chicken nuggets and nachos with cheese. We spent most of our time at the main pools, there were tons of lounge chairs we never had any issues getting a spot to sit and the kids enjoyed the large pools they could walk all around and touch everywhere. They also had a bar and floaring waitresses to get you drinks. They also have food, french fries, chicken nugget, burges, nachos, and curl fries. All were really good. On the weekends they have a BBQ and champagne bar also. We didnt try the BBQ because the line up was always so long but it smelt really good! -The entertainment staff do a really great job keeping everything having fun. They have different activites all day long so there is always something going on they do a pretty good job including adults and kids in everything they do. -we also tried out laser tag and the virtual reality games with the kids. The kids loved both but we had to pay extra for those activities. -We used the resort credits for a massage and the spa was really beautiful. We paid $53 for the massage after using the credits. It's worth using these credits in the spa, we didn't really see anywhere else to use them. We overall had a really good time and will !00% be back to visit again! Read less

We have stayed at Bavaro twice in two different resorts, the resorts were fine, but the casinos are bad, old machines and tables. Also dancing girls later in the night (who cares??) If you like to gamble take a taxi to to the Hard Rock, best casino there. Modern slots, tables, and big. Also, the lobby there is fun, shops and lots of rock and roll memorbilia. Really fun, they do a great job, good service too. Read less