Royalton Bavaro Resort: A Punta Cana Family All-Inclusive Review

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Just to be clear from the start: this is a review of the all-inclusive Royalton Bavaro in Punta Cana — not the nearby sister properties, Royalton Punta Cana or Royalton Splash Punta Cana.

It’s surprisingly easy to mix them up. We found out the hard way when we tried to meet a friend at the swim-up bar, only to discover that we were at different Royalton resorts in Punta Cana.

Royalton Bavaro Resort Review

Would I recommend this resort for families?

Yes! We’ve visited Royalton Bavaro Resort twice with our teenage kids and both times had a great experience. It’s a family-friendly, all-inclusive resort that also caters well to younger children.

Like any resort, it comes with its pros and cons. What works well for one family might not for another, depending on your family’s preferences.

In this review, I’ll walk you through the resort’s main features of the resort to help you decide if this is the right all-inclusive family resort for your next vacation.

Where is Royalton Bavaro located?

Royalton Bavaro is located on Bavaro beach, on the east coast of the Dominican Republic. “Bavaro” is pronounced “Ba-ba-row” in Spanish, and the beach is considered to be one of the nicest in the country. The resort is about a 30-minute drive from the Punta Cana International Airport.

Most bookings at Royalton Bavaro include round-trip airport transportation, arranged via the hotel. A van was waiting for the four of us when we arrived, easy and convenient, and it should be just as hassle-free for you.

Check-In

There are different check-in lobbies depending on which section you’re staying in. For standard rooms, check-in takes place at the main lobby.

If you are a Diamond Club guest, be sure to let the porter know as soon as you arrive (don’t wait in the main check-in line).

They’ll drive you to the Diamond Club lobby, located on the other side of the resort for a separate check-in.

Resort Layout

The resort is a beautiful mid-sized property, not overwhelming like massive resorts, but large enough to offer a good variety of amenities and places to explore.

The main lobby is in an open-air circular building at the front of the resort. Here, you’ll also find: the main buffet; many of the restaurants; a coffee and ice cream shop; the gym; a spa; and most of the action in the evenings, including the main stage for nightly shows.

Most of the rooms are located away from the main lobby, on either side of the lazy river, kiddie pool, & two main pools closer to the beach.

Since the Royalton Bavaro is a smaller resort, there are no golf carts or trolleys to shuttle guests around. Our teens loved having the freedom to explore on their own, while still being close enough that they never felt far from us.

Choosing A Room For Your Family

When researching resorts, one major deciding factor for us is the room layout, especially for a family of four (two adults, two kids). When the kids are younger, it’s easy to share a room with two double beds, since you’ll want to be near them. But as they get older, everyone starts to want a bit more space.

At Royalton Bavaro, we’ve stayed in both the Family Suite and the Presidential One-Bedroom Suite. Both worked really well for our family.

Family Suite

The Family Suite is really just one large room with a king bed and a pull-out double sofa, separated by a sliding door. It’s a good-sized room, with lots of drawers to put away your clothes, and did the trick the first time we stayed there.

I’d definitely recommend it if your kids are younger and you want some separation at night. That way you can watch TV or unwind while they are sleeping.

Presidential One-Bedroom Suite – Ideal For Families of Four or More

I know, it sounds fancy and expensive.  On our second trip, we took advantage of a great room promo and booked a Presidential One-Bedroom Suite. All of us agreed that this layout worked much better for our family of four.

It could also work for a family of five and there are also two-bedroom Presidential Suites for larger groups.

You walk into what became our teens’ space: a room with a bar area (with stools and a mini-fridge); a table and chairs; a balcony, and a double pull-out couch where the kids slept.

What really sealed the deal was that the kids also had their own bathroom, a game-changer if you have teens. This instantly brought a sense of calm and relaxation to our vacation!

The room has a door to the main bedroom, which is massive, featuring a king bed, another pull-out couch, a secondary balcony, and a ginormous bathroom that also serves as a walk-in closet.

If needed, you can request a cot that would easily fit in either room.

If your kids like to stay up late and you want to go to sleep, this room setup is ideal. The teens could hang out and be noisy while my husband and I could go to sleep peacefully.

Swim-Up Rooms:

If you have younger kids, babies or toddlers, you may want a swim-up room so you can relax while they nap. Just make sure to book one on the south side of the resort to get sunshine throughout the day. We stayed on the north side of the resort and the swim-up pools there barely got any sun and looked pretty cold.

Beach & Ocean: The Resort’s Star Attraction

The beach and the ocean are truly the main attractions at Royalton Bavaro and one of the main reasons we chose to book our family vacation here. Bavaro Beach is beautiful: powdery white sand, clear blue water, swimmable, and generally calm.

On both of our visits in December and January, there was no seaweed (sargassum) at all. We spent most of our days at the beach and in the ocean.

In winter, the weather is hot, with temperatures in the mid to high 80s°F. For the few times it rained, it happened either at night or later in the afternoon. This is exactly the kind of beach experience you come to the Dominican Republic for. 

You can take long, scenic walks along the shorelines, passing by other resorts, perfect for catching sunrises or sunsets.

You can also order drinks from your beach chair. During high season, there’s a bit of the beach chair “game” but that wouldn’t deter me from staying here. There was enough turnover throughout the day that chairs eventually opened up.

➡️ Pro Tip – If you tip your beach server at the start of your stay, they’ll check in on you regularly to take your drink order.

Pools

There are several pools at Royalton Bavaro and all refreshing, especially when the midday heat arrives:

• An infinity pool with a swim-up bar
• A large activities pool where aquafit classes are held
• A kiddie pool with shallow water that’s perfect for younger children
• The Diamond Club pool, which also has a swim-up bar and tends to be a quieter atmosphere, thanks to fewer people who are apart of DC.

Activities & Amenities

Besides swimming and poolside relaxation, there’s plenty for your kids – and you – to do at the resort:

Lazy River

This was a favorite for our family. It’s fun for adults to do at least once with their kids, and one of our teens went every day. It’s a good option when it’s too hot to be in direct sun for long stretches.

Some guests bring their own floats to avoid waiting, but we didn’t find it necessary. And don’t miss the Cave Bar stop along the way where you can stop for a drink!

FlowRider Surf Simulator

This is an extra-charge activity but free at designated times for Diamond Club members. There is a bit of a line during those free hours but it’s still fun for kids (and adults!).

There is a time limit for each person so you will probably want to go back more than once to get the hang of it. Many families opted to pay for a 15-minute time slot to give everyone a proper chance to learn and enjoy it.

Mini-Golf

Our teens aren’t into golf but there’s a 9-hole outdoor mini-putt course if yours are.

We heard mixed reviews, some said there was only one club per group, others mentioned missing golf balls, so I’d still consider this a possible fun activity if everything’s available when you go.

Kids Club & Teen Area

The Kids Club is a supervised indoor space with video games. Our kids were older so we didn’t use it. There’s an outdoor teen area with foosball, ping pong, air hockey, and a basketball hoop. We often saw teens hanging out there after dinner, though our kids weren’t really interested.

Water Park

You can buy a pass to the waterpark at the Royalton’s sister resort nearby, Royalton Splash, a 15-minute walk down the beach. The resort also offers a complimentary shuttle service there and back.

If you think that your kids will want to use it often, it may be worth upgrading to the Diamond Club, which includes free access to the water park.

Tennis

You need to reserve a time slot and racquets and balls are provided, so no need to bring your own. Best to go early in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the heat.

Gym

The resort has a full-sized gym with lots of machines, free weights and daily fitness classes. We especially enjoyed the TRX class, which we did a few times with our teens on the days they managed to wake up in time!

Spa

Everyone in our group who had a massage or facial loved it. Highly recommend if you have time to treat yourself.

Resort-Initiated Activities & Evening Entertainment

There are daily activities organized by the staff, including foam parties, beach volleyball and more. Unfortunately, we missed several of these events because we spent most of our time at the Diamond Club pool, rather than the main pool where these resort-wide activities are usually held.

There are also activities held at the Diamond Club pool.  You’ll want to make sure to check the app for the schedule.

The resort aims to please with daily evening shows, everything from acrobatics to live music performances. There were even fireworks for New Years Eve. If you don’t mind the loud music, you will enjoy the lively atmosphere.

Food & Reservations

I’ll be honest, one of the downsides of visiting all-inclusives in the Dominican Republic, in our experience, is the food. We’re foodies and have been spoiled by amazing food at other resorts (especially Club Med resorts), so we went in knowing that this trip wasn’t going to be about the culinary experience.

Overall, the food just isn’t the same level as what you might find at all-inclusive in other countries. Having said that, the resort does offer a lot of variety:

Breakfast – available at the main buffet or at Oceanside if you are a Diamond Club member. The main buffet offers a larger selection but we usually chose Oceanside because we liked sitting outside and it was closer to our room.

Make sure to order a cappuccino! Much better than the coffee served.

Scoops, the coffee and dessert café, also serves specialty coffees, pastries and later in the day, ice cream, but the menu was often limited and sometimes ran out of popular items.

Lunch – The main buffet isn’t open  for lunch but you have several options:

• Oceanside – Serves a variety of seafood dishes (and some other items) and is located near the beach. It’s open to all guests, not just Diamond Club members
• Food trucks – Located near the infinity pool and sometimes by the lazy river. They offer a rotating menu that includes burgers, fish tacos and fries.
• Grazie restaurant – You can order a takeaway pizza here. There is a long wait for pizzas to be ready so I suggest placing your order early.
• Diamond Club Beach Club Grill – We often ate here because it was close to our beach chairs and let us avoid the long lines at the food truck. I basically tried everything on the menu!

➡️ Keep In Mind – Lunch hours across the resort are fairly limited. Later in the afternoon, when  your teens are looking for a snack, there aren’t many options available

Dinner – There are many restaurants at this resort. Our favorites were:

Zen (Japanese), a fun teppanyaki  experience where the chef puts on a show while cooking in front of you.  For meat, we liked Hunters Steak restaurant, as well as Rio, a Brazilian restaurant where they come out with endless platters of meat.

Besides the main buffet, there is also Grazie (Italian) and Score Sports Bar, that serves pub food. Both were just okay.

Reservations

Aside from the buffet, most of the à la carte restaurants require reservations. Some can be booked, while others operate on a first-come, first-served basis, often resulting in long lineups around dinner time.

One of the main reasons we upgraded to Diamond Club was the convenience of having a butler handle our dinner reservations. For us, it was well worth it.

Instead of wasting time standing in lines, we could still be at the beach catching the sunset, while everyone else was scrambling for dinner spots.

Hotel Staff & Service

Overall, the resort staff were friendly and helpful and we didn’t run into any major issues during our stay. We did find that if you tip well, they are very appreciative, and it also helps to ensure that your drink orders at the bar are placed quickly.

We had butler service on both visits, and I found it hit and miss. Some are eager to assist you and others not so much. Which brings me to…

Diamond Club – Is It For You?

The #1 question people ask when booking Royalton Bavaro is:  “Should I book a Diamond Club room? Is it worth it?” 

My answer: it depends.

The main benefit is butler service, where your assigned butler will secure restaurant reservations for you. We visited during the busiest week of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s, and we didn’t want to spend our vacation waiting for a table.

In peak season, it was absolutely worth it for us. If you are going during a slower period, I wouldn’t bother with the upgrade.

Other Diamond Club perks at Royalton Bavaro include access to a members-only pool, restaurant, snack bar and reserved beach area that are generally less crowded and more relaxing.

Also, if you think your older kids or teens will want to use to the FlowRider or visit the waterpark at Royalton Splash more than once, it may be more economical to upgrade to Diamond Club service, since these are included in the upgrade.  

➡️Important – If you’ve booked a standard room, at check-in, they may offer an upgrade to Diamond Club for an extra fee. Don’t take the first price they offer! Negotiate. The initial price they offer is usually high and most people we talked to were able to get it for half the original price.

FAQs

What is the difference between Royalton Bavaro vs. Royalton Punta Cana vs. Royalton Splash?

The Royalton Bavaro is considered higher-end than Royalton Punta Cana, with larger rooms, newer amenities and a larger resort overall. Royalton Splash is located inland and not directly on the beach, known for its water park, which guests at other Royalton resorts can access.

Is Royalton Bavaro a party resort?

No, it’s a family-friendly resort. While it is lively by the pool or at night in the main lobby, I wouldn’t describe the vibe as a party scene.

Savvy Summary: Would I Stay At The Royalton Bavaro Again?

Yes, if I were going back to the Dominican Republic, I’d stay at the Royalton Bavaro again for the beach, ocean, and the room options for families of four or more that make it a great choice.

The only other resort I’d consider in the Dominican is Hyatt Ziva Capa Cana, which I’ve heard incredible things about but it’s at a price-point that’s out of reach for many families.  

That said, food at resorts in this region tends to be underwhelming, so this year we’ve decided to try an all-inclusive family resort in a different country for a change of pace.

If you still need help finding an all-inclusive family resort, check out my tips for choosing a resort that’s right for your family.