Catalonia Royal La Romana

We stayed a total of 7 nights in the "adults only" area which is the upscale area of the whole complex, check-in process was expedite and they provided us a private space to get changed as we got there earlier than the check-in time. Inside the hotel there are VIP areas that belong to the "Exclusive Traveler Club", and there are sellers that are constantly trying to sale you the club, be aware of them. The beach is gorgeous; however the amount of lounge chairs is not enough for all the guests, therefore we had to wake up early to "reserve" a pair, otherwise we would have seated far from the beach. The gardens and common areas are beautiful and well maintained, we stayed on the third floor with an overview of the pool and main plaza, a bit far from the beach but was OK. There is a bar nearby the beach and the staff is always available to serve, in general the people working there are super friendly, kind and happy. There are several restaurants with different type of food, from Italian, Peruvian, Steak house, Asian, etc. most of them needs a reservation which can be done through a website, and of course there is a buffet with good options, including a “Dominican” theme night on Friday with typical food, rum and performance, it is highly recommended!
There are more facilities in the other side of the complex including shops, restaurants, pool, theatre, etc. We ended a couple of nights in that area as the shows were more entertained as the VIP area is calmer and quieter. Also, there are kayaks available for free, as well as snorkeling and sailboats.
The closest town is only 15 min away by walk, cute area with shops, restaurants and bars.
In general we had a good week, if only the beach area was less crowded… :) [Details]

We enjoyed our vacation immensely.
The staff from point of arrival, restaurants, bars, entertainment and check out concierge - were very lovely and helpful.
We look forward to returning to your paradise. [Details]

Very clean the grounds were very well maintained. The food was great. Lots of selection. No complaints. [Details]

The best vacation we've ever had! If you are looking for a quiet resort, adults only, with light entertainment and the best beach and ocean front, with amazing food, drinks and service, this is the place to go! We stayed from Dec. 12 to the 19th. The weather ranged from 29 to 32 everyday. We went for the beach and ocean. Ocean was warmer than the pool. The pools, by the way, are very small and not used much by the guests. You don't come to this place for the pools nor a swim-up room. Save your money and don't bother with plunge or swim-up pools. Again, if you are coming here, you are coming for the beach and the ocean. The beach has no seaweed and no rocks. and no, they aren't cleaning the beach every day because they don't need to because there isn't any seaweed to remove. Sand all the way out to the buoys, some 150 to 200 metres. My wife was in heaven. This was the beach she had been wanting and we have been searching for. The water is clear, beautiful turquoise Caribbean blue/green. Be peepared to get up at 6 am to go reserve a hut/chairs on the beach because by 7:30 am, they are all gone. Not a big deal though, if you don't mind napping throughout the day. For those that want activities, there is plenty to do throughout the day. We would take dancing lessons at the beach at 11 am, followed by aquafit in the ocean at 12 pm. Usually there is some sort of special lunch at the beach each day, starting around 12:30 pm, but also plenty of other choices right beside the beach. No need to bring tumblers for your drinks, the beach bar is right beside the beach and not much of a walk to get to at all. Another dance lesson at 4 pm and usually another aquafit at 5 pm. If you are staying at the adults only part of the resort, you do get full access to the family version, which is right beside the adults only. So if you are looking for more entertainment and things to do, you can join in on that side too. You can even eat and drink there as well, but honestly, you won't want to. Forgot about buffets, although they do have one and its a very nice selection. But at the adults only, you have plenty of a la carte sit down full service options and the meals and food are excellent, which is why I say forget about the buffet, go sit down and be served! relax, enjoy, you are on vacation! In the evening/night time, check out the light entertainment outside in the main area, which usually ends around 11 pm. Although our room was located at the front of the resort, right beside the outside entertainment, it did not prevent us from sleeping and our room being quiet. In fact, we enjoyed being able to sit on our balcony and take in the entertainment, almost if it was a private show for us. Be sure to check out the Twist Bar, which is located in the main lobby. Victor, Mabel and Maroni make the best drinks (way better than the beach bar). Lots of variety to choose from. Evevlyn was our housekeeper and she was very sweet and kind. She made sure we had everything we needed and always left us a pretty decoration in our room each day. If you go, take some time to talk to the staff! They are super friendly and enjoy talking with you. The front bell men team of Juan, Luis, Mayquer, Leudy, Juan Carlos and Wilson were super friendly and always opening doors, greating us with a smile and asking how we were and if we needed anything. Yoel at the front desk was equally polite and was extremely helpful in helping me book a romantic dinner on the beach to celebrate my wife's birthday. If you eat the Thalasa and or Bloved, hopefully you will get Rolando serving you. He was our favourite server and was amazing! So friendly and helpful. But an amazing memory. I can't imagine how many people he would interact with each day, but he would always remember my wife liked tea with her breakfast and her evening dessert, that the tea would just suddenly appear and it only took him one serving to remember this. The Bloved restaurant was our favourite place to eat for both lunch and dinner. We met the manager, Jose, who was unbelievably happy and friendly. We has his team performing so well at this restaurant. Trust me, eat there. You will love it and won't be disappointed. All in all, if you are beach lover and want great food, drinks and service, Catalonia Royal La Romana will not dissapoint. We plan on going again next year to celebrate our 20th! [Details]

From arrival to departure the hotel staff were amazing, always helpful and very polite. With the large choice of diverse restaurants and bars available, the hardest thing to decide was where to go to eat. The tranquility of the adult only section was why we booked this hotel, although it was nice to have pools in this area, it would have been nice to have known in advance that the beach and the main pool were shared with the family hotel next door, even though there were exclusive/privileged areas for sunbeds!. [Details]

Nice staff at reception while checking in. We stayed in a regular room, non privilege package. We had no problem booking A La Carte restaurants with the QR code they provide for you when you check in. Lovely beach! May be an issue for people with some mobility issues getting ‘out' of the water as there is a slope up. Catalonia Royal guests are allowed to use the family side (a La carte, pool, buffet) which adds more food choices. [Details]

Very good hotel: tasty and big variety of food, nice people, all of them ready to help any time. Clean rooms, nice territory. We like the opportunity to have a cup of coffee or tea at any bar. [Details]

Very professional, but great and friendly personnel. All facilities were clean and well maintained, including our room. [Details]

Our stay at the Catalonia Royal La Romana was fabulous! Cleanliness and beauty was top notch! Food was delicious and a wonderful variety and abundance! The beach was spectacular, NO seaweed made this vacation an ultimately beautiful experience. Would definitely be back to vacation here, worth the trip! [Details]

I visited the Catalonia Royal La Romana the end of May, 2023. This wasn't my first Catalonia Royal stay, since I stayed at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro a few years ago, so I had some ideas of what to expect, I thought.

I'll break this down into pros and cons from a Canadian traveller perspective.

Pros
- the resort itself is beautiful and meticulously maintained. There were workers on hands and knees all day pulling weeds and trimming grass
- The beach is clean, sand is perfect and the water the clearest and cleanest I've seen in the DR with no kelp
- rooms are fairly spacious compared to other places, but we did pay for a swim-up room, so not sure what the base rooms are like
- check-in and out was nice and easy with a welcome cocktail
- the transfer to and from the airport was included in our package and was on time
- access to the larger, family oriented Catalonia Bayahibe next door, which I used a lot for the buffet and a couple of restaurants
- no obnoxious vendors on the beach. There is a small flea market/shopping centre down on the beach and vendors walked back and forth all day, but if you were in the beach chairs, they wouldn't even speak to you.
- there was always enough chairs to sit at the beach or the pool and not too many did the towel reservation thing in the early morning
- wi-fi seemed good throughout the resort

Cons
- not a lot of other Canadian visitors and not many workers there speak English, which made it difficult getting things we needed or wanted at the restaurant, bars or stores or from cleaning staff
- the Royal has 4 or 5 a la carte restaurants, but only has a breakfast buffet usually, except 2 days a week, they have a dinner buffet, but they are small and not much selection. A la carte are fairly quick though, at least the couple times I ate there. If you are a picky eater, you might struggle to find something you want
- room service is available 24/7, but choices consist of mainly a hamburger or fried chicken, not much else and if you don't speak Spanish, you can't order anything else basically
- the resort uses an app for all menus in restaurants and to actually book the restaurants, which makes the language gap easier, but you always need a phone with a barcode scanner app to order or book anything. Great idea, but I don't want to go on vacation and have to rely on my phone for anything, especially to get something to eat
- the biggest con to me was the room options, pricing and advertising. If you book, you'll see a selection of room choices, but none of the photos or information is correct, not even on their own website. I ended up paying way too much for a swim-up room which appeared to be one thing on the website, but turned out to not be close to that at all. I was very disappointed, since I could have went to a MUCH better resort for what I paid. This point alone is enough to keep from re-booking this resort again.
- we had a mouse in our room for two nights, but the resort seemed totally shocked there was one there and they caught it quickly. It is possible it came in with someones luggage though. No big deal and they acted quicklly to rectify
- the Exclusive Travelers Club will try and call you and get you to go to the lobby under the guise of a “welcome package”, but it ends up being a sales pitch for an expensive time share type membership…don't fall for it. I learned this from my last visit in Bavaro, so I didn't even answer the phone
- the room cleaning was great for half the trip, but a staff change half way through saw it become non-existent essentially. We were supposed to have fresh beach towels delivered every evening, and the first few days we did, even if it wasn't until 9 or 9:30 pm. The last few days, nothing.
- the food selections weren't great, but what they did have was tasty. I found myself eating 99% of the time on the family side (Catalonia Bayahibe) which had a larger buffet and was open more frequently for breakfast, lunch and supper/dinner
- the beach is beautiful, but the layout of the resort means it's a little hike to get there from one end of the resort to the other. They do have a golf cart that takes people back and forth every 15 mins though
- most staff weren't pleasant at all, with a few exceptions. I brought a couple hundred dollars for tips and used very little, because I rarely saw anyone going the extra mile to provide good service. The only exception was the room cleaning staff the first few days, which I tipped generously. Seems no one else really cared if you were happy or not there and could care less about a tip, which seemed totally different than it was a few years ago. I don't tip to receive good service, I tip to reward it and that's how it should be. I just saw very few instances to tip. [Details]

We were pleasantly surprised by the Catalonia Royal La Romana. Our needs were all met by professional and pleasant staff. Lots of food choices, clean and spacious room, etc. Though you have to use the hotel app to book reservations, it is not difficult to use. [Details]

Beautiful resort and rooms which are set far back from the huge beautiful beach so plan on lots of walking. Hard to walk in the deep soft sand and water. There are two very small pools, one is nestled between the buildings, very private and quiet.
Some swim out rooms had long, narrow, shallow pools while the ones closer to the main building go into the small pool and swim up bar.
We were in bldg E, 2nd floor, a large lovely room which is closet to the beach and family side.. about 5 minute walk.
Breakfast buffets were good. Food is resort average. Service good especIally at the pool.
Main lobby had great entertainment with a relaxing atmosphere. We do family side shows. [Details]

This was a great place to spend the time. Beach was amazing. Room was just as good!

Just wish the food was a little better. [Details]

Everything was ok until we had food poisonning. My Family, we were sick with diarrhea ,fever vomiting. My daughter has been at this place five times before and had great experience but not this Time. [Details]

We had a fantastic vacation at Catalonia Royal La Romana. The hotel is one hour from Punta Cana airport and it is part of a complex of two hotels. This one is for adults only, but you have access to the family one.
The beach is beautiful with white sand, turquoise water and no seaweed. You can have all your meals in ‘a la carte' restaurants or you can choose buffet breakfast in Thalassa restaurant. Two days per week you can also have buffet dinner at the same venue. The buffets were fantastic with a huge and high-quality variety. ‘A la carte' restaurants were fine as well. If you want, also you can eat at the restaurants of the other hotel.
Entertainment was good with a lot of activities such salsa/bachata/Zumba lessons, yoga, stretching, bingo, etc.
The hotel is very modern with big rooms and it is very well maintained.
This is one of the best hotels in the Bayahibe area and it is highly recommended. [Details]

the resort is very beautiful the adult only section had a modern look to it. [Details]

The property was very nice and well decorated. We had issues communicating with the majority of the staff, our limited Spanish and their lack of English. Rudy at the swim-up bar was fantastic. The spa services were excellent, professional and good value. The food was a big disappointment and service was hit or miss, and mostly miss. The beach chairs were hard to get, even at 6:30 am, who was holding the chairs? Staff? [Details]

We just got back from the CRLR, and one word… WOW!

Having been to many islands near the equator and throughout the Carribean, I just say the CRLR is truly the best bang for your buck…a long as it doesn't exceed $1500 CDN, once it exceeds that price there are other destinations to choose from.

This was our second time staying at a Cat property, we stayed at the Catalonia Royal Tulum in Mexico and loved it so we knew this brand would not disappoint us.

The Area:
Located 30 min from the La Romana airport, its nestled in a nice protected area with a stunning beach, and lots of lush green vegetation around. We walked off the resort property across the street there were some stores and were impressed by how nice the people were no one harassing you to buy stuff.

The Hotel Grounds and Check-in:
I was very impressed with the modern style of the hotel, Check-in was a little confusing they don't operate the same as other hotels they meet you first, sign you in then send you to sit and wait for a presentation of the resort area and restaurants. After the presentation, you must wait for them to call your name for your room key. As I mentioned depending on the direction your patio door is facing there is lots of vegetation if you want to see lots of trees choose a room with the balcony facing the Dominicus side or the duplex courtyard buildings.

The Room: Superior Room ( standard)
You have the main building which has 3 floors, which I found the best, the Duplex buildings which depending on the placement was very nice some had sun and some had shade. If you want a room with lots of SUN ask for a room where the patio door faces the beach direction. I did not fancy the ground level rooms since people walk by, so its less private, but that being said its such a small boutique-style hotel that it won't bother most guest.
We were fortunate to be placed in a standard room that was NOT facing/ overlooking the reception and restaurants in that building. We were in a very nice location of the main building room 326 looking out at an L shaped pool (swim out below) with a Jacuzzi, and we got sunshine all day and would choose that same side on our next visit in April... There is an elevator for those with mobility problems.

I usually upgrade our room but personally don't see the need for an upgrade at this resort, all the rooms are large and stunning a standard room is very spacious and comes with a large balcony.
Rooms (standard) are equipped with ample USB outlets and power outlets for your devices. Two chairs a desk and all the bells and whistles.

The bed was comfortable and linens were of good quality.

We loved the bathroom layout, double everything (except for the toilet lol) double sinks, a large shower where two of us can take a shower and have each our own rain shower head with independent controls, or each a shower massage wand. Towels and hotel supplied bathrobes were of good quality and condition. Beach towels are replaced every day in your room, just leave the old ones on the floor and when you come back from dinner there were fresh ones for you.

Room service was fast and the food selection was very good and tasty.
Oh yeah..I loved that they clean the rooms before 2 pm on average! I can say this is the first time that the rooms were immaculate and they gave ample face cloths and towels.

The Beach :

Lots of beach chairs available throughout the day at any time, the palapas were the only thing you would need to get early if you want shade since we are early risers and beach lovers there were lots of choice for us.

After our daily 6 am workout, we would walk approx 8 km every day exploring the area and was very happy with our choice we ended up always walking towards the protected park and would see Isla Saona. No smell of boat fuel, not overly crowded, just pure peace and relaxation.

The only complaint about the beach area I have is about the smokers, there are ashtrays all over the resort and at your beach chair or nearby….but there are always guest with no manners or environmental responsibility thinks its better to put them out in the sand and leave it there. I think if you want to smoke have a designated area for them on the beach! I don't need to inhale the second-hand smoke daily.

The Fitness Center:

This is information I find most reviewers forget about, the gym on the adult side only has some treadmills, bikes and some small free weights. The Gym on the family side is much better located where the stores are and offer a full range of equipment like any gym in your own home town. It would be nice If the Adults only had the same type of Gym.

Restaurants:

I loved it, Not the same choice nor food quality of the Catalonia Royal Tulum in Mexico though but still good. No Reservations ever!! Always place to sit down and eat. My favourite was the YUCA and Darlen was a great waiter, but so were all the other waiters!
Food selection/choice can be better, but for the money spent as mentioned above its perfect if it goes over that price, this is just my opinion.

Entertainment :
There were shows every night and was great entertainment.

Pools:
Are nice and clean, we don't spend much time at the pools we prefer the beach so not much more to say except the one located at our building was stunning

Staff:
Very very friendly and accommodating, even for the rude guests that we had the displeasure of seeing screaming at the staff. I loved the comment that the supervisor told a grown man acting like a child. He looked at him and said …Oh, you are so beautiful like this lol, Priceless!!

You're a guest in someone else's country act accordingly, pick up after yourselves and don't be rude to them. They are not your slave and are there to make your stay the best it can, so be considerate.

I can't remember everyone's name, But I would like to thank the concierge Harold, Darlen, Yerian, Marcos and all the CAT team for their pleasant and outgoing character. Thank you and your team for taking care of us vacationers good or bad.

Im sure im forgetting something……but basically JUST BOOK IT YOU WILL LOVE IT! [Details]

The Catalonia Royal La Romana leaves no stone unturned when it comes to service and amenities.

The resort is well maintained, perfectly manicured, relaxing and intimate, having access to the family side is also a nice touch for when you want to try some other restaurants or want to be in a higher charged atmosphere.

The rooms are well appointed, clean & comfortable and the swim up rooms in the main pool (where we were located) are wonderful. Our only complaint about the room would be that the bed was a little firm for side sleepers.

The restaurants are all excellent (we did not try the buffet on the family side or the Italian), our favorite was the Peruvian one on the Royal side. Service in all restaurants was top notch and done with a smile. All of the bars make excellent drinks but our favorite hangout was the pool bar with Ruddy as our bar tender.

It is a short walk to the beach from the Royal side and the beach was breathtaking, with plenty of options for chairs and shade (get there early though as they do fil up quickly). There are markets a short walk on the beach either direction from the resort and hence, we were never bothered by beach vendors as they seem to stick by their stores.

The spa was a great relaxing experience, I had the rejuvenation package (facial, scrub, wrap & massage) done by Luz. It was well priced and worth every penny.

We will absolutely return to that Catalonia Royal in the future, it was one of the best all inclusive vacations we have taken to date. [Details]

This resort is absolutely beautiful! We stayed in a Junior Suite; the room was clean, modern and new. There were lots of dining options as guests of Royal also have access to all restaurants and buffets at the neighbouring resort, Gran Dominicus. The Italian restaurant, Toscanas, was exceptional!

We always felt safe (security guards were posted outside of our building at all times), and all staff were friendly. Lots of areas to relax, lounge and drink! Beach was beautiful - clear water, no seaweed, no rocks.

I would suggest asking staff for a tour of the area. We were offered a map, but it took us a day or so to get a lay of the land - a tour would have been helpful (we arrived at 11pm, so maybe this is something they offer during the day). [Details]