Impressive Punta Cana

Voyage avec une amie. Beau site, pas trop grand et bien entretenu. Plusieurs piscines dont une avec belle animation et bonne ambiance, manque de chaises et parasols. Plage très belle, pas d'algues et palmiers pour l'ombre. Les chaises confortables mais assez tassées, il en manquaient certaines journées, à réserver tôt le matin. Buffet moyen, peu de poisson et fruits de mer sur gril. Vin blanc bien, le rouge non. Excellent service de tous, entre autres de Dilenia, une perle, toujours souriante et aux petits soins. Au petit café, bon cappuccino. Resto snack près de la plage très très très ordinaire, dommage. Le Grill et italien bon. Japonais très ordinaire, viande pas tendre. Chambre et salle de bain, bien et propre mais pas insonorisée (bloc 11), on entend parler les voisins et bruits du couloir. Air climatisé et eau chaude bien. Bonne animation le soir au lobby de la réception. Wi-Fi pas parfait. Time sharing trop insistant. Pas plus qu'un 4*. Trop cher pour le prix payé (1870$/ch) [Details]

Everything was so good. The food, the rooms, the entertainment. The only thing is the Extadian people, everyday they are trying to sell you a travel package. [Details]

Overall, the hotel was very good.

The check-in process was super slow. Not sure if it was because we decided, on the spot, to upgrade to Premium. The biggest advantage in the Premium is a bigger room and the selected lounge area for breakfast/lunch/dinner, with AC. It was said that Premium guests have access to more areas in the resort, but I didn't see anyone checking our bracelets or asking people that were not Premium to leave the Premium pool.

The first 2 night shows we attended were entertaining, especially the Michael Jackson one.

I was expecting better food selection when compared to the one in our last trip to Cuba in 2022, but overall the food was ok. Not too spicy, but not too dull. Strangely, the fruit selection was short. For instance, I had bananas once in my 7 days there.

We did one excursion to La Hacienda Park. Excellent trip that all in the family enjoyed. If you do it, be prepared to pay extra for the professionally taken photos, as they ask you to not carry your phones, for safety reasons (Go Pros are ok).

I am not sure if it was the time of the year, but in our last 2 days there was an abundance of seaweeds in the water and on the beach. The cleaning crew were only 2 to 4 man with wheelbarrows; the resort needs to have a better cleaning equipment to deal with that amount of seaweeds.

While most of the staff speaks English, knowing a bit of Spanish helps a lot when interacting with some of the staff. [Details]

Other than having to request to get our room cleaned almost every day after paying for the up grade it was good [Details]

We stayed at the Impressive from February 21 to 28, 2023 (Quebec couple in their thirties). We speak mainly French, English and Spanish.
We loved our trip (it was not our first visit to Punta Cana) and we will be back!

Check-in: We arrived at 10:30pm and we were 2 couples. The whole thing took 10 minutes and we weren't offered the premium package (which we didn't want anyway). Most of the exchange was in Spanish, as it's the main language of the country after all.

Room: Our room was in block 24, 2nd floor (non-premium), overlooking the premium pool. Everything was clean, functional: no problem with the shower, the toilet or the air conditioning. The only problem is that I didn't have a hair dryer in the room. On the balcony, there is a plastic support, to hang up the laundry, which stretches: very practical and much appreciated. The maid came every day and it was always well done and filling the small fridge. We left tips or gifts every day.

Beach: superb! Yes, there is algae, but that's part of mother nature. There are employees working to clean them, and the beach to the left of the dock is clearer. Many days were very windy, which meant that in the shade, it was sometimes chilly. There are always free deckchairs on the beach! At the swimming pools, much less windy, but very popular so difficult to find free places during the day.

Animation: there is yoga offered (rather stretching) in the morning and in the evening on the dock Lots of animation at the pool or at the beach, activities, etc. We are quieter so we were away from the pools and in a more secluded area of the beach. Ditto for the evening shows: the only one we saw was that of Michael Jackson and it was really worth it!

Restaurants: We only ate at the main buffet ("open sea") and once at the small buffet near the beach for lunch, as well as at the snack bar next door. The à la carte restaurants did not interest us and we found our happiness at the buffet every day, with all the choices. Beer, white wine and red wine (coffee in the morning) are available at table service. Not the best wines, more like a table wine, but on vacation it was fine.

Breakfast: There is a bread corner (jams, etc.), pastries, fresh donuts baked daily, an egg/omelet station, a cereal/yogurt corner, a fruit corner and fresh fruit juice (there is a juice extractor managed by an employee), cheese and charcuterie corner, not to mention the stoves where there are eggs, pancakes, meats, vegetables, etc. There were smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels every day, with capers (to assemble yourself, delicious!)

Lunch: There is a salad corner to build yourself and salads already made with pasta, mixed vegetables and meats, beans, etc., burgers/hot dog corner, fresh fruit corner, dessert/pastry corner, cheese corner and charcuterie, pasta corner (already made or to be cooked at the station by an employee), stoves for stews, meats, starches and vegetables.

Dinner: There are 2 stations where meat and fish are cooked by employees, a pasta corner (already made or to be cooked at the station by an employee), a bread corner, a dessert corner, a salad corner and cheeses/charcuterie, salad corner meat, starch and vegetable warmers. Every evening, there was a nachos corner, with chili con carne, cheese sauce, but above all, freshly made guacamole and pico de gallo every day! Twice had mushroom risotto = excellent with a piece of steak from the grill station.

Veggie/vegan/gluten-free: There is a small corner where generally 3 choices of breads/pastries/desserts are offered gluten-free. There are several vegetarian salads. Vegan is possible, but less choice: there are always cooked vegetables, but it's hard to know whether or not they're cooked in butter. There are always fresh fruits, salads and some salads already made with beans or chickpeas. The bean rice stews, at all meals, are very good and seem dairy free.

Service: In general, done quickly once seated at the table. Sometimes a little longer, because several people are seated at the same time or a few more demanding groups. The longest we waited for drinks/coffee was 5 minutes which is very reasonable. The servers are nice and work hard. Most are on work rotations of 14 days on (10-12 hours a day) for 6 days off. We tipped at almost every meal for this and other reasons.

On the beach: yes, lots of vendors selling activities, jewelry, clothes, braids, etc. For the most part, a "no, gracias" was enough for them to continue on their way. Same thing for sellers on the resort premises of "time share" or premium or souvenir sellers (Tuesday and Saturday). A polite but firm refusal and it was over. For those who insist, we repeat a little louder, continuing our way and it does the trick.

Souvenirs/shopping: most merchants, boutiques offer the same choices. Surprisingly, the prices were the same at the shops of the hotel as in the shops along the beach or the merchants who walk on the beach, although these are negotiable. (And at the hotel, you can pay with your credit card, which is also easier than dragging the right amount of pesos or American money on you.)

Good to know
- Prices are either in US money or Dominican pesos. And it is better to tip in these currencies, because the fees to change Canadian dollars or Euro are high to convert for locals.
- For specialty coffees, especially in the morning, you have to go to the café next to the reception, the "Palm coffee and brunch": lattes, americanos, frappés: very good!
- Watch out for things left on the beach: someone stole my Mikasa volleyball when I went to the toilet….(Although that can happen anywhere…)
- All toilets near the beach, buffet and spa were functional. It happens that it runs out of toilet paper on occasion (2 times in my case, over 7 days)
- Learning basic words or basic sentences in Spanish is the least you can do: employees appreciate it and will complete with a sentence in French, English, basic Russian.

Finally, "don't be the non-friendly one" section. Here are a few tips :

- Smoking on the beach thinking that it is your private ashtray. Just no. Pick up your cigarette butts because it's disgusting. There are plenty of designated places for cigarette butts near the garbage cans. (Ditto for your leftover food, your plastic glasses: it's your job to pick after yourself: this is called adulting)
- Listening to your videos / making video calls, thinking that you are alone on the beach, with the volume at maximum. It's crazy how technology gets to everyone, but headphones don't… Because no one wants to know that your sister is a bitch, that you're sick (with all the details given) or that your grandson is doing all his poops in the pot, etc. (actual overheard conversations). And since it's windy on the beach, the sound is at max and people are shouting to be heard, so the whole beach hears you. So make your call, listen to your videos with headphones or in your room: a matter of courtesy and respect for those around you, that also are on their vacation.
- You like your music on the beach, but not everyone likes it. So, no need to “blast” the sound from your loudspeaker, so that the resort next door can hear you. And take the time to read your surroundings. If you choose to settle in the quietest corner of the beach, where several elderly people and families have settled to be quieter, far from the party and the animation, it's really annoying to come and have your party there. There is always music or a party with animation somewhere on the resort, so go where the party is. Especially if you sing louder than your music, and speak louder so your friends can hear you over your music. When all the people around you leave, and say so to you, to settle further away, it's not "people friendly". Ditto for people who have abused alcohol and only shout to speak... Namaste! [Details]

Firstly I would like to give a huge praise to the staff but mostly the entertainment staff, including La Melazza, El Spicy, Gasolina, Joel, and so on. They were the highlight of this trip, super friendly, personable, always saying hello, taking you to dance if you like, and entertaining guests all day around the resort with a variety of activities. This resort might be a bit smaller than most, but it is by far the best one. The staff is more personable and friendlier, they are all more welcoming. The grounds are amazing filled with lots of greenery like an oasis, and everything is within close proximity. There is a restaurant near the beach, a bar on the beach, two pools. The rooms were not the comfiest but you rarely spend time in the room anyways. The snack bar is great when you've been drinking. The food is also great, different spreads each evening. Although the lobby is not super classy, it feels a lot more comfortable to be in. You can sit and watch others, in the evenings after the show everyone would move to the lobby where the bar was open, and then a dj would be playing the best Spanish music hits and everyone would be dancing and the entertainment staff would be dancing with us, and even leading Zumba or other fun routines. The disco was even open! This hotel I give an 11/10, I will be coming back. [Details]

Amazing all the way! This resort is beautiful. Everything was great. Beach, food, entertainment!( Barbie is the best)We are already planning our next trip back.I think we found our favourite vacation place! [Details]

It wasn't that I expected female servants are very rude ,room quality if you don't upgrade it's not really good . pillows like stones staff needs more training about basic manners food no much variety [Details]

Beach 10/10 - In a word - fantastic. We will definitely be looking to head back to Bavaro Beach. From the resort, we walked 90 minutes in either direction and still didn't reach the end of the beach at either end. Beautiful sand and water and an easy walk. A few beach vendors along the way but they were not too persistent once you told them you were just out for a walk.

Weather 9 /10 - 1 full day of rain and two half days of wind & rain during our 14 day stay. All the other times were spent on the beach and it was excellent.

Resort Check-in 6 / 10 - this took longer than it should have. They push their "Premium Package upgrade" on every guest at check-in. This makes every guest check-in transaction take 15 minutes. With only 3 desk clerks, it can take a long time to get through a busload of people. We did not choose the Premium upgrade, in spite of the fact that this seems very negotiable in terms of the price you pay. The opening price is $250 / person / week. You can grind this price down quite a bit if you want to barter at the time of check-in (hence the long line up and delays at check-in).

Resort room - 5 /10 - reminded me of a typical Super 8 room - nothing fancy. The room was clean. Not always quiet as we could hear the guests next door and in the hallway quite often. The mini-fridge was frozen solid when we arrived so we unplugged and defrosted it so it worked during our stay. The TV was broken and the showerhead needed repair. The safe was locked and the hairdryer was also broken. All of these issues were promptly dealt with by the resort once brought to their attention. They get good marks for making those things right. In terms of the housekeeping service, tipping had no effect whatsoever. Towels were often hard to come by and I had to go a mission many nights to get clean/dry ones for the next day as the staff would take our used ones but not replace them with clean ones. The mini-fridge was just that - not a mini bar by any stretch. The resorts idea of a mini-bar is two mini (237ml) cans of Presidente beer every couple of days in the fridge, and that typically only happened if you ran into the cleaning staff and tipped them for the beer. They would not leave any if you were not there and on some occasions, the fridge was left empty - not even any bottled water.

Resort property - 9 /10 very lush & well maintained. They put a lot of effort into keeping this property looking great. One criticism I would mention is the relentless assault that you have to endure from the Royal Resorts timeshare vultures. These guys don't quit. They circulate throughout the resort. And even after sitting through one of their presentations (which we agreed to do to help out one of them by agreeing to sit through 20 minutes of blah, blah, blah in order to get them off our back) we were still regularly approached every day by other "salesman". The resort could certainly tone this down a few notches. Saying "No" once should be enough. You shouldn't have to repeat it 2 dozen times (no I'm not exaggerating) over 14 days. WiFi is not included unless you buy into the premium upgrade. They claim they offer free wifi in the lobby area but in our experience, this is sketchy at best as it is taxed with a lot of people trying to access and is not reliable. We tried the lobby wifi for a couple of days and then bought the wifi add on for $30 US / week for two devices.

Resort Food - 3 /10 This is where it started going south. My wife had "trouble" with the food for the entire 14 days. I had my issues for about 3 of the 14 days we were there. Neither of us have ever had stomach issues at any resort we have stayed with so this was a bit of an adjustment. Hot food wasn't hot and cold food wasn't cold. The food selection really didn't change over the 14 days we were there. Pretty much the same offerings every day.

Resort Drinks - 3 /10 The rail pour liquor was very poor. Unless you were a "premium" guest you couldn't access even mid-grade liquor (according to a few of the guests we spoke to that did upgrade to the "Premium" package, the resort ran out of what they call "premium liquor" most days). The resort routinely ran out of beer and rum at the beach bar on many days and didn't replenish stock. Guests were told to go to either the pool or lobby bar for a drink. This created long lines at the bars were waiting for 10 - 15 minutes to get a drink was typical. I ended up buying a decent bottle of rum from the local grocery store (which only cost about $9 US) and kept that in our room so I could have a decent rum on occasion.

Buffet Service - 2 /10 Be prepared to "do it yourself" in a lot of the service you might expect at the breakfast, lunch & dinner buffet. Service staff were few and far between and those that were present (with few exceptions) didn't appear to know what they were doing. For the most part, we got our own drinks, cutlery, napkins (& plates when you could find one as they often ran out) & food. Avoiding the buffets during busier times seemed to improve this, although the trade-off was a reduced selection of food items as the resort often did not replenish the buffet after the initial surge of guests at 06:30 (for breakfast) noon (for lunch) & 18:30 (for dinner). In general, I'd liken it to a school cafeteria.

Resort a la carte restaurants - 7 /10 - they did manage to kick it up a few notches with these. We ate at the Japanese a la carte twice, the Italian twice, the Grill (steakhouse) twice and the French once. The service was significantly better at all of these with staff generally being more friendly and attentive (we got our drinks and cutlery without having to go and find them ourselves). Food was good at these locations and the experience of eating at the a la cartes was enjoyable.

Catalina Island Catamaran Excursion - offered by our carrier - was a highlight of our stay. Everything about this day trip was excellent. From our tour guide (Joel), the bus we went on, the catamaran (and crew), the snorkeling opportunity on a beautiful island reef, lunch supplied on the island, beer & liquor on the boat and the island, everything was top notch. We would definitely recommend it.

In summary, we will definitely return to Bavaro Beach Punta Cana. We will not consider a return to the Impressive Resort and Spa. This property claims to be a 4-5 star resort. In my experience, they have a lot of work to do on the service side of things to get there. We have stayed at a few 4 - 5 star properties. The Impressive does not meet this grade. I would not recommend it (though I had to click on something and chose "families" in order to post this review) and give it no more than 3.5 stars (my wife gives it a 3). We met some folks from Selkirk during our stay and they shared in our opinion of the lack of service and quality this resort had to offer. That said if you're satisfied with an "okay / mediocre" 3-star experience this property might be alright for some. [Details]

We spent 10 days at this beautiful resort, very clean and well layed out. If you go, you want pool view room in building 14 (close to beach and pools and food). Most people try hard to help, but a few provide bad service... again, very clean, very nice relaxing spot [Details]

The hotel is okay but servers in the buffet are forgetful and you have to ask them a dozen times for coffee or water and even then you don't necessarily get it. The only side that was good was David's section. The food was okay but cold most of the time. The ocean is beautiful but not enough shade on the beach. The servers also have to learn more English as most don't seem to understand what you are asking for. But still an okay resort. [Details]

We booked for a group vacation (8 adults and 2 kids) and we did enjoy it. The resort itself is nice and they have a lot of entertainment for adults and kids. I was very scared since a lot of people complained about the food. It was debatable: I don't really eat meat so my selection was smaller but a lot of time my food was not hot. À la carte restaurant were good, especially the japanese and italian.

I would suggest if you want to upgrade to negociate. We had the upgrade for $100usd for the room since we negociated. Talking with other couples, they paid $250 per person so $500. [Details]

Hotel itself was excellent. Great weather and some good food to go along. [Details]

Overall, the resort itself is beautiful. The beach is very well maintained. We upgraded to Premium upon arrival & the services we used- the premium pool, lounge, priority restaurant booking & check out- were nice, as were the premium rooms, with large bathrooms & sitting area. The Nightly entertainment was enjoyable, and there was stuff going on around the pool during the day...the foam pool party was a huge hit!! The Japanese restaurant was fantastic & the Italian was good, too. The other a la cartes were not to my liking. However, the biggest issue I had was that main buffet was not up to par with other resorts we've been to in Dominican. It was the same food everyday (No theme nights to change things up) and the food they did have was not good, and I am not a very picky eater! There was a lot of Potato based foods & a lot of pork, no chicken to be found. And if you like to enjoy desserts, this is not the place to go. Also, the service at the main buffet was terrible...employees were not friendly, tables were not cleared & set efficiently, and to try to get someone to bring a drink -even water- was a chore. Overall, I would expect more from a 4* resort in this price range. [Details]

This hotel wasnt clean. Our first room upon check in wasnt clean. We found 2 pills on the floor beside our bed. They were white and had the number 10 on one side. When we asked to have them removed and the room cleaned they said yes then never showed up. The air conditioner was broken and it was really hot in the room on the 3rd floor. Not enough staff and workers looked unhappy/overworked. Our bathroom flooded on our second last day there and wasted all morning trying to get someones attention to fix the matter. Had to complain 4 times until maintenance came and had to stay in the room until they were done fixing it. Once maintenance were done they left a big mess of drywall and water. Then we waited another hour to get housekeeping in to clean up the mess. All our clothing was saturated in wet sewage smell which I had to throw away. [Details]

Don't come here. They close their restaurants without giving guests a schedule of when each is opened. Restaurant services are terrible. They gave me a room with other people living in there. I have warned you: no matter how cheap you think it is. DO NOT DO IT!!! [Details]

My husband and I were a first timer at this resort and we travel to the DR often and we rate this as our top 2 resort . The staff were so friendly and always helpful, the food was great, the night shows outstanding, 5 start plus for our stay here, our family met us there and totally agree it was one of the best stays Thank You to all [Details]

We can't say enough about how great our stay was. From the moment we arrived, we were taken care of with friendly staff, great food (lots of variety), clean room, and impeccably manicured property! They have tons of staff working very well together doing their part to make our stay flawless. We particularly enjoyed the evening shows, with one standout "The Circus"...you could have told me those two guys were from Cirque de Soleil and I would have believed you. Everything from our meals (including all of the à-la-cartes), the pools, the beach, and entertainment was done so well. We had read previous reviews about the beach not being clean or having a smell, but we walked the beach a mile in each direction and there was some seaweed all along the coast line. Some resorts like "Impressive" had staff raking it on the beach and some didn't. The weeds were minor and easily avoidable. The beach really was beautiful, the sand soft, and the water was clean. As for smell, we noticed it a bit in one spot very briefly...not sure what it was but nothing concerning. [Details]

We had a wonderful time at your resort. We did not have any complaints except for the Lake restaurant. For the only restaurant that was above the all inclusive price, it was below satisfactory and I would not recommend it. [Details]

We Visited from Feb1-8, 2019. We had a wonderful time. After reading some of the previous reviews I was a bit nervous about this place. But to put your mind at ease we have no complaints. Very friendly staff, very clean rooms and the food was better then expected!
We upgraded to premium when we got to the hotel, but next time we'll save that extra $ for the Spa and Excursions because the regular package was absolutely fine for us. All we really made use of was the wifi which you can get separately. We loved it so much that we plan on going again next year with our teenage kids.
Thanks to ALL the staff for making our holiday so relaxing and very enjoyable.
Until next year, :) [Details]

This resort was formerly a Sunscape. It had been closed for a month or so and reopened under its new name. We could see that the staff is still being trained but service was improving during the two weeks that we were there in February of 2019. We are reviewing as a retired couple so can't really speak to the kids program although we saw that there is one. We also saw a wedding building, and I didn't attend the spa. The restaurants were very good and great variety. There is an upgrade package available but we stayed under the standard room and service and were happy with that. I can't speak to the difference in the rooms with regard to the upgrade but the pools in that area were quieter if that is your preference. The beach in front of the hotel is under reclamation so unsightly; however you just needed to walk a few steps to where the swimming in the ocean is a bit better. The pools were large; one had lots of entertainment so was louder (but fun) and one quieter and closer to the beach. We noted that one of the pools in the upgraded area had access for wheelchairs to enter. We thought the evening shows were great - lots of talent and variety. The theatre held a few hundred people. Free internet was available in the theatre at all times. We paid extra to have internet access on 2 devices from anywhere on the resort. It worked most of the time but was slow. All in all we would recommend the resort as great on a lower budget. [Details]

We paid a premium for an ocean view room and the view was very limited especially because the old vinyl blinds in the room didn't work, so they had to be manually lifted each morning and wedged up high so that we could look out of the windows, which were quite in need of a good clean. This was referred to the Front Desk but nothing was done. Otherwise our room was pleasant, the mini fridge was stocked daily and the cleaning staff was friendly. The bar staff were outgoing and friendly but the wine really needs to be improved [Details]