Resorts: Hotel Catalonia Bavaro, Punta Cana

I just returned from the Hotel Catalonia Bavaro. It was very kid-friendly & the rooms were quite large, even larger than the Iberostar, which I've also visited. Each king bed room automatically comes with an additional single bed & there's plenty of space still. They can swap the bed out for a pack & play (not crib). The Kids Club at the Catalonia seemed quite nice - the other parents seemed to give it positive reviews. Our daughter was too young (17 mos) to attend. The kids club participants would even put little shows together that would go on before the adult show in the evening. Think Karaoke, Fashion Shows, etc. They would also open the disco up for the younger kids only in the early evening. I'm not sure the age range of kids at that part, but I thought it was a nice touch, especially for tweens/teens.

It's the closest resort to the airport (15 minutes) which is a HUGE plus with a little one. They also have one of the nicest resort pools I've seen outside of the States, & we've been to quite a few Caribbean resorts. If you're more of a beach person, they have a large one - bigger than the Iberostar, although the Iberostar has more palapas & a larger swimming area. There are palapas at both the pool & the beach.

The Iberostar is a little more lush & the grounds tended towards the
immaculate. The Catalonia was well-kept, but not quite as over-the-top, ie, they'd sweep the pool area, not hose it down every day. Food-wise, the Iberostar is nicer, but this resort seems to cater to kids more. There's even a snack bar that serves hamburgers/hotdogs/brick oven pizza/pork sandwiches/fries/nachos) right at the pool (meaning you don't have to wrestle kids into cover-ups/shoes). There's also another restaurant right down at the beach too, in case you want to have some vegetables with your lunch. ;)

All in all, we were quite pleased with the Catalonia. Like anywhere in the DR, Spanish helps, but the presence of a baby seemed to make service better even w/o the Spanish!