Peeping Patio Perv at Barcelo Bavaro Palace, and other unfortunate events.
Only halfway through my trip and here is my experience in real time:
FYI I tip, smile a lot and use Google Translate whenever possible. I am not a loud/rude type of person. So this is all in the setting of very good behavior on my end.
Let me start by saying I would not have picked this place, but my friend chose to get married here so I decided to come a day early and leave a day later in hopes that I would have a decent experience, like some other reviewers. That was my mistake.
If you can’t tell already, I am not having a good time.
At check-in, I upgraded to premium because the reviews indicated that the service without premium was going to be awful. I also read that the only decent food was room service. I’ve been to a lot of all inclusives and it’s pretty shitty that they nickel and dime you at BBP for decent service.
I had a junior suite with an ocean view. I found my room to be outdated and dirty. It was not properly cleaned from the prior stay. There were crumbs on the table and hair in the corners.
I had to call premium services multiple times in the first 24 hours for various issues, including empty toiletries in the shower and a safe with a low battery.
I had dinner the first night at Coral because that was the only reservation available and it was just ok. The grilled shrimp were good, but that was it. I avoided the majority of the buffet aside from the fruit and the desserts. Their service was pretty good.
My room had a lot of mosquitoes and I got bitten quite a bit the first night. The next morning, I had the premium breakfast at Coral and that was also just ok. I had eggs and some fruit and yogurt. Not much else looked appetizing.
Then I went to the gym, which is small given how large the property is, but it appears to be functional based on the volume of people that use it.
I had lunch at Hoya 19, which tasted good, but then I ended up in the bathroom immediately after. I’m not sure what the culprit was. I had some shrimp, fruit and the pink sandwich with fries. The waitress was great.
I had dinner that night on the sushi side of Kyoto, which was wildly disappointing. I must’ve had the worst waiter there. He didn’t speak a word of English and he got my order wrong even when I pointed to what I wanted. When the food did come, it was cold and stale. The ice cream in the dessert was melted. I don’t understand how anybody likes that place.
Later that night, I thought I’d try room service. Anywhere else in the world, this stuff would still be considered bad food, but for this place, I would consider it good food. I would not eat it by choice outside of this situation. It was too hot to sleep so I was still up at 1am, at which time I saw a cockroach on the sofa. I could not sleep the rest of the night. I continued to get bitten by mosquitoes in my room. I called in the morning to report the cockroach and asked for housekeeping and pest control to come.
I didn’t eat anything that morning or afternoon because I had basically given up. I called and asked for housekeeping to come while I was gone at the gym and the spa. The spa is probably the nicest part of the resort. Well maintained and professional. The massage was great. I had a deep tissue and tipped $10. If you have to come here, do not miss the spa.
I returned to my room to find that no one had serviced it. I had been gone for 3 hours and even asked one of the housekeeping staff on my way out to service my room.
I called premium services again for housekeeping and they instead sent someone with 2 towels. I told that person what happened the night prior and she saw that I was visibly upset. She agreed to come back after I had gotten ready for my event, and she did. She did an excellent job. I tipped her well.
After the event I returned to my room to find a cockroach on the curtains. I called premium services immediately and they said someone could come in a few minutes. 25 minutes later I called again, and they said someone would come in 10 minutes. The cockroach made its way to the floor and I managed to put a glass cup over it. A woman with roach spray finally came and sprayed all over the room.
I felt much better after they sprayed, but later that night, I showered and was in a towel getting ready for bed when, around 1:45am, I saw a man peeking through the 4 inch SLIVER of patio curtain left open by the women who had sprayed. He was wearing a white polo so it stuck out against the darkness behind him. He ran away after noticing that I had seen him. Thankfully the doors were locked. After he left I peeked out and saw he had MOVED A CHAIR TO SIT IN AND WATCH ME (see pics). Who knows how long he had been sitting there or what he was doing while watching me get out of the shower, etc. Women are not safe anywhere. I have not seen an employee wear a white polo so I can only assume it was a guest.
I called the front desk and I was told it was probably a drunk person leaving the casino who mistook my room for someone else’s. I fought that idea hard and insisted this was not a mistake. They said they would review security video and get back to me. I don’t expect to hear anything back.
This place just keeps getting worse. I want to go home so badly.
Stay tuned for part 2, if this place doesn’t kill me first.