Catalonia Royal La Romana - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3773 reviews

• 

  Good not great.

  We have travelled extensively throughout the Caribbean and this was our 8th trip to the Dominican Republic and second to the La Romana area, so based on our past experiences I feel qualified to offer an objective review and respond to some of the other reviews. We were at the resort Jan 25 to Feb 1. For the most part we found the resort pretty good, some real pluses and some not as positive. Catalonia Royal is a medium size adult only resort is attached to the much larger Catalonia Bayahibe family resort beside it. Royal guests have privileges at the family side but not visa versa. First of all as an English speaker with limited Spanish, one thing that really annoys me with other reviewers is how some complain about the lack of English speaking staff - give yourself a shake, you are a foreigner in their Spanish speaking country, be polite, suck it up and adapt! We found the staff, whatever their English ability, to be friendly welcoming and willing to help. Occasionally an order went sideways but so what, you are on holiday, get another drink and chill! Reception was quick and efficient, our room #253 was ready and the room was perfect, spacious, clean, very quiet with a view overlooking gardens and paths. AC was good but we only used it at night for sleeping. We are low maintenance guests but housekeeping kept our room perfectly clean the whole time. One neat thing was she changed the beach towels every evening at turndown time so you didn't have to bother taking them for exchange. Large bottles of purified water were provided. We didn't have any issues with sickness at all and didn't speak to anyone that had been ill. There are two pools, both are very small, many backyard pools are bigger. The main pool with the swim up bar is almost abandoned. It has covered Bali beds around it but those bed canopies are the only shade. Its unfortunately very sterile and not a place where guests wanted to hang out. The other "quiet" pool is a bit bigger but not by much, in an L shape. More secluded with lots of umbrellas and large, padded comfy loungers. Poolside bar service was provided from the bar at the main pool. We spent most of our time here and had no trouble getting loungers and we are not early risers. One drawback at the quiet pool are mosquitoes coming out of the bamboo screen on one side, they were intense and drove us away on three occasions. The beach is fabulous, sandy bottom, no coral, mostly clear water as it was being churned up by the waves. You could go for decent walks on the beautiful sand in either direction. Tons of loungers and palapas, if you went in the afternoon you had to hunt for a shady spot but we always found one. Bar service on the beach was excellent and security was ever vigilant to keep out vendors and non guests. I left food for last as this is what lets this resort down but its not a show stopper. Breakfast buffet was typical but excellent, not huge but really how much do you need. All the other restaurants are a la carte and require reservations, we made our reservations same day at guest services with no issues. Warning - the dinner buffet is at the huge family resort next door, we never went - there are a lot of kids! Several of the al a carte restaurants are an odd shared arrangement with next door. The adults only Royal guests have separate seating but common elements like salad bars are shared. Not what I expected at an adults only. The one big negative was the Italian restaurant, service was atrocious, the staff looked like they were being punished to work there, food tasted like it came from a can, kids running around, my advise is to stay far away from that restaurant. For the above reasons we didn't go to the Rodeo steakhouse. The Thai, Mediterranean and B'loved were good, the service was good, staff were wonderful, food ranged from fair to good, no meals were outstanding. Now the shouts outs to: Johendry at reception, gracious, efficient and always ready to help in any way. Brianda - a server who seemed to be everywhere, a model of charm and grace, always smiling Edwin at the omelette station, a sometimes forgotten person who knew as soon as I approached how I wanted my omelette, he silently toils behind that hot grill but his face lights up with a big grin when you engage him/ Christopher at the beach bar, my muchacho who kept his Papa entertained and hydrated. These and most of the staff members are a great asset to the management. Summary - good not great, but that's reflected in the price, it was good value. I will make a point of staying at smaller exclusively adult only resorts in the future.

  Feb 05, 2026
• 

  Visit to the Doctor £600

  Rooms are excellent and the grounds too but that's where it ends, The small area of the beach is cramped with sunbeds and loud music from adjoining hotels, the beach is not as seen in the photos. We arrived on the Tuesday and by Thursday I was extremely ill . Shaking , high temperature, vomiting and diarrhoea. Had to be taken by wheel chair to the doctor in the hotel next door vomiting into a waste paper bin from the room, through Reception, extremely embarrassing. I was put on a drip for two hours where various drugs administered and was able to walk back to the room cost of £600. He gave also us a prescription , another £60. Thank the Lord for insurance! There was another couple we spoke and he had started with the same symptoms as me and that evening a lady was wheeled past us with a bin on her knee. The Doctor gave me a bland diet sheet to follow with no alcohol for 5 days which was for the rest of my holiday as we where only there for a week after an amazing weeks cruise. Been to DR 3 times before various hotels and never been ill . I have been put off travelling to DR and will never return after this harrowing experience, truly a holiday to forget.

  Feb 05, 2026
• 

  A wonderful holiday at a delightful hotel

  This is an excellent hotel providing first class service. The whole site has been carefully designed with superb grounds, innovative restaurant spaces and an easily accessible beach. For most of our stay, the sea was calm, and the beach was very clean. There are plenty of sun beds near the beach and around the pools. The numerous restaurants, some of which are shared with the family hotel on the same site, offer a range of cuisines although booking is required for evenings. The staff are amazing. They couldn’t do enough to help make our stay a great one and Antonelli was a standout member. The grounds are beautifully planted with a range of natural flora which rival some botanic gardens we’ve visited. There are staff clearing leaves on a daily basis to leave the place in perfect condition. We enjoyed excellent weather for most of our stay. There is an interactive information board in the foyer although better information in rooms would have been useful. We didn’t discover some facilities until our second week. We visited Bahibe, a busy village that caters for numerous boat trips to nearby islands, and we took the day trip whale spotting on the north of the island. Seeing the humpback whales was fantastic but don’t be fooled by the reps description of a two hour journey to get there: ours took four hour and a quarter because of hotel pickups. Our room was spacious and cleaned daily to high standards. I would recommend this hotel without reservation.

  Feb 02, 2026
• 

  Food poisoning!

  Hotel, beach and grounds are lovely, however, the food was awful, we travelled as a family of four, all having stomach issues, myself being the worse, with vomiting and diarrhoea, taking days from my holiday, we have done some research since and apparently this is quite common at this hotel, so unless you want to spend a large proportion of your holiday in the bathroom, don’t go! I don’t usually complete reviews, but felt it was necessary, for this holiday.

  Feb 01, 2026
• 

  5* for putting us off Dominican Republic resorts

  If you’re a fan of overcrowded beaches with rows of loungers like cinema chairs, and no escape from cigarette smokers, this is the place for you. Head to the beach at 6am to secure a lounge under a hat and be prepared for loungers with shade to be gone by 7am, leaving you no other option but to grill under the blazing sun next to another sweaty and smoking body. This hotel is perfect for those who are seeking group entertainment at the beach like synchronised water gymnastics or jumping in a sac sort of activities, accompanied by loud music. If you are not a beach body, spend your day at the pool, strategically placed so far away from the beach that you wouldn’t even know the ocean exists. Loud music and smoking are guaranteed there too. For those craving a food poisoning thrill, we found ourselves in that situation on our third night after a meal at Tai Cat, an Asian restaurant. It was an exciting night spent hugging the toilet! After that, every meal felt like a lottery. The good news for those who’ve read my review that far and still considering going is that, apparently, most of the resorts on this island offer the fun package mentioned above, including food poisoning - no shortage of options there! However, if you’re looking for an unspoiled beach, a peaceful room with a sea view, and safe food and drink options, forget about the Dominican Republic. Head to Grenada, Barbados, or St Lucia instead.

  Jan 23, 2026