JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

16229 reviews

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  Go Johnny Go

  Today is our last day at JOIA Bávaro, and I couldn’t wait any longer to write this review. My wife and I are Rose Gold members, and we couldn’t be happier. As you can see from the title, “Go Johnny Go!” There’s a reason for that. Johnny Toribio played a huge part in making this vacation one we will never forget. From the time we booked our reservation in the United States, Johnny helped plan our itinerary and made sure everything was perfect. Every experience was another WOW moment, and words really can’t express how grateful we are for everything he did and for showing us what the Grand can truly be. Of course, Johnny couldn’t do it alone, and there are several people who deserve recognition. Jessica Ponce, the General Manager, is absolutely amazing. She will move mountains to make sure you are happy and comfortable. Every time we saw her, she had a huge smile and asked if everything was up to our standards. We never had a complaint. Paloma Troncoso at the Prestige Lounge also made things happen wherever we went. Simply giving our room number seemed to make the magic begin. And you don’t have to be a member to receive this level of service. Ainhoa Hernandez was incredibly knowledgeable and helped us discover new areas of the resort that weren’t here last year. And don’t miss the Star Café — the ice cream is fantastic! A huge thank you to Augusto, Martin, and Hamlet at the Beach Prestige Lounge. These guys never miss a beat and somehow know what you need before you even ask. And finally, our wonderful butlers, Ansy and Armando, were always there to make sure our room was perfect and everything was ready for the day. JOIA Bávaro has really stepped it up this year, especially compared to last year. To everyone mentioned here, and everyone working behind the scenes, thank you for making this vacation so incredible. My wife and I are leaving with amazing memories and can’t wait to see what adventures await us next year.

  Aug 29, 2026
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  Not #1 and not 5 stars

  Having traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean to many resorts, I find this one to be lacking in many areas. Trip Advisor has this rated as #1 in Bavaro and the reason that it was chosen for this trip. It is far from #1 and certainly not 5 star. The reviewers who reviewed it as that have obviously not traveled enough for comparison. Here are the pros. water pressure and beds in the rooms, cleaning by housekeeping, my butlers Ray, Ansy and Armando, landscaping and groundskeepers. The cons are extensive. First of all the hotel is in disrepair. It is old and appears that when it was last renovated they came through with a quick coat of paint as there are paint splotches and drippings everywhere. The pool tiles are covered in mold. How does management not see this? I could scrape the mold off the grout with my fingernail. The tiles that were replaced did not match the color of the original tiles and the cement or grout used was sloppily applied. We watched a worker cleaning the tiles in the pool one morning. He had a rag, not a brush and wiped the tiles. then he wiped the black off the filter places (most remained black) and then rinsed his dirty rag in the pool. The pool needs a complete overhaul. Most workers are very pleasant and cordial. The exceptions are the waitress in the Japanese restaurant who was surly, the lady at the pool who comes around to take drink orders never speaks, the waitress and bus boy in the Dominican restaurant who do not know the menu. Had to point to the menu items and then the entrees were mixed up. Pork shank and roast pig are 2 different items, Had to ask 2 times to get the side dishes. They need training. The female concierge in the lobby was not friendly and did not have good language skills. The room we booked was advertised as garden view, but in reality it looked over a service road with trucks and carts all day and economy hotel buildings. The balcony floor was in disrepair. The marble in the bathroom was cracked and stained. The metal enclosures were rusted and moldy. The food was mediocre at best. There is only a buffet available every day for both breakfast and lunch, no a la carte restaurant. There are 5 restaurants for dinner but only 2 or 3 open a night. There are 2 varieties of bourbon available but one is not always available, same with Scotch. Pool was often out of straws. I could go on. but it is beyond my comprehension that management is unaware or chooses to ignore this. And it is a shame because the setting, architecture and grounds are lovely and have so much potential. Tips: even though this is a smaller resort with just 240 or so rooms, get up early to get a spot by the pool, by 9 AM everything is taken.

  Aug 25, 2026
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  We never get tired of this vacation

  We spent my 70th birthday! Absolutely perfect. Thanks to everyone . Especially Rosa, Neomi, Anyi, Juan Pablo, Darlyne, Rosa, and I can’t remember Agousto’s replacement for vacation. She was fabulous. Juan, Marvin, Sukunda (my personal caddie for a few hours). I could go on and on!! We love all the staff and can’t wait to see them in November for a couple of weeks

  Aug 25, 2026
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  This is NOT a five star hotel

  Beautiful property, but nowhere near 5-star service. This is a 2 or 3 star resort at best. The property itself is beautiful, but unfortunately the service has been extremely disappointing and nowhere near the standard you would expect from a 5-star hotel. This is especially noticeable when compared with other Iberostar properties I have stayed at in Cancun, Jamaica and Morocco which all had excellent service. Unfortunately, the problems started immediately at check-in. Despite the hotel already having our names on the list at the entrance and having welcomed us with a drink and cold towel, reception initially could not find our booking and then asked us to produce a “voucher”. Once we eventually checked in, neither of our room keys worked, meaning we had to return to reception after travelling all day. The hotel app then only worked for one person at a time, requiring another trip down to reception to resolve. Our booked room type was also unavailable, so we had to wait until the following day to move rooms. The issues continued throughout the stay: * We ordered a pillow from the pillow menu through the app. It never arrived, even the following day. We eventually had to ask our butler directly, who said it would be provided for the next night. * We asked a member of staff in the corridor for ice. She said “un momento” and simply never returned. * We ordered fries and fruit to the beach directly from a member of staff. After over an hour they still had not arrived, so we eventually left and got them ourselves. * A heavy metal handrail fell off inside the moving elevator and landed on my foot. I reported this immediately to the concierge. There was no apology or apparent concern; she simply took the handrail, which continued falling apart in her hands, and then proceeded to ask me what excursions I wanted to book. * I subsequently told another concierge that the app was not allowing me to contact my butler. Instead of addressing the issue, she inexplicably took us to the person selling excursions and then left us there, without resolving the problem we had actually raised. * After all of this, I went to reception and asked to speak with a manager. I was initially told that no manager was available and that another staff member would pass my concerns on. * When I eventually spoke to the hotel manager about the elevator incident, he initially tried to tell me that the elevator had already been fixed. This was not true. I had literally just used the same elevator on my way down to meet him and had taken a photograph showing that the handrail was still missing. When I showed him the photograph, he immediately backtracked and said that they would actually look into fixing it. Given that this involved a heavy metal handrail falling onto a guest’s foot from a moving elevator, I found the initial response particularly concerning. * The staff member who had originally dealt with my complaint did apologise for the elevator incident and told me my butler would come to my room to provide an alternative way of contacting him. More than an hour later, nobody had arrived. We called reception again and were told the butler would come, yet another 20 minutes passed with nobody appearing. We eventually had to go back down to reception ourselves once again. * After moving to our new room, the telephone in the room was not working, meaning we couldn’t contact reception at all. The app had also not updated with our new room number, so once again we had to physically go down to reception to get the issue addressed. * Reception eventually sent someone to repair the telephone. The staff member told us it was fixed and left. I immediately tested it and it still did not work at all. * I then had to go down to reception yet again to report that the telephone still wasn’t working. The reception staff member appeared annoyed that I was raising the issue and simply said he would send the butler. At the same time, we were once again experiencing the problem where only one person could log into the hotel app at a time. At this point, I have simply given up trying to get these things resolved. We will try to enjoy the rest of our holiday but honestly there is nothing relaxing about staying here. We have most of our holiday so far REPEATEDLY going to reception, chasing staff and explaining the same problems over and over again. Every interaction with staff seems to create another issue rather than resolve the one we originally raised. At this point, the staff have ruined our holiday. What makes this particularly frustrating is that the hotel is nowhere near full occupancy. There is absolutely nothing to explain this level of poor service. The physical property is genuinely beautiful, and there are clearly aspects of the resort that have the potential to be excellent. However, a beautiful building does not make a 5-star experience. The repeated failures to follow up on very basic requests, the constant need for guests to chase staff, the poor communication between departments, and the lack of urgency when something potentially dangerous happened in the elevator have made this stay incredibly frustrating and disappointing. The biggest issue is that these don’t feel like isolated mistakes. There is a consistent pattern of staff saying they will do something, failing to do it, and then requiring us to chase them again and again and again. Even very simple requests have repeatedly become time-consuming problems. I have stayed at several Iberostar properties in other countries and have generally had much better experiences. Unfortunately, based on this stay, we would never return to this iberostar.

  Aug 23, 2026
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  Def recommend!

  Everything was amazing! The staff is attentive and the service was excellent!

  Aug 22, 2026