IFA Villas Bavaro Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

Our holiday at this resort was really lovely. The hotel is stunning in every aspect & they had just improved it further with a fabulous theatre as we left. The rooms are gorgeous & the air con is great, although friends of ours had theirs break down in the last few days & nobody would fix it. I would say that this is a fab hotel for adults as the main things we really enjoyed were the incredible food & beauty of the place. IFA does not have a kids club & but all the entertainments during the day are for young adults & at night time it is dancing & sometimes bingo! My favourite evenings were spent in the 3 amazing a la carte restaurants & sipping coctails in the adjacent bar, which is by far the best one. Staff didn't speak a lot of English but it was enough to get everyting we needed & at the end of the day its pretty arrogant for us to expect everyone to be fluent in our language, I don't speak Spanish! Big range of nationalities there & great facilities to make everyone feel at home. This is the nicest hotel me & my fiancee have ever been to, don't believe the moaners!

1 reader found this review helpful

Ifa is a great hotel; it’s not for the boring and self obsessed people.
Night time entertainment is good as long as you know how to have fun, not many people talk much English so I would advise you to just touch up a little bit on your Spanish.
The hotel rooms are pleasant enough but who wants to be in a hotel room on there holiday?
I went with me and my girlfriend, id advise anyone to go to Iffa. The bar staff and waiters are very pleasant, especially Henry on the pool bar anyway enough said, I’m going back next year so there’s my verdict hope that helps.

2 readers found this review helpful

We have just got back from IFA Villas Bavaro. We had a room overlooking the main pool.
There was building work opposite us and they would turn up the music so loud to drown out the constant banging. The other pool was better near to the spa nice and quiet.
We got burgled on our 3rd day from going home, the front door had been broken open, and they stole 2 mobile phones and a digital camera. Luckily we had the safe with everything else in, but could not fit it all in.
The hotel guest relations luckily took us to the police station thank god as they never spoke a word of English. After that we had to carry everything around with us, which is not ideal.
The hotel is definitely not a 4 star more like 3. The position of the hotel is excellent it just needs a complete re-furb!
The room is very basic and lots of things are loose or hanging off! When we first arrived the patio doors did not lock but they sorted that out straight away, also there was mould growing in the bathroom.
The people are really friendly. If you’re looking for a cheap hotel than this is adequate just make sure you do not take any expensive items with you.
If we had not been broken into we would have had a really good holiday. Just wanted to warn people before hand.

1 reader found this review helpful

We wanted to tell you what a fantastic holiday we had at this hotel! We booked at short notice and had a brilliant holiday. Down side was a very long, cramped flight with a very disappointing service by My Travel.
On arriving at La Romana airport, what a lovely escape from a terrible journey. Warm sunshine, palm trees and smiling, helpful staff. The journey to the hotel does take quite a long time but it is an eye opener to the other side of the Dominican Republic.
At last we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by smiling staff and whilst waiting to check in we were offered tropical fruit drinks. Check in was quick and our cases were whisked away to our bungalow by a bell boy.
Our bungalow was lovely, not luxurious, but clean and more than adequate for our needs. Air conditioning, fridge, TV and a hairdryer.
The pools were clean and very quiet considering the size of the complex, you will need to get up early to grab the sun beds though!
Great choice of gift shops and the buffet restaurant was very good. Avoid the Caribbean a la carte restaurant, the Mexican and Chinese restaurants were the best. We had to queue to book them but we always got our preferred time for eating.
It was my daughter's 18th birthday whilst we were there and i don't think she could have spent it in a better place! The hotel maids decorated her bed with flowers and she even had the local boat hire men circling her and singing "happy birthday to you". They made her day!!!
The evening entertainment team were superb and so friendly, as were all the staff. They were always smiling and couldn't do enough for us, unlike the staff from My Travel airline.
We were so sad to be coming home but are already looking to book to return again soon.

Having spent 2 weeks (13>27.3.06) at this hotel I had to write and comment on what a great time my wife and I spent there. Having never been on an all inclusive holiday before we were not sure what to expect. As I am disabled and find it quite difficult to get around. At the airport we were met by our Rep Emma who was very helpful throughout the holiday. Although the transfer was a long one there was plenty to see but some times what you did see was an eye opener with the poverty on the island.
Once at the resort the check in was very quick and the bell boy put our cases on a golf cart and was taken to our rooms while was well air conditioned and he showed us where everything was. The food was good and plentiful in both the buffet restaurants and the themed ones. Our favorite was the on at the beach in the evening we went there 3 times. The pools were fantastic and clean and the white sandy beach was good too which was accessible by a shuttle bus every few minutes and in the evening when we had finished our meal the staff phoned for it for us.
While we were there we went on the Tropical Storm catamaran twice (both Saturdays) which was a good day out and the staff on that were helpful too. All in all we spent a very relaxing holiday and met some really nice fellow holiday makers and the hotel staff were great.

We had a wonderful time at this hotel- a great relaxing resort with everything we needed for a rejuvenating holiday.
The pools and beach were amazing- our photos are unbelievable! The accommodation is villa style with big rooms and ceiling fans- much needed as it is so hot! Good food and very friendly staff- who do understand English! Also, we never saw any bugs the whole time we were there- great as my wife was worried about mosquitoes.
Went on the island safari which is well worth it if you want to see some of the island. Also the swimming with sharks is also brilliant. I cannot understand some of the negative comments and would definitely go back!

!!!!!This may seem long but please read before booking this hotel!!!!!
I have just arrived back from IFA villas Bavaro this morning (03/01/2006) we looked into this holiday on review sites which said a variety of things so i feel i have to put my comments on to discourage anyone thinking about booking this hotel.
We flew with my travel and were delayed by 1/2 a hour going out once on the plane we were in the two inside seats and were squashed all the way on the 9 hour flight and with the lady on the outside asleep and blocking us in tried to avoid eating or drinking so we didn’t need the toilet the staff seemed too busy to be helpful and when I received my "vegetarian" meal i had a ham & cheese sandwich when i questioned it the staff shrugged and blamed it on who ever had labelled it wrongly in the factory
And was asked if I would like some bread...

Our first impressions were good upon landing in La Romana as our bags were sat waiting for us we were then put on a small bus and taken down the bumpy roads for two hours to our hotel.
Upon arrival check-in was quick a bell boy was sent and we were taken on a cart to our room, when in the room the bell boy showed us how to work the air con and the lights but soon left in embarrassment when two of the three lamps didn't work, in the bathroom our bath was filled with rust around the plug hole area but apart from this it seemed large and we had a TV and a fridge with two bottles of water.
As it was about 4:30pm when we arrived we got a shower and went to get some dinner at one of the two large buffet restaurants. Me - as a vegetarian didn’t find much choice but chips, pasta, rice and salad which i ate for two weeks except for when we tried one of the themed restaurants which were like gold dust the booking for these opened at 9am but people were queuing at 8:30 and it usually took over an hour in the queue only to be disappointed the following night by the not so special meal.
The staff did not speak any English we didn’t get a proper drink all the time we were there if you asked for a spirit you got rum no matter what you asked for they were often rude and would serve someone else when you had been there 15 mins for Christmas dinner me and my partner had chips as the celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve which was just champagne at the entrance to the restaurant new year was the same and then we all went to the 600km walk to the beach where there were no fireworks only those from other hotels .
Sunbeds: if you want a sun bed you must be up by 7:30 as after this time you will not get one!!!! (even though there are 3 pools and a beach they do not have the facilities for the size of the complex)
While we were there, there was a mugging and a robbery food poisoning and lots of accidents which cost thousands of pounds for the poor people that suffered.
Do not go to dolphin island it cost $85usd each we were taken by boat and spent an hour on another beach before getting to go and spend 10 minutes in the water with 2 dolphins not swim with the just touching them (not like on the leaflet!!!) Then after 3 hours and being forced back to the island to look at photos it was dark and because we were wet it was cold we were left on the beach to walk back to the hotel.
Not one person we spoke to enjoyed their stay one even asked if we wanted to stay another week so he could go home early - we declined.
On previous trips to dom rep have been excellent so I would blame the hotel itself.
On return home we upgraded to premier gold seats for the leg room this was the best part of the whole trip and we enjoyed the flight home.
We have just been and booked Cuba for next new year hopefully this will be better.