Zel Punta Cana

They are trying...rooms are large and comfortable. Staff friendly but with few exceptions, incompetent. Reservations at activities and restaurants rarely honored. Communication very poor. Only a year old and already looking tired in places. Food inedible and drinks terrible unless you specify a brand or order separately and pay extra (wine list).

To start, I must mention the positive which was the beach club. Fabian and Ricardo are legit two of the most hard working and valuable employees the resort has. Whether it was just constantly bringing drinks or even mixing privately engineered cocktails, they never stopped trying to please. Drinks at the resort, in general, were very good. Food at the beach club was also some of the most decent, which was invaluable in a sea of inedible and even mysterious. We would also say the taco restaurant by the pool also deserves praise for hard work and respectable food. All the staff at the beach and taco restaurants were friendly and helpful. Staff at the buffet were very nice and were as accommodating as possible. The buffet is TINY. Edible options few. At one dinner the highlight option was “TRENCH.” Looked as nasty as it sounds!! Honorable shout out to the pizza team at the buffet they were very accommodating and friendly. Main building bartenders were friendly. Reco the watermelon crush cocktail. Housekeeping was nearly non-existent Towel rationing or some other issue was a daily problem for many many guests. Without our concierge, room towels, toilet paper, tissues, bath soap and more were never replaced. Dinner reservations would constantly change or be only one of our rooms instead of two leaving us with no dinner at 9pm one night. Okay for the money but not top notch.

Well, the room is big and the resort is beautiful with lots of trees. BUT.... - the food quality is below the average, often seeing the hair in the food, meat was not fully cooked and toast, harsh brown, pancake & waffle was overcooked - NO Front Desk, communicate with staff by using WhatsApp, lack of communication and no immediate attention on certain needs. Even with personal consierge services - Lack of training for the room services team. No replacement or refill for toilet paper, tissue box, shampoo and bodywash even when we indicated the change or refill needed.

My family had a lovely 5 night stay at Zel Punta Cana. We loved the low key atmosphere. It never felt crowded and was not noisy. They have beautiful pools, easy access to a lovely beach. The beach bar/restaurant was great. The buffet was different and well prepared for each meal in the Parda. We had 2 swim up suites which were fantastic. Clean and well maintained. The all inclusive nature of our trip was fantastic. They had great exercise and craft classes. There was always a lot of staff around. Everyone was friendly and helpful. We had a great time.

The services that used to be included (access to Palma real, tennis, small boats/paddle boards) are no longer available. Everything is for a fee. There are no reservations at the Palma real hotel so you are left eating at the buffet or just at Zel restaurants. You can’t even go on the main beach as Zel has its own area now. Buyer beware, we are very disappointed this trip!!