Zel Punta Cana

Well…where to begin. Service: nonexistent. That’s not to say no one helped, we had a couple who were genuinely trying to help. Checkin was smooth, but that was it. No poolside service, no waiters, no lunch poolside you had to go get your own food from the buffet and bring it to the pool yourself, or go to the restaurant right next to the pool to eat. The buffet was the same food everyday, we were there 5 days. Some waiters were more attentive at the restaurants, but ordering coffee at breakfast in the mornings, you would be done eating by the time they arrived. Food: terrible. The buffet, as I said, same food everyday, and most of it was inedible. Flies everywhere, sitting on food. Steakhouse, you’d be better off eating a leather shoe. Hibachi was entertaining for the kids, but the food was covered in salty sauce. Sushi restaurant fishy tasting, and the cooked food was eh. Tempura was basically onion rings. Btw restaurants are closed on Wed, so we had to eat the buffet, again. None of the food looks like any of the pictures. Room service: horrible menu. Pastrami club sandwich was three slices of bread, with one layer with fried egg, and the other layer had lettuce and tomatoes. No pastrami to be found. Everything was horrendous. Minibar was eh. Cleanliness: overall not good. Room cleaning was totally inconsistent, some days they wouldn’t even show up, despite asking for it several times throughout the day. Room itself: old. Pullout bed was horrendous. Everything in the room was old, including the toilet. We had a leak in the ceiling of our room that luckily missed our suitcase and shoes. They fixed it, I’ll give them credit for that. Alcohol: watered down. I had the same drink served to me in 6 different glasses during my stay. None of the bars have a drink menu. None of the bartenders could offer any help in terms of drinks they make. Those that have been to resorts in Mexico know what I mean. Staff: everyone seemed to be annoyed when asking for something like a fork, or ordering at the bar for instance. As I’ve said there were a few that were great, but overall they weren’t. Also no one speaks English. Before you roll your eyes and say “typical American”, you’re at a resort for international guests, you should be able to understand “hamburger with only cheese and lettuce” apparently lettuce was a stretch. Or asking for a fork. Luckily I know a few basic words in Spanish like lechuga to communicate my point across. Value: way way way overpriced. More like a local resort than an international resort. They do have a great marketing team though, and they will hound you on your last day to post your review with there in front of them where they will “help you” post it. They asked us on 5 separate occasions on our last day in a 3 hour window to try to get us to post our review with them standing over our shoulder. Resort: it’s totally open air, with only AC in the restaurants excluding the buffet which is where all of the hanging out is expected to occur. Needless to say it’s extremely hot and muggy. This is coming from someone who lives in Houston, where hot and muggy is par for the course but this was not what I was expecting at a resort, I would say this is probably on me for not reading enough. I will say though, pictures they have posted do not represent what it actually looks like. Also no store on the premises should you need anything like shampoo or any essentials you might have forgotten. That’s in the resort next door, 10 min walk or 2 mins gold cart ride if you’re willing to wait for one. Hit or miss when they show. Overall I would say do not stay here if these are the things you’re looking for in a resort. I normally do not post things like this, but I feel it’s needed in order given the 5 days we spent there we regret doing so.

The food quality was disappointing, and the service wasn’t what we expected from a resort in this price range. Our room also had several maintenance issues,the bathroom sink barely drained, our sheets had a hole in them, and there were other small problems throughout our stay that made it feel poorly maintained. Another disappointment was that there was no poolside food service, only drinks, which made long days by the pool less convenient. The property has potential, but overall it didn’t meet the expectations we had based on the price and other all-inclusive resorts we’ve visited.

Save your money and don’t go here! This review is for travelers from the U.S. This resort has so many issues that I don’t even know where to start. First of all, there is absolutely no customer service. Many of the workers don’t speak English and have poor attitudes. They don’t even know basic words like spoon or fork. The staff also seem poorly trained, and it shows in the level of service. Nobody comes back to check on your table or asks if you need anything. If you order coffee at breakfast, don’t be surprised if it arrives after you’ve already finished eating. Housekeeping is another major problem. They don’t clean the rooms, even after requesting it multiple times.The food is below average. The buffet serves the same food every day, and there are flies sitting on it. The steakhouse was especially disappointing. The quality of the food was very poor. The meat was bitter, and we left most of our meal untouched because it was simply not edible. The lobby is an open-air space, which means it’s around 85°F and very humid at night. There are ceiling fans, but most of them don’t work. We asked the staff to turn them on, and they completely ignored us. The air conditioning in the rooms won’t cool below 70°F, which is uncomfortable if you’re used to sleeping in a cooler room. The bed sheets and towels aren’t white and have a very rough texture. The minibar is below average, and the shampoo and conditioner are so watered down they’re almost useless. There isn’t even a store on the property, so if you need anything, you have to walk to the resort next door. This resort has so many problems far too many to justify the price. Coming here was a huge mistake.

I highly recommend Zel Punta Cana. They offer wonderful activities that are focused on health and wellness. The food was delicious and our room was excellent. Staff was friendly and helpful.

It wasn’t the greatest or the worst. I enjoyed the views. I like the materials of the building, wood and stone. I already talked about what I didn’t like or noticed previously.