Zel Punta Cana

Overall a very nice property. Rooms are very spacious...we had 2 bedroom master suite for ourselves and 2 teenage boys. Food could get quite repetitive. Only 3 al la carte restaurants... sushi was our favourite. The buffet was fine but could get pretty boring near the end of the week. Taco restaurant for lunch was great. We were only able to get dinner reservations for 4/7 nights so do this as soon as you arrive. Rooms were cleaned and towels restocked daily. Fridge and snacks restocked daily. The beach is very nice, but not right on the resort. It's a nice walk to the beach or you can take a golf cart. Unfortunately there are very few chairs and even less umbrellas so you either get there early or sit in the beach bar chairs and wait like a vulture for a chair. Sort of annoying if you spend the time to go to the beach and there are no chairs. More beach chairs or someone removing towels off unused chairs would be nice. There are limited places to get drinks...one main bar with the swim up bar on the opposite side, a bar at the Tacorini restaurant, and a bar in the steak house/asian restaurant that is open at night. Oh yes, also a bar called Vogel or something that was only open on 1 night that we were there...very strange hours. The "coffee bar" was just a small station to the side of the check in/lobby area. Although the coffee was great there was not much else to pick from...aside from a small tray with a couple croissants or cinnamon buns in it. Not much entertainment if that is your thing. Perhaps the most disappointing was the lack of service. This place seems very understaffed. 2 mornings I did not have anyone come by to offer coffee at breakfast. We sat pool side for at least 4-5 hours each day and in total only saw a waiter 3 times...not 3 times a day... 3 times all week. The main bar only has 2 people working to serve almost the entire resort. At night we would sit by the main bar before dinner...not once did a waiter/waitress come by....always had to go line up at the bar for a drink. (1st world problem I know however this is not my experience at most other 5 star resorts). This is a smaller resort however it seemed like an inadequate amount of staff. One morning there were a pile of bottles and glasses poolside that were not removed/picked up by staff all day. Lastly, the tennis at the Nadal centre is quite expensive. It was close to $60 CAD just to play for an hour. Padel ball was closer to $85CAD as we had to rent rackets as well. I feel that use of the court should be included as part of your "all inclusive" vacation... at least for so many hours a week or during off peak times. There is a free court you can use at an adjacent Melia property however the court is not in great condition and there is an extremely loud industrial fan humming right beside it. We stayed at Paradisus Palma Real last year...Rooms very similar, same ownership. It was in my opinion much better...more food offerings, lounges where you could grab snacks and with self serve coffee machines. Closer to the beach and nightly entertainment. So not a bad resort, but with more staff this could be a much better experience. We enjoyed our stay but would not repeat coming here.

overall experience at the hotel in the was disappointing. The front desk agent who checked us in basically finessed us out of $300 USD. He picked us up in his personal car and had us meet him down the street from the property, then later told us not to tell anyone and to go strictly to him for help. The next day we went to the actual front desk and found out we had a complimentary shuttle that could take us to the mall. That same front desk person messaged us saying he would pick us up for $40, and when we told him we’d use the complimentary shuttle, he acted surprised and said, ‘from where?’ On top of that, the food plates were dirty, which made us question the overall cleanliness and standards of the hotel. This experience made us feel taken advantage of and uncomfortable.”

The services was excellent and the entire staff was attentive and respectful. It was excellent experience I highly recommend zel for enjoying your vacation.. I would like to thank Carla the young lady who assisted us with check-in and out. As well as Mr. Yunior who took care of providing us with everything we needed to ensure our comfort. Thanks to all the staff.

We wanted a stress free vacation that was clean, had consistently good food, great pools and access to a beach and we got it all. The wellness options were excellent too. We loved the upgraded room we were offered. If you want more activities, those were available, but this time we wanted peace and quiet and we got it. Thank you Zel.😊

A beach club experience you can’t miss! Ricardo is an absolute dream. Upgrade to a steak, lobster or champagne moment and you can sit at one of their larger loungers complimentary.