Riu Hotels operates resorts throughout the world, and five are in Punta Cana. All are on or near the Arena Gorda Beach. Most of the Riu Punta Cana hotels share restaurants and facilities between them with the exception of the Riu Palace Macao and the Riu Palace Punta Cana. And all hotels have access to the casino and the Pacha night club.
Riu Bambu
The all-inclusive Riu Bambu was renovated in the spring of 2010. It offers two swimming pools, one with an adjoining Jacuzzi, a third children’s pool, complimentary towels, umbrellas and lounge chairs on the beach. There’s RiuLand kids club and a children s playground. Free Wi-Fi is offered in the lobby, there is a gym, a sauna, a sun terrace, two lighted tennis courts and a multi-sport court. Restaurants include San Angelos, Hibachi, a Grill and Steakhouse and the Colonial Restaurant.
Riu Naiboa-Punta Cana
The Riu Naiboa Punta Cana has 362 rooms, all in four story buildings surrounded by vegetation. It’s a 5-minute walk to the beach, where the European tradition of going topless is permitted.
Riu Palace Macao
The Riu Palace Macao is a Colonial-style hotel that sits on the beach, surrounded by palm trees. Among its 365 rooms are several Jacuzzi suites. There’s free wireless Internet in the lobby. Amenities include casino gaming, water sports, and nightly entertainment including live music and theme shows. Children under 2 years stay and eat for free.
Riu Palace Punta Cana
Palm trees also surround the Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana which is beach-based. Riu Palace has eight bars and restaurants, a casino and a 1,706 square foot swimming pool. The property offers 612 junior suites, each equipped with hydro-massage bathtubs. Enjoy water sports like windsurfing, sailing and kayaking. There is an entertainment program for children ages 4 to 12.
Riu Taino Punta Cana
The Riu Taino is a bungalow complex on the beach, surrounded by Palm trees. It was built to resumble a typical Dominican village, with its quiet, tropical ambiance. Restaurants are open until 2 a.m. daily. There are 620 bungalow-style guestrooms, each of which is equipped with a mini-bar and a liquor dispenser.
Zoetry Agua Resort and Spa
This is a luxury all-inclusive unlike any other. Set on the beach in Uvero Alto, on the northeast coast, it is a small property with 53 rooms. The buildings are traditional Dominican style, with natural stone, local hardwoods, cane thatched roofs and Asian details. The rooms are spacious, with interior ponds everywhere, creating a relaxing atmosphere. The hotel has 2 restaurants, 2 outdoor pools, and a kids’ club. The spa is truly spectacular with six rooms where the most advanced treatments and shower sensations are offered. Water sports include scuba diving, snorkeling, water skiing, wind surfing, kayaking and fishing.
Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro
Gran Bahía Príncipe Bávaro is on the Dominican Republic’s east coast. It sits above a wide expanse of white sand beach. All of the hotel’s 540 rooms come equipped with an oval hydro massage bath. Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro has a main restaurant, six specialty restaurants and many bars.
Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort
Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort is one of five hotels built in Bavaro by the Barcelo brothers, Sebastián and Gabriel Barceló and opened in 1985. They are all contained within a massive park, connected by a network of roads and bike trails. The hotels are similar; all the rooms have private verandas or terraces. The complex overall offers 14 restaurants, 13 bars, a casino, an 18-hole golf course, six outdoor pools, nine tennis courts, and all watersports.
Grand Oasis
The Grand Oasis sits on the east coast of the Dominican Republic in Punta Cana. Its beachfront is protected by a large coral reef, surrounded by big tropical gardens. The hotel has 460 rooms, and most have sea or pool views. There are four restaurants, a snack bar, a beach garden cafe and a splash bar. Grand Oasis has a spa, a gym with a variety of equipment, programs for both adults and children, water sports and a casino.
Dreams Punta Cana
Dreams Punta Cana, which used to be called Sunscape, The Beach Punta Cana, is on the beach in Uvero Alto. Perfect for families, offering a supervised Explorer’s Club for young children, and a Core Zone for teenagers. All ages will enjoy the long free-form pool that winds its way from the lobby down to the beach. There is a spa for children and adults, a work-out center, and a beauty salon.
Excellence Punta Cana
Excellence Punta Cana for adults only, sits on a 1.5-mile stretch of secluded white sand beach in Uvero Alto. The resort is covered with a lush canopy of coconut palms. It also has endless grasslands, a beautiful beach, and of course, the Caribbean Sea. The resort offers eight restaurants and 10 bars. There are 452 guest suites
Paradisus Palma Real
Located on Bávaro Beach, and 20 minutes from Punta Cana, Paradisus Palma Real Resort is travel guru Arthur Frommer’s pick for the best all-inclusive in the area. This hotel attracts a big Spanish clientele. It is furnished in an Iberian style, with sculptures throughout. It is known for its masses of flickering candles in public areas. There are five a la carte restaurants, two poolside buffet eateries, and nine bars. Paradisus Parma also has a casino and a golf course and offers activities like wine-tasting, salsa and merengue dance classes, massage lessons and more.
Paradisus Punta Cana
The Paradisus Punta Cana preceded the Palma Real, with the two resorts separated by about 2 miles. It’s rates are lower than its newer sister, but its offerings are more. These include tennis, golf, seven swimming pools, a casino, a full-service spa and health club, water sports, 12 restaurants, and 8 bars, a kid’s playground, and sushi-making and wine-tasting classes.
Majestic Elegance Hotel
The Majestic Elegance dubs itself a 5 star all-inclusive resort on the Arena Gordo beach within Punta Cana. This high-end luxury resort, which opened in 2008, is for adults only. A 400-meter swimming pool sits on the beach, both the fitness center and the spa are full-service and an all-day program of children’s supervised activities is offered for parents.
Majestic Colonial Hotel
Majestic Colonial Hotel is also quite new, built in January of 2006. It is also quite luxurious, with roomy quarters include jetted tubs, bathrobes, slippers, and a furnished balcony or terrace. There are nine bars, including a sport bar, pool and beach bars and a piano bar. There are even tattoo and hair-braiding parlors. The kids club is 9 to 5, and there is nightly entertainment, the disco or the casino.
Punta Cana Resort & Club
This resort that covers 25,000 acres of jungle and white sandy beaches is the only place where you can find a championship golf course, an ecological preserve, a marina, and three miles of gorgeous sandy beach. There are many accommodation choices, including a main hotel, the exclusive Tortuga Bay and real estate options. Famous homeowners include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Julio Iglesias and Oscar de la Renta. This is a green resort, which grows organic vegetables and herbs for its restaurants.
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
This is a brand new facility in the Punta Cana area. It is enormous, offering 12 outdoor pools, the largest casino in the Dominican Republic, with 900 slot machines and 40 card tables, the spa has 48 treatment rooms, there is an on-site 18 hole Jack Nicklaus Golf course, a choice of 11 restaurants, and the spacious rooms feature a private balcony, satellite TV and a double Jacuzzi. Also featured is a wide collection of Hard Rock’s authentic music memorabilia, of both international and local artists.
Melia Caribe Tropical
The Melia Caribe Tropical is a new blending of two Melia hotels; the Melia Caribe and the Melia Tropical, offering 1,044 rooms, surrounded by palm trees and green, lush vegetation. There are 9 bars, and 12 buffet-style and a la carte restaurants. The Melia Tropical offers 7 pools, 8 tennis courts, an 18-hole on-site golf course, and the Meliá Golf Academy, two big shows every night, two spas, one indoor, another outdoor, offering steam room, sauna, work-out room with machines, and classes. There are special clubs and entertainment for children and teens, Water sports that are not motorized are unlimited, or you can try kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, water biking, snorkeling, sunfish sailing and even a diving lesson in the pool.
Club Med Punta Cana
You will find Club Med’s signature experiences of whimsy and camaraderie in force at this resort. And this family-friendly chain’s offer of its Kids Stay Free program is still in effect at Punta Cana. The facility was upgraded in 2008 to flat-screen TVs and new bathrooms in every room, along with a new spa with 10 treatment rooms and special palapas for oceanfront massages. The new Baby Club introduces interactive parent and infant learning workshops. At the teen center, a create-your-own-soda bar is a hit, and a new skate park gives boarders a venue to show off in. Cheery staffers offer yoga, merengue lessons, and circus programs.