Hotel Carabela Bavaro Beach Resort

Located in the heart of a tropical garden, very close ( a few minutes walk ) to the picturesque Dominican village of El Cortecito, the Carabela is located 12.4 miles away from the airport of Punta Cana, half an hour's drive by car, and 118 miles away from the international airport of Santo Domingo ( a 4 hours' drive ). It is adjacent to another large resort, the Ocean Bavaro Beach ( formerly H10 ).

On the fabulous beach of Bavaro, two minutes away by foot from the lovely Dominican village of El Cortecito, this resort is ideally located for those who want above all to enjoy the beach, the sun and the translescent waters. Lovers of water sports activities will also be pleased.
Note :
The Carabela do all things in the grand scale and, during our visit, a new building with a swimming pool and a large restaurant on the beach were under construction. There is room and this resort should gain in liveliness and facilities. One question remains : will the service be in keeping with it ?

Opened in 1993 with 110 rooms, the Carabela now has now 10 buildings of three storeys each, including 5 pink buildings around the swimming pool at the entrance and three buildings with roofs in palapas on the beach. The last building of 75 rooms, is located near the beach, and was under construction during our visit. It was due to open in December 2004 with a new pool, a spa and fitness room. This resort has a total of 474 rooms and three swimming pools. The entire setting displays a Caribbean colonial architecture, which fits in well with the tropical garden where is established the Carabela, that benefits from the tropical vegetation.
For the rest, its facilities and equipment offer upscale quality. It has beautiful wrought iron furniture, well appointed walkways, with sculptures and lush vegetation. The reception and the staff are very warm. The clientele is mostly French.
We recommend this place for a seaside holiday.

The only disadvantage. In addition to the 75 rooms under construction, the resort has 400 lodgings, including 375 standards and 25 junior suites. The junior suites, with 56 m², are housed in charming buildings with peaked roofs in palapas by the sea. However, the standard rooms lack a bit of charm. Access is too far away for the upper floors. All the rooms are equipped with two double beds, air conditioning, a refrigerator (empty), satellite TV, a hair dryer, a balcony. The safe, telephone and the iron are extra.
The new building under construction is off-centre from the reception and the main restaurant. But it is closer to the beach ...

There again, the construction work was in full swing during our visit. In addition to the main buffet ( morning and evening only ), with international cuisine and theme evenings ( four times a week ), the steakhouse-pizzeria ( noon and evening ) and a small a la carte gourmet seafood restaurant, the Almirante ( reservation required, extra ) with 20 place settings, a fourth restaurant will open soon. The latter, a Mexican a la carte restaurant, is installed on the beach, bearing large wooden beams in a large straw hut. It has a capacity of 160 place settings. It accommodates one part dedicated to the Italian restaurant, also serving a la carte, with the same capacity. A snack bar opened on the beach in August 2004 and has a colourful construction like the typical houses of Dominican fishermen. How lovely ! A seventh bar ( under construction during our visit ) opened doors in December 2004, also on the beach.

The key asset of the Carabela. It benefits from the turquoise waters and the fine white sand on the beach of Bavaro, the most famous in Punta Cana. But also from the surrounding vegetation that the hotel has wisely preserved : numerous coconut trees are scattered over a vast area of sand stretching over 450 metres in length. The choices are as follows: to the east, water sports and beach activities ; to the west, peace and tranquillity. Congratulations for the toilets, built in a permanent building, which preserves the landscape. Certainly one of the best beaches in Punta Cana ;it offers an exotic charm on one hand and on the other hand facilities and liveliness that might be optimzed by the new restaurant ( located in the central part ).