Caribe Deluxe Princess
Caribe Deluxe Princess is the classic big Dominican all-inclusive at a price that makes Playa Bávaro reachable on a tighter budget: 355 rooms, three main pools, a long sports list and a beach you can walk straight onto, 25 minutes from the airport. It reopened on September 10, 2021 after a full refurbishment and shares its campus, shuttles, clubhouse and lobby shops with Tropical Deluxe Princess next door; both hotels publish an identical facilities list for the December 2025 to December 2026 season, so think of it as one resort with two lobbies. It is not a luxury property and does not pretend to be, and guests who calibrate for that come away mostly happy.
Traveler Insights
Pros
- +Right on Playa Bávaro, 25 minutes from Punta Cana airport, at a price that keeps the Bávaro beach corridor open to travelers who cannot stretch to the luxury all-inclusives
- +355 rooms in four categories: 229 Caribe Deluxe rooms, 115 Deluxe Suites with a living area and sofa bed, 9 Honeymoon Suites with a hydromassage tub, and 2 two-floor Royal Suites; every room has a balcony or terrace, a minibar restocked daily with water, soft drinks and beer, a 50-inch TV, USB-C sockets, a free safe and a coffee maker, and standard rooms sleep up to four
- +Dining is named, not vague: the Food Market buffet, Tao (Asian and teppanyaki), La Tagliata (Italian), Nopal (Tex-Mex), Fogo (Brazilian rodizio), El Pilón (Dominican, on the Tropical Deluxe Princess side), the Beachouse snack bar, the Cappuccino coffee shop and Corneto ice cream are all in the plan
- +Nine bars plus the 24-hour Kanalla sports bar: the Acqua swim-up bar in the main pool, the Manatí bar at the children's pool, the Beachouse bar and its rooftop over the beach, La Cantina by the lobby, La Terraza between the restaurants, the Theater Bar and the Lobby Bar
- +The campus is shared with Tropical Deluxe Princess next door and both hotels publish the same facilities list for 2026, so the kids' club with its water park and pool (ages 4 to 12), the teen club (13 to 17), the children's pool, the mini disco and the shared clubhouse all come with a Caribe booking, no upgrade required
- +The sports list is long for a budget resort: two tennis courts, a multipurpose court, a soccer field, mini golf, archery, table tennis and petanque, plus catamaran, kayak and snorkeling gear, an introductory scuba lesson in the pool, aqua gym, and salsa, merengue and bachata classes before the nightly show at the Serenata Theater
- +The property reopened on September 10, 2021 after a top-to-bottom refurbishment, and August to October 2026 guests still describe clean, comfortable rooms with magnificent views and well-kept grounds with wildlife wandering through
- +The entertainment and bar teams carry the place: August and September 2026 guests single out the animation staff, the pool bar crew, the Kanalla sports bar team and the front desk by name, and the foam pool party gets called the best in the Dominican Republic
Cons
- −It is a big two-hotel campus with internal shuttles, so service is functional rather than personal; the buffet gets crowded, and an October 2026 guest watched other guests claim beach chairs for hours without using them
- −Service is inconsistent week to week: a July 2026 guest found buffet service mediocre and waited two days for towels, a September 2026 guest reported poor room cleaning, an unresponsive reception and a dead bug in the buffet rice, and an October 2026 guest found buffet staff unfriendly and the rooms humid, even as other guests the same months rated the staff ten out of ten
- −The plan covers local-brand drinks only; premium spirits, the wine menu, room service, the La Cava gourmet restaurant and the Platinum Club Mediterranean restaurant all sit behind the VIP Deluxe package at US$40 per person per night (US$55 for two or three night stays), and guests describe the resulting pitch as constant upselling
- −Beach vendors from outside the resort work the whole Bávaro strip, and a September 2026 guest found seaweed on the sand at that time of year
- −Only basic Wi-Fi is free; premium Wi-Fi is a paid extra or part of the VIP package, and guests call the basic tier spotty in rooms and around the grounds
- −Check-in can be slow and disorganized at peak arrival times, which makes for a rough first hour
- −There is no disco in the hotel: the Movie Disco is inside the Avalon Casino at the entrance of Grand Bávaro Princess, open 23:00 to 05:00 and reached by shuttle, and the bowling alley, arcade and billiards at the sports bar are all paid
The plan covers the Food Market buffet, the Tao, La Tagliata, Nopal, Fogo and El Pilón a la carte restaurants (reservations and long pants required), the Beachouse snack bar, a coffee shop, an ice cream parlor, nine bars and the 24-hour Kanalla sports bar, all with local-brand drinks. The water park question needs a straight answer: there is a kids' club with a water park and pool for ages 4 to 12, a splash-and-slides area by the beach, not a slide complex, and it is shared with Tropical Deluxe Princess. What 2026 guests argue about is service, not the physical plant: August and September 2026 reviews praise the animation team, pool bar staff and front desk by name, while a July 2026 guest waited two days for towels and a September 2026 guest found poor cleaning and a bug in the buffet rice. The VIP Deluxe package (US$40 per person per night) is where premium drinks, room service, the La Cava and Platinum Club restaurants, the spa's relaxing pool and a butler-served beach area live, which is why the upselling feels constant.
It is the right call for families with kids under 13 who will use the kids' club and three pools, budget travelers who want Bávaro beach at the lowest workable price, and groups who treat a large resort's activity list as an asset. Families who need two bedrooms should look at the 124 Family Suites with bunk beds on the Tropical Deluxe Princess side, which uses the same facilities. Couples wanting romance, or anyone for whom food quality is the point, should look up-market to Hard Rock Punta Cana, Barceló Bávaro Palace or Iberostar Selection Bávaro; Iberostar Waves Punta Cana at a similar price generally earns better marks for food and attentiveness, while the Princess wins on kids' facilities and often on price. The Avalon Casino and its disco are a shuttle ride away at Grand Bávaro Princess.
Common Questions
Is there really a water park at Caribe Deluxe Princess?
How is the food at Caribe Deluxe Princess?
Are the rooms dated? I've seen older reviews complaining about them.
Can guests at Caribe Deluxe Princess use Tropical Deluxe Princess next door?
Is Bávaro beach crowded at this resort?
Is the VIP Deluxe package worth buying?
Restaurants (9)
| Type | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Buffet | Restaurant Food Market, Buffet Higüero Restaurant (at Tropical Deluxe Princess) |
| Mexican | Tex Mex Restaurant Nopal |
| Italian | La Tagliata Restaurant |
| Asian | Asian Restaurant |
| Seafood | Mediterráneo Restaurant (extra charge) |
| Caribbean & local | Dominican Restaurant El Pilón |
| Brazilian churrascaria | Fogo Restaurant |
| International & fusion | Gourmet Restaurant La Cava (extra charge) |
From the resort's own dining pages. Only restaurants the resort lists are shown. Venues marked "extra charge" are not covered by the all-inclusive rate; the others are, per the resort.
What's nearby
Bávaro Beach20 min drive · 5.5 mi
Macao Beach25 min drive · 12 mi
Cap Cana Marina35 min drive · 19 mi
40 min drive · 22 mi
More things to do (21)
- Playa Blanca · beach30 min drive · 16 mi
- Juanillo Beach · beach35 min drive · 19 mi
- Scape Park · adventure park40 min drive · 22 mi
- Punta Espada Golf Club · golf40 min drive · 22 mi
- Higüey · town55 min drive · 26 mi
- Arena Gorda Beach · beach9 min drive · 2.3 mi
- Los Corales · town8 min drive · 2.6 mi
- White Sands Golf Course · golf4 min drive · 1.2 mi
- Iberostar Bávaro Golf Club · golf11 min drive · 4.2 mi
- Cocotal Golf & Country Club · golf13 min drive · 5.7 mi
- Cana Bay Golf Club · golf14 min drive · 5.8 mi
- Vista Cana Golf Club · golf20 min drive · 7.6 mi
- Catalonia Caribe Golf Club · golf20 min drive · 9.9 mi
- Barceló Bávaro Golf · golf25 min drive · 6.0 mi
- Dolphin Explorer · adventure park25 min drive · 12 mi
- Dolphin Island Park · adventure park30 min drive · 6.6 mi
- Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park · nature30 min drive · 17 mi
- Deep-sea fishing charter · excursion35 min drive · 19 mi
- Hoyo Claro · cenote45 min drive · 22 mi
- Cabo Engaño Beach · beach45 min drive · 14 mi
- Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia, Higüey · historic site55 min drive · 26 mi
Amenities
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Style & Rooms
Atmosphere
Seaweed & sargassum
Punta Cana gets sargassum, typically worst May through August.See the month-by-month guide →Google Reviews★ 4.6 · 9,001 reviews
“We just came back from our vacation at Caribe Deluxe Princess. And I should say those guys deserve 5 stars. All staff members are very friendly and helpful, all of them try hard to make you feel comfortable. Pools clean and nice, and having 3 of them...”
“The resort was very nice and animated. The food was very good but you have to book for the specific restaurants on the day you get there. All the restaurants are delicious and varied; and the portions are decently big. The buffet which does not requi...”
“That resort was a great surprise. Super clean. And the food was great compared to to my expectations. And animation team was impressive. We had so much fun. And Francesco has so much energy. This is contagious! The service was great at restaurants an...”
