Sanctuary Cap Cana

We chose Sanctuary Cap Cana for our 20th wedding anniversary and expected the level of service and quality you would associate with a luxury resort. Unfortunately, it was one of the most disappointing stays we have ever experienced. Our original room was old, dingy, and poorly maintained, with dirty furniture, a clogged sink, flickering lights, maintenance noise, unpleasant odors, and a balcony made unusable by the overwhelming smell of sargassum. After we moved rooms, the air conditioning was still inadequate, and we slept poorly for two nights. The service was equally disappointing. My wife was treated rudely at the Love Bar, the drinks were undrinkable, and our dinner at the steakhouse was extremely poor. The following day, I became ill with symptoms consistent with food poisoning. Management failed to follow up on commitments they had made regarding our room and upgrade fee. After only three nights, we ultimately left and relocated to the St. Regis, where the service, facilities, and food were dramatically better. This was supposed to be a special 20th anniversary celebration, but instead became a frustrating and disappointing experience. For a resort marketed as a premier luxury property, Sanctuary Cap Cana fell far short of expectations. I hope this review helps others make an informed decision and prevents someone else from experiencing what we did.

My wife and I stayed at Sanctuary Cap Cana to celebrate our 25th anniversary, and it exceeded expectations. We booked the Castle Oceanfront Suite, and we loved it — it was comfortable, private, and had a great view. One note for future guests: there are only four Castle Oceanfront Suites, and we couldn’t find much video coverage of that specific room type online before booking. Having seen a lot of Junior Oceanfront Suite videos beforehand, that’s actually the category we’d lean toward next time, just because we knew more of what to expect. Either way, we were very happy with our room. Our butler, Camacho, was outstanding — he made everything effortless and was a huge help getting our plans in place for the week. At the pool, Felix took great care of us with towels, shade, and comfort, and Omar, one of the pool drink servers, was hustling all day, every day, and never missed a beat. We also really enjoyed the servers at the Love Bar and Ocean Bar — everyone took great care of us. The pool areas were a highlight of the trip — beautiful, relaxing, and well-maintained, and we spent a lot of our time there. We also enjoyed the hydrotherapy circuit and a couples massage at the spa, plus a private beach dinner that was a wonderful way to celebrate the milestone. One thing to flag for future travelers: there was sargassum seaweed on the beach during our stay. It didn’t ruin the trip, but it did limit beach time — just be aware it’s a seasonal issue in the region rather than anything specific to the resort. Overall, a fantastic resort for a special occasion — we’d happily return.

Emilio was absolutely amazing!!! We wanted for nothing during our stay… the grounds were beautiful and the villa was just incredible

The food was great and service was even better. We are already planking our next trip there!

The main building architecture is gorgeous and very interesting. The grounds are well maintained and the landscaping is beautiful. The pools are exceptional and well maintained. They are (all four) the highlight of the resort. The resort has a huge staff who are very pleasant and welcoming. There are no activities, other than one water exercise event in the main pool, unless you leave the resort.  Please note we stayed at this resort in July - off season. The menu items at the restaurants are quite limited. Surprisingly with few seafood options for an island.  The best food can be found at the Italian restaurant. Portions there are shockingly small by US standards but beautifully prepared and excellent. Other food venues offer food and variety less than what you would expect at a luxury resort and certainly not a Marriott.  Don’t come here for the beach. There effectively isn’t one. The very small ocean access is clogged with sargassum seaweed (peak season for sargassum is May-October).  They try mightily to clear it off the tiny beach every day but it’s a losing battle. There are two unsightly floating barriers in the water off the shore. They are ostensibly to keep out the sargassum - they don’t.  Off season, occupancy is expectedly much lower and restaurants rotate closures each evening. No one tells you which ones are closed on which night unless you can find someone who knows. Breakfast and lunch buffets are excellent and varied. They do more with pork than fish and do a good job with it. Options are not self-serve which is appreciated from a health perspective.  Don’t spend your money for a non-castle beach front room.  There is sand but ocean views are obstructed by buildings and or volleyball nets with only a sliver of ocean visible.  We paid for a so-called beach front room and were assigned the room on the end next to the dirt/sand road that accessed the beach.  There were often workers passing our unit and the trucks to collect the sargassum kicked up dust.  All this did not allow any privacy on the patio during the day and early evening.  The furniture was inexpensive and had obviously been used for a long time. One of the bed’s box springs had apparently broken through the slats meant to hold it. We did not report this until departure as we were there to relax and hopefully enjoy the resort not to experience workers in our room.  We did not explore castle room options while on site.   Recommendations: Higher floor beach-view rooms are likely to be a better choice as you should be able to see the ocean over the obstacles. You may want to try calling the resort prior to booking to ask which room types have been more recently renovated (if any) before you book.