Sanctuary Cap Cana

My daughter, husband, and I stayed four nights at this resort. If I was reviewing this hotel merely on its aesthetic or service I’d rate it 5 stars. Sadly, our room smelled terrible (like a moldy cat box) the whole trip, and our resort was taken over by a company retreat. The company had a party one night and the DJ stand was outside our balcony. The next night the company retreat took over the whole Sanctuary Town. The only restaurant that was open at the resort was the Steakhouse, which was fine, but we had already eaten there twice on our short trip. It would have been nice to know that our meal options were going to be limited at the resort. The last day at the pool a wedding party took over the resort. We couldn’t enjoy the pool because they were so loud. That night they had a party outside of our balcony. This resort is lovely, the service is wonderful, but when events are scheduled they get priority over the other guests. They also need more meal options that are included in the plan.

I love this resort! We stayed in the Castle and had the most beautiful view. The food is excellent. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. When we stayed at the Castle, Alexander was assigned to help us with all our needs. He was so kind and took care of everything efficiently and quickly. There are so many pools and with beautiful aesthetics. I can’t wait to return to this resort soon. I’ll request the same room and hoping Alexander will be able to help us again.

Use the Altura VIP service at PUJ for arrival and departure. Absolutely worth it. Highly recommend staying at the Castle. Having butler access there is a game changer, and if Lugo is available for the butler service, sign him up. He was just amazing. Literally pulled dinner reservations out of thin air when there were none available - and the dressier Italian restaurant is outstanding.

Our stay was fantastic thanks to Angel, who was so friendly and attentive to anything we needed. Lovely staff!

Pros: beautiful unique property, well-maintained grounds, lovely pool areas. Cons: Service-we have been to other all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, this was our first time in the Dominican Republic. The service here was definitely a couple notches down from Mexico. Most of the service staff could not be bothered, move super slow, act like you are bothering them if you ask for something. Most days our room was not cleaned, even though we were down at the pool for most of the day we had to track down some clean towels to use the next day a few different times. The towel game is ridiculous here. They allow people to save seats and never come back. If you ask pool staff to help you find somewhere to sit, they just look around aimlessly and say there are no seats available, even though 90% of them have anyone sitting in them. The food is definitely mediocre as you would expect at an all-inclusive. The one meal I would rate as “good” would be Wok- Asian. Trying to get dinner reservations if you don’t have a butler is next to impossible, even contacting the concierge ahead of time, and also trying to use the app. There are plenty of places that are way better than this, you do not get what you pay for here. We will not return.