Sanctuary Cap Cana

We recently returned from a 4-night stay at Sanctuary Cap Cana and had a really enjoyable experience overall — what truly made the trip stand out was the service from the staff throughout the resort. We stayed in a Junior Suite with a swim-up pool, which was absolutely worth it. Having that extra space to relax (especially in the afternoons after the beach) made the room feel like its own private retreat. Our butler, Camacho, was outstanding. He checked in with us every day to share the day’s activities, helped coordinate dinner reservations on site, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our stay. It struck a perfect balance of attentive without ever feeling intrusive. At the beach and pool, Felix took great care of us — helping secure chairs based on whether we were feeling more “beach day” or “pool day,” getting us set up with towels, and checking in periodically to see if we needed anything. It made the daily setup seamless and stress-free. Our housekeeper, Jebylyn, also did a wonderful job keeping our room spotless and refreshed each day, which we really appreciated coming back to after long days in the sun. Dining was a bit of a mixed bag: • Casabella was great for both breakfast and lunch — lots of casual options and an easy, relaxed way to start the day or grab something midday without feeling overly formal. • Wok was our favorite dinner by far — both in terms of food and ambiance. We ended up wishing we had gone back a second time. • Capriccio (Italian) was good, but not great. It’s definitely a more formal dining experience, so be sure to follow the dress code if you plan to dine there. • The Steakhouse, on the other hand, was just okay. The food didn’t quite live up to expectations, and the wine situation was frustrating — only house wine was available by the glass, with all other options being bottle-only and priced $200+, which felt excessive for an all-inclusive experience. Overall, Sanctuary Cap Cana delivered a relaxing and service-forward stay. The people working there truly make the experience, and we’re grateful to Camacho, Felix, and Jebylyn for helping make our trip so smooth and enjoyable!

Best I can describe this place is inconsistent. Definitely not the warm and welcoming luxurious experience one would expect at Marriott luxury properties. The room itself was beautiful. (Only after we upgraded to a larger and MUCH more expensive room that actually got some sun). Our original room felt like a dark cave. The staff appears friendly, but as soon as you ask for something they don’t want, a fresh juice, sparkling water rather than tap, you are a burden and the attitude flips. (Other than one incredible waitress named Leticia who was always happy, smiling, warm, and welcoming she is the reason for 3 instead of 1 star). It is very difficult to get reservations at the restaurants no matter how far in advance you try unless you book a room that has butler service. Our butler was very helpful in getting us booked and keeping us informed about the daily activities (Hector). Every other staff member just wants to see how much you will be tipping and then they will decide the level of service you will be getting. One day you will have a great massage and great food and the next not so great massage and nearly inedible food. The lack of consistency makes it hard to enjoy. Pros: beautiful property. Cons: just about everything else.

Camacho and Nuryis made sure our accommodations were to our comfort. The hotel itself was very nice and peaceful and had some of the best client service I’ve experienced

The resort is lovely, convenient and very well maintained. The staff, all of whom are kind and upbeat, go above and beyond to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. Our butler, Samuel, was attentive, responsive, kind and so helpful. Felix, who helps guests at the pool and on the beach secure chairs and umbrellas was an absolute delight. He always had a spot ready for us and knew right away the kind of vibe (read shade) that I needed. The beach is well maintained (didn’t notice any seaweed, which we’d been warned about when we booked) though smaller than you might expect (but not problematic in the slightest for me). Highly recommend staying here. I’d be thrilled to come back.

My husband and I were in Cap Cana for 8 days in January. We were supposed to only stay for 6 days but we got stranded due to bad weather at home. Our first 5 nights were spent at the wonderful Hyatt Zilara which was booked up and could not accommodate us for the additional 2 nights. Upon a recommendation from trusted friends who were guest there 2 years ago, we booked our last two nights at Sanctuary. I can only assume that something must have changed in the last couple of years. Our experience was truly horrible and disheartening. The only reason that this has 2 stars is because of the general staff. The rest of it deserves 0 stars. I will start out with the good things about the property. All of the staff are amazing and kind. The hostess staff, waiters, bartenders, pool and beach attendants and bell staff were very capable and also very service oriented. The property itself is beautiful. The food was pretty tasty and drinks were delicious. The pools and beach are very picturesque although there didn’t seem to be ample chairs on the beach especially. We did find chairs to reserve although we did rise very early to do so. Now on to the nightmare experience. We went to the front desk after a nice time on the beach to retrieve our keys for check in time. I was ignored by two workers who walked right past me to ask the ladies behind me if they could help them. I had to actually say excuse me to get their attention. I was dressed in a tasteful cover up and nice hat and sandals. The original front desk workers had failed to give us back our passports when we visited the desk at around 10:30 am. It took about 4 people scrambling around to finally locate them in the safe. Not great and a bit scary. We were given our keys and after asking numerous times, we were finally told our actual room number. After being transported to our building, we could not access our room as neither of our keys would work. The bellman told us we would have to walk back to the front desk to get this resolved. Meanwhile we were waiting on our luggage and the other bellman who brought the luggage let us into our room. Here is everything that went wrong with our room: Junior Oceanview Luxury Suite???? Keep reading! 1. The only outlet next to the bed was not functioning. My husband uses a CPAP machine and this needed repairing. We called the desk. Over the course of the next 3 hours, we had 3 different maintenance staff in and out of our room. Mind you that no one from the management or front desk had called to see if all was well. We had to call them again and again. Finally, one of the workers fixed it by rewiring the entire master switch. During the course of this, it disabled our telephone. We had to call the front desk again from our cellphone. 2. Phone broken. Another worker-the 4th came to fix the phone. He couldn’t so we had to wait for a technology specialist. We then asked called to ask if someone would bring us new room keys. They said no. We had to go to the desk. 3. No hair dryer. Finally got to take a shower after phone was finally fixed by worker number 5. Got out-no hair dryer. It is a 5-star resort and it states that it provides a hair dryer. Come on The Hampton Inn gives you a hair dryer. Called front desk AGAIN. 4. Iron broken and leaking all over floor and clothes. Called desk AGAIN! Got new iron after we left for dinner-a bit wrinkled. 5. Ceiling fan broken! Came back from dinner and ceiling fan doesn’t work! Well, they can’t fix it because when they rewired the room, they disabled it. Never was fixed. Thank goodness air conditioningworked well. 6. Coffee maker-got up the next day and tried to make a cup of coffee. Coffee maker broken and leaking. Before dinner, my husband went to the front desk to get new keys and explain all of our troubles and to ask the manager if he could graciously try and get us a reservation at the nice Asian restaurant for dinner for one of the nights we were there for our trouble. This is an included restaurant that we were told was completely booked when we checked in. He never called or followed up with us. No surprise! On top of that, we were only able to get a reservation on night 2 at 9:30 in the included Italian restaurant. We showed up early at 7:30 and they were able to seat us. The whole time we were there, they were at least 8 empty tables which leads me to believe we could have been accommodated at the other restaurant had they cared or bothered to try. We are avid travelers and have never had anything like this happen. This is advertised as a 5- star resort. Marriott should be ashamed! No one followed up to see if everything had been repaired. Not the whole time! At the Hyatt, they called every single morning to make sure our pre-ordered coffee had arrived. Now that is service! DO NOT STAY HERE! There are many other properties that want your business. This is a beautiful property with a terrible management staff. Whoever the GM is of this resort needs to be made aware. I will be posting another review of the fabulous Hyatt Zilara that deserves the 5-stars! In the meant time this review will be sent to Marriott corporate, AAA Travel and Delta Vacations. They all need to know about our experience. And to think that one simple follow-up phone call to let us know that you cared was all that was needed to resolve our troubles. We would have been ok without the restaurant reservations. Just be a decent human being and do your job and all would have been ok and this review would have been avoided. Meanwhile, we will be taking our travel plans elsewhere. We are not pretentious, pushy or entitled travelers. We just expect service, kindness and care.