Pun*ta Cana resort help!

Graciejo4

We are going to honeymoon in October this year.  The DR is in the lead because of the great prices that time of year.  Wondering if anyone has stayed at the Excellence in Pun*taCana or the Gran Bahia Principe Ambar?  Those are our twooptions as of now.  Recommendations are great! 

SD210

I've stayed at Gran Bahia Principe Ambar in October 2010.  It was very quiet and very relaxing.  The beach there is excellent - - one of the best I've been to.  The "Ambar" section of the Gran Bahia Principe resort is adults only.  Rooms were nice and well appointed, you have a fridge with soda, beers and water.  You can eat at the restaurants in the Ambar section as well as other sections.  I thought the food was just OK, but I'm not the biggest fan of the food at all inclusive resorts.  Definitely compare the reviews on Tripadvisor.  Overall, I thought the Ambar resort was nice, but if you are looking for wild night life or dancing, it is not the place - - very quiet and relaxing.  

Graciejo4

We are looking for somewhere more relaxing and quiet for our honeymoon.  Did you think that the Gran Bahia was too large?

Meegles4

We stayed at Excellence for our HM a couple weeks ago. This was my first AI experience, and second "tropical/resort" experience (the other one we did was not AI.

My impressions:
- Food: Great! 8 restaurants to choose from, never a bad meal.
- Booze: Not good. Beer was fine, wine was very meh, and mixed drinks were blah - either watered down or they were using bad booze.
- Beach: Amazing. Way better than when we went to Cabo. Water was like bath water -- so warm! Had plenty of shade options as well as sun.
- Pool: Great. Had a bit of the party atmosphere by the pool, but it wasn't overly loud/obnoxious. Also had plenty of shade or sun options depending on what you want.
- Rooms: MEH. The bed was really hard (and not the good kind of hard) and the room we stayed in was dated. The bathroom (shower/toilet) was also really tiny. Had a nice whirlpool tub and sink area though. I've heard some of their rooms have been renovated, and can only assume ours wasn't one. If it was, they did a poor job. If it wasn't, I'd try to get one that's been renovated.
- Service: Good. We had some wonderful waiters and some "meh" waiters.
- Activities: Good. We didn't do much - used the spa one day and did water aerobics in the pool a couple days. There isn't anything to do off resort on your own, so if you're someone who doesn't like to be resort-bound, I don't think P*nta Cana is the best place. But, they did have excursions (horseback riding, dune buggies, etc.) we just didn't want to pay for them. They also had free kayaking and non-motor water sports, but the seas were a bit rough so we didn't do that.

My biggest downsides were the rooms and the booze. But the beach, pool, and food mostly made up for it.

Graciejo4

Thanks for the help!  Did you upgrade to the Excellence Club?  I've heard mixed things about it.  I think we are close to booking Excellece for our Oct honeymoon!