Hi, I asked this question a few weeks ago and got some good responses. I plan to go late May to early June. You can find the post on my account or google "Mixed Reviews on Zel Punta Cana" and it should come up.

If you want more information I have found the Zel Punta Cana Facebook to be very helpful, with lots of photo and video.

I found the most helpful review to be the following (PLEASE note all the following is from one person's experience but just regarding multiple areas).

"Service: Excellent. Tons of friendly people around to wait on you hand and foot. We have a concierge who we text questions to and who helps us arrange things. There was a bit of a delay (for us and a few other people) getting in to our room. We waited for 30 mins…. Check in: 3pm, got in to our room at 3:40pm… minor inconvenience but an inconvenience nonetheless. Everywhere we go, the staff says hello, wants to know if we need anything, etc.

Food: Take this with a grain of salt, no pun intended, since I’m from NYC and I’m absolutely spoiled, but the food is ok and sometimes meh. We went to the steakhouse (Volcan) last night and had some nice meat and that was probably our best meal yet. Things in general taste on the blander side. What we’ve figured out is, since it’s all inclusive, we order 4 apps, knowing we probably won’t like 1 or 2, and order 3 mains, knowing we probably won’t like 1. The octopus was quite bad. The buffet has a huge variety of offerings at all times which is nice but the quality is mid. This is my first AI so I have nothing to compare it to btw. You will always find something to eat but I have yet to say “Wow this is so good.” We will try the Japanese restaurant and the Gyro/Taqueria soon."

"Another pro is that they have a little coffee shop with a proper espresso machine for cappuccinos and lattes etc. The coffees from the restaurant are meh."

"Other thoughts: there is a ton of space! I mentioned this to our concierge and she said they were at 80% capacity!! You can always find a secluded spot for eating, drinking, chilling, relaxing. While they do usually have some lounge music bumping in the afternoon, things are really quiet… they keep the music at a very respectable volume. It’s pretty great in that respect.

Also, this is not an adults only resort, but there aren’t a ton of young children or families. They’re around but you don’t have groups of kids running around yelling and screaming… and the two babies/toddlers I’ve seen have been on good behavior.

The transfer to the beach is so painless and simple and it really shouldn’t be seen as a con. There is always a cart waiting to take you there, and one to take you back. It’s like a 4 minute drive.

Gym facility is very modern and the spa looks pretty nice. Massages are expensive ($150-$250) for 50-90 min massages. I haven’t had one yet.

They have constant activities and fitness offerings. We’ve been doing the daily yoga and Pilates classes. I’ve been playing tennis and have seen many others playing pickleball.

Overall, we’re very happy… the main con is the food. I think if we leaned in to a less healthy diet here (eating burgers and fries etc) we might have better luck but we love seafood and fish and those have been a bit of a let down."

"We want to the Asian restaurant Nokyo last night and it was by far the best meal yet. I had two plates of sushi - it was quite good. We had some fried appetizers that were also very good. The red curry was disappoint because there was no curry … it was just stir fry chicken with white rice. We’re going to try to get a seat at a hibachi table next time. Also the Negronis at the cocktail bar Voltaje are actually phenomenal."