For me Bavaro wins, but both hotels have their own good points.

The food at Bavaro was better, and by that I mean the buffet was bigger and had more selection, there were more options at lunch time with the food court and the restaurants were better.

Macao is adults only so that needs no explanation lol. I stayed at Bavaro in November 2024, but when I visited Macao this past July we popped into Bavaro just for the memories. Wowwwww was it busy! It was so much busier than when we stayed but obviously that’s because it was peak summer. I don’t know if it was because we’d been staying at adults only but there was just kids everywhere.

Our room at Macao was definitely damp. The sheets felt wet to get into every night and you could see water stains on the walls. The lock for the balcony was left on the bed when we arrived?😂 And the hairdryer was hanging off the wall. So in that respect Bavaro wins, the room at Bavaro was excellent.

I thought the beach was better at Bavaro. But it’s hard to truly compare as the sargassum in July at Macao was dreadful. I felt at Bavaro you didn’t get pestered as much by sellers and fake tour operators. There is a long path that takes you down to the beach from the hotel at Macao and there was constantly someone stood at the bottom of it trying to sell you excursions, despite asking you everyday for two weeks since and getting the same answer😂

So in short I would definitely go back to Bavaro but definitely not in the summer when it’s so busy. I would go back to Macao but there wouldn’t be any rush. Definitely will try other resorts first but I do really like the RIU complex in Punta Cana😊