Quick Hotel Summary
| Category | Details |
| Hotel | Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana |
| Location | Cap Cana, Dominican Republic |
| Brand | Hyatt Ziva (All-Inclusive) |
| Room Type | Oceanview Junior Suite King |
| Price Paid | $1000/night |
| Length of Stay | 6 nights |
| Booking Method | Hyatt Website |
⭐ Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10
The Verdict
This is probably the most torn I’ve been on a hotel review. On the one hand the Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana is a well-designed, family-friendly all-inclusive with beautiful grounds, a great beach, and some genuinely strong food and beverage highlights—particularly for this category. However, inconsistent service, uneven dining quality, and the all-too-familiar “pool chair game” keep it from being a true standout at this price point. It’s a solid option for families, especially if you value a swimmable beach and good casual dining, but it falls just short of feeling like a top-tier all-inclusive experience at this price point. That said, we would still probably return to give it another shot.
Location
The Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana is located in the exclusive Cap Cana area of Punta Cana, offering a relatively quiet and self-contained resort experience. It is also very convenient to the Punta Cana airport being only a 15-20 minute drive away. The hotel offers transport starting at $130 for the round trip which seemed excessive and we instead booked with Dominican Airport Transfers (DAT) for a slightly better rate for very similar service. The property features a beautiful white sand beach, which is one of its strongest assets. The water is warm, calm and shallow making it ideal for families with kids. That said, there was a noticeable amount of seaweed washing ashore and the water, while turquoise, was somewhat cloudy due to sand churn.
Check-In Experience
Our name was checked at the arrival gate and we were greeted by name at the entrance to the lobby. As a Globalist Hyatt member, we were escorted to the club lounge for check in and offered welcome drinks: a sparkling wine based cocktail for my wife and I and a mocktail for our six year old. We were seated in the lounge to enjoy our drinks while the lounge agents processed our check-in. The process felt a bit slow, but we were in comfortable seats with cold drinks in hand and access to a buffet of hors d’oeurves so the somewhat extended wait wasn’t too bad. Once the check in procedures were complete, we were introduced to our butler who escorted us to our room and gave us a quick tour of the property.
Room
The room itself felt on the smaller side, but very well designed and had a large balcony with multiple seating options. It was clearly a room optimized for a resort where you’re not spending much time indoors and when you are you want a good view.
We could see the ocean off in the distance and the gorgeous resort grounds.
The king size bed felt plush although both my wife and I had trouble temperature regulating under the covers. The AC worked great in the room, but for some reason would be still too hot under the duvet, but too cold if we slept with just the sheet. There was a pull out bed for our son and he slept very well (he usually does though).
The bathroom was large with a glassed in shower and double vanity. The toilet was in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom.
The room had a lot of storage for clothes and suitcases which was appreciated which let the room feel bigger without a lot of the travel clutter strewn about. While that storage was good, for a beach resort a few more places to dry bathing suits would have been welcome. Cozy bathrobes were available in the closet, but our son was somewhat disappointed that there wasn’t a bathrobe in his size available like he had received at a recent stay at the St. Regis Kanai in Mexico.
The room featured a minibar stocked with beverages including local beer and snacks consisting of Oreos and Pringles (our son was a big fan of the unlimited supply of Oreos). The minibar was replenished daily and after the first day we were usually left with extra Oreos and bottles of water as that was what we mostly consumed.
While this was an all-inclusive, it was still nice to be greeted by a welcome gift consisting of a charcuterie plate (even though this was available to all guests from the buffet) and a bottle of red wine (not available to guests without an extra charge). Some chocolate covered strawberries – which were excellent – arrived as a surprise another night.
The room also had a 50 inch tv with a decent assortment of US channels. Somewhat surprisingly given this was a Hyatt property, there was no google cast option.
Overall, the room worked well functionally even if it wasn’t particularly memorable.
Hotel Amenities
The resort is well set up for families and offers everything you’d expect from a large all-inclusive. There were two large pools at the resort – the main pool stretched the length of the property stopping right before the beach and the club pool where we ended up spending most days. The club pool was smaller and didn’t have the great beach views, but it was also quieter and had a much less busy swim up bar.
The hotel also had a large water park which was a lot of fun and change of pace from the main resort pools. It was surprisingly not at all busy each time we went. There was what we referred to as the “not so lazy river” since it included multiple waterfalls and there was no way to enjoy the river without getting soaked, but we loved it and did multiple circuits. There were also four large waterslides of varying intensities and four smaller water slides and a separate kids splash pads with a couple very small water slides and dumping buckets, etc. Unfortunately, our thrill seeking six year old was a couple inches of the strictly enforced height requirement for the large waterslides, but he still enjoyed watching me shoot out the bottom of them.
My wife enjoyed a massage at the spa and commented that the facilities in general were very nice. She was surprised that she couldn’t get a glass of sparkling wine in the spa while enjoying the other spa facilities without buying an entire expensive bottle. She also found the pacing somewhat odd as she was expecting to use the plunge pool and sauna after her massage, but was expected to use them beforehand. Finally she purchased some face cream only to discover that it had expired two years earlier – the hotel quickly refunded the purchase price at check out when alerted to the issue however.
There were also clubs for kids and teens. The kids club interior looked really cool with essentially an indoor tree house, but our son didn’t seem to love it and spent very little time there. He did enjoy the kids club activities held near the main pool and beach however – there was a daily art activity of some sort and food activity (cupcake decorating, pizza making, etc) that we could attend with him – and he liked going to the nightly movie screening most nights. He usually enjoys kids clubs so we were a bit surprised that he wasn’t as taken with this one.
One operational issue worth noting that was significant for me and the biggest drawback to this resort in my opinion. The pool chair game is very real here. Guests claim chairs early (as early as 6:30am) and while the hotel has a “1-hour rule,” we never saw it enforced. I was an early riser on this trip and would often go and grab chairs early, but stayed until my family arrived. I’d watch other “taken” chairs sit unoccupied for hours in the morning while I enjoyed the serenity of a virtually empty early morning poolside chill. I just don’t want to feel like I have to get up super early to make sure I have a shaded seat by a pool when I’m on vacation. The seats on the beach weren’t nearly as in demand and prime seating could be secured pretty much anytime of day in our experience.
There was free wifi throughout the resort that extended all the way to the beach which is great. But it was slower than expected and really wouldn’t be suitable for heavy duty streaming…of course you’re in paradise so absent a major storm how much streaming are you really going to do.
Food & Beverage
Food is where this resort is both surprisingly strong and frustratingly inconsistent. That said, there were always plenty of options. Club level rooms come with butlers who can make dinner reservations, but from what we saw even those without reservations generally didn’t have to wait too long to dine in one of the restaurants for dinner.
Breakfast
Chinola (Club Level)
Club level guests have the option of having a table service breakfast at Chinola. The setting on the beach was a great spot to start the morning. And it was good that the view was nice, because breakfast at Chinola was quite slow. The service itself was friendly and relaxed, but maybe a bit too relaxed. It seemed to take a long time to take orders and even longer for food to come out.
The menu had some interesting breakfast options and the restaurant could make any egg dish you wanted even though basic egg dishes weren’t listed on the menu. The food was good, but nothing special. Also, the orange juice was described as fresh squeezed, but definitely wasn’t and even tasted a little watered down (possibly chilled by ice that melted).
Mercado (Buffet)
After trying Chinola for breakfast a few times, we decided to give the breakfast buffet at Mercado available to all guests a chance. No question it was busier and felt far more chaotic and didn’t have the beautiful beach view, but it was a lot faster getting us back to the beach/pool sooner and the food was actually better overall.
The selection of options were immense. The buffet had at least four separate live cooking stations for made to order eggs and other dishes like pancakes and French toast so there the waits were minimal. In the back corner, there was a live cooking station that did the usual made to order eggs, but also Mexican specialties like chilaquiles and breakfast burritos and tacos and they were phenomenal.
Other options included fresh cut fruit, pastries, Dominican specialties, seafood like smoked salmon and tuna tataki. Really anything you could want for breakfast. Also, there was a bloody mary and mimosa bar – I love a bloody mary bar with lots of garnish selections and this bar nailed that.
Lunch
There were several lunch options every day. Chinola was open for lunch to club level guests and the Navigator restaurant was open as a table service option for all guests. The Mercado buffet was also open every day for lunch with options like made to order sushi rolls, a very fresh salad bar and live grilling stations.
However, we generally didn’t want to leave the beach/pool area so opted for the take away options. Navigator had a take away menu with pizzas, a couple salad options and several sandwiches – our son had a cheeseburger and fries from here most days. While not the most interesting option, he’s a picky eater and loved the burger so if that’s what he wanted every day, that’s what he got.
They also would set up a poolside barbecue everyday with burgers, hot dogs and other meats (and pineapple). While not available every day, if the picanha steak was on offer that’s what I went with cooked to a perfect medium rare and with a hit of very flavorful chimichurri sauce. There were various veggie and starch sides to choose from as well.
On our very first day, the hotel set up a beach barbecue that was fantastic and featured paella as well as giant grilled head on prawns. This was amazing and the only downside was that it only appeared on our first day at the resort. It also featured a bar with fresh coconuts. While these were always available at the bar with or without rum, there was something fun about getting one on the beach that were being macheted open to order. The club pool also offered a limited menu that could be ordered to your seat, but the quality of the food and options weren’t as good as the other take away options.
Snacks
It would be impossible to go hungry at the Hyatt Ziva. Even during the non meal times there were plenty of options available. The lobby coffee bar offered popsicles, gelatos and a number of pastries and small premade sandwiches. The water park had a couple food trucks that served hot dogs, sausages, French fries, ice cream etc. But our personal favorite snack was the fresh fruit bar on the beach where we could get all the fresh cut mango, papaya, pineapple and watermelon we wanted (and we wanted a lot – the mango in particular was amazingly sweet). Our only complaint with the fruit bar was that it closed at 2:00 every day.
In the evening, there was also a sushi bar that had rotating options next to the rum bar. The tuna nigiri was my personal favorite, but other nights featured handrolls, traditional maki and sashimi. While you could make a meal of this, it was more of an evening snack.
Dinner
This is where inconsistency really showed.
In addition to the table service restaurants open each night, there was the mercado buffet as well as a themed outdoor buffet was available every night. The mercado buffet varied its offerings and the quality was decent, but it was basically the same options as lunch.
Our first night, our butler encouraged us to go to the Mexican themed buffet since we didn’t have a dinner reservation that night. The theming was fun with decorations and a mariachi band, but the food left a lot to be desired. There were some Mexican dishes like taquitos, but as we learned the theme buffets always included a few items true to the theme and than the same mixed grill barbecue available at lunch. The difference was where the mixed grill was actually quite good at lunch, everything was overcooked in the evening. It made no sense how they could execute it well at lunch and not at dinner. We tried the beach barbecue another night and it was the same thing – the setting was great, but the food mediocre at best (and probably worse). Both nights we tried the themed buffet we either ordered room service – which was fast and good or went to the Mercado buffet which was far better.
Sit-Down Restaurants
Navigator (Surf & Turf Night)
We went to Navigator on “surf and turf” night which was not the restaurant’s normal menu. This was very good even though there weren’t choices. The meal started with an appetizer bar featuring charcuterie and some salads including a very good caprese. The main was a steak and prawns. The steaks were thin which made getting the cook correct difficult and my wife’s steak was over, but they were happy to refire it and the restaurant manager was very apologetic.
Noodles & Thread
The Italian restaurant Noodles & Thread was our favorite. The beef carpaccio was excellent although would have benefitted from a touch more acid. The pastas were cooked perfectly and the sauces flavorful. I changed my mind on the pasta I wanted after I ordered – they just brought both and they were both very good.
Tempest
Tempest offered two options – a Mongolian grill concept and traditional hibachi. We did the hibachi and it was your typical “benihana-esque” experience. Nothing special, but it made for a fun evening with the usual shrimp, steak, fried rice etc. This was by far our fastest meal and almost felt rushed as they clearly want to turn the Hibachi tables quickly to get as many people in as possible.
Chinola
On our last night we went to “prime rib” night at Chinola. The beach setting was perfect as you could hear the ocean waves breaking in the distance. We initially were seated in the back of the restaurant, but the host was happy to move us to the windows if we could wait a few extra minutes. It was worth the wait.
Unfortunately, waiting was a theme of the evening. While the food was very good we waited over 90 minutes for our entrees. Normally we could deal with that, but we had dropped our son off at the kids club movie night and needed to pick him up so by the time our entrees arrived we had to eat them very quickly. That said my lamb chops were tasty and cooked to my liking. The sides at other tables looked great, but never made it to our table.
There were several wines on offer. The merlot was decent, the cabernet was not.
Drinks
Cocktails were a standout at the Hyatt Ziva. There were plenty on offer, but what was most impressive was that they were made with real fruit purees and not syrups so they were incredibly tasty without being overly sweet. The pina colada was hands down the best I’ve ever had – and accordingly I lost count of how many I had – which was not surprising after I watched the bartender make it with actual pineapple chunks.
Our picky child loved his various smoothies – mango strawberry being his favorite.
Club lounge had better alcohol, but frankly the alcohol and the pool bars was good quality and if you were mixing it in cocktails you really wouldn’t notice the difference. On the other hand, if you were doing tequila with a lime you might be better off getting it in the club lounge.
There were also several bars open around the property in the evening. My wife and I only tried the rum bar after our very fast dinner at Tempest and the cocktails were very good and interesting – not just your standard rum and a mixer. The drinks would not have been out of place at a high end hotel mixology bar at a non-all inclusive.
Service
Service was mixed throughout the stay. Everyone was friendly which we appreciated. The club pool had better service than the main pool, but at both it was always faster to just go to the bar yourself especially during peak times in the afternoon. Tipping is not included so bring a lot of small US bills and as the servers change throughout the day, it’s best to just tip on each order.
Our club room came with a butler and ours was fine, but we had stayed at the Dreams Macao Beach in Punta Cana the year before and our butler there was much better. Our butler made dinner reservations for us, but otherwise didn’t do much and didn’t make a point of checking on us. We had to request the schedule of events each day which wasn’t a huge deal, but it would have been nice if that could have been sent out proactively.
Family Friendliness
Ziva is a brand designed for families (the sister property Hyatt Zilara next door is adults only) so not surprisingly this was a very family friendly hotel. The calm beach was great for kids and there were plenty of kid friendly activities every day both in and outside of the kids club.
There were plenty of kid friendly food options and even our picky eater found plenty of items they enjoyed. The movie nights which our son really enjoyed let my wife and I have meals on our own while he got to watch a kid favorite movie on a big screen outdoors (the location rotated which also made it feel a bit more special each night) while eating as much popcorn, chicken fingers, pizza and candy as he wanted. That said, he still often wanted a cheeseburger from room service at the end of the night.
If there was one miss is that none of the restaurants had crayons or coloring activities for kids. Seems like a small and easy fix for a resort targeted at families. Additionally, providing some beach and pool toys would have been welcome. We ended up buying a giant alligator float which the hotel kindly inflated for us. The hotel seemed to have a few that were available to anyone – I’m guessing they were ones families had purchased but decided to not bring home – but it was hard to tell which ones were free to use so we finally just bought one on our third day at the resort.
Bottom Line
As I said at the outset, I’m very torn about the Hyatt Ziva. Had it not been for the price point, the rating would have been a bit higher because objectively it is a great family friendly resort. The hard part for me is that the prior year we stayed at Dreams Macao Beach another Hyatt all inclusive family oriented property in Punta Cana. While the Exec Traveler didn’t exist last year and thus I can’t provide a full review, I can say we paid half of what we paid to stay at the Ziva. No question the Ziva was better overall for a variety of reasons, but it wasn’t twice as good as Dreams. In fact, I’d go as far as to say in many areas including service and food the Ziva was only slightly better than Dreams and the we actually preferred the room at Dreams. So dollar for dollar Dreams is a better value for sure.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Beautiful, swimmable beach
- Strong casual dining
- High-quality cocktails made with real ingredients
- Family-friendly environment
Cons
- Inconsistent service
- Uneven dinner quality
- Pool chair situation is infuriating
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