Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Review

Looking for honest, straightforward, unsponsored Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews?  Start with my guide to visiting Hyatt Ziva or Hyatt Zilara, a luxury all-inclusive resort in Cap Cana, a gated community in the Dominican Republic near Punta Cana.  Does this highly rated property live up to the hype? Find out here!

Planning a trip to Cap Cana or Punta Cana? Also, read my Top 20 Favorite Moments from the trip and see our professional beach photos too.

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews

It's hard to find honest, unsponsored Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews, but today, I'm sharing our unbiased experience at the resort, including its pros and cons.  If you are planning your trip to the Dominican Republic and find it overwhelming to choose a family-friendly resort, as I did, start here!  I have stayed at this resort twice now and am sharing my honest, unsponsored opinion, including pros and cons to picking this resort.

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana is a luxury all-inclusive beachfront resort in Cap Cana, which is a gated, exclusive community in the Dominican Republic near Punta Cana, on the Eastern side of the island, just 10 minutes away from the Punta Cana International Airport and on Juanillo Beach.  It's part of a pair with the Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana, which is adult-only, but they do share some amenities.  The resorts are the same property, and guests can go to both sides' restaurants and amenities, but kids are not allowed on the Zilara side.

I traveled with my family twice to Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana, including my husband and boys, who were 6 and 7 at the time.  We stayed in a King, oceanfront club room both times.  The view from the room is amazing.  We love the Caribbean and all-inclusive vacations, and this is one of the top spots we've ever visited, which includes Beaches Turks and Caicos.  The food, amenities, cleanliness, service, pools, water park, gym, and beaches were first-class, and we absolutely would recommend this property.  I'll go into details below, but the condensed version of this review is that we loved it.

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews - Honest Pros and Cons

I'll start with my honest Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews, then dive into the pros and cons and some of my favorite parts of the resort.  I didn't know what to expect from my visit to the Dominican Republic, but I had a great experience thanks to Hyatt Ziva.  After visiting Beaches Turks and Caicos two years in a row, we wanted to try something a bit different, and this resort was perfect.  It's on the same level as Beaches, and we loved both.  You can check out the best deals and book here.  We came back to the resort a second year after having to reschedule a trip to Jamaica due to the hurricane.

The resort was easy to get to, nicely maintained, and was nothing short of a tropical paradise.  I've been to many all-inclusive resorts over the years, and this one ranks up at the top with Beaches Turks and Caicos, and in some ways was better.  The building and facilities are new and clean.  We loved everything from the lovely beach, nice pools, fabulous water park, great food, creative activities, great drinks, and gorgeous grounds.  The staff was also so nice and went out of their way to keep guests happy.

Like any place you visit, it wasn't perfect, but the pros far outweighed the cons, and we simply loved this place.  Here are some additional pros and cons of the resort.

Pros

• The resort is new and beautiful. You can't do Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews without mentioning how new and clean the resort is.  For Caribbean properties, which are notoriously weather-worn and really hard to keep up, it's on the newer side, having been built in 2019.  The grounds are well-maintained, modern, and so pretty.  The rooms are also updated, fresh, and modern.  There are also large resort rooms and junior suites, and all have nice views.  The bathroom is also nice with a rain shower.
• It's easy to get to.  You can take a direct flight from Charlotte and many other major cities to Punta Cana, and then it's only a 10-minute ride to the resort.  It's very easy to navigate the airport and transportation.
• It's in Cap Cana. It's a big plus that the resort is in Cap Cana, which is an exclusive gated community.  It's not nearly as busy as Punta Cana, and access to the area is restricted, so it feels safer.
• The beach is private. Many places in the Caribbean have public beaches, and vendors walk around selling items during the day; you don't get that here because the beach is private.
• The food is good. The food here is the best all-inclusive food we've ever tried.
• Fun activities. There was a full schedule of fun activities at the resort for kids and adults.  You will never get bored.  They were all creative and fun.
• The resort is a great size.  The resort is not so big that it takes 30 minutes, or a golf cart ride to get across, but it's still big enough to feel like there's enough space to enjoy your week.
• It never felt crowded. We visited around New Year's both years, in peak season when the resort was sold out, and it still didn't feel crowded.  We were expecting crowds and were pleasantly surprised. We didn't have much trouble getting chairs or getting into the restaurants.  There is plenty of room to spread out.
• Real drinks.  The drinks are made with real, fresh fruit juices, not bottled stuff like most resorts.
• Room service.  Room service and drink service at the beach and pool are included with all the rooms.  In other resorts we've been to, you had to buy the highest, very pricey package to get that.
• The staff is very nice. Nearly everyone at this resort was kind, friendly, and super helpful.  They made you feel welcomed, not a burden.
• The club level is affordable.  They offer a club level that includes butler service, access to the club lounge, private check-in and check-out, discounts, and an à la carte breakfast.  The club level has a lot of perks for the price!

Cons

• The beach has seaweed. The beach does have a seaweed problem, which came and went during our trip.  It honestly didn't bother me at all because I'm such a beach lover, but if that's not your thing, it is there.  They do rake it off the beach each morning, but it is in the water.  The beach is very pretty, but there are prettier ones in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.
• It costs more. This resort does cost more than most in Punta Cana, so you are paying for the higher-end amenities and service.  This is not a budget trip.
• The themed restaurants aren't as good. We didn't love the themed restaurants as much as some other all-inclusives, but the amazing buffet and special-event food made up for it.  And without being able to take the kids to the Zilara side restaurants, we didn't have as many options.
• One entire restaurant is extra.  They have one entire restaurant that's not included. Our first year, they didn't allow kids into the restaurant, but the second year, they did.  It was a very expensive add-on to the trip.
• Tipping. Tipping is not included at this hotel, unlike some all-inclusive hotels, and is common practice, so you need to carry cash.  It adds up over the week, too, if you want to tip well.
• The pools aren't heated.  They were a bit cool in the winter for my taste.  We have been to other resorts like Beaches that have heated pools, which are a big plus in the winter.  This would not be an issue if you were visiting in the summer.
• The food isn't as good as the food at non-all-inclusive resorts.  If you are a true foodie, all-inclusive food, even good all-inclusive food, is just not the same as most al a cart restaurants.
• No sunset.  The sun sets over the back of the resort, so you don't get a nightly beach sunset here over the water.
• Your kids can't go to the Zilara side. If you are visiting Hyatt Ziva with kids, you can't visit the Zilara side unless you take them to the kids' club.

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews & Highlights

Juanillo Beach

Juanillo Beach was one of the best parts of these Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews.  The beach is a lovely, white sand beach with Caribbean blue waters.  We loved playing on the beach, and it was private, without beach vendors trying to sell stuff.

There is some seaweed on the beach, as you can see, but it didn't bother me.  The resort staff sets up beach chairs and umbrellas for you and brings drinks to the beach.  Here's what it looked like the first year we visited.

And here's the second year.

I  love how the sand area extended back from the beach to the resort.

It made for a gorgeous, wide beach, perfect for taking photos.  No, this isn't the BEST beach in the Caribbean, but it is lovely, and I enjoyed my time on it.

Pools

The very large main pool meanders from an infinity pool area at the front of the resort, past a swim-up bar, and to the back of the resort.   They have servers circling the pool to bring drinks.

There are tons of chairs, and they are super cushioned and comfortable.  There are lots of platforms along the pool's sides, which are great for small kids to play on.  People did get up to reserve chairs, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some other resorts we have been to.  And you could always find a chair, just not the best one, unless you got up early.

There is also a very nice club-level pool included with their "club" level package.  We really like this pool because they not only bring drinks but also food, which was perfect for lunch.  We did notice the drinks at this bar were better, too.

They have nice bed cabanas you can pay for, but we didn't do this because we thought the chairs were just as nice.

My only complaint is that the pools were not heated, making them a bit cool for my taste in January.  It was cooler on our second trip and even the kids were only playing in the hot tubs because the pools were too cold.

Water Park

Looking for Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews of the water park?  I can tell you firsthand that two 6-year-old boys loved it!  They think it was the highlight of their trip and had an amazing time doing the slides.  There were three larger slides, including one tube that they did.  There was also this family racer slide, which they adored.

They also have an area for small kids with smaller slides and a dump bucket.  My kids are a great age because they are still young enough to find this fun, but tall enough to do the bigger tube slide.

There was also a lazy river that was anything but lazy.  I feel like in most lazy rivers, you can find a way around getting hit in the head by water, but there was no way to avoid it on this one.  You were constantly getting pounded by a waterfall or water on the slide.  I would have preferred a calmer lazy river, but as you can imagine, my kids loved it.

The Beaches water park was a bit larger, with a few more things to do.  They liked the Beaches one better, but still enjoyed both.

 

Club Level Amenities

Like many Dominican Republic resorts, they have a "club" or preferred level you can book when booking your room.  The club level gets you access to a special lounge and the club pool area.  You also get a "bulter" who can help you with reservations, chairs, or any problems you have.  The drinks at the club-level pool are of better quality, too, and we did notice a difference.

I think you would enjoy your vacation without it, but we enjoyed having the extra perks.

We loved that this pool had a menu and you could order lunch instead of going to the restaurant.  It was great for small wet kids who didn't want to take a break to go to a sit-down restaurant for lunch.

Fun Special Events

Another part of these Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews is the special events the resort hosts.  It was so fun that they had a full schedule of actual fun activities planned each day.  It was posted on the app, and they had everything from games, kids' activities, crafts, rum tastings, and more.

They even had special dinners most nights with themes.  We went to the Caribbean night, which was a lovely dinner on the beach with grilled Caribbean lobster, authentic music, and dancing.  It was so magical.  We also went to their fire night, which had lots of fire-grilled meats and fire dancers.  My boys loved it!

They also had a Cuban Night and more, which made up for the small number of restaurants.  We loved these events more than the actual non-buffet restaurants.  They do take reservations for these, so if you go, don't be shy about asking to be added to the list ahead of time.  It is part of the included food.

This was unique, and the staff did a lovely job with it.  It brought a special vibe to our entire week.

 

Kids Activities & Kids Club

I also loved that the kids had so much to do at Hyatt  Ziva Cap Cana.  There is a kids' club where you can drop them off, but there is also a huge range of daily activities that you can do with your kids.  We did everything from crafting, slime-making, cupcake decorating, painting, and even this cool ball that floats on water.  For older kids, they arranged things like volleyball games and soccer games.

One day, they even set up a fun circus area for the kids to play carnival-style games.

Most nights, they even had this adorable movie set up for the kids.  They could watch a movie, and you could either hang out with them or drop them off and go to dinner.  Our boys did the kids club one night, our second visit, and they loved it.   We were eating dinner right next door, too.  The number of things to do was unique, creative, and so well thought out.  It was a nice perk to stay here!

 

Spa

The Larimar Spa is a gorgeous spa with many treatment options and beautiful amenities, including a Himalayan salt lounge and a stunning cave-style hydrotherapy pool.

 

Included Watersports

The included watersports are another highlight of this Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana review.  We loved the Hobie cats, paddle boards, and kayaks.  They have a roped-off area to keep "big fish" out and small boats in, which was nice.

Gym & Fitness Center

The gym is shared with Hyatt Zilara, and it's hands-down one of the nicest resort gyms I've been to.   If you like to work out on vacation, you will love it.  They also have daily classes, including spin and zumba.

 

Photography

One of our last highlights in these Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews is the photos included.  My family grunted unhappily while doing them, but wow, I'm glad we did.  The wide beach takes really pretty photographs, and I love how they turned out. I shared the best photos from our shoot here.

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews for Restaurants

The Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews for food I read before we went were mostly positive, so I had high hopes the food at this resort would be good.  As food lovers, that's important to us on a trip.  The reviews were right, I thought this was some of the best, if not the best, all-inclusive food we've had in our travels.

The food was fresh, plentiful, and had lots of healthy and indulgent options.  It's still all-inclusive food, similar to cruise food, which is never quite as good as stand-alone restaurants, but we did enjoy our meals and constantly talked about how much we loved the variety.  On our second trip, we didn't think the food was quite as good, but we still liked it enough to go back.

The one thing that surprised us was that the best food we found was at the buffet on the Ziva side, which normally isn't the case, but this buffet was pretty special!

El Mercado Buffet

The El Mercado Buffet Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana was one of the best buffets I've ever been to, and I don't like buffets.  I loved that the food was behind glass and that they had servers to dish it out, keeping everyone from touching it.  You had a server who brought you drinks as well.  They also had all sorts of stations where they cooked fresh food for you, including eggs in the morning and even grilled fish for dinner.

The breakfast buffet was the same daily, but it was huge.  For dinner, they had a different theme each night, so you got to try different food.  The first night we arrived was New Year's Eve, and they had a spectacular buffet with grilled Caribbean lobster and bluefin tuna prepared fresh to order.

One of the highlights of both of our visits was the special New Year's Eve dinner in the buffet, which had freshly carved bluefin tuna and freshly grilled lobster.   This was hands down the best thing we ate all week.

They even offered Dominican food.

We had some amazing breakfasts there, including this egg Benedict.

They had amazing fresh tropical fruits too, including papaya, passion fruit, and pineapple.  The fresh papaya was one of my favorite things all week.

This breakfast burrito was prepared fresh for me and was so good, too!  We normally like a sit-down breakfast, but the buffet was so good, we kept going back.

One of our favorite dinners was fresh grilled fish or seafood, including tuna, salmon, calamari, and scallops. They had all sorts of chefs who prepared the food for you right as you ordered.

They also had pizza, made-to-order pasta dishes, meats, salads, and any sides you could want.  I never thought I could like a buffet more than an à la carte restaurant, but here I did.

The kids particularly loved the fresh juices in the mornings, and they even had a smoothie station where they could create their smoothies from fresh fruit.

 

The Chinola

The Chinola is a beachside restaurant specializing in healthy food.  It had a gorgeous ocean view and charming decor.  They only serve club-level guests à la carte for breakfast and lunch, but for dinner, it's open to everyone.

We ended up mainly eating breakfast at the buffet because it was so good, but we did love the breakfast there, too.

The lunch was also particularly good!  Just look at this freshly cooked tuna steak!  We had this for lunch several days.

 

Tempest Table

Tempest Table is an Asian-style restaurant.  It was actually like 3 restaurants in one, with classic table service, sushi, a Mongolian grill area, and also traditional hibachi tables.  My kids love hibachi, so we tried that!  The food was great, but the first year we were a bit disappointed that the show didn't include the traditional tricks and entertainment.  The second year, the show was a lot better!

They also serve sushi at Tempest Table and the nearby Rum bar, which is also really delish.

Noodle & Thread

Noodle & Thread is an Italian restaurant with a huge menu featuring pasta, meat, and even pizza.  Both years this was our favorite restaurant meal on the Ziva side.

The pasta dishes were ok but the pizza was really good.

We also enjoyed the salmon they had on the menu.  Again, the buffet was better than these restaurants, though it was still really good.

Navigator Grill

Navigator Grill is their seafood restaurant, and our favorite al a cart restaurant we tried.  It's open air, outside, and has a lovely view.  They are open for lunch and dinner.

For lunch, we tried a few dishes.  I really wish they had served non-fried fish for lunch and/or fish tacos!  This was a fried fish tostada, which was tasty.

We also all loved this seafood ceviche.

And these shrimp skewers were fun for everyone.

For our dinner, we enjoyed the calamari.

The shrimp ceviche was really great too.

They also had a clam pasta.

And finally, their fresh catch was delicious.

 

Prontoz

Prontoz is the quick, casual lunch option when you are at the pool.  It's counter service unless you are club level, and then the waitresses will bring the food to you.  The menu featured light bowls, salads, and pizza.  We really enjoyed this option.  I especially liked that I had a salad-for-lunch option.

The pizza needed salt, but otherwise was great.  We got this menu almost every day, though, so I do wish it had a few more options, because we repeated meals several times.

Room Service

Included room service is another fun perk of my Hyatt Ziva Reviews.  They had a great menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The food came in under an hour, and we could not have been happier to enjoy a few meals on our balcony without dragging the kids out.  We even had one day when the kids were not feeling well, so we ate dinner here.  It was such a wonderful option!

 

The Blind Butcher

The Blind Butcher is a higher-end restaurant at Hyatt Ziva, but it comes at an extra cost.  They feature South American food with elements of a show.  The first year we visited, they didn't allow kids under 13, but the second year we heard they were making an exception, so we decided to book.   I'm glad wegot to see it, but it was very expensive for what it is.

The dinner started with a fun themed drink.  The room decor and ambience were really fun.  You arrive at the restaurant by entering a speakeasy door behind a big fridge.

We had some more elevated dishes here, including these oysters.

We also enjoyed these tuna rolls.

And these shrimp.

One of the highlights was this big raw food bar platter.

And the boys really liked the steak.

 

We also got a fun dessert that came in this monkey mug.

The entire dinner featured dancers performing, which was really cool.  The meal was pretty expensive for what it was, though, and still had the all-inclusive food feeling, just presented differently.  It was worth seeing. But I would go back for that price.  I do wish this experience had been included!

Coffee Republic

Coffee Republic features coffee drinks, light snacks, and ice cream treats.  We loved this option and got an amazing coconut frappuccino every day.  The coffee was really good, which isn't always the case at all-inclusive resorts.

They also had a popsicle bar for the kids, which was a huge hit.  We had daily passion fruit popsicles that made the boys so happy.

 

Moments Sports Lounge

Moment Sports Lounge is a sports bar with lots of TVs, pool tables, live sports, drinks, and some traditional bar food like nachos, wings, and burgers.  It's family-friendly until late evening.

 

Hyatt Zilara Restaurants

These Hyatt Zilara side restaurants are adults-only, but you can cross over without your kids, so I'm including them in my Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana reviews.  This time we were able to visit a few of them!

• The Pier -  The Zilara buffet is similar to El Mercado.
• Brando's- The fancy restaurant featuring French cuisine with a Polynesian flair.  This was our favorite meal of the trip.  We started with shrimp ceviche.

And also loved this gorgeous fish dish.

The mahi mahi was ok!

And same with the sea bass, which didn't look at all like sea bass but was still good.

• Shutters Beachside - An oceanfront restaurnt featuring Peruvian-Caribbean cuisine.
• Waves - The resort's steakhouse with coal-fired steaks.
• Presto- Pizza and poolside snacks.
• One-Eyed Cat- A really cool martini bar with an energetic bartender and memorable drinks.  Ask for the bubble drink!

• Journeys - Indian food with adorable theming that makes you feel like you are in an old train car.

 

 

 

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews

I'll wrap up these Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana Reviews by saying we did love the resort.  I wasn't sure if we would like a place as much as Turks and Caicos, but this place gave Beaches a run for its money.  We like it equally in many areas, and a few areas more.  Beaches have a better beach, a slightly better water park, and slightly better stand-alone restaurants, but overall, we liked this place just as much.  This was an easy vacation that still felt like an adventure for our family.  If you like taking an easy vacation with your kids, this spot really shines.  All-inclusive food isn't the best, but we love how easy it is with the kids.  We loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a luxury all-inclusive, kid-friendly vacation.

If you are booking your Dominican Republic trip, check out the best deals and prices here.  We loved this resort!

More Hyatt Ziva Photos:

• Top 20 Moments Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana
• Top 15 Moment Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana 2026
• Cap Cana Family Beach Photos
• Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Deals and Best Rates

 

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