TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Hola!!! Ahhhhhh! This is long winded, but so many people deserve a shout out! lol We have been back for a few days now, and I am still feeling the effects of all the fun we had—the amazing people we met and the time spent with our Gran Ventana family. It truly meant so much to us. We were so excited to return after such a great first experience last year, and it was even more special to realize that our DR friends still remembered us and were just as excited to see us. That feeling is something really rare, and it speaks volumes about the incredible people who work here. From the management team to the bartenders, check-in staff, chefs, servers, housekeeping, and groundskeepers—every single person plays a part in making this place feel so welcoming and special. I know I don’t have all of our favourite people’s names, and I may be misspelling some, but I truly want to give a heartfelt thank you to the people who made such an impact on our stay: Sension—you made us feel like family from the moment we arrived. We appreciated the smiles and hugs whenever we saw you! Oscar Lora, Maximo, Marcos (room management), Anthony (front desk) and Roberto (it was so special to meet part of the family who own the resort) you are all doing an amazing job! To the entire Vintage Club team—especially our bestie and forever family Ricardo, along with Santa, Olvi, Sujeldy, Juan Matis, and Nazir—you are all so wonderful, and we are so grateful for you. The new entertainment team, led by the awesome Richard, has clearly been working hard, and it shows. Joellani, Carlos, Isaac, and our “kids club mommy” (I’m so sorry I can’t remember your name) are all incredible. Even though our kids don’t attend the kids club, they absolutely adore you. Isaac went out of his way to spend time teaching Emmie Spanish and playing pool with her, which meant so much to us. Carlos - Quinn and Huxley shared so many genuine laughs with you - it was so nice to see. To our beach bar besties—Aqui, David, Jose, and Amable—we miss you already. Your smiles, energy, and kindness truly made our days brighter and our vacation even more special. To all the lovely people at the buffet—especially our big boss Raul! The way you lit up when Emmie first came for a hug warmed my heart! Meant a lot to her, and us! To Rosa and the rest of the wonderful waitstaff, thank you for always taking such great care of us. Carlos (aka the Dominican “James Bond”)—you brought so much fun and personality to every interaction! Special mention to the sweeper man that whistles - our kids adore you! Lobby bar team—Osvaldo, Ernesto, Jessenia, Olson, Luis, Mario, and Lucy—thank you for your kindness, the cold beers and the many great moments we shared. We also want to send a big thank you to all the super fun people we met during our stay. So many of you helped fill our days with laughter and unforgettable memories. Those moments truly made our trip even more meaningful. If you see this, please reach out—we would love to stay connected. ?? Thank you again to the entire Gran Ventana family. What you create for your guests goes far beyond a vacation—it feels like coming home. We are already counting down the days until we see you all again next year. ??

We stayed over the March break and knew it would be at capacity which it was. Because of this you had to line up for the buffet before 6:30 or you'd be waiting for a table and beverage service would be hit or miss. It was very loud. Securing a pool lounger or beach lounger was a task. You needed to reserve by 8am. There was a loud argument on the beach between 2 groups over beds. Our room was adequate. Only complaint was a running toilet. The food was good, wine almost undrinkable. Drinks at the pool bar were good. When we arrived there weren't any pool towels but I brought my own having read it was hit or miss. The beach was beautiful, you could walk forever. We enjoyed our time there but won't be returning.

Date of travel March 31 - April 7, 2026 Have travelled to Mexico 3 times, Jamaica 3 times, Cuba once and Dominican Republic twice so I can say we have had enough all-inclusive experiences to fairly rate this hotel. This one ranks at the bottom. Cleanliness, safe food handling practices, a comfortable room, and helpful administration are most important to us. Unfortunately this hotel did not those standards. First the good things: The quiet pool was the best part of my trip. Large with bar at one end. Got up at 7 to get one of the last 2 free loungers. Others all had towels but only a few people sitting. I was there from 7 am until 3 pm. Several chairs with towels on them and no one came back during that time. It would be great if they would remove towels after even a couple of hours. Perhaps large signs posted and people would not do this. Offered my chair to a very appreciative guest sitting on hard plastic chair when I left. There are lots of cats by the quiet pool. Some people brought cat food for them :) Beach is nice and you can walk in both directions. Again with the loungers, you need to be there early to get one. Many are broken. The main pool is large and nice for children as it slopes. We ate at two of the a la cartes. The Italian by the quiet pool and the Steak place by the beach. The food at both of these was good. I had white wine and it was ok as well. The wait for the food is long but this did not bother us. Now for the bad things: Room 3238 - 2nd floor of quiet building. Arrived at 9pm in the rain. Administration wrote room number on crumpled piece of paper with hotel layout and pointed toward our building. We carried our bags over the steps from the main lobby down the road to our room. Lighting is very poor so watch your step as there are many stairs. Bring an umbrella. Room was large and freezing. I turned off the fan over the bed and turned up the air conditioning to 22. By the middle of the night, the floor was soaked in front of the bathroom. I had to put towels down every day. I was told different ways to remedy the situation by staff and from social media posts but just gave up after 4th day and used all my towels except one to make a path from my bed to the bathroom. Patio door catching and came off the track. Maintenance came and put new rollers on. Bathroom - see photos. There was black stuff (I dont know what) on the line in bathroom where they want you to hang your wet clothes. Gaps between ceiling and wall/vents. Tap on tub was loose - worried it would fall off so was very careful when turning water on. Lighting in bathroom very poor, Fridge leaked on floor. The maids were good. They did bring me an extra blanket for the bed. It is not their fault that this place is so run down. Buffet - lived on scrambled eggs, pizza and fries as I was worried about getting sick. Others I spoke to were sick. Cutlery left on table - birds landing on tables - bring alcohol wipes Bar - only can make a few types of drinks, wine from bar was terrible - drank 1/2 glass and was sick for 2 days . Bought gatorade and crackers at the small mall down the road. Only drank bottled water and pop from room as I saw the washing standards at the bars. Make sure you ask for your ticket when you check out. She did not give me one and I had to run back and get it before I could get on the bus. We had a 7:15 pick up and were only given 1 hour extension to 1:00 on check out. Your luggage is left in a room that anyone can walk in so be sure to put locks on it. You have to bring it out before the bus comes and place by the appropriate destination city. Maybe I just was unlucky but I would not return to this resort.

Hey all I would like to share my experience on this resort. First off I would like to say that there were a lot of positives with this resort such as food potentially the best I've had while visiting resorts, the beach was amazing and had no waves or sargasm and the resort was very easy to navigate. Some of my negatives include the amount of smoking going on everywhere on this resort. There are designated smoking areas but no one uses them. People are smoking in the pool, in their loungers, right outside of the restaurant, in the hallways of the hotel and as someone with breathing problems this made my stay very uncomfortable. Still recovering from the amount of smoke 2 days later. Secondly there is a real lack of vibe at this resort. They play music at the one pool and then just randomly shut it off for 2 hours midway through the day. They also have a strict no speaker policy which they enforce. Which is weird as they do not enforce the smoking policy. Overall our experience was mixed with positives and negatives. I would recommend this resort if you're okay with smoking.

Travelled in March and it was packed but we knew it would be. This was my 2nd time here. It's a resort with a small footprint, everything is very easily walkable within a few minutes of each area. I love all the authentic decor, the tiles, furniture, plants, trees and vegetation. Spotlessly clean, very well maintained, but you must walk up stairs to the rooms, buildings have 3 floors. There is a small maybe 1-2 inch step at each building entrance so not completely accessible even if you are on the ground floor. Lobby and buffet area has a ramp, the pool has a gradual entry on one side so those areas are easy to navigate with a walker/wheelchair etc. Food was great, fresh and I love that it is served in round silver warming trays with lids. They have a couple plant based options each meal that are free from all animal oils, butter, etc. One day I had sweet potato empanadas and they were delicious! Lots of fresh mixed salads, and a great salad bar. No problem to find food if you're vegetarian. Pasta and omelet stations were great. Breakfast donuts were my favourite! Only complaint about the food area is it was VERY lacking in staff. There is one person to fill water, one for drinks, one to clear tables and one to re-stock table items. It was quite hard to get water, or drinks with most meals. The resort was sold out, it was very busy so we tried to be patient. We always tipped when we asked for water but the reality was there just wasn't enough staff to go around and they were working their butts off. Definitely need more serving staff in the buffet. After a couple days we just grabbed our own drinks on the way into the buffet. Three a la Carte restaurants. Beach Grill, Italian and Octopus, all were delicious! Lots of options, fresh and tasty. They will accommodate any dietary requests. The Italian restaurant is in front of the lobby, just a two minute walk away. It's located at the other building of rooms, also has a great pool, nice quiet lobby and a great bar where you will find Jackie in the daytime, ask for a frozen Jackie special! YUM! We upgraded to Premium and while pricey, for us it was worth it as we wanted the Bali beds at the beach, love the vintage lounge, private check in and wanted to make sure we had help with food as my friend has Celiac. The staff in the Vintage lounge are so kind and helpful, and great when you ask for a fun drink! Also make great coffee specialty drinks there. Our favourite part was the beach. Aquilo at the Premium side beach made our days by helping us learn Spanish, constantly filling our drinks even without being asked, and just was a joy to chat with always answering our questions about the country and his life. The beach is fabulous, soft sand, nice refreshing water and you can walk for a long long time in both directions.(I walked alone for hours and never felt unsafe) It was quite windy every day but we enjoyed it and considered the blowing sand free skin exfoliation! Only one red flag day where we were not allowed in the ocean. There are a lot of rock reefs all at the front of the waters entrance but there are clear pockets to swim in, and areas with rock free water. Lots of people were snorkeling right in front of the beach area. There are so many vendors on the beach and it gets annoying to be interrupted every 2-3 minutes but once you say, "no gracias" they just keep walking. We got to know Josef, one of the jewelry vendors who gave us great deals, and was awesome to chat with. Look for Ishmael if you want excursions from a vendor. Great guy! I'm happy to say the new entertainment team was a very welcome change! Something to do every night, started at 9pm and over by 10:30/11pm. The beach party and silent disco were the best! The activities are posted daily by the stairs near the buffet, and also in the area where you exchange towels where the pool tables are. Also, there is a large section of book shelves with loads of books in several languages if you need a book! Drinks were plentiful and delicious, there is a menu at the bars and they will make anything a slushy drink, just ask. They serve the drinks in paper cups so if you don't like that, bring your own refillable cup. We saw so many people yelling at the bartenders because they wanted glass, which at the pool or beach is ridiculous. Bottled water and bagged ice available everywhere. There were water coolers on each floor of the buildings, we had no trouble at all getting water. They have Pepsi products here, pepsi, diet, zero, 7 up and an orange pop. The pool was constantly packed, very loud and the brutal chair saving game was just awful. There were lots of games and activities at the pool but with the chair situation and the loudness, we just were not interested. And the smoking....UGGG no one followed the no smoking rule. So, we spent all our time at the beach. I love this resort because it's authentic, small, clean, with great food and a fabulous beach, it has everything you need if you want to relax, take part in activities and keep it chill. Not fancy, not a lot of bells and whistles but it doesn't need it. It's a 20 minute drive from the airport and has lots of excursion options for every interest. It's a chill resort, with mostly older clientele, not a big party place. You can tip in Dominican Pesos which is great for Canadians. I will be back!