TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Overall a fine experience. The rooms are clean, grounds beautifully kept, fridge well stocked. We loved the peacocks. The food was good and diverse at the buffet, but the a la carte restaurants were not good. Absolutely loved the Cappuccino place - a must see. The staff were overall polite, but very inattentive, with very few exceptions. A special shout-out to Delfina and her colleague at the main buffet, who really took good care of us and were very friendly. Very few of the staff in the resort speak any English, which doesn't bode well for an economy based on tourism. Every possible effort should be made to curb the "dawn rush". Beach chairs were reserved with towels as early as 6AM. After 7AM you could hardly find a chair in the shade. Some people never even showed up to the beach most of the day, despite reserving chairs. Grand Bavaro should try mimic some European hotspots, where umbrellas and beach chairs come reserved with your room, so no early rush is necessary. Finally, this place is an enormous family resort, so if you are looking for a little peace and quiet, away from the noise of kids, this is not the place for you.

First off I want to start with, I'm a travel advisor. I will not be able to recommend this hotel to my clients and it makes me sad. This was my first time visiting Punta Cana and the DR and when I booked this trip, I was under the impression it was a 5-star resort; far from it. My husband and I arrived and check-in was alright, we did receive an upgrade, but when I booked a bungalow, I was under the impression we would receive a stand-alone small little space, not just a room in a 3 story building. I will give it to the resort, the grounds and breach are very nice. The room although it wasn't a bungalow was alright. It was clean for the most part. The air conditioning never worked. We called maintenance and they set it and told us not to touch it, it never got below 78 degrees the entire time. We sweated from the time we got out of the shower, through the nights and the entire time we were in the room. We could never get cool which for a middle-aged women going through the change is not good and did not make it a good time for my husband. The big problem was we got locked out of our room 4 times. 3 times the same day. They actually had to replace our entire lock on the door and then even after that the next day, we were locked out again. We had to place the card to make up the room in the door handle so the room wouldn't lock for the remainder of our stay which didn't make me feel comfortable having our room open. Everyone was very rude and the language barrier was difficult because almost no one spoke English. We wasted probably about 8 hours of our trip having to deal with the door situation. The free wifi was horrible. I didn't purchase the advanced wifi to see if that was better, but the free wifi went out over 50 times during our stay. They ask you to make reservations and stuff on their app., but then when you do, it didn't process and they didn't have our reservation. After we tried it once and they didn't have our reservation, we made the other reservations with the travel desk and got printouts of our reservations and when we showed up at the restaurants they still didn't have our reservations. They did seat us but without giving us dirty looks. Food was so so, but nothing to write home about. I don't know if the Platinum guests receive better service and they sink all their efforts into them, but they sure do not cater or are even nice to the general crowd. There were a few, the bartender at the large pool was kind and remembered our drinks each day. We did do the dinner on the beach our last evening and that was nice and they seemed to try to be accomodating for that. The food truck vendors didn't care about you at all. Shuttles were alright, we walked most of the time. A positive thing was you were able to get a chair at the pool which was surprising, but nice to not get there and not have anywhere to sit so that was good. The beach was very pretty. I did feel safe at the resort as there was security around. Casino was a rip off.

I recently stayed at Grand Bavaro Princess and overall I’d say the experience was very mixed. The positives first: the beach was absolutely beautiful and probably the best part of the resort. The grounds were also really nice with lots of nature and wildlife around, which made the resort feel relaxing and tropical. The food was alright. Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives for me. Customer service was probably the biggest issue. Most staff members came across as rude or uninterested, and there was very little hospitality. Nobody really explained how things worked or checked in to make sure guests were enjoying their stay. We were basically expected to figure everything out ourselves. Reception also failed to explain important things like towel cards, towel policies, how reservations worked, or even instructions for the safe. Speaking of reservations, the system was frustrating. You’re expected to book dinner reservations 24 hours in advance, but we didn’t even have our room number yet when we arrived, so we couldn’t reserve dinner for the first night. The dress code rules were also stricter than expected and not clearly communicated for women. There were also several room issues. The water smelled strongly like rotten eggs and made the whole room smell bad. Water pressure was weak, there was black mold in parts of the room, and the resort only provided two bath towels in the family room unless you requested more. We also weren’t told that only the pink towels provided in the room could be used, which again only two were provided. One important thing to note: if you have sensitive skin or eyes, be cautious with the water. My friend got water in her eyes and had an allergic reaction that lasted the entire night. The resort also felt more geared toward older guests and families rather than younger adults looking for a fun atmosphere. Lastly, everything inside the resort is extremely overpriced. Everything from start to finish snacks, clothes, gift shops, spa services, etc. You have to haggle everyone if you want a good price Overall, the beach and scenery were beautiful, but the lack of hospitality, poor communication, and room issues made this feel far below what we expected for the price.

The moment our taxi drove through the gated gates, I knew we were in for a treat. Tennis courts to the right of the long driveway, in the middle is the hotel lobby, and to the left are hotel rooms. As we are a family, 2 adults + 2 children (12 & 14) we had to check in at the family check in, short steps from regular check in area. We received non alcoholic glasses while we waited and was delicious. Upon check in we recieved bracelets that is also waterproof door opener to our rooms. Our room was a king bed with a bunk bed, and terrace with walk out pool. We got changed and went for lunch in the main eatery (breakfast/lunch/dinner) served and no reservations required. This was our main place to eat while here. We met very friendly wait staff: Willy and others I do not remember. There is a lot to explore while on this resort, and after lunch, we took the trolley, start/end is next to the ice cream store (opens daily at 6pm). Looked forward to our after dinner walks, and jumping into our communal pool behind our room. Disappointed that the pools/beach close at 6pm everyday, was told the reason for this as the resort wants everyone to dine. Enjoyed our time at this resort, and look forward to returning one day soon. Thank you Grand Bavaro Princess for the great memories. Mike and family.

Yaniriz and Alexandra took amazing care of us during our week long stay. They were courteous, professional, and very kind. They even prepared a nice table for us on our last day here. They remembered our orders and made sure to have everything ready this morning. Alexandra is my mom from Punta Cana now! Thank you! We will be back! <3