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 Grand Paradise Bavaro —  Location:Beach front- Punta Cana - East Coast - 35 mins. from Punta Cana airport All-inclusive - 504 rooms located in six 3-storey buildings Description from resort website: The unparalleled white sands and crystal water of its beach, tall coconut trees and colorful landscapes, award this tropical resort the title of "jewel". Superior room - Offer two double beds or one King size bed, air conditioning, cable TV, full bath, mini bar (soft drinks), hair dryer, iron and ironing board (available on request), telephone, safety deposit box ($), terrace or balcony, garden, pool or partial ocean view. 6 bars & 6 restaurants - 3 pools  ~ Reviews posted on this page — 43 ~ Debbie's Review of Grand Paradise Bavaro ~ Map of Resort  ~ Reader's Vacation Photos ~ 1, 2, 3, 4 ~ Reader's Grand Paradise Bavaro Wedding Reviews  ~ Dominican Republic Travel Forum  Have you stayed at this resort? Share your vacation experiences with others.Don't forget to send your review to Debbie by using an easy form or e-mail Debbie your review |
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Jim ~ Canada |
Arrival: April 19th - April 26th
Arrival and transaportation was good.
Rooms:
Were very nice excpet getting towels and that was like pulling teeth.
Restaurants and Bars:
They were good except for the staff members there constantly hitting on girls plus my girlfriend.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Very clean and well maintained and the tram was good excpet all of things broken on it examples poles that were broken at the top but not at the top very dangerous driver just about running over my gf as we were trying to load up our luggage in the this golf cart back end of the golf cart was run over good thing the staff memeber grabbed my gf otherwise she would have been run over
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Ya we did they were excellent except fot the one by nexus tours "monster truck"
Other Comments:
All the staff members were very rude don't even say hi drinks there were terrible all booze and not slushy they were all liquid ask for a mojito and they don't even know how to make that staff members constantly hittingup girls flirting with my gf behind my back go to the disco bar staff memebers hanging out there just to pick up girls and preteding to have sex with them overall i don't recommend this place to anyone it's terrible i would never go back there, however I would go back to the dominican just stay somewhere else
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Hlywud ~ Ontario, Canada |
May 8-15 2009
Let me start off by saying this was our 23rd trip to Punta Cana, so we have had many flights with various carriers and visited many resorts as guests as well as resort tours given to me by the management of various resorts. A lot of reviews I have read, people complained about Sunwing airlines but we had nothing to complain about although the 3 hour and 41 minute flight down was turbulent, the 4 hour ride home was very smooth. The staff on the plane was excellent and the 737-800 planes were quite comfortable and I had lots of leg room. We left on time both ways.
We did have an hour bus ride to the resort with 5 stops along the way; I definitely will use a private transfer with IBK Servicios next time. We took a private cab back to the airport on departure day. Check in at the desk was efficient but were told to return in the morning to get a lock for the safe, only one room key card was given to us and there was a sign at reception telling us that only 1 card per room would be issued. See my other comments at end of review.
We started off in the Club section with a second floor pool view room in Building 4, the room was clean but with rather dated furniture and two double beds. We had requested a Queen bed. Television was a massive 13 inch that did not work, after a trip to reception in the morning and two phone calls later that day about this, I finally found the coax end broken off and fixed myself with tweezers and a nail clipper. Nobody ever showed up to fix to our knowledge. Two days in this room at around 4 pm we received a note in Spanish, I went to the bartender at the pool and he told me to go to reception as it appeared we were be moved to another room, indeed we were to the next section closest (Sunquest select section) to the beach. After visiting reception I was taken back to my room by golf cart, packed everything up and moved to Building 8 to a third floor garden view(actually tennis courts)room with 2 queen beds and a working 29 inch wall mounted LCD TV (no remote?). This room was very clean bright and cheery in comparison to our first room. We unpacked and proceeded to get ready for our dinner reservations, only to find out the in room fridge was locked (No water or soft drinks) and NO towels. Another call to reception and 15 minutes later water, 2 bottles of sprite and 2 cokes along with towels arrive. The next afternoon we found that our fridge was unlocked and other than the soft drinks everything else in the fridge had a charge for using.
Bars, Food and Restaurants
Lobby bar was not been open the whole week, all three pool bars are operating, as well as the bar in the very back of the resort next to the Mangiar restaurant, the Sunquest section bar and theatre were closed.
The boat bar, unique fixture but it is a joke, as only beer and Cuba Libras are part of the AI anything else is charged for, in fact the hours say 6 pm till 1 am and it rained one night at 5:55 and they told us they were closed till 6:30 because of the rain......??
Fridge in room has no beer and other things that you have to pay for, 2 sprites and 2 cokes are free
Sports bar is open 24 hours but if there are more than 25 people there it is overcrowded.
We were told by our tour representative to book the a la cartes with him, we got no bookings from him as each time he told us they were all booked full....when we went by them after leaving the buffet around the times we asked for, there were many chairs and tables available. This was a real pain having to go to his desk area every day during his hours to be told the restaurants were full, when in fact we booked the Italian one day at lunchtime as there was staff right outside the door taking evening reservations.
I had a great beef tenderloin covered with melted blue cheese at the Michaelango (Italian a la carte) ordered it well done and it came the way I like it, medium. At the La Laguna main buffet I had a small grilled steak which was very good, tasty and tender so I went back for seconds and it was tough like my leather belt. Mexican night at the main buffet was very good; fajita's and burrito's were excellent. Overall in a nutshell there was a decent variety at the buffets but being able to get things piping hot was a challenge. Pork and chicken at times was undercooked and pinky inside so that in my opinion is not safe to eat, and was left on my plate, something I do not like to do. Breakfasts were actually the best overall consistent meal with delicious omelets made to order at the cooking station. Soups very very hot and tasty and I love my bowl of soup, the problem was three nights in a row the soup had a different name card shown but it was exactly the same crème tomato soup with basil and oregano each night. I was aware that the Asian restaurant had a surcharge but not the Steakhouse or the seafood restaurant so things have apparently changed, this did not bother us as I mentioned before we were told they were booked full anyway. The Mangiar restaurant at the rear Club section was basically a smaller buffet with less selection than the main Laguna buffet, but had the same situation of not very hot food.
Just a word about the resort staff, like most Dominicans there were very happy, friendly, cheerful and a pleasure to talk to a deal with.
Bavaro beach as usual is the soft white sand with clear multi colored blue waters.
The grounds of the resort which is quite large and serviced by a tram that runs every 15 minutes or so from the beach to the rear section are very pretty and maintained appropriately, nice for taking pictures of the flora and fauna. Pools from a distance look very inviting and also are quite picturesque. Closer inspect and I don't mean to say that I went looking for items that needed repair but when it stares you in the face, I guess it should be reported. Many missing tiles on the fascia of the pool walls, some indication of algae growing on the places where the tiles were absent. Some cracked, uneven and deterioring concrete around the pools that left water standing in spots around the pools. Some of the shade arbors adjacent to the pool were in need of some paint to spruce up their looks. While these are minor issues, it appears to me that more regular maintenance is required. Public washrooms were in various states of repair, in the Club section they were not too bad although poorly lit, in the Select (center) section they were quite well looked after and clean, those in and around the main lobby and ocean view pool in my opinion were disgusting, urinals that were leaking on the floors and toilets that overflowed and lots of paper towels strewn on the floors. Not what I would say were very sanitary conditions. I did not take any pictures of these situations but trust me, they did exist.
While this resort is advertised as a 4 star resort All inclusive it should be in my opinion be shown as a 3.5 star semi inclusive as there were many additional charges that could be incurred. Safe key is $20, surcharges at 3 of the 4 a la cartes, drink surcharges at the Boat bar and surcharges for drinks at the casino.
One room key card is issued per room, a strange situation and why I do not know, but we had many people banging on the neighboring doors in the wee hours of the morning by people returning to their rooms and having to wake their partners up to get in.
I happened to have an old card from another resort so I went to the desk and told them that my card would not open the door; they asked me “What is your Room number?” So I told them and they programmed me another card, without asking for some kind of identification, what my name was, absolutely nothing was asked. I could have easily asked for any occupied room number and obtained a key and helped myself to anything in that room. This to me was very lax and unacceptable security.
Would I return?
Let me say this for the price I paid, I went with an open mind knowing that I was not going to a 5 star resort, but the price was so incredible for a week in the sun, with a beautiful white sand beach, cold drinks, food and entertainment. I would say quite likely here or another closely priced resort.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Donelda ~ Prince Edward Island |
Arrival: April 10 - 17
We arrived at the resort around 11:30am to a nice hot day.
Rooms
Our room was the cleanest room I've been in, nice and spacious.
Restaurants and Bars
There was no shortage of restaurants or bars, we enjoyed not one but two buffets and we took in only one of the many restaurants within the resort. We ate at Michael Angelo's for a birthday celebration and we treated with cake and the staff singing happy birthday and playing their instrustments, it was really nice.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was awesome, words can't describe it, beautiful white sand, no rocks. The resort had many pools both adult and kiddies. The grounds were immaculate. We did spend most of our time at the beach.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
They had a great varity of activities on the beach and at the pool with many taking part. We didn't get to do any tours this time around.
Other Comments
I would recommend this resort, I for one will be returning. The one thing I would suggest needs some attention would be the registration, there was one person trying to handle 2 full bus loads of us and everyone was a little tired, hot and eager to start their vacations.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Meredith ~ Oakville |
Arrival: March 29 to April 5
We booked with itravel 2000...Sunwing was the carrier. No issues...first flight out of Toronto on the Sunday, landed in Punta Cana at 10:30am. No line ups at customs, baggage was ready to go and no issues finding Sunwing Rep. and bus. Check in was no issue at the resort. We had to wait for our room as we were upgraded from the Club section to the Beach section.
Rooms
The Beach section needs some renovations, but we were only in the room to sleep. Our maid Isabelle was fantastic. New towels everyday and face clothes. No issues with water pressure...hot water was hit and miss...although, it wasn't a problem if you were showering during non peak hours.
Restaurants and Bars
Buffet breakfast as great...lots of selection. Staff was wonderful. Beach buffet for lunch was good...really busy, but again not a problem if you go during non peak hours. Only ate at the a la carte restaurants...the Dominican and Asian were our favourites. Food and service both outstanding. Seafood restaurant was nice as they have a patio overlooking the beach...very romantic. The steak house was good. The Italian restaurant was okay...very busy...food was okay and service wasn't the greatest. We had no issues with any of the food all week. Have travelled alot and would rate the food at this resort as one of the best. Service was great at the beach bar. We really enjoyed Bar Co in the evening...the live entertainment is great!
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Beach is beautiful...pool at the beach is great...grounds lovely. We spent most of our time around the pool at the beach. Didn't have any issue getting a spot with an umbrella everyday.
Other Comments
Overall, this is one of the best resorts I have stayed at for the food and service. Ruth in guest services was amazing! This is probably one of the smaller resorts I have stayed at in Punta Cana and definately one the best! Will absolutely return!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Rosemary and Paul ~ Ottawa, ON |
Arrival: April 3 to 10
We booked a wild card through Go Travel Direct and only found out where we were staying upon arrival. The Go Travel Rep was at her booth and told us which bus board. This was a bit confusing as the bus was parked further into the parking lot than we thought (it was also night time by the time we arrived and could not see the buses). It seemed like just about everyone on our flight was heading to the same hotel. So there were about 110 people all checking in at the same time. The check in process was just lining up in one of the lobbies of the hotel and being given our braclets and room/towel keys. There we so many people that you couldn't really ask for much information so we decided to just head to our room, grab something to eat before the buffet closed and sort the rest out in the morning.
Rooms
We stayed in bulding 6, in the Club secton on the 3rd floor furthest from the beach. The resort is large and is divided into 3 sections. There are no elevators in the buildings so if you have mobility concerns you might want to get a 1st floor room. The Beach, the Select (in the middle) and the Club). There is a trolley that runs from one end of the resort to the other about every 10-15 minutes. We walked most of the time. The Club section happens to be very French (mainly from France). The French have their own animation staff and small theater. So they must have some deal with French travel agencies. This didn't bother us at all as we both speak French and English. The room was fine and kept very clean. No issues - basic but comfortable. King bed, two chairs, TV, desk, small table, bar fridge (which was stocked with a big jug of water, 2 cokes and 2 sprite). We just used the empty pop bottles to tranport our water/juice rather than the big jug of water. The bathroom was fine - shower worked well, no problems with hot water or pressure. It was only stocked with shampoo, conditioner and soap. If you're expecting lotions bring your own (I travel with all my personal care items so this wasn't an issue) If you like using face cloths, bring your own as they don't provide any. We were two in the room and had two bath towels, hand towel and bath mat. The hair dryer worked but it wouldn't stay on - nothing that a emery board (nail file)pushed on the side of the "on" button couldn't fix. There was an adjoining room with a somewhat less than secure lock but never had any problems. There is no chain or dead bolt on the room door but again it was secure enough and had no problems. We had a balcony with two plastic chairs and small table. It was fine but we only used them to hang wet swim suits/towels on them. A lock/key for the room safe is available for $20US. It's worth it. We always left tips for the maid.
Restaurants and Bars
We had dinner at three a la cartes (Italian, International and the Cana with is the restaurant by the beach). There are three others (the Asian which you needed to pay $10US per person to eat there, the seafood and Dominican). All meals were fine. Service at the a la cartes was good. We prefered the Italian. You need to make your reservations for the week at one time or you might not get the one and the time you want. When we made ours my boyfriend just happened to mention to the women taking the bookings that it was nice to be able to eat at an a la carte for his birthday. We didn't make anything more of it. We were both surprised that at dessert time, the servers came out and sang happy birthday to him in spanish and put a candle on his cake. The staff individually gave him his best wishes. We guessed that the women taking the bookings must have made note of his comment. It was a nice touch. There are 3 buffets, one at the Club section which we found to be the best for breakfast and dinner. Lots of choices for food and it's airy and not crowded (we got hooked on crepes with whipped cream and fruit) and if you see the white chocolate covered mini cream puffs - they are awesome. The main buffet is crowded and not as opened so it was stuffy. As it's smaller, the food choices are similar but not as varied. The Cana buffet by the beach was excellent for lunch. The burgers were great - they were not processed patties but the real thing. They had salad, pizza, fries, usually a pasta dish, chicken and another dish that changes every day. The service at all buffets was not very good. You often had to go and get your own drinks and they were very quick to take your plates away. So hang on to your cutlery if you want seconds (once gone it was hard to get another set. Service at bars was ok - there are lots of them. There is a "boat bar" where only the beer, rum and cokes and soft drinks are free. Everything else you pay for. We never had a drink there. They play live music there as well. The beach bar was very busy as was the one at the buffet by the beach and usually they didn't have enough staff on hand. Many tourists don't know how to wait their turns. Bring a thermal mug. The glasses they provide are small. They don't mind filling your big mugs up. We left tips at the a la cartes and sometimes at the bars and buffets depending on service. We didn't get sick at all. We just ate too much.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was amazing. Fine white sand - it was hard to fine any kind of shells. The beach is very long and wide. The water is crystal clear. You can snorkel around the rope area and see lots of fish. There are also rock or coral areas closer in and also with lots of fish. If you throw bread in the water (just off the beach at about waist deep) usually in the early after noon, you'll see needle fish and something like a white angel fish having a feeding frenzy. You might also see small barracuda but they are qiuck. One problem. Finding a chair in the shade. There isn't a lot of shade so it's at a premium. It was very hot when we went and you needed to be in the shade just about all day. You need to stake your spot in the shade by 7am or you won't find any. It's the same at the pools (which there were three; one for each section). They could use more umbrellas and beds at the pools. We didn't use the pools much. We spend most of the time at the beach. The ground were nice - kept clean and tidy. We probably saw 2 or 3 bugs while we were there. One night we saw the grounds of the hotel next door being fogged. There are lots of fish in the ponds around the grounds and a few cranes and ducks, drangon flies, frogs etc. All good to help keep the mosqitoes away. It took us a while to figure out where to get beach towels but there's a hut right on the beach and they have lots.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Didn't particapte in any of the activities by the pools or the beach. Did't take in the shows. Didn't do any of the tours. We just relaxed. There are internet machines in two locations - one in the sports bar underneath the main lobby and another set in a bulding where the shops are behind the "boat bar". It's $5US per half hour. It was confusing where to get tickets but we found them and use the terminals for emails rather than calling home.
Other Comments
Definately would recommend this resort. It was good value for the price we paid. It's a little tired in some spots but clean.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Coleen ~ Manitoba, Canada |
Arrival: March 4 - March 13
March 4th around 4:30pm in the airport and then the 1/2 hr or so drive to the hotel and we were checked in in a timely manner and were able to be down in time for the opening of the buffet supper at 6:30 unpacked etc.
Rooms
We had a garden view room 2nd floor with a king size bed, dresser/desk with chair,2 rutan chairs and a table and on the patio 2 plastic chairs with a table the rooms were clean and we had no complaints at all. In the fridge was the 2cokes and 2sprites and 4 litre water jug refilled as soon as it gets 3/4 used or as required by the maids. We did a $5.00us tip daily for them and we did get a safety deposit for $20.00 but we knew ahead there was a charge for the lock.we had an adjoining room and the lock on it was primative but we had no problems with the people in the next room at all either.On the primary door you push up on the handle to have a dead bolt lock. Patio door lock didn't work but we were on 2nd floor we didn't worry about it.
Restaurants and Bars
We found the food to be just fine lots of choices. I suppose if you are a little fussy you may complain. We had never done a resort only cruise so we thought we could go to the a la carts every night but no but we just went with the flow.We booked right away so had no problem with times but they do book up fast. We went to the Mangler which was on the other side of the resort took train only two minute ride we found the directions very vague and not clear and I usually don't have a problem with directions. But we aren't afraid to ask and we found it. Food was very good didn't look like much but we were full when we left there. We also went to the La Cana Steakhouse twice and it was very good. We aren't sure if it was cause we didn't drink or we weren't big tippers or what but service for drinks in any of the restaurants is slow especially coffee if asked for at beginning of a meal and we only tipped at the a la cartes not the buffett.The food there was very good and no complaints at all. The lunch grill was excellent especially the burgers.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
We were on the side with the beach. Suggest you take a travel mug for your drinks and take all your sunscreen as it was $28.00 at the resort to buy and a book or word searche or cross word to have something to occupy you for the day. If you want a good lounger or a hut you have to be down very early and all you do is put your towel or a bag on them to save them. Don't leave valuables but we never had any trouble with people taking the loungers.We also would get a lounger no matter what time but you may have to look hard and sometimes take one that doesn't have the sit up positions on it so your laying down all the time. By 3:30-4:30 it starts to clear off at the beach. I quess if I had a complaint that would be mine if you aren't there you don't have a chair or a hut unless your just gone for a 1/2 hr or hour to have your lunch. But there were days where the huts had chairs set up like a fort and no one was at them all day.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
There are activities offered and they have them posted for times etc we didn't realize till we went to the other side for our a la carte that some were over there like the bikes and archery that we didn't see at our side of the resort. And that wasn't explained real well to us.
Other Comment
We would say there is nothing really extremely wrong with this hotel the complaints we had as you can see are minor and we went with a open mind and that we are on holidays so we weren't watching our clocks etc just enjoying the sun and views. Highly recommend the Monster Truck tour. Full day all inclusive pop and booze and very informative from Joselito the tour guide.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Donna ~ Almonte |
Arrival: March 6 - 13
Upon arrival at the Resort, we were expecting a long process to check in after reading reviews. We were checked in and into our room in about 10 minutes, and we had even asked to change rooms. The process was quick, and painless. Only bothers us that we have to pay $20.00 to use the safe, and you do not get the money back at the end of your stay.
Rooms
Our room was big, and was very clean, everyone has their own private deck. We were in building 1, and the only complaint I would have is that our room backed onto the back of the resort where the service road goes, and there is traffic on that most of the night, and real early in the morning. (The road is about 3 feet from our first floor balcony.
Restaurants and Bars
There seemed to be a limit of bars, and ther isn't a bar in the check in lobby that opens before 3:00 p.m. each day. The only bar that is open all the time is the sports bar Open 24 hours, and they have popcorn. We were surprised that we were limited to two a la carte restaraunts during our stay. (Our travel rep gave us another ticket at our meeting), but it was hard to make reservations. We went on Saturday to make reservations for the Steak House and it wasn't available until Tuesday. Because the Steak House and SeaFood Restaraunts are down by the water, it was quite windy. They had half of each restaraunt closed off each night, but someone told us it is because they didn't have enough wait staff. If you go to book your meals, and they say there is no room, I would wait a few hours and go back again. We had some people luck in like that. ALSO in the evening during supper lots of people just went to the restaraunts and asked the wait staff to seat them without reservations. A $2.00 tip goes a long way in Dominican
Beach/Pools/Grounds
We thought the pools were great, and very well kept. The staff was out every morning about 6:30, cleaning out the pools, and wiping down the sides. The grounds were well kept also.
Other Comments
All in all we were satisfied with our holiday. We were terrified after reading the reviews. I guess if you are expecting really bad you can be plesantly surprised. We had needed a few things (toilet fixed, and iron for our room, and I must say it was done inside of an hour. My suggestion would be book you a la carte restaraunts as soon as you can, and bring lots of sunscreen as mentioned before in someone else's review it is $22.00 per bottle in the store at the resort. The BBQ at the beach front for lunch is great. Have a great trip
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Mary & Richard ~ Canada |
Sunquest Select at the Grand Paradise
Arrival: Feb 20 - Mar 6
We arrived at the Selection Section of the Grand Paradise at approximately 10:45 p.m. The gentleman the desk insisted that we needed a hotel voucher which was not supplied to us. We had a confirmation number and our names were in the computer. He gave us grief but finally gave us a room and stated that we needed our Sunquest representative to supply a hotel voucher.
Rooms
When we booked our trip, we specifically requested the top floor. We were accomodated the next day after a lengthy discussion.
Restaurants and Bars
The best restaurant was the Asian which you have to pay $10 each. We had no problems being served at this restaurant.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Beautiful pools and the beach is the reason we have been going to Punta Cana for the past 6 years.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We have done all the tours possible. We booked a lunch at Las Palmas on the beach. It was OK but costly ($65 US per person).
Other Comments
My husband and I have been travelling to the D.R. for the past 12 years. We absolutely love the country and its people. It is with sadness that I have to state that our trip was not like prior years. At the Sunquest Select building #9 it offers a bar fridge stocked with a large bottle of water and 4 soft drinks which clients are permitted to consume. Our Sunquest representative warned everyone not to take anything from the fridge as the prices are ridiculous e.g. a small container of planters peanuts costs $11.00 US. Well after 5 days we were left a paper stating that we had consumed a juice. The next day we went to the desk and advised the young lady that we did not consume a juice. She advised us that we were to pay for a beer ($6.35 U.S. and a juice at $5.00 U.S.). I again nicely told her that we did not consume anything. She laughed in our face and told us we would have to pay. I said no and left the desk and went to our tour representative Deller. He advised to return the next day at 9:00 a.m. which we did. Boris sat with us and said there are dishonest people who claim they don't consume anything when in fact they do. I countered that I was not a child and I didn't want to be wasting my vacation time sorting out such problems. We were told to return to the desk and ask for the Manager Juan. Again we did as instructed the desk clerk filled out a paper which I signed that stated we did not consume anything. I asked for a copy which I was refused and nothing was altered on the computer. Check-out time we always go early and again the desk wanted us to pay for a beer and juice. I advised that the problem was resolved 5 days prior and I was not leaving the desk until the situation was remedied. I apologized to other clients waiting to check out. I have a strong feeling that the resort is trying to make extra money from clients who are rushing to checkout. This is dishonest and I think it is time Sunquest has the junk removed from the fridges.
It is with sadness that I say I may not return to Punta Cana next year. If I do my husband and I will perhaps return to the Occidental Flamenco or the Punta Cana Princess.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Brenda ~ Toronto |
Arrival
Upon our arrival at the hotel, the staff was very efficient and friendly.
Rooms
Our room was clean and very simply decorated. The toilet was leaking water on the floor and they fixed it the day that we told them about it. The linens on the beds were disgusting. Most days they were very old and were about a 12 inches to short for the length of the bed.
Restaurants and Bars
The restaurants that we went to were clean, the food was mostly very tasty. Some foods were foreign to me, so I pretty well stuck to the ones that I knew. The staff were amazing and friendly and happy to be able to help.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The grounds were well kept and clean.
Other Comments
I would go back to the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana but wanting to try a smaller hotel.
Otherwise, the entire holiday was a success.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Richard ~ Canada |
Arrival: Jan. 18th to Feb. 2nd
Arrived late approximately 0215 hrs. at the hotel.
The night clerk mumbled follow that road to your room.
We started down the road and the power went out.
We continued down this road and stopped.The reason why we stopped is that we had walked right to the edge of the septic lagoon!
We managed to make our way to our room at approxmately 0245 hrs.
The resort has food 24 hrs. if you call a 1/4 bun with processed meat food.
Rooms
The room has a micky mouse door and light system which we had to get it recoded every 4 days.
In the room there is fridge packed with items that you are required to pay for.
That being the case essentially you have no fridge.
On that note an employee comes everyday in the morning to stock it.
On the third day I finally told him not to come back as we were both annoyed by constantly being awaken.
The room has a security box.However it cost $20.00 a week.
I spoke to guest services in regards to the above.The man said that most people dont mind paying for the box. They will come anyway.
I left thinking this guy is a service rep.in a 4 star hotel!?.
On that note I have been to the Punta Cana area 4 times and without a doubt this is no four star resort.
The above mentioned service is liken onto a boarding house.
The room had a large amount of mould on the ceiling.
The management was advised. We waited half a day to get into another room.
The room was fairly clean however the shower drain was not functioning properly and by the fourth day it was not draining at all.
Tne management was advised of this.
No repair was made.
I spoke by phone and in person no less then 6 times.
On or about the 8th day we had a flood in our bath room comeing from the upstairs room.
My wife had taken ill (stomach cramps) and was in severe pain.
(she has crones disease)
I was sick a day later but not as bad.
I spoke to a number of people who reported being sick as well.
The room was never repaired.
Restaurants and Bars
The food is good.
The service is fair.
(short staffed)
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach is beautiful.
The ground are well kept.
N O T E - FOR THE FIRST 11 DAYS THERE WAS A SEPTIC STENCH NEAR THE BEACH !!!
( not on the beach)
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Horse back rideing - good
The other activities were cancelled due to my wife's illness.
Note - Poor Management - even the staff is on vacation here.
ie (have to wake them up to get a towel)
Other Comments
Well checking out my wife was informed we had a bill of $498.00 in American by the hotel clerk.
The clerk stated you must pay this or you will miss your bus.
I inquired what the bill was for. He said it was a bar bill and walked away.
I requested the manager he said he was busy and I must pay or miss the bus. I said I'll miss the bus I want to see the manager. He then said the bill was in pesos and it was $ 13.00 AMERICAN! I FIRMLY BELIVE THAT EVENING CLERK WAS TRYING TO get us to pay in American currency.
WE have been to no less then 6 islands and to the DOM. REP. 4 times.
This resort was by far the worst.It is in a league by its self.
1 BAD WATER
2 Septic Stench on the path to the beach
3 Dishonest staff member (evening)
4 Front lobby staff (useless)
5 Boarding house mentality in regards to security box and fridge
6 Rooms in a state of disrepair
7 Entertainment - poor
This resort I believe at one time was a 4 star.
However you would have to be on drugs to call it a 4 star resort now!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Greg and Heather ~ P.E.I. Canada |
Arrival
Arrived Punta Cana via Halifax on Canjet 737-800 January 25 - February 8/2009.Left Halifax 6:20 am and arrived in Punta Cana 10:25 am.No time difference - flight 4:05 hours.Flight was very smooth.Lots of leg room on these planes.Served cold breakfast consisting of muffin,cheese,crackers,yogurt,fruit cup,granola bar,juice & coffee.They could not get the video entertainment to work, but we still had music to listen to.
The biggest difference for us compared to the last 2 years flying with Canjet is they have bigger planes that can fly over the ocean which means no more stops in Bahamas to refuel.
Deplaned on runway and walked into terminal.Quick photo with local girls.... through customs and picked up luggage within 15 min.Now the fun part.Sunquest rep trying to hide???? Finally found him and he pointed to the parking lot and told us bus #2.We walked to the very back of the parking lot and found our bus.Watched our luggage get loaded on the bus then we boarded.After a 30 min. wait I went into the terminal to get a Presidente.Waited on the bus another 15 - 20 min. untill the tour rep realized everyone was on the bus!!!Off we go!
We stopped at Bahia Principe and Riu to let passengers off then to Grand Paradise Bavaro ( about 45 - 50 min. drive).We were dropped off at the Club section entrance at about 12:20 pm.This is not a very impressive lobby,quite bland in fact.
Check in was fast but the rooms wouldn't be ready till 3:00 pm.I had emailed Whanda Nunez (reservations manager) a few weeks before going and told her we would be celebrating our anniversary while there.
Picked up lock for safety deposit box ($40.00 US for 2 weeks)and remote for TV.I noticed on our check in sheet we were "VIP's) and received silver bracelets compared to the others getting green bracelets.The silver bracelets didn't seem to make a difference except with management employees as they really bent over backwards for us.As for the rest of the workers we were treated just like everyone else,which was very good I might add.All staff were very accomodating and friendly.
(Sunquest Select section)
Rooms
We arrived at our room just before 3:pm and the floor was still wet so it really was just cleaned.Ther was a large fruit tray and a bottle of wine for us.We received the same again on our anniversary (Jan.31 - Thank you Whanda)
What a room!!It was huge.King size bed,42" x 72" jacuzzi with roman columns on each side and marble steps up to it.Walk in marble shower was huge 60" x 60" with glass door.Separate room for toilet.Marble vanity with vessel sink.Shampoo,conditioner,kleenex and face clothes as well as 3 towels. We had a 32" flat screen TV.Room size was about 22'x 22'.Room had 2 night tables,dresser with mirror, 2 chairs,small couch and glass table.Double closet with lots of hangers,iron and board.We were on the first floor and had a small balcony (patio table & 2 chairs) facing the tennis courts.There was a mini fridge.2 cokes,2 Sprite and a gallon (sealed)of water were free and replenished every day.There was beer,snacks and liquor that you had to pay for.We had no issues at check out with them trying to charge us with items we didn't use.We made 5 calls from our room to home using our Aliant calling card and were charged $2:00 US per call so our total at check out was $10:00 US.
Our maid kept our room spotless and topped up the emeneties every day.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
As all of you know the beach here is second to none.The sand is white and not hot to walk on.There are no shells or rocks.
There are 3 pools here and I was not in any of them.We are beach people and that is where we stayed.
We didn't have any problem getting beach chairs,so the towel game didn't affect us.We stay out in the sun and don't even look for palapa's so I don't know if they were difficult to get.
We stayed in building #9 and it took about 6 - 7 min.to walk to the beach.They have shuttles going constantly all day from the back of the resort ( Club or French section) to the beach area.In the 2 weeks we were there we never rode on the shuttle as it was a very pleasant and relaxing walk to th beach.
This resort is made up in 3 sections.The main area is on the beach and is the oldest and the customers are American,British,German,Italian etc.The next section (where we stayed ) is the Select section and is made up mostly with Canadians.Then the furthest from the beach is the Club section made up almost exclusively of French people(France).
The Club area has a pooland swim up bar.The Select area had a pool with swim up bar and whirlpools.The main area had a larger pool but no swim up bar.
The bartenders at the beach bar are fantastic, but,they spend a lot of their day walking the beach picking up the glasses as the run out very often.
Tip - Take a insulated cup with you and you will never wait for a drink.
Tip for management - BUY SOME MORE GLASSES!!!!
The grounds are very well kept.There are 4 clay tennis courts(raquets and balls are free to use).The courts are lit and I presume would be an extra cost to use at night.
There is a 9 hole mini putt.There is also a eco - spa on this resort.
In the main lobby there is a cigar shop and a couple of shops.Be sure to take lots of sunscreen etc. with you as it is about $27.00 US to buy there.
There is a Casino next to the ship bar in the Select section as well as some shops selling cigars,beachwear and souveniers.The Casino has Blackjack and various one armed bandits that take penny and nickel bets.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We went to Steve's Corner Bar in Plaza Bavaro (20 min. drive)which cost us $18.00 US each way.
We got to meet up with THE LEGEND "HLYWUD".I was wondering if he was fact or fiction.
"Wud" is an extremely knowledgeable man.I spent well over an hour talking with him .He is planning a trip to Atlantic Canada next summer and is going to Nova Scotia to meet up with "Fireguy" and said he would come over to P.E.I. to meet up with us.He told me he hasn't played golf in a number of years but he was a "6" handicap.He doesn't know it yet but we will be playing the Premiere courses here on P.E.I. and I'm going to test his handicap.I might even get him out on a boat when he is here.
While at Steve's Bar we met "Greggy" and 2 other couples from Colburg Ont. as well as Mike Fisher.Mike has 7 fishing boats as well as numerous other busineses in the DR.PC Mike was there as well but I didn't get a chance to talk to him.We didn't go on any trips while in PC.We did walk many miles on the beach each day.
Other Comments
This resort is a solid 4 star but could be improved with very little effort.
Some of my suggestions would be:
Put free beer in the mini fridge.
Improve work stations in buffets(especially the beach grille)so service would speed up.
Better quality wines (red) in buffets.
Buy more glasses for the beach bar and water glasses for the buffets.
The Sunquest Rep "*****" was of very little value.He gave us very little information on the resort.His main objective was to sell tours. He told us we could book the ala carte's at the pool bar. You can only book the ala cartes at Guest Services in the main lobby. As you go in the main lobby go to the far left (stairs to go to the beach are there) and you will find the lady to book the restaurants there.
We would return if we got a good deal like we did this year.If your expectations are not higher than a 4 star then you will really enjoy this resort as we did.
Room was fantastic...food was great...liquor is bottom shelf - could use some better quality liquors.Staff were terrific.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | sarjiwan ~ Edmonton |
Arrival: Jan 22-29th
arrived late about 9.00 PM dropped at the new lobby by sunquest tour operator. subsequently driven to the older lobby.Check in was unfriendly and no information was given ( eventhough there was no other customers and staff of two).it was with considerable difficulty a second key to room was given.No orientation
Rooms:
Even we had requested two beds were given instead of one king size for me and my wife.Room was spacious sparsely decorated.No TV remote control available in the room.It was available next day after long trip in erson to the lobby.On phone we were told it will be delivered in the room but nothing showed up.Room door lock did not lock,after complaining the maid showed us how to fiddle we the locking mechanism so it could lock for the rest of our stay
Restaurants and Bars:
were below average.The michaelangelo italian restaurant where we had reserved for the 2 evenings later food was very bad.The salmon order by wife was no good she barely tasted, lamb i had ordered was tough and flavour.atmosphere was about average. White wine was rasted very bad.we left the restaurant without eating.Second restaurant we visited was Sea scape on the beach was average.Asia restaurant we paid extra had poor seating had below average food.La laguna was walk in restaurant is only choice we had where we could eat for the rest of the week was barely average
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach was very crowded but excellent with many activities available.Pools were no different than any other pools. there was evidance of poor plumbing and electrical maintenace
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Acivities at the resort were reasonable as described in brochure.Web site has not been updated.Internet connection finaly became available after 5 days but was spotty and slow.I had bought a card for half hour.Repeated complain to staff and manger was to no avail.Buissnes center in the new area were also not working and was not open when we aried there on last day as outlined
Other Comments:
in my judgement this was poor resort. we were there to get away from canadian winter.Weather was the best.The tour operator bus picked us up at 1430 PM and reached the airport at1630 after making about 5 stops on the way
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Wayne ~ Ohio, USA |
Arrival: Jan. 2009
The check-in went very well and our bags were in our room in less than 10 minutes. All of the reception staff were effecient and courteous.
Rooms:
Our room was very clean and on par with a typical motel along US interstates. The mini frige was stocked with water and soft drinks each day. Do not expect luxury but it is a functional, comfortable room. The maids did an adequate job and any issues (extra towels, etc.) were quickly addressed.
Restaurants and Bars:
The bars were all outstanding; quick service, well mixed drinks, etc. The buffet was always good but the reservation restaurants were just okay. The best was the Michalengo. Take your own mug for beer.......the little glasses are just a start.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
All were excellent. One of the best beaches in the area with plentiful seating and shady areas. You can walk the beach for a long distance. The pools were great and the grounds were well kept.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Nightly shows were okay and the dancers worked hard throughout the show. Beach and poolside activities were frequent and varied. The introductory Spanish lessons were appreciated. The disco was good most nights even for us older folks. Don't do the Santo Domingo trip.........too long a ride and you waste an entire day. The shark/sting ray snorkel trip is a must do.
Other Comments:
This location is a great value. Watch for discounts through various agencies. The flight is effecient and fairly comfortable but don't buy the boxed meal. The management staff invited us to a reception to inquire about our visit; they want you pleased enough to return. Guests are from everywhere in Europe and the many Canadian guests refered to the location as Punta Canada; is anyone left in Toronto? Security is fine; just don't be stupid leaving valuables around and going off the grounds at all hours. Rent the safe....$20 for a week. We are planning on returning next year if the price is the same.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Beverly and Hanson ~ Vermilion, Ohio, USA |
Arrival: Jan. 9-Jan.16 2009
We arrived in the resort at 11:30 am so we were unable to get into our room until after 3pm. We had brought swim suits in our carry on,so it was not a problem to change and have a nice lunch. We were met at the reception desk with a cold drink, nice touch. The lobby was open, airy with fresh flowers.
Rooms:
We had requested a king size bed and of course we got a room with double beds. We had specifically requested the king bed but Apple had not put this request to the resort. We went back to the front desk to request a change of room but we were told absolutely nothing else was availabe, we even requested to pay for an upgrade. The next morning we spoke with Ruth in customer service and we were given a new room immediately. The room was very clean and spacious. It was in building 3 looking across at another building. It was quiet and we were pleased with the accomodations. The maid always cleaned the room early and left fresh flowers. There was always plenty of water and pop in the mini frig. They work very hard and a two or three dollar tip per night is appreciated. We stayed in the old section we were close to the beach pools and the restaurants. I did not think I liked the new section as well, you had to take a tram to the beach and to most of the restaurants.
Restaurants and Bars:
The buffets were always busy but the service was good. The staff always were smiling and tried to give the best service they could. The food was a little different for an American's palet. There are many Europeans in the resort so the food is not always familiar. Live a little and experiment, after all that's what vacations are all about. I frequently saw the managers checking food temperature and the appearance of food on the buffet. I had read many of the reviews that discussed the poor quality of the food, I thought the food was on a par with most all inclusives we have stayed at. The bartenders were a hard working crew, unlike many of the resorts we have stayed at in the past every guest seemed to be treated well. The drinks were like most in other resorts, not made with top shelf liquor but they tasted good, I especially liked the tequila sunrise. We ate at the steak house , I had the filet and my husband had the chicken fajita, the food was very good and you were eating right on the beach. We also ate in the French restaurant, we did not care for this, enjoyed the Italian restaurant more.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The beach was wonderful. It was probably one of the nicest we have been to. It was pretty crowded, you needed to get there early if you wanted a place with shade. The surf was a true caribbean blue with clear water and sandy beach. There did not seem to be any rocks in the swim area. There were four pools, the pools by the beach were usually busy with most chairs taken by mid morning, there were two pools over in the new section one with a swim up bar. We could find chairs over there later in the day.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
My husband and I did not choose to go on any tours. They are usually an all day affair, leaving at 6am and returning late in the day. People who went on the tours did seem to enjoy them. There were plenty of activities around the pool area, we did't participate, it was just to tempting to just sit on the beach and enjoy the sunshine.
Other Comments:
This was our first trip to the Grand Paradise, I had read previous reviews and we were a little concerned about the quality of the resort. We booked a last minute Apple supersaver. I can honestly say we were very pleased with the value we received for the money. This was our fourth trip to the Dominican we have stayed at Ocean Blue, Catalonia, Sunscsape the Beach (now called Dreams) we have also stayed in all inclusive resorts in Mexico and in other Caribbean islands. We felt that the staff was very attentive to our needs, the food was good, some food we liked, some we could do without. This resort is definitley deserving of a four star, we are planning to spend two or three weeks at this resort next January. If you can, try to time your vacation so that you can enjoy the beautiful full moon, there is nothing as beautiful as a moonlight stroll.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Wanda & Leroy ~ Nova Scotia, Canada |
Arrival: March 29-April 4, 2008
As this was our first trip anywhere, we were anxious and excited. Our flight with Transat was delayed 3 hours due to the snow and ice. Arrival at the Punta Cana airport was at about 1pm. We left from home in 0 celcius and arrived at 31 celcius. The trip to the resort took about 45 minutes in an airconditioned mini bus/van. Arrival at the main desk at resort was kind of slow however. Our room was not yet ready so we had to wait. We took a little stroll around the area to "check things out". We got into our room at about 3:30pm.
Rooms:
We stayed in the Sunquest Select section in building #9 with a view of the tennis courts and gardens. Could have been a better view but hey, I live in the country and I had palm trees outside my room - I was happy! The room was clean, no bugs to be seen. ( I think out of the whole week we only saw one bug near our room. Something like a cockraoch.) We had two double beds instead of the King we requested but it was no big deal. Nice flat screen tv in the room but some channels had poor reception - we weren't there to watch tv anyway. We seemed to have been missing either a cieling fan or overhead light as there was an unfinished fixture. The A/C worked fine but you need the room key to keep the electricity on in the room. We got a lock for the safe which was about $20. USE IT it's worth it! If you tipped the maid, she put fresh flowers and tidied up the room. Amazing what difference a dollar or two can make. For God's sake don't drink the small bottled water in the fridge, it will cost you about $8. We didn't have any gallon water in the fridge on the first day as was stated on the reservation. Other than that the room was great and we left a thank you note for our maid Uarize with some leftover stuff we had.
Restaurants and Bars:
We mostly ate at the buffett restaurants which were great. We did have bacon every morning but believe me, it wan't Maple Leaf! The meat wasn't the best but we did eat a lot of pasta. I ate a ton of watermelon. Someone commented on the poor quality of the fruit, but I LOVED it! A couple of days into our stay we found La Cana Beach Grill. WOW!!! It was the BEST! Great chicken, fresh fruit and we found fries! PS: Don't eat the burgers - not good. We ate at the Chinese restaurant for our A La Carte which was good and also La Cana (but I didn't enjoy the steak). The best food of all was at the restaurant during our Monster Truck Tour - best steak that tasted like cow!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pools were fabulous! Very clean and not overly crowded. Mind you, you had to get there early to have a chair with shade. The beach was about a 10 minute walk from our room or a quick ride on the shuttle. It was quite windy the whole week so we didn't get to enjoy the beach other than a couple of walks. There is a shipwreck down the beach if you want to walk down. The grounds were very nice and well kept. There is always someone cleaning up.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We did a couple of tours off the resort. We went to an Animal Park which at the moment can't remember the name of. It was fun and about $80 for both of us. We saw lots of animals including a sea lion show and a parrot show and had pics taken with the animals. We also did the Monster Truck Safari tour which was AWESOME! For about $190 for both of us, it was an amazing wake up call to make us realize how much we have to be thankful for. Our tour guide Milton was super. He spoke perfect english and we learned a lot. It was a whole day excursion which included a all you drink beer and rum and coke (Joel, you ROCK!), lunch buffet, shopping, and a visit with local farmers, an elementary school, and sugar cane fields. We even got to see the witch doctor. Lots of Haitian refugees there which was kind of heartbreaking to see. They ask you for everything - jewelry, hats, glasses, etc. We didn't do much on the resort itself. We took in one nightly show whick was ok - kind of like high school kareoke. On the Friday night before we left there were locals singing, dancing and playing music at the buffet. The bartender was pouring 151 proof rum on bar top and lighting it on fire. Totally Cool!
Other Comments:
Overall, we had a great week there. We went there knowing we were going to a poor country and didn't expect VIP class service. The food was great, my husband loved the coffee, and the whiskey. The bartender (Abraham) at the swimi up bar was hilarious. PUNTA CANADA!!! Lots of scary drivers in the DR though. We saw some poor guys run off the road and hit into the barbed wire fences. Scary! There is a market right outside the Resort and there are tables set up almost every night right on the restort grounds. Haggle for prices, but remember that this is how these people make a living so be fair. We bought mostly towels and clothing as souveniers and also a beautiful painting. Be warned, stay away from the people in the white t shirts that say "vacation" on them, they'll waste your time trying to sell you vacation time.
All in all, I would definitely go here again and would recommend it to people.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | S.J. ~ PEI, Canada |
Arrival: Dec 21-28
check-in was fine w/ no major issues...the front desk attendant told us he would "take care of us" and upgrade our room, for no apparent reason.
i'm sure he tells everyone this.
Rooms:
our room was adequate...third floor in the 9000 section but not overlooking the resort. it was clean, roomy and there was no sign of bugs...great start! this was our room until the fourth night...i sprained my ankle and requested a room on the ground floor b/c i could not go up the stairs. the quality of the rooms desperately went down hill from there. first room they gave us on first floor was disgustingly FILTHY and i immediately asked for another room. the next room "looked" cleaner but had a very strong musty, stenchy odor...had lots of bugs (which i understand is common on a ground floor room), but there was actually mold/mildew on the bed spread, curtains & drapes and must have had water damage b/c the bottom of the wooden closet door was actually "curling" up and some rather large bugs were living in there. the room was disgusting and i wished we had asked to be moved again but at this point, i felt like we would have been pushing our luck. (we are first time travelers)
Restaurants and Bars:
food was horrible (w/ the exception of the bread)...we were severly disappointed (and surprised) at the poor quality of what they called "fresh fruit"...no fresh juice, either. pasta and bread were fine but we soon tired of only being able to eat these foods. we tried different things but for example, the rice looked and tasted like it had been made the previous day (or week) and was simply reheated for every meal after. i have some dietary needs and i did not stray too far from the foods we thought to be "safe" for me. my partner has a stronger stomach but did not have much luck finding anything either.
there seemed to be some confusion around the amount of a la carte's we were entitled to...this was very disappointing. we ate at the italian restaurant once...service was very slow and we did not get what we ordered but were too hungry to send it back to the kitchen. again, it was pasta...edible but at that point in the week, we were certainly growing tired of pasta!
the staff at the restaurants was excellent. everytime we went to the buffets, it was busy but they were always smiling and seemed to love to serve people from canada!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
we surprised ourselves by spending most of our days by the pool. we thought they were great and a bit less crowded (and warmer) than the beach. it seemed to be a bit more windy than usual the week we were there so we only walked on the beach a few times but did our suntanning by the pools.
the grounds were nice and we were amazed at the care-taking of them. we always saw workers either cutting grass, raking, picking up garbage or some such thing. it was clean and very well maintained.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
did not do any activites; we were supposed to go on a catamaran tour on friday but b/c i sprained my ankle, we were unable to go and completely and utterly disappointed! luckily, we did get a refund, which we were surprised at but grateful for.
we did not partake in any activities on the resort...we went to relax and unwind.
we were surprised and disappointed at the lack of "quiet spots" to go. most of the time there was loud music playing by the pools. i understand wanting to have vacationers up doing exercices or activities to keep patrons entertained but i think there should be at least one pool that is w/out this loud music. i talked to other people who felt the same way. some people just want a bit of peace and quiet.
Other Comments:
this was our first trip to the carribean and we were really disappointed, mostly w/ the food. i realize that noone can control the weather and although we did have a lot of rain, we were quite prepared to make the best of whatever weather we got. we are not drinkers (at all) and our expectations for the food weren't very high but the food was so bad...poor quality, worse than anything we could have imagined.
i would not go back to this resort and i'll be lucky if i can ever convince my partner to go to an all-inclusive again. we definitely did not even come close to getting our money's worth!
two thumbs down.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Veronica & David ~ Rockland, Ontario |
Arrival: Dec 1-8, 2008
We arrived 2 hrs late due to high winds and de icing in Quebec City - We flew Sunwing, We checked in with no problems, everyone was very nice.
Rooms:
We had the VIP package our room was great we had a king size bed like we asked for and a patio, room was clean
Restaurants and Bars:
Food in Buffets were very good, great selection, the first day we were there we tipped the bartender and the server from taht time on we where treated like royality, we always had a table and cultery, we had the italian and the grill for ala carts, we went back to the grill because the steaks were very tender and tasty.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach area was very nice swimming was great we had no weeds just white warm sand,Pools where very clean and refreshing, grounds were well
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
if you wanted to get involved in activities there were many the staff at our resort work very hard to keep there quests intertained,
Other Comments:
This was our 1st vacation, basically the honeymoon we never had, we enjoyed every aspect of our trip from the food to the entertainement, walks on the beach, excurcions, to the country side learning how people really lived, and there culture, we met some interesting people and made some friendships, i read some reviews before my trip and i was alarmed, but you must realize where you are and enjoy the sun and the music, i can't wait until next year.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Brad ~ Toronto |
Arrival and Flight
Booked through Sunquest and flew with Skyservice seating was very cramped and being 6 foot 3" I will never
book another vacation package that uses Skyservice
Rooms
We were in building 8 room 2106 and found the room very comfortable and clean,large flat screen TV mounted
on the wall .The doors to the rooms slam when closed and the slamming goes on all night very noisy and
annoying
Restaurants
Only ate at the buffet - food was excellent but could not find bacon anywhere
Bars
Not sure if the slow economy has hit Puna Cana but the resort was only 1/3 full so no line ups at the bars and found most
of the servers friendly.Speaking of friendly you have to visit the pool bar near building 8 and ask Roberto for a Diablo
Beach and Pools This is my 3rd visit to Punta Cana and I still say it is the best beach in the world.Never had a problem getting
a chair on Grounds the beach or pool.The pool,air and ocean were always between 30-32 C If you are in building 7 or 8 it is about a 10 min
walk to the beach but they have a tram that runs to beach if you can't do the walk.The grounds for the most part are well
maintained but not many flowers .They have staff picking up litter throughout the day
Activities and Entertainment
Did not participate but there was activities available
Tours
Departure and Check Out No problems , received a call from the bell boy in the morning to arrange a pick up time for me and the luggage
Pick up time to the airport was 5 and check out time was 1 but had access to a hospitality room were you could
shower
Conclusion
If you book with Sunquest there block of rooms are 7 & 8 and near a bar called the Boat Bar that has live music nightly from 8-midnight .I think the resort is worthy of it's 4 star status
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Brad ~ USA |
We flew from Detroit via USA3000 with Apple Vacations. Flight was normal and uneventful. After a long bus ride and several stops, we arrived at the hotel. There were approximately 8 couples to check in. We were last in line. Check in took 10 minutes and the staff was excellent. While we were in line the manager booked us an a la carte restaurant for that night.
We booked a last minute "super saver" room from Apple. When we got to our room we could not believe it. The main part of the romm was 27 x 13 Ft with a king size bed. The bathroom was a seperate area consisting of a sink area with a huge closet and a walk -in shower. In another room there was a toilet and a corner jakuzi tub. We had one problem , the TV had no sound. We reported this to Guest services the next morning before breakfast and by the time we finished eating it was replaced with a 32" flat panel TV.
As far as food, the buffet in the main section where we were was closed for repairs so we had to go the buffet in the Club section No big deal. Food at the buffet was average . We always found something to eat, pasta bar was very good. We tried the Italian and the Steakhouse a la cartes. Food was excellent .Beach snack bar was sparse but if you got there when food was freshly cooked it was OK.
The beach and pool were spectacular, always somewhere to sit . I understand drinks at the pool bar were poor but we are not big drinkers so it didn't affect us.
The service everywhere in the hotel was excellent. Most of the time we sat down to eat at the buffet we were served drinks immediately. Once we had 3 waiters trying to serve at once.
Don't let little things ruin your holiday and realize where in the world you are. This is not a rich country and this is not The Hilton
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Lori |
It was our forth trip to Punta Cana and always stayed at the Bavaro Princess before. But as our daughter is getting married this year we decide to save some money. We will never do it again the resort was so noisy I don't think we ever had a full night's sleep. Some of the restaurant staff was rude, and when we complained nothing was done. One of the bartenders almost lit us on fire with a flaming drink and we had to walk our bags to the front by ourselves. The beach was nice the rooms were clean, no beer in the mini fridge, I would definitely spend the extra money next year to go back to the Princess.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Janice (Age - 21) ~ Canada, Toronto |
We stayed in the newer section on the 3rd floor in building 7.
We travelled Sunquest/ Skyservice.
Our flight was delayed one hour but it wasn’t that bad. The flight overall was just ok.
Getting there wasn’t too bad, there was a lot of people so it took kinda long just to get to the hotel. Once we got there the line was long but we checked in and the one of the guys helped us with our bags. We gave him a small tip and was happy to get to our room.
Rooms
Our room was PERFECT! We got a king size bed, just like we asked for and the room looked great. The A/C worked the whole time and the room was always clean. We never had a problem with our hot water, it always worked.
Restaurants
We signed up for 3 restaurants but we never actually made it to all of them. We just ended up going to the manglar ( the food was just ok) the buffet was way better. But it was nice to try something new.
Bars
The bars were ok, they made the drinks a little too strong, but after awhile I just asked for Virgin drinks ( they taste better). They were very nice and entertaining.
Beach and Pools
We mostly stayed at the beach because why waste your time at a pool. We did go to the pool twice and it was nice, but nothing compared to the beautiful white water at the beach. The water was a bit rough at times, but it was amazing.
Grounds
The grounds were very clean the whole time we were there, so no problems with this.
Activities and Entertainment
We didn’t do any activities, but we did watch some plays and we went to the disco.
The dancing and singing were very fun and up beat, I actually wanted to get up on the stage and dance with them.
Tours
We did 2 tours à Tropical Storm and Speed boats. Both were great.
tropical storm was a boat ride which took us around the island and showed up around the place. We got to snorkeling around and explore the ocean. We also got to go on a huge water slide and try a Dominican drink called “ mamajuana”. It was strong, but the cool part about it was we got to keep a bottle and it had our picture on it ( 8bucks).
Speed boats were very fun and crazy. My boyfriend went really fast the whole time so I was hanging on for dear life.
once again we got to go snorkeling and had drinks the whole time.
Departure and Check Out
We didn’t no what time check out was so we were a bit late, but no problems. We also missed the bus for being 5 mins late. The bus said it was leaving at 5, but it left at 4.55.
thank god we got there at 4:54. LOL
Conclusion
Overall this trip was PERFECT. Don’t listen to all the bad reviews because it was unnecessarily scare you for no reason. I read them and was very nervous for buying this trip, but when I got there I realized those people made their trip bad. You have to go with an open mind and know that your on vacation and everything isn’t going to go as you planned, you have to roll with the punches.
Extra--> This resort didn't have a lot of young people, i just it was just out luck, but next time i would look into that. I knew this resort had kids, but there was way too many and next time i would choose to go somewhere were all the guest were 21 and over.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Glen |
Just to let you know that we were very disappointed along with many other guests at this resort.
It's no way a 4 Star, but more like a 2 Star resort.
We vacation South once or twice a year and this was a very slow period for Dominican. We should have had the best experience in light of this.
We booked a room with a King size bed. On the first day we arrived the door lock literally fell off!
When we called the reception they told us that someone would be there to fix the lock in 10 min's. (This is 10 min's Dominican time which equals 2 normal hours)..By the way no one showed up, we called again the front desk.
We were then given another room with 2 single beds. In this room the telephone did not work and nor did the fridge. Again we requested a move to a room with a King size bed for what we had requested and paid for, and still our request was not accommodated. In the end we just settled for what they gave us...a room with 2 single beds not to mention the defective shower head. (At this time we were just fed up!)
For all the meals that we attended at the buffet, not once did we have all the cutlery at our seating. If you asked for coffee, you got just that. No sugar, no milk, and no spoon to stir with. Most of the time in the buffet you can see folks moving about picking cutlery from other free tables.
One of the big bosses was hosting a party for his own guests, and the Resort staff just paid more attention to him than anyone else!!!
What a fuss all the guests thought. They seemed to want to impress him more than their paying guests.
We tried to get internet access, and told to come back at 11 am the next day because they ran out of cards. This promise was not kept.
All in all, this resort is giving you, "Sunwing" & "SellOffvacations" a bad name for supporting and recommending it.
(I did also send a complaint email to Sunwing & SellOffvacations. SunWing sent back a standardized email, and no response from SellOffVacations)
At one a la carte restaurants, a couple walked out after receiving their meal -- Obviously they felt they did not get what they asked for!
Also noticed that nowhere on the resort do you see the name, "Grand Paradise Bavaro"...our wrist bands read, "Amsha Marina". Seems like once the Resorts get a bad name, the Resort name changes.
We normally do a lot of research by reading reviews on the internet, but this time due to our busy schedule did not do this. I feel it only fair to post my feedback since I gain so much by reading others on the internet.
Hope this helps others.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Linnea ~ Canada |
Arrival and Flight
Flight was good. Arrival to the hotel took 2 hours because the bus driver kept getting stuck.
Rooms
They advertised brand new rooms –some were not completely finished – our first room had drywall dust all over and the AC did not work.
Our second room was fine –new, stocked, clean etc. However, there was no security lock on the inside – so you could not lock it and staff would just walk in. Major privacy issues here.
Key cards never worked and you had to find someone and wait outside the room for a long time before you could get into your room
Hot water was an issue, leaking pipes was an issue.
Restaurants
We could not get a reservation until four days later – too booked. We ate at the buffet and it was good. However, service was poor.
Bars
The bars did not know how to mix drinks.
Beach and Pools
The beach and pools were fabulous.
Grounds
The grounds were okay but not spectacular
Activities and Entertainment
Activities and entertainment were in French - not good if you only speak English
Departure and Check Out
Checking into the hotel – we were told to find our own rooms – they would bring the bags later. Service was non-existent. Finding someone to speak English was a problem.
Conclusion
Overall it was a horrible trip.We would not recommend or go back to the Dominican Republic.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Kat ~ Ottawa |
Arrival and Flight: flight was good, flew sky service not as crowded as I thought it would be. Check-in sucked, not at all friendly, there were 3 of us, but they would only give us two keys and didn’t give us a map, we were in the sunquest section and didn’t get a map so when we arrived at 10 pm we had know idea where we were.
Rooms: room was great, got ground floor as requested, we had also asked for a roll away bed, when we got to the room there was a crib (lol)
Restaurants: loved the buffet the food was fabulous (lots of variety and a good selection of cheese) the staff was very good at times had to ask 2-3 times for things (like cutlery), but any where tropical it’s usually at a different pace than north America so it wasn’t unexpected.
Only got to try 1 restaurant - Italian - as that’s all that was available (we were all women, talked to others and we the 2 girls went to book were told nothing was available, when the 2 guys went got the places they wanted) the food was ok I got the pasta and it was good, other 2 people got chicken and pork and it was gross, I was happy with the buffet though lots of choice and the food was excellent.
Bars: not bad a little weak, but just ask for double the alcohol, they don’t have premium liquor, but your told that when you book, they also have a pay bar (in the shape of a boat) the prices are pretty good.
Beach and Pools: the beach is absolutely beautiful, spent most to the time by the pool as I didn’t want to get up at 6 to get a umbrella, always had one by the pool (door went out to the pool so just ran out in the morning) I’ve read on here that people reserve spots for the whole week, but that isn’t true at night everything is cleaned.
Grounds: beautiful, always clean and lot’s of flowers and palm trees
Activities and Entertainment: had activities every afternoon something diffrent. Went to the entertainment 1 night it was probably a bad night to go.
Tours: didn’t do any, did however take a taxi to a market to buy rum (super cheap and taxi is only $15 us each way), there is also a flea market outside, just go through the main entrance and turn left.
Departure and Check Out: complete opposite of check in, very friendly.
Conclusion: I’d definitely go back and recommend this place to people.
The only thing I wouldn’t do is book again with sunquest I was not at all impressed with them when we went to the info session all he motioned were the excursions didn’t tell us anything about the place (where to go, times, etc) and he was very rude. If you do book with sunquest skip the info session it is a big waste of time.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Forum Member "Tigs" |
We just returned from an absolutely fantastic vacation at the Grand Paradise Bavaro - Club Section.
We travelled April 24 - May 1st, staying in the Sunquest Select section of rooms, Building 8; 3rd floor.
We knew prior to travelling that we were not in the main section of the resort, but it did not bother us in the least. We have stayed at much larger resorts that required much more walking, so we didn't mind. On the days we didn't feel like making the 5-8 minute walk to the main section and beach - we waited for the trolley (never more that 10 minutes, if you just missed it) or at any given time, there was always an employee in a golf cart that would be more than happy to pick you up!!
So lets try to sum it all up here...
FLIGHT: Flew Skyservice out of Toronto - same typical service we are used to...cramped seats and lousy food, but who cares, this bird is taking you to paradise!!
PUNTA CANA AIRPORT: Check in was the quickest!!! At the most 30 seconds at Immigration, and a 5 minute wait for our bags - loved it!!
THE RESORT: The resort is comprised of 2 section The Grand Paradise Bavaro and The Club at Grand Paradise Bavaro. The main section is beach front and boasts most of the day and evening activities as well as most of the restaurants. The Club, is a short 5 minute walk from the main section and has 2 pools; both with swim up bars and jacuzzis; along with one buffet and an a la carte restaurant...it is almost a resort in itself, just not beach front. We found the ground of both sections to be very well taken care of and extremely clean.
ROOMS: Great!!! We were in building 8 in the Club section, on the third floor overlooking the pool - although we were not fortunate enough to get a room with a jacuzzi, ours was wonderful just the same. The Sunquest Select section of rooms, apparently just opened in December we were told, so everything is brand new. The room we had was with 2 queen sized beds; a small sitting area; walk in closet; bathroom with seperate tub/shower and toilet; balcony overlooking the pool; bar fridge (some items you do pay for) and about a 32" LCD flat panel TV.
We did not have any issues with anything being broken; leaking; not working at all - the room was in perfect condition.
RESTAURANTS: Oh my goodness, you had such a great selection of places to eat throughout the resort! We had no issues with the food whatsoever, found everything to be plentiful and tasty.
- Breakfast: Buffet at the main section or Club. Great selection of food - made to order omletes; waffles; crepes; pancakes - better selection at the main resort, but both of equal quality
- Lunch: Buffet at the main section or Club; Buffet at the beach as well, as a daily BBQ there; apparently there was also lunch available in the restaurant in the club section (the Magalar)
We found all to be very good, with a different selection each day
- Dinner: Buffet at the main section or Club; plus 6 a la carte restaurants to chose from. The buffet had a different theme each night, so the food changed with it - we found it to be very good.
We were allowed 3 a la cartes - we chose only 2, due to limited availability. First we dined at the Dominican restaurant which we found to be quite good, a nice selection of fish and meat. Our second was the International a la carte in the Club section - this one was excellent!! Again a great menu selection, lots of choices!!
BARS: There are several bars located throughout the resort. I'll start with the main section. There are 2 beach bars; one open unti 11 pm the other until 2am; there is a 24 hr. Sports Bar as well as a Disco. In the Club section there are 2 swim up bars at each pool along with a bar at the Magalar restaurant that had a bistro type feel to it, with tables and chairs set up in a courtyard like setting.
NIGHTLIFE: Most watched the evening shows in the main section and then seemed to congregate to the bars at the beach waiting for the disco to open. Disco was great and always busy as was the beach bar that stayed open late. There is a very tiny casino adjacent to the Sports Bar. The Sports Bar is another area that was typiccally busy at night.
POOL: There are 3 pools within the entire complex. One in the main section; 2 in the Club. The time we did spend by the pool, we stayed up in the Club section. All pools were very nice, and seemed to be well taken care of and clean. We found that most loungers were taken by about 9am - most reserved by people who never did show up!!!
BEACH: I will be echoing most reviews, the beach here was fantastic!! The water was wavy, but not too rough, just enough to have some fun. We did find, that you had to get up at the crack of dawn to reserve a palapa on the beach - this kind of became a routine for us, and maybe I am crazy but we didn't mind. We had a routine of getting to the beach by 6am; watching the sunrise (nothing beats a caribbean sunrise) and then making our way to the buffet for breakfast and then a long walk on the beach before it got too hot.
EXCURSIONS: We did not book an off-resort excursions as they seemed to be all very similar to ones we have doen throughout or travels; but we did hear great things about the Monster Truck and Dune Buggie tours. We did however go Parasailing, which we organized at the resort and it was a blast! Cost was $80US for both of us. You are up in the sky about 10-15 minutes and the view is fantastic!!! The captain takes pictures of you that are availabe the next day on CD for $14US - you get about 18-20 pictures; most of you and then some shots fromt eh air of the surrounding resorts etc. Togetehr combined, they are a great memory for us!!!
BRieF SUMMARY: After reading many mixed reviews we went with an open mind and I can honestly say, I am not sure where some of you stayed!!!?? This was our second trip to Punta Cana, we were there in 2004 for a breif 4 day stay at Secrets Excellence, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Aside from that we have been to several resorts in Cuba ranging from 4-5 stars and we found this resort to be comperable and in some ways even better. We would return in a heartbeat and would not hesitate to recommend this resort to any of our friends or family. We completely loved this resort and do not have a single complaint..with the exception that it would have been nice to have had a coffee maker and iron inthe room - but we did survive without!!!!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Joana ~ France |
For my third stay at Dominican Republic I chose Grand Paradise Bavaro.
This is a cheap Hotel. This resort does not deserve its 4th star, even with dominican standards. You can find for the same price another hotel in punta cana giving you more value.
Reception and check-in : very unfriendly welcome. no smile. you get your room key and that's it.
Rooms : old, basic and broken. There was a leak in the bathroom. One day without hot water. The terrasse door did not lock. The curtains are not large enough. Although you don't hear the noise from the neighbour rooms, hallways are very noisy, i was awaken nearly every night. You won't have a quiet stay.
Restaurants: the food always repeats itself, day after day. not so much choice. there are two buffet restaurants, one in the old part of the resort and a more recent one. I advise you to go to the more recent one as the old buffet restaurant is very basic and and old building. service is poor.
Bars: the bar above the reception is very quiet but nice. do not expect a smile, a "hello" or a "good bye" from the bartender.
Beach and Pools : the beach is nice and clean as it is everywhere in punta cana. the beach and pools are overcrowded. people put their towels on the chairs at the beach and swimming pools even if they don't use the chairs. you will not find a spot in the shade unless you get up earlier than you do on a work day. its nearly impossible in the afternoon to even get a chair at the swimming pool.
Activities and Entertainment: i nearly did not attend the night entertainments but it looked ok, not great, but satisfactory. Anyway, you go to punta cana fot the beach, not for the night shows.
Internet acces : they sell access card at the reception for 8 usd for 1 hour connection time. internet access is incredibly slow. there are only
3 computers for the whole hotel. you will have to wait your turn at the sports bar which is by the way one of the worst parts of the hotel, old, dirty and stinky.
Conclusion: avoid this hotel.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Doug and Kim ~ Summerside, PEI |
The Flight:
My husband and I just returned from a two week honeymoon at this resort (April 6th – 20th). We had originally planned to get married here, but my emails to the resort requesting contact with a wedding coordinator were unanswered. We flew with West Jet from Halifax and had great flights to and from the DR. I was quite surprised that there is no longer a free in-flight movie offered and unfortunately the satellite TV did not work in my seat on the way to the DR and the complete system was down on the flight home. It is possible to purchase a movie for $5.99.
Check-In:
When we arrived at the resort, we found the same line for check- ins and for check- outs. All the tanned vacationers were at the front of the line, and all the new vacationers at the end of the line. We had to return at a later time to receive our room, but we expected this. We were given a room in building 6, Club section. We had just gotten married on the 4th of April and our travel agent notified the resort, but we were given, according to hearsay, a poor selection of a room. It was just a basic room, clean with arrival. We had gone three days without seeing a maid and I had to call the front desk and request a room clean. We had friends and my three teenagers arrive the following week and their rooms were beautiful.
Restaurants:
The food selection was great, and we enjoyed the a la cartes. Unfortunately my husband forgot a closed toe shoe, so the first week we were unable to attend an a la carte. We phoned home to have the kids bring a pair of shoes for Doug. The following week, we noticed many men in these restaurants with sandels, but we didn’t think to hand over money to be escorted to a table.
The service in the a la cartes are great, but the buffets were terrible. Many people had to set their own tables, such as finding silver ware, glasses, coffee cups, and trying to get a cup of coffee or a drink of any sort was near impossible.
Henri at the Mangular is terrific. We had lunch here everyday for the great service and chicken wings/ nuggets.
Entertainment:
The entertainment was the absolute worse I have ever witnessed. After awhile, we stopped going. I have been to other resorts where the entertainment was amazing.
Beach:
The beach is beautiful, but really hard to find chairs/shade. We soon learned that soon people leave their towels on the chairs under the shade for a week. They also have another chair in the sun, while some people have no chairs. And some people put their towels on the chairs before going to bed and arrive at the beach the next day before noon. At this resort, the chairs are not stacked at night.
The staff work hard at keeping the beach clean. There is always men, heavily dressed, carrying a garbage bag picking up cigarette butts and garbage. PEOPLE PICK UP YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS AND GARBAGE.
I found the ****** vacationers at this resort extremely rude. They butted into lines, walked in front of you, and very, very seldom was a thank you heard.
Would we return? If the price was right and we stayed at the actual Grand Paradise and not the Club section.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Charlene ~ St. John's, Newfoundland |
This resort has some much potential, but it is very rundown.
Checkin: We had to bring are own luggage from the bus to the reception area. Rooms were mixed up, and had to change rooms the 2nd night.
Food: Food wasn't to bad. Pop machines did not work anywhere, and it was impossible to get ice unless you went to the bar. Very poor service at the buffet.
Grounds: Very dirty, grass torn up, chairs broken, pingpong tables broken and anything for rent didn't work or was unsafe to use.
Rooms: Rooms were ok, maid kept them clean. No coffee makers, ice bucket but no where to get ice (except if you walk to the bar and get it yourself), no cd players and you have a big jug of water in your fridge, no bottled water anywhere.
Bar: Bartenders very unfriendly, offered different types of drinks, but kept running out of liquior to make them wih.
Pool: Pool was ok, but very hard to get chairs, everyone left there towels on them all week long.
Beach: Nice beach, but same problem with the chairs.
Entertainment: Some shows were ok, but when they were bad, they we really bad. Very little music, activities or entertainment poolside. When they did play music they would play things you listened to on the radio at home. I like to listen to something with a little culture.
Overall I would not reccomend this resort. I have been to several and there is no comparision.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Kathy ~ Saskatchewan, Canada |
Arrival and Flight:
The flight was long and torturous because of economy class. Next time we will definitely shell out the extra for first class or at least seat selection so we can sit in the emergency exit isle. Leg room is a must!
Rooms :
We were in the club section building 5. Our room was beautiful. Marble bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and shower. King size bed, to chairs, couch and a tv case with the mini fridge. The mini fridge was stocked with a 4L jug of water, which we did not even use all of it in 7 days. Also came with pop which we also never used. Towels were replaced daily. We tipped the maid $5 one day and our bed was made up with some sort of swan design with our bedding. Also flowers were put around the sink in the bathroom. The balcony overlooked the pool. Very nice. Two room keys were given and we ended up getting another one cut so we could have two with us and one to keep the A/C on. There was only one day that we did not have hot water. It was cold to luke warm, however we didn’t mind because it was blazing hot outside so a cooler shower was refreshing!
Restaurants:
We were allowed 3 al la carte dinners in the week but only ended up using one. We ate at the Seafood one. It was good, we did notice ppl eating things that didn’t look like they were on the menu so not sure how they ordered them. The servers could not speak English so that made ordering a little tough but overall was a good experience. The buffets were amazing! Different food every night and a large assortment. My husbands favorite was the pasta bar, where you could just pick your toppings, sauce and type of pasta and the chef would grill it all up right there. Also lots of seafood every night. The staff were very friendly and really appeared to be enjoying their job.
Bars:
In the club section, the Mangalar bar was very nice and quieter. Good to visit at. There are tables outside and inside in case it rains. There was lots of French activities going on there. One night was a dance party and Limbo competition. The other bars seemed just as good as the other. Nothing really different. All the staff was very friendly and would definitely not cheap out on the booze if you tipped them. I would recommend bringing travel mugs to keep your drink cool. (and you can fit more!!) The disco was attached to the 24 sports bar that had pool tables, foose ball etc. The disco was fun but SO HOT. The activities crew would go there and dance and get everybody else dancing. Very entertaining. We enjoyed sitting outside the disco on the grass or by the pool and visiting with everyone. Met lots of different and interesting people!
Beach and Pools
The Beach was amazing! Crowded but if you walked far enough down you could always find lounge chairs. The huts went fast though. The pool by the beach was our favorite. Very busy. People liked to put there towels on chairs to make them look like they are taken, but if you keep your eye on one and its empty for 30 min or more we would sit down there. We never did have anyone come to claim there chairs back!
Grounds :
Well maintained. Always workers working and keeping them clean.
Activities and Entertainment:
We heard there was entertainment but never did catch any of it! Too busy visiting!
Tours :
We went on one tour. Horseback riding through Macao Ranch. $50/person for 2 hours. Very nice. We got to ride down the beach for a part of it. My only complaint was that the horses were very thin and looked very tired. I almost felt bad for getting on.
Departure and Check Out :
Smooth and no problems. The whole experiences went quickly and hassle free.
Conclusion:
An excellent resort that I would recommend to anyone. We had heard not so good reviews but went with an open mind. The staff was friendly, the weather was Hot and the food was great. We met lots of fun people and had a very relaxing time. Can’t wait to go back!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Diana ~ Hubbardston, Massachusetts |
Arrival and Flight A tip for all travelers who hate flying: if you call your doctor and tell him your kind of freaking out about flying he'll prescribe you something and give you some breathing exercises to help you. We flew US air out of Boston with a layover in Charlotte. No issues. A short delay in Charlotte while we were in the plane waiting for take-off.
When we first got to the resort we were at the main hotel lobby. I had booked with travelocity, so I didn't realize we should have been at "The Club." The main desk had someone take us, by bus, to the Club section. We checked in and were in our room within 15 minutes. However, they forgot to give us our towel cards....which was an easy fix at the desk.
Rooms We were supposed to have a junior suite, but I realized after a few days that we just had a standard club room. It wasn't a big deal since we were in the rooms for about 6 hours a night and it was simply to sleep. Other people may have been annoyed by this, though. We had a double bed, a couch and two chairs, a coffee table, two bedside tables, a TV with a cabinet under it which housed our refrigerator. We had all the soda and water we wanted in the fridge and were never charged for extras. We each had a room key so one was with us at all times and one was in the electricity at all times. We gave the maid $3 a day and a Boston Red Sox hat for her son so she'd keep the A/C on with the key card. She did. I never saw a bug in the room once. We had new towels every other day. We only got one bottle of shampoo the whole time we were there AND they didn't sell it at either gift shop. BRING SHAMPOO and SOAP! We ran out of soap the last day as well. My last shower there was really just a rinse off. We had hot water the whole time. Please notice the signs about flushing things down the toilet. That means toilet paper too! If you flush toilet paper and clog it, you have no one to blame but yourself. You are not supposed to flush toilet paper down their toilets. Their plumbing is not the best.
Restaurants We ate mostly at the buffets. We had dinner at the Asian one night, which I don't recommend. It was so dimly lit that I couldn't see my food. When I finally did see my food I found a tentacle in it. I stopped eating at that point. I took a picture of it, which you can see on my flickr page in the random folder.
The International was good...sorry, I don't know the actual names of these restaurants. I have fish stuffed with shrimp and my husband had quail, pork and beef and raved about it all night.
You get three a la carte meals, so choose wisely. We never ate at the BBQ or the Seafood since we liked the buffets so much.
PICTURES http://flickr.com/photos/deeslife/collections/72157604536766015/
Bars The swim up bar at the pool with the two hot tubs was my favorite bar. We made friends with the bartender, Lewis...VERY nice guy. He played with the cups and ice and threw things around...he was entertaining. The bar next to the international restaurant was nice with cushions on the chairs, etc., but there was always french entertainment outside so we never stayed very long. The two bars by the beach were nice at night and had entertainment by them during the day. If you want faster service and air conditioning, the sports bar was the best for that. Not many people were ever in there.
Beach and Pools The beach was pretty crowded all the time. I don't usually like to swim in the ocean, but I enjoyed it here...I've never been out of the USA, though. The pools all seemed nice. I had a favorite, though. The pool with the swim up bar and the two "hot" tubs was my favorite. It was always a bit quieter there. No small children in the pool since there was a children's pool right ext to it. It was a good place to nap. The pool furthest from the beach was quiet until about noon when they start with dance music and activities.
Grounds The grounds crew were constantly cleaning up and planting and chopping down bad growth. They really do a lot to maintain the grounds and it shows.
The resort is HUGE. There is a train to take you around, but it was very crowded at times so we decided to walk a lot. I have a son who is disabled and we kept saying how bad it would be if he were there. It was really a lot of walking and uneven terrain. The train showed up every ten minutes at verious stops around the resort. We gave the daytime driver a red sox hat, which he wore the rest of the week...if you see him wearing it, tell him his Boston friends say hi. His name is Ceasario and he's really very nice. He would stop no matter where we were on the road...I think the hat had a lot to with that, though.
Activities and Entertainment There were two theatres, one for the french Canadians and one for everyone else. The one for the french was at the club and seemed to have the same play there night after night. The other one is next to the main hotel lobby and had magic, a dance competition, native dancers, something different every night.
During the day there were aerobics and water polo at the club, step aerobics , Spanish lessons, dance lessons at the beach. There may have been more, but I didn't do many of them.
There was always something to do. The schedule for the main hotel activities was always posted at the beach bar near the main pool.
If you walk out the main gate and to the left there is a small market place. The shop keepers will drag you into their shop, but make sure you stand your ground or you'll end up spending hundreds! Check out the two gift shops on the resort first...if you see something you like, check the price. You should pay about $3-$5 less than that! at least. I got 2 large bags of coffee for $7 and they threw in two beaded necklaces for free. That was half off the prices in the gift shop. BUT I had some guy tell me that a $12 hat was $18 and when I talked him down to $10, which was still more than the hat was worth, he called me rich selfish American girl...which made me feel bad, but I only really got $2 off the hat! PLUS he still sold it to me so he couldn't have been too upset.
Tours We booked through Coco tours, but they all sell the same excursions. You don't have to book through any one tour company, but they are all the same price so it doesn't matter.
Our first trip was four wheels. The bus picked us up about 5 minutes late, which was fine with us. It's a half day trip. They bus you out to a ranch where you get a helmet and a $4 bandanna (which I recommend for the dust) and you pick a 4-wheeler. I rode on the back of my husbands, but some people complained that they were uncomfortable. You drive through a banana plantation and stop to taste some goods. We tasted cocoa beans and coconut. Some people purchased coffee there. Then we stopped at a natural cave where there was a fresh water pool that we got to swim in. It was refreshing and beautiful. Then we went to Macao beach for another swim. It was $120 for the two of us.
The second trip we took was Caribbean Festival. It was $156 for the two of us and worth more! We went on a party boat to an enclosed snorkeling area with nurse sharks and sting rays. Then we got back on the boat and went a little further out to a coral reef where we fed fish by hand and snorkeled for another 30-40 minutes. (I recommend an underwater camera FROM HOME for this one) Then we traveled back to shore while being entertained by some great dancers....it really was so much fun!
Departure and Check Out Check out was a breeze. They told us we were supposed to bring our pool towels to check out, but since they never told us that we had left them by the pool...no big deal, I guess. We had no problems checking out.
I hated the whole customs at the airport thing, but I appreciate that it has to be done for every one's safety.
For US citizens... If you purchase mama Juana, you need to mix it with rum before getting it on the plane. We knew this, so we just purchased it already mixed. You are allowed two 750 ML bottles of rum per person IN YOUR CHECKED LUGGAGE. We didn't know this until it was almost time to go home, so I thought I'd share the knowledge. You can take one carton of cigarettes per person...although no one ever asked us if we had any. You can take home all the coffee and vanilla you want. We were told this by airport officials...Anything else you'll have to look up.
When you are in the Dominican airport to go to the US you have a form that needs to be filled out and handed in before you can go through the gate. Then there's a form they collect when you get into the US once you've rechecked your bags if you have a connecting flight. I took US Air and they really walk you though all of this.
Conclusion
We had a great time. I had never been out of the country. I had also never been on a plane in my adult life. This was my husband and my first time going away like this together and it was a great time. We were there 5 nights and it was plenty of time to go on a few excursions and still have a great time at the beach, the pools, and the nightlife. If you just sit back and relax and don't let things get to you, you'll have a great time!
Please tip, even a dollar here and there goes a long way. Red sox hats are $5 at wal mart...I suggest getting a few for people who are extra good to you...or so they will be!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Diana ~ Toronto |
We just came back for the Gr. Paradise Bavaro, to be honest I wouldn't go back, only because the service is very poor, for instance we were placed in building 2 the older section, don't ever accept room 2381 I believe. It was funny, when we walk in the room both my husband and I jaw dropped. The lamp was on the floor the single bed was in the middle of the room no headboard, the phone plug kept falling out and whenever we try to put it back in the lamp would come off, not to mention it had no sheets on the bed, no towel in the washroom and only one pillow.
The next day we were transfer to building 9, much nicer rooms, but if you are on the first floor like we were the balcony door DO NOT LOCK at all, calling reception won't help we tried many times they keep saying in an hour, 7 days pass and it haven't been fixed. Also, lots of bugs in the room
The beach, if you can't get up at 3am, sorry no shade for you, it is so crowded it not funny. The resort is extending and the beach area is way too small to accommodate everyone.
One more thing if you don't like walking, not a place to be, like I mention before the resort is huge, and yes the have a trolley that comes by every 5 minute or so.
Over all we did had a good time, at lease we make the best of it. But we won't go back.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Miller |
First of all I will say the resort itself is wonderful. The ground are immaculate, beautiful pools, clean beach, and there is noting to complain about the food. (although the 2 a la carte's we did were nothing to write home about - Dominican and Sea Food)
Our vacation would have been perfect except for a few problems.
We were in building # 8 (Select section). First 2 days the hot water was barely a warm trickle-not enough pressure to keep the shower on , 3rd day a cold trickle, then 3 days of good showers and the last day a cold trickle again. No air conditioning for over 24 hrs.. No towels one day, but they were delivered within 15min of calling reception. The bed sheets were too short for the beds resulting in a dirty mattress pad at your feet.
When we arrived the bar fridge was stocked with water, pop, juices, chips, candy etc. Knowing that only 4 bottles of pop and the gallon of water are all-inclusive, I emptied out the fridge (into a drawer) and stocked it with our own stuff. The next day, my stuff was emptied and the fridge got re-stalked. We went to the reception and explained that we now had double bar fridge contents. We were told to put everything on the dresser and it would be taken care of and that there would be no charge since we did not use it. The next day one set of contents was removed. BUT... when we went to check out at the end of our stay.... we were dinged with a $71 US bar bill. I guess someone forgot to document the fact they removed the second re-stocking. (PS they charge $3.00 for a bottle of water) They were very rude and ignorant about it at the reception. We were not the only ones fighting bogus bar bills. (I guess this is how they make extra money..... or they have a theft problem with staff, since anyone could have entered our room and taken the second set.... we definitely did not use it) This incident did leave a sour taste in my mouth. Also note, the bar fridge does not function without the room key inserted. (all power in the room shuts off when you leave....if you have meds that need the fridge, make sure you ask for an extra room key so the fridge will run all day, and then tape it in the slot so the maid does not remove it like she did the first day to us)
The other problem this resort has is it has expanded (with the club and select sections) beyond its beach capacity. We found the beach too crowed with not enough umbrellas or chairs. Shade was hard to find without encroaching on someone else's personal space. Forget getting up at 6am.... all the umbrellas are taken by 3am on the beach. You might get one by the pool at that time, but by 6:30, they are also taken. (PS. Take off your wrist band and go to the resort next door.... they have plenty of space)
All that being said, we had a great time, and as long as you don't run into any problems like we did, you will have a fabulous holiday.
PS. I have been to the Dominican 5 times and to Cuba 5 times and this is the first time I have had any real problems. I guess it was just my turn. I am still hoping to resolve the bar issue and get a refund.
If anyone wants more info. contact me at beertoal@gmail.com
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Tammy ~ Moncton, NB |
Arrival and Flight Sunwing. Flight almost didn't take off due to freezing rain, so when it did, we appreciated the flight that much more. We were given Champagne! The flight crew seemed to be a little unorganized, but did manage to get everthing straightened out. They were very friendly. We watched The Bee on the way down, and Enchanted on the way back. (keep your headphones for the trip home or you will be charged extra) The meal home on the plane was Shepard's Pie, or Pasta. I had the first and it was delicious.
Rooms Check in was long. We were dropped off at the main section but were staying at the Club. We waited over an hour to be brought to the right location. Once we were there we waited another 2 hours for our room.
We were not satisfied with our first room. There were four of us in the room with no privacy to the bathroom! (door trouble) We asked to be moved to a room with a bathroom door that closed. We did get moved on the second day. We stayed in Building 7. Our only complaint was that this was the only building that had no phones. One of the nights, there was a couple from Kentville, NS trapped in there room. We heard there call for help from the trolly and went to seek help. We were not sure if the maintenance person was going to be able to get them out, so we asked two big strong guys to hang around in case we needed them to break down the door. The maintenace person went in to the adjoining room, scaled the wall outside to get to the couple that was trapped. They were on the third floor! Their deadbolt had broken while engaged in the lock. Finally after about 45 minutes they were free. It took much longer for them to get there lock fixed. This happened at about 10 pm. The lock was fixed the next by 11am.
There were a couple of days we had no hot water, no big deal. AC didn't work to full capacity but we were fine with that.
We had two Maids bothed named Maria....She went out of her way to make sure we were happy. She left us towel animals twice and everyday we had flowers all over the room. She always did something nice with any clothes that were left on the bed. She didn't speak a word of English, but she was fantastic. We left her gifts everyday along with a tip. She came to us the last night of our stay to thanks us.
Restaurants We enjoyed the food. Lots to choose from. Staff was always extremely happy, and would get you whatever you wanted.
Bars Every single bar maid we encountered was friendly. Some didn't speak any English but they knew bar list and you could get what you wanted. We had a great time. The staff at the pool bar at the club in particular were really funny.
Beach and Pools Unbelievable! Beautiful, even with the damage that was done on March 19/08. The waves were smashing the beach. It was better than I imagined. It was clean. There were palm trees everywhere. The staff worked very hard every morning to keep this beach clean.
Grounds Always someone doing some sort of clean up. We didn't see any litter at all. They were always planting and grooming. The grounds were nice and clean. Some construction going on.
Activities and Entertainment Now if your going for activities and entertainment.........go with an open mind. Don't be picky, just enjoy the show. The only issue we had was that we didn't know when the activites were going on. They posted some info at the beach bar, but didn't update it on time. A daily activity menu in the rooms would have helped us to better plan out our days. We still found plenty to do.
Tours Tropical Storm I would recommend that if you are only doing one excursion, do this one. The staff on this Catamaran were out of this world. They were entertaining and hilarious. This was an all day tour. Lunch was a cold lunch, and was really good. Oh lets not forgot all inclusive rum and beer. Soda, water, and punch were available for non drinkers. This tour also had snorkeling, and a visit to the worlds largest inflatable slide. Floating bar was placed in the water next to the catamaran for the swmmers in the group.
Departure and Check Out Check was easy, only becuase we knew we had to bring our remote control for the tv, the key for the safe, and the card for the beach towels. Our bus for the airport was on time.
The airport surpised us. I am not sure that there scanners were even working. Some people in our group had liquids in there bags, and one had 2 lighters. Nothing was detected, and
nobody was searched.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would recommend this resort.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro |
We just returned from a trip to the Grand Paradise Bavaro from March 14-21, 2008. We went on a last minute deal, booked on Tuesday PM and left that Friday AM. The resort is located in Punta Cana. We booked with TNT Vacations which was not a problem. We have been to Punta Cana three time prior, always staying at Iberostar. This was a deal that was to good to pass up ($699) and went without expecting a lot.
Airport: We live in NH and took a charter flight from Boston to the Dominican. TNT was excellent, we flew Miami Air which was very nice and on time! Once at the airport you must go through immigrations, claim your bags and find your TNT representative. There are airport staff that will take your bags to the appropriate bus for your transfer to your resort. This is done fairly quickly and they do expect a tip. A few dollars for two bags is the norm.
Check-in: Check in wasn't bad. The staff was great and spoke English very well. We arrived around 2 and our room was not ready. Was told to go to the bar or pool area and come back later for our room keys. I went back a few hours later and everything was all set. Check out was the same, no issues. Ask at the desk for a lock for your safe deposit box that is in your closet. There is a $20 charge for this, but I wouldn't want to keep my passport, money and other valuables unlocked. Also, if you want to use the TV you need to ask for it at the front desk.
Rooms: We were not sure what our room would be as we had booked last minute. I had requested a king size bed on the top (3) floor. We did have a king bed on the 2nd floor which was fine as we were located in building 6, which is about as close to the beach and pool as you can get. Rooms are large and nice. TV is very small with limited English channels. Pillows, towels and wash cloths are limited. You need to ask daily for wash cloths and the correct amount of towels. Our maid always came through with what we asked for. The maids speak very little English, make sure to bring a cheat sheet so you can leave a note. There was a hair dryer, iron and ironing board in our room as well. There are very few drawers, again not a problem, lived out of the closet and our suit cases. How much room do bathing suits take up? There is a small fridge in the room which had a gallon of water, 2 cokes and 2 sprites. NEVER got diet coke in our room. Do NOT drink the water from the tap. They will provide you with more water as needed. We did run out of hot water on the last day, not just that the water wasn't hot, there was no water coming out of the tap at all when on warm. If you want to be close to the beach area I think building 6 is the best. Even numbers are on the pool side, odd on the back side over looking another building. Ideal room would be room number 6333. It's on the 3rd floor overlooking the ocean. Also there are no elevators and no screen on the patio sliders.
Restaurants/Food: The food was good. To bad that their main dining halls are enclosed. What a disappointment. Open air dining is the norm for the buffets. You need to make certain you have "restaurant coupons" in your welcoming packet when you check in. You are given three and must have them to make reservations for the specialty restaurants. We ate at the La Cana, a "steak house" which was very good. We also ate at the International Restaurant, Maglar which was also very good.
The buffet is as expected, fruit, breads, cereals, yogurts, omelets, pancakes, cold meats, cheese, pastries. Basically something for everyone. Deserts were very plain here. There was very limited Diet Coke, aka Coca-Cola Light. None in the fountain, just in plastic bottles similar to 2 liters.
Bars: Limited availability for name brand. Island beer is Presidente, which from what I hear wasn't too bad.
Beach and Pools: What can I say about the beach.... There were plenty of lounge chairs on the beach. Cabanas are very limited, but plenty of trees that provided filtered sun/shade. You do need to get up early to reserve the ideal spot. Up until 4/18 the beach was gorgeous as everytime we have been there. There was a storm somewhere off the east coast which made it overcast and windy on Tuesday. Still very warm, in the 80's. The waves came up A LOT on Wednesday, taking out a lot of the beach. I was shocked on Thursday when I went out to reserve lounge chairs that about 100' of beach was GONE, along with two of the three rows of cabanas. Actually gone, washed out and there were workers hurrying to salvage what they could. There is another review states a number of huts knocked over, they weren't just knocked over, they and the beach are gone. Get your beach towels early, they run out of clean towels quickly.
Grounds: The grounds are ok, nothing to write home about. They are very lax about picking up plastic cups, straw wrappers as well as plastic plates that have been brought out to the beach by guests.
Activities and Entertainment: We didn't do any extra activities and all of the entertainment is lame. Mostly in Spanish and doesn't start until 9:30. The internet cafe is not a cafe. There are two computers located in the entrance to the sports bar that you wait in line for. Get you internet card at the front desk.
Tours: We did not do any tours this trip. Just make certain you book through your hotel.
Conclusion: This resort is rated as a four star. While it is very adequate, tops it is a three, and that was before the beach got wiped out! The Majestic and Barceló are on each side and they to loss the majority of their beach. It is a shame, as the beach was the best by far the selling point of Punta Cana. In talking with others on our trip home, it seems that these three properties got hit the worst.
In closing, bring an insulated cup for your drinks (water, soda or booze). Don't drink the water. Ask for a remote at check-in. Pay for the safe deposit lock. Bring 50 one dollar bills, tips go a long way in getting better/faster service, and as stated they sure do love the Red Sox, so if you have anything you can get cheap here and bring there, they'll love you for sure! Overall we had a fun time, lost no time in the sun, got to watch natures fury and didn't break the bank. Still only a three star resort at best.
***If I were going for the beach, I would not recommend this property at this time due to the fact that it is gone. I don't know if anyone would come right out and tell you this, but believe me, it's not there anymore.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Carla ~ USA |
I visited the Grand Paradise Bavaro from March 14-21, 2008. I went with a friend on a last minute trip and read many reviews while trying to make a quick decision. The negative reviews worried us, but found that they must have been from people you just can’t make happy, as we thought it was fine.
We booked out of TNT Vacations in the US. I am a fairly new travel agent and wanted to learn more about different travel experiences so I can help my clients better. I had never done an AI so I was anxious to try. Because we booked three days prior to departure we got a pretty good rate. The first person I spoke with at TNT that booked me was not helpful. I asked for a first floor near the ocean as I am handicapped, he said “I’ll ask but don’t count on it”. He made me feel like I was bothering him so I stopped asking questions. After it was booked I called back as I realized I never asked for two beds. The woman I then spoke with was very helpful. Asking me questions that the other should have … like non-smoking room? The service I have found with the TNT in working with my clients and now for myself was impeccable. The on site rep, Fernando, was very helpful. When I had trouble boarding the bus at arrival, due to my muscle disorder, I asked for a step for departure. He called right away and although he did not get a hold of anyone he was very accommodating and made sure the bus would pull up to the curb for me. I think he actually asked for a different bus that had a lower step. So I thought that was customer service at its best.
Airport: You are let off outside, I thought that was cool. Being from Boston you get on and off a plane from inside the airport. The airport was pretty empty. The airport staff asked over and over to help with our backs. I think I said “no gracias” twenty times. We walked out, my bag being very easy to transport with 360 degree wheels. We were met with about thirty more folks that wanted to take our bags. I kept saying “no gracias”. One asked me where I was staying I said grand Bavaro” and then he took my bag from me!!!! I figured for the two bucks I was going to give him, I wasn’t going to argue, but geez! Hold onto your bags if you want to carry them!!! When we left at the end of our trip, our TNT rep said to stay on the bus until they were out of the back, so we did. Of course now seeing that all our bags were being held by the staff. I took mine out of his hand and said “no gracias”. He looked bewildered! I walked away. The ticketing was only thirty feet away. Customs was very quick both going in and out of DR, in Boston the lines were long but moved fast. When leaving DR the airport had a Wendy’s, pizza, Café’s and stores. There are more on the bottom floor where you depart from as well. I was mad as I bought a water for $2 for the flight and they would not let me take it on!
Check-in: Check was super quick. We were there by 2 ish so our room was not ready but we got a drink in the sports bar and then it was. The staff was great and they spoke English very well. Check out was equally as quick.
The room: We were supposed to be in the club section. I know this because I complained to TNT that I was handicapped etc and they said the rooms are new, flat screen TV’s etc, and there was a trolley to the beach. So I figured whatever... I was booking last minute! I am wondering if maybe we got the main hotel because of my disability and they did actually listen. The room was older but it was fine! It was big, clean and had a patio. Food, front desk, pools and beaches were all just steps away in either direction. I read on one review that they charge you for the items in mini fridge. This never happened. IT was stocked with coke and sprite and a jug of water. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND bringing a water bottle that you can refill. The water is plenty-full all over but no way to take it with you. A/C was great in room but we didn’t need it much, there was a great breeze with the patio door open. There were a few days we didn’t have water. But it didn’t ruin our trip. What can you do? It came back in time for a shower. One day we had cold showers. The TV in the room had several New York channels, but who goes to a resort and watches TV? The Sports bar played Soccer 24/7 but I am a soccer mom… so that was fine! I didn’t need to know what they were saying to understand.
Food: The food was good. You can dine in the buffet any night and you can make two reservations at a time for the specialty restraints. We only did two. The International restraint, Maglar, wasn’t that good. I had trouble cutting my rib eye steak so I gave up. The wait staff was great. The manager though made our dining experience awful. He didn’t like the way some of the tables were set up and was yelling at staff. He was just a big jerk and if were a dinner I was paying for in the states, I would have walked out. We also ate the Cana. It was a steak house. I am still dreaming of that meal! I ordered Filet mignon and it was soooo good.
The buffets are good and they try to mix it up each day. The bread is always fresh and is the best part of the meal. Desserts were bland and blah. I was DYING to get to the airport and buy some peanut M&M’s. There is also a store in the lobby that sells them. I held off as there was no need for an in between meal snack.
Staff: Everyone is so nice! Always a hola and a smile whenever you walk by. Reception, guest services, most waiters all spoke English. Our maid, Maria was great. We asked for diet coke in our room and she made sure w had it each day.
Visitors: UGH! There was a great mix of folks from all over the world. I would say most prominent were Canadians. The English speaking folks I spoke with were very nice. But .. oh… the ****** speaking were the rudest most ignorant people I ever met. The cut you in the food line, and the thing that made us most mad, is when we went to the Club side, we were waiting for the trolley and they would come up at the last minute and cut right in front of you! This happened one too many times. The person I was with is not violent, but I thought he would kill someone after the third time it happened.
Grounds: Grounds were nice. Never saw trash laying around and considering all the smokers, I didn’t see any butts on the ground either. There was always staff sweeping and cleaning.
Entertainment: The nightly shows were bad (really bad) but we stayed and watched anyway. They seem to get a kick out of men dressing up as women. It was almost more funny that they thought it was funny. There was singing, dancing and game shows. The entertainment staff were nice and would all go to the disco afterwards. The disco was loud, but I like to people watch so it was fun to watch everyone.
Beach/pools: These were great. We did the pool a few days and the beach a few days. Either way, you need to get out by 6:30 am to get a lounge chair. We would take turns waking up running down with our towels to get a chair with shade and then going back to sleep. Weather was consistently perfect. The forecast before we left said showers daily. We never saw a shower… just wind. Although lots of clouds and by Tuesday the winds were high. Still warm and better than being at home. I napped so much! It was so good to nap on the beach in the shade! On Wednesday while we were sitting in our little hut and the waves came half way up the beach, washing away some of the beach, and people's belongings. Book, magazines, sandals... all over the place. Over a short period of time they came higher. After dinner the waves had washed away the whole beach. Literally. It was all rock left and the sand was washed away. The staff pulled all the lounge chairs up to the lawn. A number of huts knocked over. I feel bad for those who came after us who were never able to see the beach.
Important to note is that many folks bath topless.
Excursions: We didn’t do any. We were happy sitting in the shade reading a book or sitting in the sun sometimes. People watching is our favorite sport. I realized as we were leaving that there is a little shopping area right outside the resort. If I had known, I would have liked to have gone there.
Negatives:
Bring water bottle. One that you can refill.
Never use running water, even for brushing teeth. Use water in jug.
If you plan on watching TV, ask for a remote at reception.
Learn the words “No gracias” as you will need to use often!
Bring lots of one dollar bills. The staff really appreciates a small tip. You don’t have to, but it’s nice.
If you want to make the staff really happy, bring Red Sox stuff! They LOVE it. Someone said they would give to the staff that didn’t have much, like the pool cleaner, the maids, maintenance staff etc. The time share guy begged for my friend’s hat for his son.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Tom and Marilyn |
Just got back from GPB Sunquest Select,we had a wonder ful vacation, weather was great some rain mainly at night so that was ok.We did find that the Sunquest section of the resort was too far from the beach,the tram service wasnot relaible allthe time it runs on DR time.
The rooms were large,a/c worked well, hot water was hit and miss depending on the time ,if you showered at 6pm no hot water. Patio doors did not lock ,as we were on ground floor this was a problem, maintence staff could not fix it after the third day we gave up and did not call again. Towels were not delivered to rooms until 4pm.
Like all AI. food was buffet style,it was good with a different theme every day
A la Carte resturants were excellent, limited to 2 per room per week choise of seafood, Asain, Italain, steak.
We found the beach to be crowded If you got there late 10am it was impossible to get a spot in the shade.
This review seems to be negative but I am trying to point out the small things that can upset some people when they travel to the DR.as aperson who has been to DR. many times these things dont bother me anymore.
We would return to this resort again some time in the future for more info or pictures e-mail me.
tomandsam@sympatico.ca
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Stephanie |
Our group of 14 (8 adults, 6 children ages 2-8) travelled to the GPB Jan 20-27. We flew from Toronto with Sunquest and stayed in the Sunquest Select section, which is between the "Club" section and the Main Hotel. A Greyhound bus takes you from the airport to the hotel, about 30 min. There are 2 reception/check in desks, one at the main hotel and one at the club/sunquest select section. The bus dropped us off at the main check in, after which we boarded a trolley/train with ALL our luggage to check in at the Sunquest section, not convenient. The Sunquest check in is very close to the main road, the main check in is further down the driveway. Make sure you get dropped off at the right place to save time.
Check in is not until at least 3:30pm, no matter when you arrive in the morning. We arrived at 12:30pm and had to wait for 4 rooms that were available between 4pm - 6pm. A waste of our first day since our luggage was just sitting in the lobby and we had no room, not to mention my 2 year old needed a nap and had nowhere to sleep.
We stayed in building 9 in Sunquest Select, the only building open at that time. Buildings 7 and 8 were still under construction. The rooms were fine, clean, acceptable in appearance. Although the workmanship of construction was less than adequate. Patio doors didn't lock, plumbing was poor (every time we showered, water leaked from the pipes behind the walls, and the entire bathroom filled up with 2 inches of water), water leaked from rooms above through the ceiling, building dust was all over the walls in closets (which put a yellow powder coating on my clothes), no clocks, no iron, no hairdryer, etc. There was no sense of urgency to fix things that were broken, and to supply you with items that were missing from your room. Note: to operate the TV you must ask for a remote at reception.
The security around the Sunquest Select section was questionable. Since it was heavily under construction, there were workers in and out of occupied rooms all the time, installing new door locks, inspecting work, painting rooms (yes! painting rooms while they were occupied!) etc. I heard about several items being stolen out of rooms and safe deposit boxes. And in some cases, the items stolen out of safe deposit boxes were mysteriously returned after complaining about them......??? Of course none of the $ was returned. To be safe, you should keep all your valuables on you at all times! Don't trust anyone. When the maid is cleaning your bathroom, and your door is wide open, she may not even see someone come into the room, take something and walk out. Just be cautious and aware, and you will be fine. Theft is everywhere. Also to lock your room from the inside, you position the door handle up, at 12:00, without instructions, I had no idea.
The food was fine at the buffet restaurants at the main section and Select section, they mainly served the same dishes, although the buffet at the main section was a little larger. Yes, it is somewhat difficult to get served coffee/tea at breakfast, but you can also serve yourself at the coffee/tea station. We also tried the a la carte restaurants and found them excellent, like fine dining. It may be written that a dress code is required, but there were people with shorts and t-shirts on in those restaurants. You do need to book these restaurants early, and if you are persistent, you will get the time and date you want.
The pools at the Select section were great! A 3.5 foot hot tub (really just warm), a 3.5 foot cold tub, a main pool with swim up bar, and a kids pool (2 feet). In the main pool, there are sections of pool only 6 inches deep, to lounge and sun tan on the loungers in the water. This was ideal for my 2 year old, she loved it! Since only 1 of the 3 accommodation buildings were complete, there was never an issue with not enough chairs, towels, service at the bar, etc. Once all 3 buildings are complete, it will be much busier. There wasn't much shade at these pools, no umbrellas....yet?
The tolley/train ride to the main resort is about 1.5 min and to the beach is about 2.5 min and the train comes every 5-10 min or so. I often walked instead as it was the only exercise I got all week. The beach was very nice, but busy. Of course people reserved chairs with towels and t-shirts and never arrived. We started using those chairs as we were told that people would reserve chairs at both the pool AND the beach all day, not fair. The waves were big and strong. Not suitable at all for children, so they played mostly in the sand, and just got their feet wet.
The kids LOVED the kids club. The only kids club was located in the Sunquest Select section, lucky for us. They had a playground and indoor activities as well. We did not leave our kids alone in there, but other parents did.
Important note!!! MANY people missed the bus ride back to the airport and had to pay for a taxi themselves (not just from this resort). You will be notified that your departure time is for example: between 8:15 am and 8:45 am (yes, you get a 1/2 hour range). Four of the 14 of us arrived at 8:15, and boarded the bus. At 8:25, the bus started to leave the hotel. I ran to the front of the bus and told them that we were missing at least 10 people! They responded, "How do you know?".....You would think that they had a list of people that were supposed to be on the bus and checked it before leaving, but no. In fact, we were missing 12 people, and I made the bus stay there until we were all on it. Everyone eventually arrived and we left by 8:40am, before the scheduled departure time.
Overall, it was a good vacation, we didn't let the poor workmanship ruin our holiday, but were lucky to not have anything stolen. I don't consider it a 4*, I would rate it a 3*. I love the DR, will go back, but not to this resort.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Nancy |
We were a group of 8 who went to the Grand Paradise to celebrate my 50th birthday. We arrived at 1 pm and had to wait until 3:30 pm to get checked in. We had booked our trip with Sunquest, so had requested to be in building 6 which was the closest to the beach, by the looks of the map that I had previously printed off. I had also requested that my parents be in a room close to ours as well as my son and his guest. My first mistake was assuming that I would be getting my request. I had NO IDEA, that this resort is actually a COMPLEX, and that the map I had seen was of the main section of the resort, never knowing that there are other sections of this resort that are not even on any map, not even the map that they give you upon check-in. The reason I wanted to be close to the beach is so that my parents wouldn't have far to walk, as they both have mobility issues. Upon getting our keys for the room, we realized that we were right in the middle of the resort, no where near the beach, and it was a full 7 minute hike at a brisk walk to get there. Needless to say they had to ride the trolley(tram) to the beach everyday and had to make sure they didn't forget anything as it was a long way back to the room.
The rooms in building 9, where we were, (and close together), were very clean. The floors were always spotless. The supply of towels and bedspreads were always a surprise though, never knew if you were getting any or not. The first 3 days we spent most of our spare time walking back to the main lobby to get our keys to work. We spent a lot of time getting locked out, so that became boring really quickly. We all got new big screen TV's the week we were there, some of us had remotes that worked, some didn't. My son had a TV that had a cable run into a bare hole in the wall, that you could see into the next room. Needless to say they didn't watch any TV that week. They also had a MAJOR leak in the ceiling above the toilet, but when told about the problem it was promptly looked after. We had a small leak in our bathroom too, but just put a towel on the floor as we only had a bathmat 1 day while we were there.
We tried to make reservations for the Michelangelo restaurant for my birthday, but because we had a group of 8, they couldn't accomadate us. What I read prior to our trip was true, BOOK your reservations as soon as you get there, or you won't get in. By the looks of the restaurants they are very small so that would be why they couldn't accomodate our group. The day of my birthday my husband went and bought a cake to be served to us after our meal at the buffet resaurtant that night. The cake never came, and even when he enquired about it, they had no idea where it was. The 50th birthday that I went to the Dominican to celebrate, didn't happen. At least the cake part didn't. The next day he went to get his money back, and that was quite the hassle as well. I really think that it was the language barrier that made things so difficult for us. We are English speaking,and the french and spanish speaking vacationers didn't seem to have any trouble getting their point accross. I do have to say that the food in the buffet restaurant was great. Lots of variety, and very good cheese selection at every meal. Anyone who likes cheese would love this place.
The beach is truly one of the best in the world. I have been to many places in the Caribbean and this is one of the BEST!! I do regret that it was Very windy all week and only got in the ocean once. We had red flag days most of the week. It did rain most every day, but only is short showers.
The bartenders were great also. By mid-week they knew what you wanted to drink and served it with a smile every time. They are quite the characters, and were very amusing to watch.
I am not a complainer usually, and there were many enjoyable things about this resort. I am MOST disappointed in the fact that I had no idea it was 2 or 3 resorts in one. If I had known that it was so going to be so far to the beach, I would have booked us into a different resort, especially when my parents are not able to get around that well any more. For anyone else who is considering this resort, please be aware that it could mean a lot of walking unless you are booked into the main section of the resort. The newer "Club" section and Sunquest Select section are not on the beach, they are at the front of the main resort, furthest from the beach. The picture in Sunquest's brochure just shows the main Grand Paradise Bavaro resort. The language barrier was also a big problem for us, but if you speak french, its not an issue.
Other than that, the food, the beach, and the cleanliness was first class.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Mark ~ Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
A group of 18 of us in total visited Grand Paradise Bavaro from January 24-31, 2008 as my wedding party. 16 left from Toronto and 2 from Edmonton. I am happy to speak for them all when we say we had a blast! This is an excellent, high-class resort that deserves every one of its four stars and we recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing, worry-free getaway.
Now, in more detail, what we found:
Airport: Wow, what an airport! No crowds, no rush, no getting lost…everything was so small! Guess I'm just used to Pearson, but it was wonderful. The computer screens told us the wrong location for our luggage pick-up, but no biggie – all carousels were within view of each other and the place was empty. The baggage boys can be very annoying, as they try to take your luggage from you and want to be paid for carrying your luggage 20 metres. When we took the shuttle bus back to the airport I was peeved to see that one of them had my luggage in their arms already even before I was off the bus. I said no and yanked them from him. He jabbered something at me in Spanish. Whatever. They have a job to do, I guess, but I don't have that much money to waste.
Check-in: We were supposed to have a private check-in for our party as a part of our wedding package. That didn't happen, but we're not concerned as everyone was checked in within 20 minutes anyway. Very nice receptionists, and they spoke English very well.
The room: They treat you like gods when you're getting married there! They upgraded us to an ocean view room for free and there was a plate of fruit and a bottle of champagne waiting for us. Absolutely stunning room. Lots of space and lots of views from the balcony. It was room 3228, for the record. The minifridge was always stocked with Coke and Sprite (they ran out of Diet Coke) and 4L jugs of water. I recommend bringing along a small water bottle (empty) to use while at the resort because they give you the huge jugs in your room. We never ran short of water.
Our party was promised rooms in the new Sunquest Select section, and none of us were placed there for some reason. However, it turned out to be lucky for us as the Select section is away from the main part of the resort, by the Club. There is a trolley that takes you from the resort to the Club/Select section but it wasn't always dependable. We got older rooms but we were happy to be close to the action. :o) No complaints.
One room of the 9 in our party did have a problem with a mold smell, and the occupants happened to be allergic to mold. A quick visit to reception fixed that problem, and they got their room switched. The toilets also clogged easily and sometimes more than one flush was necessary. The odd bug was around, but no problem, hey it's a Third World country in a tropical climate! Anyway, the AC was very powerful in the rooms; in fact, our room often got too cold, even though we turned the AC off between 9 AM and 5 PM. Power never went out the whole week we were there.
TV: Who goes down here to watch TV? We didn't turn ours on once, but other members in our party did. For some, it was snowy, others, it was clear. There was a big-screen TV in the sports bar but it was mostly Spanish-speaking channels, and the only sports on were soccer and baseball. We couldn't even watch the NHL all-star game! Just wasn't in their TV listings. I was surprised but we were fine, as we love baseball. You have to request a remote at check-in to get one, not really needed though.
Food: I have celiac disease so my eats were very restricted…mostly eggs, rice, fruit and fish. All the others loved the food, no problems at all. I had some little Spanish-language travel cards to give to the chef as they didn't usually understand French or English. Everyone was great.
Bars/Restaurants: For my wife's and my a la cartes we went to the Dominican (Taino), Seafood and Asian restaurants. The booking was kind of a pain – 10:30 each morning on the second floor of the lobby right outside the piano bar but no one seemed to know exactly where to line up. The reservation woman just showed up 10 minutes late and sat wherever she wanted, and the lineup started there even if some of us had been there for 30 minutes. Anyway, we got it done. The Asian restaurant made my wife and I a bit ill, as I think some of the items might not have been fully cooked. We loved the Dominican and seafood restaurants! Also heard good news about the Grill and the Italian from other members of our party. The Asian restaurant had no sushi, to my disappointment.
Staff: Everyone is so nice! Always a hola and a smile whenever you walk by. Reception, guest services, most waiters all spoke English. Unfortunately, most couldn't understand French, but our party was English-speaking so all was fine for us. One thing I noticed is that nearly all of the staff (except the maids) are men, whereas in Cuba it was more of a mix between men and women. A bit odd but I suppose it must be a more patriarchal culture down there. Contrary to reviews, the gift shops ladies aren't rude. They just don't speak English well, no big deal. Tipping at the bars and restaurants isn't really necessary, not like Cuba where you had to tip to get good service.
Visitors: What I read in the reviews was true. This is a Euro-centric resort and most of the clientele spoke French. Most visitors seemed happy with their vacation, although a couple times I witnessed people yelling at staff for silly things like only one towel in the room, them getting their a la carte 15 mins late or something pedantic like that. The obnoxious yelling people were inevitably English-speaking Americans. Because I only saw two or three Americans on the whole resort, there wasn't much of this obnoxiousness. I deliberately picked this resort because it is not often frequented by Americans, and for that I am thankful. Lots of Canadians and visitors from Spain, France and Germany. There were a lot of smokers, but we've been spoiled in Canada by our excellent smoking bans, lol. You're on vacation, whatever, relax! It was an older crowd at this resort; I saw very few people our age (mid-20s). Made for a quieter evening and night, which I liked.
Grounds: Incredible. It being dry season, there were some brown patches in the grass, but still much better than my yard in August, lol. There was ALWAYS people tending the grounds, pulling weeds, keeping everything beautiful. They really take care of the place, and it shows. A+ for groundskeeping.
Entertainment: I only visited the entertainment at the amphitheatre for about 5 minutes (not really my thing) but many in our party went and they all said it was excellent. I can't comment on the disco because none of us went.
Beach/pools: Definitely the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, even beats Holguin in Cuba. Was more crowded here though, and you often couldn't find three or more seats together if the weather was nice. Of course, all the chairs in the shade were reserved with towels before sunrise. Because of the crowds, I spent more time at the pool. Played some volleyball and water polo in the main pool, which was fun. The only swim-up bar is in the Club section, which we didn't visit, but there's a bar is right beside the main pool so not too bad. We hung around the sports bar a lot, shot a lot of pool. They also have popcorn at that bar but it's often burned.
It was a pretty liberal crowd. Women would go topless, even around the kid's pool, lol. Ah well, nothing they won't see eventually. Same went for the beach. One in our party went for a long walk and said there was a clothing-optional beach north of the resort, but it's a long ways and you cross public areas, so not 100% safe. I stuck around our beach and surrendered to the tan lines rather than go for the walk, but there is that option if you want to do the nude sunbathing thing, which helps make it a real vacation. :o) The sun was definitely good for it.
The resort was quite windy, making for unsafe conditions if you wanted to venture far out into the ocean. The undertow is strong, but they do have lines out in the ocean beyond which you're not to cross. The waves were great for boogie boarding and generally just riding them, but PLEASE don't go out too far swimming or you might not make it back! Even my brother, who is a great swimmer, had trouble fighting the undertow
Weather: They said it was the dry season but we did have rain on three of the seven days. Never for very long, though…30 minutes tops but it when rains it rains hard! If you start feeling rain, head indoors because by the time you get there it will problem be pouring! Some days were very windy, but it always died down by the evenings.
Shopping: There is a market close to the resort and boy, are those vendors enthusiastic! They'll do anything under the sun to get you into their store. I tell the one guy I want rum and he ushers me into his store, and he doesn't even have rum there! Lol…and I was rather stubborn in bargaining, but got a 40 oz Brugal rum (the best!) for $15 US. One vendor was willing to take Canadian dollars as well. There is another market about 45 minutes' walk down the beach, and the prices are apparently good there, but you cross public areas to get there too.
Excursions: We did the tour operator's little seminar on Friday, but unlike the one we had in Cuba in 2005, which was helpful, this guy Felix did nothing but try to sell us excursions. He said you "wouldn't really experience the Dominican Republic" without doing an excursion. Yeah right. I had a fun time at the resort and didn't need their high-cost, low-benefit excursion gigs. Some others in our party did go, though. Various relatives of ours did the Safari one and the Monster Truck one and they loved it. They don't treat the dolphins humanely so don't go on the dolphin excursion!
Wedding:
When we first arrived at the resort, it was around 11:45 PM, so the next morning we went and met Glenny, our wedding coordinator. A sweeter (and cuter) woman never walked the Earth – she was soo helpful! If people had a problem with their room or a question about anything we always went to her and she always expedited the process. She was fantastic!
She let us choose our location, and we decided on a cement pad by the seafood restaurant. Sounds grim, I know, but there were palm trees, plant arches and flowers all around, and there was an ocean view in the background, it was great. Thank God we didn't choose the beach because the wind would've blown us away.
We did the wedding on Tuesday, the 29th, and to our surprise, the judge showed up on time – 4:30 PM. The wind was so strong we had trouble hearing him do the ceremony, but we got the gist of it, lol. No rain, thankfully. The judge's legal fees were $550 and the wedding package was $750, all USD.
One irritating part about the wedding was the photographer. We had some of our party taking pictures and he would always push them out of the way, as if he ruled the Earth, and he took over 200 pictures even though I intended on buying no more than 20 or 25. His assistant claimed he was the best photographer in the Dominican Republic, but I think my sister-in-law could've done a lot of better photos.
Anyway, I haggled like crazy over the price, and we wound up getting a huge discount. I knew they had to sell the photos to make any money at all, and knew they would compromise. The assistant really made me mad when he insisted that we had already agreed to purchase 35 photos for $350 – yeah right! I stormed off, came back in a few hours and found him to be more reasonable. We wound up buying 85 pictures for $450, about $5.30 a picture. Got 12 more free with the wedding package, so 97 altogether. We got all of the photos burned to a CD; didn't get any prints as their quality isn't as good as Canada's. Don't ever pay full price for the photos. I paid $5.30 a picture (on CD) and you should not pay more than that!
At our choice, we held the reception for the 18 of us at the seafood restaurant. Glenny was soo nice because we had said all along that we wanted the Asian restaurant, but when we realized the seafood one was right by the beach and right by where our wedding ceremony was to take place, we changed our minds. No problem at all! They even set up a special set of tables for us outside the restaurant and we got free champagne!
As part of the package, we were to get a plate of fruit and bottle of champagne in our room the night of the wedding. We didn't wind up getting that until the next day's afternoon, and only because I repeatedly requested it. We were also to get breakfast in bed the morning after, but they didn't show up until nearly 10:30 – we got bored and went for breakfast at the buffet at 9. As a result, most of the fruit went bad.
None of this bothered us really; nothing of any consequence went wrong. It was a wondrous wedding, we have no regrets about doing it down there and everyone in our party was thanking us for doing the wedding in the DR. Everyone gets a vacation out of it, why not eh? Also I'm pretty sure it was cheaper for us than doing it in Canada. Factoring in all of our costs – flight, hotel, wedding package, legal fees, translation etc. – it cost us two about $4500 US, and we got the free reception out of it. At their request, I brought rice flour down for them to make me a cake I could eat, because with my celiac disease I cannot have wheat flour. Funny thing is I took an unmarked, clear, plastic bag of white powder right through security in Toronto, in my carry-on, and they didn't say a thing. They didn't have rice flour down there, so I figured I'd try to take it and the worst they would do is confiscate it. No issue at all! They made a great wedding cake, an excellent reception dinner and a dream wedding to remember forever.
Bad things? Yes, unfortunately there were some negative aspects to our visit. As I said, the wedding photographer was arrogant and I don't miss him. However, the worst part of the trip by far was the VENDORS! Several nights a week they let vendors come in and sell stuff right by the main buffet, so you're forced to go by them to get dinner. They harass you, grab your arm and drag you in…they were rude and very irritating. I didn't have dinner one night just to avoid those pests. Also, there were lots of time share reps, who wear white shirts and also hang out around the buffet, and bother you to go to the third floor of the lobby and hear their blather about buying a time share in the resort. The resort needs to get rid of these people because they seriously diminish one's day.
There were a lot of other resorts in the immediate vicinity of Grand Paradise Bavaro. At Sol Rio de Luna y Mares in Cuba it was a lot more isolated, which was better. The vendors weren't pushy either.
At GP Bavaro, by the pool and beach there was always loud music playing. It got frustrating if you wanted to relax and take a nap in the sun, because there was nowhere else to go besides your room.
Another aspect I felt was a negative was all the kids at the resort. They were relatively well-behaved, and I suppose it's my fault for choosing a resort where kids under 6 go free, but it's not something I'd do again. Hard to relax when you hear an infant screaming or kids fighting. I think I'm just bitter because the kid's pool was right outside our room, but we did get the ocean view so it's all good. It could've been worse, had we chosen to go on Spring Break! We paid $1290 CDN per person from Toronto, the end of January, and feel we got a good deal. We booked about 4-6 months in advance.
I wouldn't likely go back to this resort but that's just because I'd want to experience new places. The only other time I've been to the Caribbean was Cuba in 2005 and I'd say I prefer Cuba because although the people in the DR are for the most part very kind, the Cubans were even more hospitable. In Cuba, the vendor prices are also better, and the country is a lot safer. We went off on our own during an excursion in Holguin, Cuba, but you'd never leave the excursion group in the Dominican – you're liable to get robbed or kidnapped. The way Cuba is bullied by the US I'd rather lend them a hand anyway, lol.
A great vacation and a highly recommended resort! Ignore the bad reviews, it is incredible and definitely a paradise!
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Lynda and Dan ~ Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada |
we got back 2 weeks ago from punta cana we stayed at gran paradise the best we would go back tonight if we could beaches are beautiful food was great seafood restaurant great best shrimps i ever had in my life when you go ask for Roberto very nice guy entertainement very good very nice shows at night Sergio from animation is very nice,asiatic restaurant was also very good rooms are very clean no wonder they call it paradise its worth every cent you pay best trip weve been to could not forget the beach beautifullllllllllll
| Grand Paradise Bavaro |
A beautifully kept resort that we were very pleased with. Trading there as RCI members we received the kindest of treatment in all areas of the resort. The room was clean and comfortable with functioning toilet!! I was so apprehensive after reading some of the info on this sight. No bugs or mosquitos either. The Club area is still under construction but has a very clean swimming pool and entertainment and bar staff. The restaurant here at the club was the best of all the individual eateries. The Steak House at the beachside was the worst. The beach is gorgeous with plenty of chairs and lots of company. This is a mega resort, not your secluded type of vacation. So if you enjoy being with lots of people, this will be a very nice place to go.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Danielle |
We arrived at the Club of Grand Paradise Bavaro on Jan 20 with a 30 min delay from Ottawa. The entrance to the resort is very plain, boring and not very welcoming. We were a full bus load checking in but I found that it went pretty good.
Rooms are very plain yet very clean. We did have trouble with the water but after visiting the D.R. 4 times, this is quite normal.
We did go to the Asian, International and the Grill restaurant and all 3 were excellent. I`m a very fussy eater and all the restaurants & buffet we went to were great.
I must say that I little tip and appreciation for the service they provide will get you a long way. Even a smile and a Hola will make them smile.
You can take a 8-10 min walk to the beach or take the little train which we never had to wait more then 2-3 min The beach was the best beach ever. Clear aqua water & white sand with no weeds, rocks and no debry.
The only tour we took was the trip to Samona Island. We left the resort at 7:40 with a very interesting 90 min bus ride. We then transfered to a catamaran for approximately 80 min(great experience). On the island we were treated to a very good Dominican lunch & drinks. We took a speed boat back. We stopped in the ocean in 4feet deep water in order to see and take pictures with some star fish. We finally made it back to the resort at 7:10 making it a very long & tiring day. It was a great day but I was dissapointed that you can`t swim on the island without shoes because of the many seashells on the shore.
I really enjoyed my vacation but I would not go back.
On thing we were not told when we booked was that the The Club is mainly a section (med club) for people from France. They have their own activity group with activities geared just for them. They also have their own theatre with nightly French shows.
They won`t stop you from participating to their activities but you feel out of place. Being French canadian I did understant what they where saying (for most part) but I still felt out of place. I would definitely go back to Punta Cana but not to The Club at Grand Paradise Bavaro. I believe the Grand Paradise Bavaro would have been a wiser decision, maybe next time.
| Grand Paradise Bavaro | Mike |
We just came back today February 1, 2008 and it was the best trip we have ever been on. The food was great the staff was amazing. The pools are a little deep so we brought a life jacket for our 3 year old. The staff love children. The entertainment was great. I would go back there in a heart beat!!
Last updated: June 03, 2009