Grand Bavaro Princess - All Inclusive

José - best barman at the Platinum pool bar Grand Princess Bávaro Shout out to the best bar tender at the Grand Princess Bávaro, Punta Cana. José at the Platinum pool bar. He can make any cocktail and was always ready to mix smoothies for our kids and help with any requests we had. What a fantastic bar man…. I wanted to bring him back with us. Some of the servers didn’t look like they were happy to be there. But Jose chatted and gave us lots of tips and help.

All inclusive beachside resort that ticks most boxes Nice spacious rooms which are clean. Good choice of food / restaurants. Upgrading to platinum was worth it if only to have access to the Platinum Beach Club and the exceptional service provided by Jose in the pool bar. Overall a nice relaxing trip with the family - the proximity to a world class beach was great also.

Great apart from cats. I would give it 4 stars, but it was very upsetting to see feral cats stalking the beautiful birds there. Only other problems were the beach volley ball could have been more organized alomg with any other activities such as pool aerobics. Evenening entertainment was lacking, but the house band were excellent.

Meh. Would not return. Some shortfalls. Pros The beach is beautiful and well-maintained. The grounds are just as much spectacular Room was modern. Fresh water smells sulfur or organic though, bottled water is necessary. The gym is decent, lots of space and equipment. It appears much of the equipment might be Planet Fitness hand-me-downs as they are all PF purple. But, it was a positive part of the experience. There is something for everyone. Cons The path /road road that Circles most of the resort is painfully busy, there are diesel trucks and diesel exhaust all day long. There’s no reason there shouldn’t be fully electric vehicles by now. Gas cooters start at 5:30a. And if you’re walking, you’re dodging the vehicles. Major design flaw. Four days, not one Housekeeper ever checked on our room. We finally got one on day five, the minibar was never restocked. We had to go to the pool to get bottles of water. The resort is too big. The train can be a pain in the butt, especially around peak dining times, people shove to board. People from different countries have different concepts of a line or “wait your turn”. The disregard for lines and queue courtesy extended to the restaurants also. The best part about the buffets is the variety of the desserts. The desserts were top-notch. Communication can be lacking sometimes, and not in the language barrier kind of way. I speak intermediate Spanish and still found it frustrating. We were not informed of the towel policy. Each room comes with three towels, and each of those towels need to be exchanged at the pools for new towels. They do not give new towels, only change towels. “Cambio”. If you left your towels at the pool or the beach by mistake, or because you’re unaware of the policy, You’re out of luck. We found out on our last day they provide towel cards to everybody, which you exchange for a towel at the beach or the pool. We never got one at check-in. Upon our arrival, it was afternoon of New Year’s Eve, we were told that we could just go to the Chopin buffet at 6:30 and we would be seated, but the staff would not let us in because we did not have a “ticket”which should’ve been given to us. Luckily they had a table after speaking with 3 people. The incense that are lit everywhere are not mainly so everything smells nice, it is to mask the smell of the sewers that back up. Restaurants Wasabi - skip it. Tanuki - it’s like Benihana, it’s exciting for the kids, but I would not quite call it Japanese, it’s more Chinese as half of the main act is fried rice. The beef was rough, the chicken was good. Platinum Beach Grill - they had turned the entire beach into the dining room, and everybody in the family got two dozen bites on our feet from the sand flies. The bottle of Caladryl was $27. The buffets - there are three or four restaurants that are buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner … they are big on cold cuts and cheese, breakfast are the best meals. Kids loved the grilled pork chops. I was able to find vegetables and fish. The salad bars at all of the buffets were subpar Tartufo - worth a trip. Actually a stand out, but skip the Caesar salad, it is shredded lettuce with ranch, and covered in it, with chicken. Tortellini en brodo was very good. Rebels - this is the sports bar, they have lots of TVs and a few games. There are two nice pool tables, at five dollars per game… There are six pool cues and none of them have tips. There is a kids buffet of hotdogs, more cold cuts, popcorn and nachos. Great spot to hang after dinner and use WiFi guilt free.

Great place - we loved it Great time at Grand Princess. Arrived Christmas Day and departed Jan 2nd. Family of four with two rooms booked. Grounds are beautiful as is the beach and shallow entry into the clear ocean. Rooms are large villa style (3 floors with 2 rooms on each floor). Spacious and comfortable. AC controller frustrating to use but otherwise no issues and very nice rooms. Option to stay near the pool/beach or closer to the lobby/restaurants. We preferred the pool/beach as there are frequent shuttles to and from the lobby. Buffet was great. Not sure why there are food complaints - we enjoyed choices. Staff not entirely pleasant which is why I gave 4 of 5 stars. Otherwise, this resort is fantastic. Nice pools, beautiful beach never a problem to get chairs on the beach or around the pool. Food was great. Drinks were great very nice lobby bar excellent spacious rooms and beautifully manicured grounds. Don’t listen to the other reviews must just be grumpy people.