Grand Palladium Select Bavaro – All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

20178 reviews

• 

  Not a 5 star hotel.

  Before you read this please note I am NOT one for complaining & leaving bad reviews but this hotel should not be classed as a 5 star & I wouldn’t want someone to go here with high expectations. I’d give it 2/3 tops. It was just one thing after another. What should have been a relaxing 2 week holiday was just stress & disappointment. The service was awful unless you are a local, you could wait 20 minutes for anyone to even notice you are sat waiting for a drink which at breakfast time was frustrating because you can’t help yourself to tea & coffee, the food was awful, even in the al a carte restaurants, the only place worth eating anything was the Hemingway sports bar but that was also hit & miss. The majority of the staff were miserable, unhelpful & didn’t care. There were a couple of barmen round the pool who were friendly but that was it. The night we arrived the room our girls were staying in the wardrobe doors were broken & couldn’t be opened, we asked for them to be fixed the following morning as we were exhausted from travelling, maintenance turned up at 11.20pm at night to fix them. Their shower was only running cold water which also needed to be fixed the next day. The wardrobes in mine & my partners room sprang a leak on day 3, water pouring out. We had to go to reception the first 3/4 days to ask for bottled water in the rooms because they weren’t being replenished. We gave up asking & resorted to taking bottles from the cleaning trollies at then end of hallways. If you ask for water at any bar or restaurant you get a little cup of water, bottled isn’t given. The rooms weren’t cleaned properly, we had to put a towel at the edge of the bed to wipe out feet before getting into bed because the floors were dirty & full of sand. The same stray strand of hair (not ours) stayed on the same tap in the bathroom for the full 2 weeks we were there. The drains are atrocious, the smell when you have a shower is like raw sewage that fills the whole room. At weekends Friday, Saturday & Sunday locals are given huge discounts to stay at & use the hotel facilities so getting anywhere near the pools or bars or getting food was bedlam. I’m talking coach loads of people. No exaggeration. Hundreds of them. People were smoking cigarettes & cigars in the pools. I don’t mean sat on the edge with their feet in. I mean stood in the middle of the pool holding an ashtray. VILE. We were told on arrival there were 2 buffet restaurants for breakfast & lunch. The day we tried to use the one along the beachfront we were rudely told ‘Not open’ ‘only lunch’ & shooed out of there with a hand gesture to leave. We went to the Dominican last year & never experienced anything like this so I can only put it down to this hotel. We all got sick from the Indian too. Luckily we only had a bit of upset stomachs but a few people we met had been violently sick from eating there, they informed reception & didn’t get any sort of apology. Just ‘oh, okay’. The only positive was the beach was beautiful until the storm turned up & washed the seaweed in. (Nothing to do with the hotel). I’d say maybe we were spoilt by the last hotel we stayed at but for the amount of people complaining was ridiculous. Oh & expect power cuts. We experienced at least 4, the longest one was 4/5 hours. I can only guess that was something down to the renovation works. If you expect 5 star this is not the hotel for you.

  Oct 27, 2025
• 

  Fabulous hotel

  Beautiful hotel, lovely rooms, buffet food was standard, never any spoons anywhere, right on the beach which was stunning.

  Aug 25, 2025
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  Great location and good for coeliacs!

  *Please read before booking* I will be completely honest, I wanted to give this hotel a 5 star but knocked it down to 3. I will start with the negatives, critics and then the good. 1. Upon getting to the resort at 5:30pm after a 9 hour flight my partner and I wasn’t welcomed a welcome drink. We were waiting over 30 minutes to be checked in, I understand that these things happen when a lot of people arrive at the same time. 2. After checking in a member of staff from the ‘Travel Club’ advised that we would get picked up the next morning at 9:30am, be taken to breakfast and have a tour of the complex as it is a huge facility. Great, or so we thought. Next morning comes along and we had breakfast with a staff member and instead of being taken on a tour, we were taken to the Travel Members Club. We were unaware of what was to come, I had advised the staff member who was with us that we had a meeting with the transfers at 10:45am and the response was ‘we have plenty of time’. Little did we know that this was a huge selling point for them to get us to join the membership. They even took us to some of the VIP rooms and ‘private’ beach to try and persuade us. We were there for four and a half hours and completely wasted our first morning in ‘paradise’. We had spent a significant amount of money on this holiday and it wasn’t off to a great start. To be a member, you are looking to spend £24,000+ and wanted a significant portion straight away as a down payment. My partner and I kept declining and they eventually let us leave at nearly 2pm. So WHEN you are being told that someone is picking you up to take you to breakfast and do a tour PLEASE decline and carry on with your holiday. I didn’t think to look through many other 1* reviews that experienced the same encounter as us, this left us feeling very frustrated and annoyed. Look out for the staff wearing the light blue or dark blue polo shirts that have ‘Travel Member’ on them. ‘From Guests to Family’ is their motto but really it is far from that as all they want is your money and will try every selling tactic they know. Critics; 1. I am coeliac and dairy intolerant and although the chef took me around the whole buffet, advising me what I can or can’t eat. It is a lot of information to take in, the food should add what it contains on the cards above the dishes, for example; contains gluten/milk/nuts etc or if it doesn’t. That way people like myself can familiarise ourselves easier with the dishes. 2. Try and get to dinner no later than 7:45 and there will be a queue and you will be waiting 15/20 minutes to get in and seated. 3. You will get asked around the pool and beach to book excursions etc. A polite no and they leave you be. 4. Having an app or an itinerary with your map when checking in of what entertainment is going on on what days would be very helpful, as we have missed a few of these due to not knowing. *EDIT* by other reviews there is an app, however that is no good to us now as we have checked out of the hotel. It would have been nice to have been informed upon checking in. 5. An option to have a tour of the complex with no hidden agendas as there are roughly 7/8 pools and we could only find two during our stay. 6. Personal preference, making animals with the towels would be a good touch as it is a 5* resort and perhaps add a complementary massage at the spa. 7. The jacuzzi bath didn’t work and the rings kept falling into the bath. 8. The shower in room 8714 could do with being updated but still worked. 9. The housekeeping needed to check the shower gels and conditioner and top up when needed. 10. We did notice a lot of ants in the bathroom. 11. To make the food safer, it would be great to keep gluten free options in a separate area away from gluten containing ingredients so there is no risk of cross contamination from other guests. 12. Some dairy/gluten free options for dessert at dinner would be a lovely extra, E.g; vegan ice cream or gluten free pancakes that are offered at breakfast. Good; 1. We have been staying in room 8714 and the housing keeping has been amazing, beds have been made, mini fridge topped up daily and the rooms have been clean. Our stuff hasn’t been touch, for that I have put all my trust into the house keeping, we have the deluxe garden view with views of the ocean and beautiful views of the sun rise. 2. Hospitality at the buffet breakfast and dinner have been amazing. Some will recognise you and make your drinks without having to ask and will bring out more drinks when they see yours is running low. 3. It was amazing to meet Pedro the chef, he has taken me around the dishes and letting me know what I cannot or can eat. He is always around and is more than happy to answer any questions regarding the dishes or to take you around the dishes again. Thank you Pedro, you gave me much reassurance. 4. I fail to understand why there are so many bad reviews on the food as the presentation is superb. It can be a little repetitive but that’s bound to happen with a buffet. My partner had a delightful experience trying all of the different desserts. He said all the mini desserts dishes were amazing as well as the meat, it was cooked beautifully. 5. The grounds are well kept and maintained. 6. The free WiFi works all around the complex and including the beach. 7. My partner and I have found the staff around the complex attentive, friendly and helpful. 8. Air con worked perfectly as did the TV. 9. At dinner, the gluten free bread is kept at the back, if you ask for Pedro (one of the head chef) he will bring it out to you. Overall, we have had a pleasant experience and time at the Grand Palladium and would definitely return and recommend to friends and family.

  Aug 07, 2025
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  If you think the rooms smell bad the food is worse.

  Title says it all. This resort is not worth the money and I wished I had booked elsewhere. Once you say no to the "Travel Club" they treat you like a second rate guest.

  Aug 07, 2025
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  Great family holiday

  We just returned from a wonderful holiday at the Grand Palladium Palace. The hotel was clean and lovely. The staff were very friendly. There was a wide selection of food for people with celiac disease.

  Jul 22, 2025