Grand Palladium Select Bavaro – All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

20366 reviews

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  Not what we were expecting

  This was a much needed and much overdue trip. Unfortunately, there were a few things that could have or should have been done better and we were disappointed over all. So there are both the Good and the Bad. I’ll start with the Good. The resort is newly renovated, and therefore everything is fresh and new, and the grounds are beautiful. The breakfast buffet that we went to every morning had a huge selection available to meet anyone’s tastes and also had fresh honey right from the honeycomb and freshly squeezed juices. The bartenders at the pool did a good job however, as with most all inclusive resorts every drink was different in taste…. whether it was the same bartender that made it or not. We did find the bartenders, the activities staff, “POP”, wait staff in the à la carte, restaurants and front desk, staff to be pleasant and friendly, despite some difficulties in communicating. The resort is huge, so there are multiple pools, bars, and restaurants to choose from however, getting around the resort is tricky if you plan to do it on foot. There are trams that run within the resort, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to a schedule so sometimes you can easily catch one and other times you are waiting and waiting and waiting. The pizza shop and gelato shop. both were delicious and conveniently located near the pool that we went to every day Here’s the “Bad”. When we arrived at the resort, our reservation was “lost”. We instantly knew something was wrong when we were greeted at the entrance and our name wasn’t on the list. We were led to the counter in the lobby where it was a good 20 minutes or more before it was acknowledged to us that there was an issue with our reservation. We were asked questions like “are you sure you’re supposed to be here today?, “ can you please call your travel agent?”( we booked directly with the resort) , we were told to have a seat and then called up to the counter, multiple times, presenting our passports, ID, and all other documents requested. I had a copy of the reservation on my phone with the confirmation number, which I presented multiple times, but the reservation was still apparently not found. Several other managers got involved and still couldn’t solve the problem., so we were sent to the Sports bar to eat and get some drinks to pass the time. Mind you, we flew from Maryland, United States to Punta Cana. I am thankful to Ramon ( the bartender) for his delicious drinks, smile and hospitality to ease some of the anxiety. No one came to get us from the bar to tell us our room was ready but after about 2 hours had passed, we returned to find that we had room ready. At this point in the day, it was already after 6 PM, so Day 1 was a complete loss. We were not offered the opportunity to try to make dinner reservations, and because we had been eating at the buffet at the sports bar, we were too full to eat dinner. We were exhausted from traveling all day and the stress and anxiety of not knowing whether or not the resort was going to accommodate us had taken its toll. Apparently, the resort had to call somewhere else to get the room situation resolved. . We booked a “romance suite” which was supposed to have an outdoor shower and a hammock. There was no hammock in the room, and we reported it, being told that a hammock would be delivered, and one never came. Finally, one of the employees said that the hammocks had been removed from the suites, but we were never notified of this and propaganda throughout the resort shows the suite with a hammock still hanging. Despite our multiple requests, and despite being told a hammock would be delivered, It never came. I’m not sure if what happened next was due to the language barrier or a misunderstanding, but we were told at the end of our first night that someone would come to our room 0900 to take us to breakfast and assist in making dinner reservations for the rest of our stay. We were under the impression that perhaps the staff was trying to remedy what had happened at check in. However, what actually happened is that no one came to our room and as we were walking to find the breakfast buffet , we ran into the same individual who had promised to come get us the day before. He questioned why we were not in the room at the agreed-upon time and we told him that we were and as it turns out they went to the wrong room. This man was wearing a teal green short sleeve collared button-down shirt that said “travel club” on it. I tell you this because it is important to remember that these are salesman and unless you are interested in purchasing a travel club membership, do not engage. We ended up in a sales pitch, which didn’t take long to figure out after we were at breakfast and was promised to only be 90 minutes and ended up being three hours. It was like dealing with a car sales person. The resort is 70 ish acres in total and when we were transported to breakfast, we went clear to the other side of the resort so getting back to our room was a bit of a challenge. Also, because of the check in disaster the day before, we had been nowhere on the resort other than our room and literally had no idea where we were. We were trying to be polite, but finally reached a point of frustration at which we finally ended the sales pitch and were able to return to our room. We grabbed lunch from the lunch buffet in the beach and finally got to the pool sometime after 2 PM on our second day. We literally lost the first day and a half of our vacation. The only thing consistent about this resort was the inconsistency. My husband eats breakfast and every morning we went to the same breakfast buffet. Sometimes we were greeted and offered hand sanitizer and other times no hand sanitizer. We received no instruction the first time there so we patiently waited for someone to come and ask us if we would like something to drink and finally just got up and found our way to the buffet. There are servers walking around offering water and coffee and sometimes they would stop at our table and other times they would not. Sometimes we had silverware/napkins on our table, other times, not. Spoons were almost impossible to come by and I learned to look at the buffet as this was the best chance of getting a spoon. Others around us had mimosas and other drinks, but we found that those seemed to be made available for those fluent in either Spanish or French. It seemed that most servers did not engage with you if you spoke English. However, We did not have the same experience in the a la carte restaurants. I don’t smoke and everywhere we went, it felt like we were walking through second hand smoke. There are no designated smoking areas which overall. In my opinion, is filthy. People using reusable cups as ashtrays at the pools ( gross) and who wants to smell second hand smoke when they are trying to eat? Housekeeping came twice during our 5 day stay even though did not use the do not disturb light. The final observation is the adult only resort. In my opinion, not worth the extra money. We went over to check it out and you do not have access to any of the amenities on the resort unless you paid extra to stay there. The resort was very quiet and felt like God‘s waiting room. Nothing going on there, no music, the pool had some kind of aerobics class with stationary bikes and it felt very boring. Maybe some people look for that in a vacation, but I’m glad we didn’t spend the extra money. Speaking of, if you are not in the adults only section, just be aware that the rest of the resort is open to kids and there are kids everywhere. Just kids being kids, but if that’s not what you want to deal with on your vacation, you should probably consider going somewhere else. Also, this is not the fault of the resort, but there are people walking up and down the beach all day trying to sell you everything and anything and it does get annoying after a while. However, those people do not pressure you into buying anything if you wave them off or tell them no. Overall, based on our experience, we will not be recommending or returning to this resort

  Jan 27, 2026
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  Nice Resort!

  Overall, our stay was excellent! We had a little door hiccup on our first night, but after that was corrected, everything was great. We loved that we could visit the different properties so there was always something for us to explore. I do recommend this resort!

  Jan 24, 2026
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  Toilet overflow

  We had a toilet overflow due to plumbing issue and we lost a night and a next day - disrupted our stay

  Jan 24, 2026
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  The Nest – Where Comfort Meets Refined Service

  A Family Selection–exclusive restaurant with outstanding service and incredibly friendly, attentive staff. The music is lovely, and the dining area feels modern, elegant, and very cozy. Breakfast here is hands down the best in the entire hotel. There’s also a kids’ playroom, which is a great plus for families. The bar deserves a mention too — excellent service and great cocktails.

  Jan 22, 2026
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  Wouldnt Go Back

  look into exchange rates, do your review of room upgrades and do not engage in the member presentation......

  Jan 22, 2026