Grand Palladium Select Bavaro – All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

20179 reviews

• 

  Welcome to the Grand Pandemonium not Grand Palladium !

  This place should be called the Grand Pandemonium not the Grand Palladium. This place is a joke. Do not subject your wedding guests to this “no star” joke of a resort/motel. One thing after another. Checked in at the front desk - “oh we’ve upgraded you to a garden room”. I’m a travel agent (paying full rate not discounted) and have been to dozens of resorts throughout the world and moving from a poolside to garden room isn’t an “upgrade” (Although they believe it is because it’s a bigger room) I repeated over -and over again that I don’t want an “upgrade to a garden view room” Side note: even the front desk could not keep a straight face when I said this isn’t an upgrade. We didn’t care about the size of the room, we wanted to be close to our friends. After going back and forth for over an hour we ended up in a poolside room (which we had originally booked but not remotely close to our friends but much closer to the amenities) Eventually they solved that problem and put us into a category they said wasn’t available just minutes before. Later as we started to get ready for the evenings event, the curtains did not close. Picked up the phone to call the front desk. Phone is broken. Jumped in the shower. No hot water. After a cold shower I went to use the hair dryer, no hair dryer in the room. On the way to the event we stopped by the front desk and there was no apology. Nothing except attitude. Asked Daniel to speak to the manager on duty. He told me there isn’t a manager on duty. A resort this size without a manager on duty? Really? They must really think the average guest is stupid. Instead I got a referral to another desk … explained the situation again and was referred to yet another person and explained it again. Oh … got back to the room, still no blow dryer and the phone still doesn’t work so we can’t call anyone. Spend your money wisely and do NOT book this place. They have you trapped and they know it so they can just keep saying No No No. This place should be called the grand pandemonium… not palladium.

  Nov 13, 2025
• 

  Travel Club Membership Scam

  DO NOT PURCHASE MEMBERSHIP My email to Palladium CEO I am reaching out to you regarding our membership, as we are hoping you will reply to us with heart, care and resolution to our membership with Palladium. We are to the utmost extremely unhappy and dissatisfied with our membership that we purchased earlier this year of 2025 on our visit to TRS Turquesa in Punta Cana. We feel that our contract was not fulfilled according to stated within the contract. On October 24, 2025, we returned to TRS Turquesa in Punta Cana for a 2nd time for our 6 year anniversary, to celebrate, relax and enjoy our special day and time. None of that happened for us at all. We wasted so much of our time back and forth with your Travel Club team, where we were also treated absolutely terrible in many ways, and now we feel that our agreement that we had signed was not fulfilled at all by Palladium. To begin with, the air conditioning did not work properly and was often hot in our suite, and the patio door had nothing on the outside of the door to let us in if we stepped out on the balcony. We were locked out 3 times because of this and had to wait to have somebody hopefully walk by to get us help to get back in. For both of these incidents, we reported them to the Palladium staff a few times, and not once did anyone come to fix both issues. To continue, the chair on our patio fell apart while I was sitting in it causing me to fall and injure my neck (which affected our entire stay also). Again we reported this and nothing was done to fix the chair or anything. To continue, the water in our suite was always scalding hot and this was not attended to as well. On one occasion while I was showering they turned off the water off on us without any advanced notice to us that they would be turning off the water. On one night the resort decided to do pool repairs outside our poolside suite at 10:30pm with loud cement saws. Also as part of our Palladium membership, we were never offered or given our excursions that come with our membership. They basically just checked us in and nothing else. We were not even notified by anyone that the secret pool was shut down. That happened to also be a huge reason for our return to TRS. This trip back to TRS Turquesa in Punta Cana was an absolute nightmare, and this was our 6 year anniversary trip we were celebrating. There was no celebration for us because of everything listed that we been through. We spent more time back and forth with Palladium then enjoying ourselves and relaxing. To continue, on many multiple occasions we had presented every mishap and concern to the staff at the members lodge, where nothing was done for us and we were treated absolutely terrible by them. We even tried to work with the team at TRS Turquesa on a suitable resolution, but this never transpired because of the way we were treated by them. I am reaching out to you today as we want out of our contract and to be fully refunded 100% on everything we have put down. This includes our original full deposit. We feel that our contract with pallidium was not met at all to the standard within the contract at all. On multiple occasions we spoke with Yenis Diaz, the Local Verifying Executive at TRS Turquesa about this entire matter (as well as continued conversations through email) once we we're back home in America. All her soloution was to any of this was to offer us a lesser package, where we don't have to pay the continued monthly fee anymore. I am reaching out to you for resolution to us on this entire matter. We feel you should refund us 100% on everything we have given, and our requesting this as a good will on your part. Our membership ID is included so you can look into it and details of what we put into this monetarily. We are prepared to take matters to the next level with attorneys, all social media, Better Business Bureaus, and travel sites. We hope that it doesn't come down to this. I have included my contact info if you or your team would like to reach out to me. We have all necessary information, documentation and communications between us and Yenis Diaz. I look forward to a response.

  Nov 07, 2025
• 

  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