Gran Ventana Beach Resort — Hotel in Puerto Plata

Pros: Clean second floor room with view of ocean The beach restaurant has good chicken wings at lunch time Lots of booze flowing, but that’s the same at any resort Area on the beach for those with VIP/Royal passes Safe in room Friendly staff The rooms facing the beach are quiet at night If you have any issues go see staff and they take care of it quickly Check out was quick and smooth The bus transfers to and from the resort are very handy There was a gift mentioned by the concierge but it turns out to be a photo taken by one of the resort photographers The fruit basket was very nice and so was the 2 small bottles of rum that were put in our room

Cons: There was no king sized beds (option was two singles or king) as is advertised Food in the main restaurant is an overall let down, other resorts buffets are better. Can always find a rice or pasta dish to fill up on if there is nothing else that you like. When you open the lid on a seafood dish and it gives off a strong fishy smell - just put the lid back down - that’s never a good sign. In any of the onsight restaurants always cut open your hamburger to ensure it’s cooked on the inside. I brought one blackish burger back to the cook and showed him that it’s still raw inside. I said to the cook I think your grills too hot. He wasn’t happy that I pointed it out but oh well. When the grill is so hot that it burns the meat before it cooks it inside is a cooking issue. When I looked around many people were not eating them either. I feel bad for those that didn’t notice it and got sick later that night The beach restaurant becomes one you need to book reservations at night. Our group of 4 went one night and we all had ribs. One of our group couldn’t eat his as it was very fatty, he felt unwell afterwards When you have the VIP/Royal pass we were not told in advance that there was a different area to report in to to check in so waited for over half an hour at the front desk until we finally got to the head of the line downstairs before we found out we had to go upstairs to check in. Could I suggest that one of the porters could go up/down the line and ask if anyone was there on Royal/VIP? While in the VIP/Royal area on the beach every time I asked for towels they did not have any. Do you have a lounger? No (yet I could see the wooden loungers in behind the hut area). I was getting use to being told no when I asked for anything there (other than drinks) so I stopped going. While others were being very catered to hand and foot. If you’re willing to keep slipping them more and more money for every little action otherwise the service seems to slip and is not equal to all (we paid $200+ for the Royal/VIP for both which was not really worth it tbh) Just a reminder to put out the do not disturb sign on your door before bed! Otherwise staff will knock and come in in the mornings. Luckily I had put the bathroom door lock on, but she still knocked on it as well. So in order to avoid walk-ins put the sign out the night before Why does it mention turn down service every night when there isn’t one that I can see? There is often a towel shortage at both the beach and at the towel area near the pools.. often hear people complain. If towels are laying around loungers for longer than 4-5 hours why are they not considered ‘abandoned’ and picked up for cleaning? What if they don’t come back at all that day? Then those towels have to be hunted down later by staff. There was a sign on the desk in the VIP area saying towels were considered abandoned after 30-45 min but it’s not enforced at the pool or the beach at all Unable to join Rm wifi .. it worked the first day and a half then stopped. When I asked she said to unplug the router behind the tv and plug it back in - that it should work. Wifi is mediocre across the rest of the resort (pages fail to load for example) We did the boat excursion out to Paradise Island. It took nearly 2 hours each way by bus to get to the boat departure point and it was over $300 for...

Bottom line: do not stay here if you like quality food and good service. Note, this review is strictly about the resort and not DR. Dominican Republic is an awesome beautiful country and worthy of exploring, just don't do it at this resort

Pros: It is a very clean resort. All areas were well maintained, cleaned multiple times daily, with no cobwebs or dust even in the rafters or on light fixtures. Some of the staff were amazing, one bartender ensured my friend's phone wasn't stolen by the staff after it went missing (rest of story in the cons) The beach is nice and quiet even when full of people. The Royal Package was inexpensive and is the only way to visit this resort of you insist on staying here because you actually get real alcohol and custom drinks in a private, quiet club and you had a private beach area with beds and drink service.

Cons: The alcohol at the non VIP bars was all the same local distilled stuff with different "flavors" like whiskey flavor, gin flavor, etc. Most of the drinks were disgusting, too sweet, or so watered down as to be not worth it. There are no "superior" rooms. When you book a royal package, it says "oceanside superior" room. All the rooms are the same, we checked (unless you buy a suite) and there are no oceanside rooms or ocean view rooms at this resort. You may be near the beach, but you don't overlook it or the ocean. I dislike misleading advertising. Dishonest staff. My friend left her phone in one of the bathrooms overnight. She went to the front desk the next morning and they denied having it. She checked multiple times that day, the staff denied having it and no one made any effort to get her information or to notify security about the loss. Later that evening we were hanging out at one of the bars where a familiar bartender was serving. We were lamenting the loss of the phone and when our favorite bartender found out that no one had helped us, she went over to the front desk desk and reamed them a new one and demanded they call security and surprisingly the phone turned up right there at the front desk. The fact that staff had had the phone all day and wouldn't give it to us was disconcerting. The next incident, one of our group asked the front desk for a bandaid and was told to go to the store and buy some, but when a different member went and asked, a bandaid was freely given. Basically, the staff was inconsistent and inconsiderate except in a few instances. No orientation or info. As VIPs, we were told we would have private check in and special access to the restaurants and other perks (fruit basket in room,etc). We did have private check in, after we waited 30 minutes for someone to acknowledge us and call the VIP lady. We were never told about the process for making reservations, so we missed restaurant dinners the first 2 nights. There was no fruit basket in our room, it arrived hours later (2 apple and 2 pears, and moldy grapes, nothing local or sliced). No special perks as promised. There is also no VIP level of service. Our original room was right next to the pool and the main entertainment area (not what I expected for my "superior oceanside room") which involved parties and music until midnight or 2:00 in the morning. After the first night of no sleep, we went to the front desk asking if we could change and we were told we could only come between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00 to ask. So we came between the hours of 8:00 and 3:00 and they said that they couldn't change our room until the next day. So we had a second night of no sleep because of entertainment. We finally were able to move on the third day and were in a quieter area of the resort. The beach beds were nice but you needed to get up at sunrise to lay your stuff on one to claim it!! This is my vacation, I don't want to feel like I'm at a Black Friday sale fighting for some prize that I paid extra to get. The food was mediocre at best and gross on the regular. We ate at all the restaurants and the buffet. Only a few things over 5 days were something I would...

Came here for a week on a couple's trip. We've never done an all-inclusive trip before but our friends have. We booked through Sunwing. Was picked up from the airport on a bus, check in took a bit but we were served drinks. Our room was clean (didn't experience any bugs) and well-equipped for a week-long stay. Though our friends got the Royal upgrade which in retrospect seems to be worth the price.

After getting settled, our first experience was the snack bar around 1am. Burgers and hot dogs are typically served around this time - limited menu but still good. Breakfast typically has a wide selection with a rotating menu - would recommend avoiding any eggs from the serving trays and get fresh ones made or an omelette. Typically good meat options around this time too, lots of fruit, etc.

Lunch and dinner are really the peak of food being offered at the buffet. Very wide selection again with a rotating menu. We eventually ran into the issue of not having enough room to try everything. You typically get a spread of Latin, Continental, Asian, Italian, with other additions as well. Consensus of the group was that the food was a definite winner. The restaurants typically serve the same food that you'll occasionally see at the buffet. But they also serve wine, appetizers, and certain desserts you can't get at the buffet. I'd recommend doing a reservation at each restaurant at least once.

Alcohol served is what I would call a local brand. Most of it is 37.5% - in addition to standard bar spirits they also make Mamajuana which is really delicious. The laminated menus they have are only a fraction of the real menu. Each bartender has a special, and they make a lot more frozen drinks if you ask for them by name (Dominican Love, Miami Vice, etc.). Bartenders were all friendly, I'd recommend tipping a couple bucks so they get to you a little quicker. It is recommended you also bring your own cup as the ones provided at the resort are quite small. Be advised they pour them pretty strong - but at least you're not unnecessarily consuming empty calories to get a buzz. We spent the most time at the pool bar but the biggest issue was kids splashing nearby. I wish they did more to police that but ultimately bad parents are gonna parent badly. Feel free to shoo them yourself.

There are typically activities centred around the pool from about 10am-5pm. If you're looking to do things during the day for no additional cost I'd recommend hanging out here. Typically there is no problem finding chairs - but you may be a little far from the pool. The beach is gonna be your other option. It is clean, the sand is soft and there are a good amount of chairs. If you are looking to tan here you'll want to go earlier in the day as the sun goes over the trees around 4pm. Only downside to the beach is there are a lot of people selling various goods and services. Been to enough beaches in Latin America at this point to know how to handle them (pretend to sleep). Some of the prices are a bit ridiculous but everything is negotiable. Helps to have a Spanish speaker in your party. I'd recommend walking east down the beach so you can see the other resorts. Did not go on any excursions.

Night entertainment was a bit on the lacking side. One of the main drawbacks for a group in their 20s is the place is about 50% baby boomers, 30% families and children and about 20% younger adults. There is no disco on the premises, but there is one very close by (Clubber) - the promoter usually comes by in the evenings to corral a group there - I'd recommend checking it out. This is a bit of a trade-off but the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed - provided you can avoid the unaccompanied young children running around.

Lastly, the wifi here is not good. Big issue is they're using Wifi4 which has a very small limit. You will be regularly booted off the network if you can even find a spot where you're in range. Need more coverage at the pool. Room wifi needs an upgrade too. Speeds too low to stream much.

Overall a good experience and a great value....