Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort & Spa Hotel

I was here with my husband and son from April 5th to 12th. We really enjoyed ourselves and were very impressed with the resort. We expected it to be big but it was huge. Lots of walking to and fro within the resort but all clearly marked out to see where you were going. Lobby of the hotel was lovely and clean with very good decor. Very pleasing and nice staff and nice bars to sit around the whole resort. The main pool which we used was absolutely lovely and huge and of course there was always some form of entertainment going on within the resort, from diving lessons to water aerobics, water volley ball and water polo and not to mention the meringue classes which seemed to be great fun. The food was plentiful buffet style but one gets overwhelmed with the choice of what you want to eat. On the whole the food was very good and nicely presented.I highly recommend visiting an all inclusive resort like this which is set in a very idyllic setting with a beautiful beach near by. The one advantage of being on the beach you can visit the beach bar and have lunch there and they are not so formal with the mens shoulders being covered up at this time. The main restaurant they are quite strict with the mens shoulders being covered up even at Breakfast! This place is a great place to relax and enjoy yourself. If you are visiting soon, enjoy. We will certainly visit the Dominican Republic again and would go all inclusive. It is advisable to tip the staff the main staff that looked after us who we saw the most of we tipped at the end of our holiday. It is advisable to tip the maid every day who did a great job in our room and if you are able to speak a bit of Spanish it does help as the mini bar is complimentary and we asked her if she could fill up the bar with more drinks if possible, which she did. So a couple of bucks wont go amiss at all. We used to just leave the money on top of the fridge. Having said that you can always go up to the bar and take a few bottles back to your room.One piece of adh with the local water as I completely forgot so make sure you have plenty of mineral water to do your teeth! We had a great time and I hope you do to.Lulu

Got teen age kids? This place is the place to go. We took our 3 sons ages 14, 16 & 23. Service was excellent. What we liked best is that there was so much fun stuff to do (you can go your seperate ways and meet for lunch / dinner - bring post it notes and leave them on your room door as to where and when to meet) within the 3 sister resorts that are located within walking distance of each other. Pack plenty of sunscreen as it is mega expensive here. The 4pm water polo was an every day event for us as was the disco for the boys. The buffets are the way to go, over 100 choices on each, all presented beautifully. Don't get too psyched up aboput the all you can eat lobster buffet on Friday. It's good, but dosn't hold a candle to Maine lobster. The disco opens at 11pm and rocks till about 2am when you can go to the pizzeria, this is generally for the 15 to late 20's crowd. The 10pm shows can go from a little hokey to really great. This place requires alot of walking which in my opinion is a good thing seeing the food was so good and I ate way more than I should. Bugs were virtually non existant. Absolutely pristine beaches. If you go anywhere in the Dominican, please remember to tip. If anyone, including the aquatic crew, entertainment staff, etc. provides you a service, please remember to tip. Often in all inclusives guests don't think about it. They are so grateful. Loved it, not one of us wanted to leave.

My wife and I vacationed at the Fiesta Bavaro March 26-April 2, 2003. We had a wonderful experience. We always had taken vacations that offered freedom and I was concerned about being cooped up for a week. I shouldn't have worried. They have two sister resorts neighboring and we had the opportunity to use all 3 resorts facilities (you can get a resort specific package also). A short walk away was a busy shopping area that was fun to visit. We even took a guided day-trip to more fully appreciate the Dominican Republic landscape and people..loved it. The resort itself was great. From checkin to checkout the people were wonderful..helpful and courteous. The room was large (junior suite) with a separate living room. The beach was almost like Cancun's before the hurricane hit it. Soft sand, no rocks, clear water, excellent wading or swimming temperature. No wonder over half of the guests at the hotel were from Europe..they have discovered it and obviously treasure the Dominican's environment. The swimming pool was an active place but large enough that noone fel crowded. Excellent service at the pool bar. Food...great food, we had our choice of 7 restaurants at the 3 resorts. Some of them were theme restaurants and we tried them, but our greatest meals were in their main dining rooms with large buffets. Food for every appetite. The presentation and size of the selections were outstanding to the point that many people were taking pictures of the buffets. They must not have felt that they could accurately describe it to friends/relatives back home. All in all a great, affordable vacation. We were too busy to feel cooped up-we had a lot of freedom at an all inclusive resort.

By far the best vacation ever. Went out there with 6 friends all of us between ages of 19-25 and we all loved it. The hotel was very well kept and the staff was very friendly. We all speak spanish so that was a major plus to be able to communicate with everyone. The food was excellent a wide selection so you dont' have to be eating the same thing over. Would highly recommend it to anyone.

My husband and I just got back from Punta Cana. We were there from March 23,2003-March 30, 2003 and stayed at the Fiesta Bavaro. Having travelled extensively through the Carribean and Mexico, we can honestly say that this has been one of our best trips yet. Cannot find anything to really complain about. If you are looking for a resort that is set on a awesome and clean grounds, has a wonderful white sand beach, offers good food with lots of variety, has nice clean rooms and offers service with a smile...then this is the resort for you. The weather was perfect...the beach was paradise. We highly recommend this resort and in fact we not hesitate in returning ourselves.

We stayed at the Fiesta Bavaro from March,20-March,27. We loved this resort. This was are second trip to Punta Cana. We stayed at Riu Melao first time. First of all we were never treated like 2nd rate citizens. We are American and were treated with utmost courtesy. We had a junior suite, very nice and air-conditioning worked great. We had washcloths and plenty trial size shampoos lotions etc, hair dryers worked great. You might want to bring a clock with you, none in rooms. The pool was great, nice swim up bar. The beach was absolutly beautiful. I just wish there would have been more shade huts. Had to get up pretty early in the morning to reserve chairs. The buffet restaurant was huge and had alot of variety of food and I thought was good. We ate at Tex-Mex one night and had very good food. It was my birthday the staff made it very special for me. They sang happy birthday to me and brought me a cake that was real good!We found the staff to be very helpful and nice and friendly. We would highly recommend this resort to anyone. Also grounds were extremely taken care of plenty of palm trees and flowers, I think it was breathtaking. Can't find much to complain about. Would definitly go back in a heart beat!

We arrived early.There was a long line up at the front desk.We were given a room right away.The desk clerk rambled something in Spanish and sent us off.They were understaffed for a tour coming in.The rest of the staff at the resort we found friendly and helpful.Always a warm smile.An occaisonal tip to a bartender or porter is appreciated.Presidente beer is great.Always cold and fresh.I heard that they had a German Brewmaster help them with it.Nice Rum drinks,Pina coladas ect.Be sure to ask "con rum" or you might get a virgin drink!The restaurants are not worth the time.It seems that most of the food comes from one main kitchen however I'm not sure.There is a long wait every morning for people who want to sign up for the next days dinner.We found that the lunch time buffet at the restaurant near the beach,and the buffet near the main lobby for Breakfast or dinner was fantastic.My wife and I are not usually into "buffett"dining,however the food and the variety was great.Always hot many choices,friendly effecient workers.The hotel does a great job here!The grounds are nice .I was creeped out that there was not anything living really around.I did see some but not near the insect activity or lizards that I would hope to see in a tropical location.They must spray heavily.Beach is wonderful.Beautiful color.Water is warm.We spent our last 3 or 4 days just sitting on the beach swimming ,gawking ect.Met some fellow Canucks on a trip to Santo Domingo .Main city of the DR it is an interesting trip.Gives you an idea of actually where you are and a good insight to the peoples lives there.Nice Place all in all,makes me want to learn spanish!

The positives: Great beach, staff, room, weather, and grounds. Good food, pools, and fun. The negatives: Telephone service. Would not put calls through to us from family in the states. Nudity allowed on beach and at pools. Be warned.

This resort was the most pleasant surprise for my boyfriend and I. Although arriving very late in the evening, the staff were courteous and very helpful considering the hour. Our room was spotless every single day and the room fridge filled every second day. The rooms are arranged into villas which make you feel more at home than in an enormous resort. The beach was spotless and gorgeous. The cleanliness of the place never ceased to amaze us. Tablecloths were changed in the restaurants consistently from person to person even when very unneccessary. This resort has an exceptional amount of walking but not, so much that you feel like you have been placed into the middle of nowhere. There are supermarkets at two of the resorts that are attached and much of the stuff was reasonably priced if you had the munchies for American chips, chocolate bars etc., and for other things that were accidentally left at home. Do not forget sunscreen because at the resort it is $25 US. There were plenty of things to do extracurricularly for younger and even older people from basketball, mini-golf, archery and sailing etc. The food was excellent, with lots to choose from for every type of eater meat to veggie. Overall this resort was an amazing place to stay, and it is one of those places were we would choose to go again if the oppurtunity arose. Amazing people and I would reccommend it to families adn couples. It suites everyone's vacation desires.

I will never book thru Apple Vacation.we were suppose to leave on President day, however, because of the snow we were stuck. Eventhogh Alvaro and Ruth, apple representatives at the hotel, knew that we won't depart that day, they kept us checking with them every 45 minutes.When we finally learned that we were stuck, we were trying to book our room for another night, however, we were told that by hotel manager that no rooms were available. Our rooms were suppose to be given to another group of apple vacation travelers, however, that group was stuck in New York. The only reasonable explanation for unavailability of rooms is that Fiesta Bavaro Hotel was overbooked. We were told that Europeans were given priority with rooms because Americans only give them 3% of their business.Eventually, we got a room late in the evening. When we woke up next morning, we spend an hour cleaning our luggage of small ants. Of course, we were charged an outrageous rate for this room.Overall, it's trully 4 star resort with a wondeful beach and so-so food. There are no freshly squeezed juices, not a lot of variety of food. The resort advertises 3 restaurant, however, you need to get to the lobby by 9AM to book two of them and by 7AM to book the other. This hotel has a nice pool area, however, during a peak season, you can't find a place to sit if you don't drop your towel there by 8:30AM. The property is very green. There are a lot of maps to indicate your location. It's hard to get lost there. You can play a lot of sports. SNORKELING IS NOT PROVIDED THRU RESORT., you have to use 3rd party vendor. We were staying at a villa, and our room was very spacious. However, since resort is very large, it depends on your luck if you get a villa in a good location. Our rooms were cleaned daily. I was promptly provided with a spray against there small ants.If you are an American, I strongly discourage you to go to this resort. Fiesta Bavaro resort would be acceptable for the price we paid, however, no bargain worth sacrifising your dignity. I won't go there to be treated as 2nd class person, just because Europeans bring them majority of business.