we are a group of 3 young couples age 24-37 who went to this resort in February 2008. Before going we read all of the reviews and did our research. Other than a few little things, our week was great!

We booked through Transat Holidays who actually hire westjet as a charter. we were provided with a boxed lunch on the way there and on the way back. The flights were great, the punta cana airport a breeze...The transport to and from the resort were great too, big comfy air conditioned busses!

Check in was fast and efficient. we arrived in the evening around 9pm and were exhausted from a long day of travelling.

We got to our rooms and hit our first problem. I have asthma and so I requested all three rooms to be on the top floor due to the musty smell you usually get on the bottom but they weren't, our room was on the bottom and our friends rooms were on the top. The ones on the top floor were absolutely gorgeous with pillars in the room, a jacuzzi tub in the room, and a king bed...whereas ours was just a standard room with two double beds even though we requested a king and it did have a musty smell. We went to the front desk immediately and were told the only other room available was on the other side of the resort so we decided to stay where we were and I just took my puffer all week.

The resort grounds are absolutely beautiful and they are always working on them. The staff works hard to maintain the resort. There were covered walkways, tall palms, ponds with wildlife in them, and of course, the beautiful beach which the groundsmen are constantly cleaning up!

The beach....would have to be the best beach I have been on in my life and I live on the ocean! it has tourquoise waters, soft soft sand...it gets busy during the day but it is sooo big that there is lots of room for everyone. Be sure to take a walk on the beach in the moonlight...it was full moon when we were there and my boyfriend and I went for a walk on the moonlit beach and the moon was so bright you could see your shadow.....perfect for him to propose which he did!!!

Pools- There are a lot of pools on this resort, we usually spent our time at the pool that's right by the beach. There is also a small restaurant there that serves buffett lunch so it was very convenient. There is a swim up bar in every pool ans we always made use of them! be sure to bring floaty toys and pass them on to someone when you leave!

Lounge Chairs- we never had trouble finding 6 lounge chairs, they may not have been altogether but that doesn't mean they weren't moveable it never took us more than 5 minutes to find chairs. We usually got up at about 8am and put towels on our chairs before heading to breakfast (it's a horrible thing and I hate it but you have to play the game if you want chairs!) It's those that put towels on both the beach and pool chairs that I can't stand!

Drinks/Food- The drinks were great and plentiful. if you want more alcohol, ask for Mucho Rum or Mucho vodka! Banama Mamas were the best as well as coco coladas! For premium drinks, there is a path right by the main buffett restaurant la cathedral, this path goes through the woods and leads to a wonderful bar called Hemmingways where you can sit in airconditioning or outside (we chose to be outside). This bar is the resorts best kept secret because hardly anyone realizes it's there. we found it on night 3 and made a point of going back every evening after dinner. Here they serve kaluha, bailey's, frangelico (yum), cosmopolitans made with SKY vodka, Johnny Walker, Jim Beam...lots of premium drinks you won't get anywhere else! The bartender is great and knows how to make a wicked cosmo!
The food on this resort was very good and plentiful. We went to the mexican and seafood a la cartes. The Mexican was delicious the seafood I wouldn't recommend although my meal was good...others didn't enjoy theirs. One person from our group got severely sick from the seafood (clams) this was no fault of the resort as when we returned home, we learnt there was a problem with the clams all throughout Punta Cana and they just didn't catch it in time. The resort staff was very good and even made a tray of food for us to take to our sick friend when she couldn't get out of bed.

Excursions/Shopping- The shopping at the market down the beach towards the flags was great. be aware of lots of shop owners hassleing you to shop at their store....cheapy cheapy just for you! They are just trying to make a living so keep an open mind and remember to barter you can usually get something for half the cost...the paintings are absolutely gorgeous and we bought 6! There is also shopping on the resort but you can't barter here. I bought Puma sneakers for $60 which isn't bad considering they are $100 here for the same ones. As for excursions, us gals decided to keep our butts in a lounge chair in the sun but the guys did a deep sea fishing excursion and quite enjoyed it. The only thing was that it was extremely rough on the water that day so if you don't have your sea legs, you might feel queezy (we are from a fishing village so our guys have their sea legs but there was another one that almost went overboard!) While the guys were on their excusion, us gals had a little photo shoot on the beach...this is fun and the pics are $7 each in the photo shop out by the little shops. If you want to get your hair braided to go the first shop in the market on the beach and ask for jizelle. she braided all three of our hair and did a great job and she was cheap! only $20 for a whole head or $15 for half....be sure to barter because she starts off much higher than this.

All-in-all, except for a few little things, this resort is great and I'm sure we will go back! probably in 2009!

I hope this helped calm anyones nerves...feel free to e-mail me at [----] for more info.

HOTEL/ROOM

Very smooth transaction from Punta Cana airport to the hotel where we were met by Bell Boys who took care of our luggage, while we checked in & were given a much apppreciated cocktail. We then got taken to our apartment by the bell boy on a little buggy thingy along with our luggage. We where very impressed with our spacious room with king size bed, and a large bathroom, we stayed in block 21 room 1211 which is ideally located near a pool and not far from the beach. The rooms are air conditioned & also have ceiling fans. The mini bar is stocked daily with beer/coke/sprite/fanta/water. Towells were changed either every day or every other.

BEACH

The 1st morning we awoke very early and decided to walk to the beach to watch the sunrise. The beach is lush, around 7ish people started putting towells on sunbeds which had umbrellas, which was the same most days, we however didn't bother with an umbrella as you found in the afternoon, some people thought it was perfectly acceptable to invade your space and join you under your umbrella (spanish people) There are plenty of palm trees on the beach which provide you with as good shade. You do get lots of looky looky men on the beach selling the usual jewellery, hats, paintings etc. but they are not overly pushy and will generally accept a polite no thank-you, there is no need to be rude! The other sellers are the guys from the watersports centre selling trips, banana boats, parasailing etc. who are totally trustworthy and polite. The Kayaks/Windsurfing/Pedlo's are free on the beach for as long as you like.

POOLS

We found the pools at the Punta Cana/Palace Resort alot better than the Bavaro as this was very crowded & got loud around 4pm when the enteraintment team played very loud music for games etc. The Palace pool has a restaurant that provided a lunchtime buffett.

FOOD

We found the food superb at this hotel - Catherdral restaurant is buffett breakfast (so much to choose from) cooked fresh in front of you - omlettes/pancakes/waffles & the usual fried breakfast/pastries/cakes/fruit/cereals/yoghurts/smoothies etc.
This restaurant also does evening meal buffett which is a different theme each night, Spanish/Mexican/Oriental/Dominican/Italian/American.
There are 6 Al a carte restaurants which you didn,t have to book, and you could use as many times as you wanted, they have a Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Dominican & Sea food, we only tried the Mexican/Japanese/Italian which are all fantastic.
At lunchtime The Arricife restaurant next to beach does a superb buffett. There is also a 24 hour air conditioned sports bar which provides Pizza/Burgers/ Fries/Nachos/Hotdogs/Popcorn/Ice-cream/Soft Drinks & Alcoholic drinks. There is also a pool table & table football for free use.

TRIPS

There are plenty of trips to do - the one I especially recommend is the Monster Truck Safari which we booded through our tour operator (Thompson) at the hotel. This trip you get to see the poverty of the country/a look at a typical dominican house and the way they live, this trip includes a meal, lots & lots of rum/beer or soft drinks, while bumping around on a gigantic 8 wheel drive, many thanks to our tour guide (Joselito) who was great fun & spoke amazing English.
We did another trip to Dolphin Island, where you get to swim with Dolphins/Sharks & Stingrays, this we booked through the hotel.

This was my second vacation to Punta Cana but the first at this hotel and the last! I traveled with my family of 5 and my sister's family of 6 ranging from ages 8 through 43.

The Lobby: was open and hot as hell. You could not go there at night to listen to the live music because you couldn't breathe. At check in they give you a plastic braclet to wear your entire trip which everyone HATED. You got a stupid stripe on your wrist from the sun and it got in the way if you wanted to wear a braclet. You have to sleep with it and shower with it and it is annoying.

The Staff: at the reception desk did not speak English well and were not friendly unless you spoke Spanish. To their surprise my husband does speak Spanish. When we checked in they told ME our three rooms were each in a different hotel which was totally unacceptable being I booked well in advance and my son and nephew were NOT going to be in a different hotel from my sister or myself. When my husband spoke to them in Spanish and told them we needed three rooms together like we had booked they suddenly came up with three rooms right next to each other. The hotel "manager" Jose Torres was never taught " the customers are always right attitude approach" he is horrible with customer service and now I understand why his staff have bad customer service skills.

The Rooms: were clean, large, and air conditioned well. I didn't see any bugs Thank God! The shower door was broke so there was a mini flood every time you showered. They were cheap with the towels and gave you face cloths when they felt like it which wasn't often. The safe in our room broke in the middle of the week and was still not working when we left. The mattress, pillows, and blankets ALL need to be replaced. The maids were all nice and very appreciative of a tip which was a pleasure to leave to them.

The Beach: was nice but the seaweed in the water was awful. There was not enough lounge chairs and not nearly enough huts so you have to get up before dawn if you want a hut. I was aware of topless beachgoers and in fact my sons were looking forward to them BUT........I think they should have drawn the line with the topless mixing with little kids on the water slide. The water slide charged $30 a day but haggle with them because by the middle of the week we were paying $10 a day. The hustlers on the beach are soooooooo annoying. They come up to you literally every 5 minutes. DO NOT buy cigars on the beach. My husband did and they rolled old cigarette butts in them. They do have a security guard on the beach but I still don't know what he was there for!

The Pool: was dirty and as hot as a jacuzzi. They give you cards for towels which is also annoying. You are allowed one towel per person per day and if you lose your card you have to pay $15. I am supposed to be "stress free" on vacation and I was "STRESSED OUT" counting towels and cards every day.

The Liquor: SUCKED!!! When you can NOT get a tropical drink on a tropical island you know your in trouble. A blender was no where to be found. Your pina colada came out of a slushy machine with a drop of crappy rum. Forget about brand name liquor or popular drinks they were not to be had. The bartender at the beach named Jose was a doll and did the best he could with what he had.

The Food: was OK. The buffet was better then the La Carte Restaurants. Bring long pants for males over 10 they have a dress code and that is if you are a female you can go in practically naked but if you are 11 and older you must wear long pants in 95 degrees with 100% humity. I am all for looking presentable and my family looked presentable but the men had too much leg showing. I am talking about shorts coming past their knees! We spent in total $300.00 in long pants and the restaurants weren't worth it. In fact three of us got sick and are still sick a week later.

The Excursions: were not what they appeared to be in the brochures. You rode in an open truck that was hot for a long time through poor villages with children begging on broken ATV'S. The water excursions were much better.

The Resort: was huge. They have 4 different hotels we stood in the Bavaro which is near the beach and pool. They do have a train and that is nice when you time it right otherwise the wait is too long so you end up walking.

The Spa: was excellent for massages. My sister had a manicure and pedicure but it wasn't done professionally.

The Entertainment: was not of quality or quantity. Forget small children or young adults. The casino was pathetic. The beach and pool activities were lame. The club was probably the best thing going but it started at 11 pm. Maybe for some that was fine but for me it was too late to start because the lapse of time between dinner and 11 pm was long and I would get tired and l
lose the momentum.

Overall: I like the island but DID NOT like the hotel. Hardly anyone spoke English. Perhaps this hotel is perfect for Europeans. I had been on trip advisor before I booked the vacation and the average rating was 4. This is why I decided to write a review because from now on I am going to read the lower rating reviews more carefully. Initally I thought they were nitpickers but after rereading them when I got back everything I read that was negative was a problem for me as well. No place is perfect but this hotel didn't come close. I will be back at Turks & Caicos next year!

Our family of 5 stayed at the Grand Palladium Bavaro from July 6th- July 13th and had a wonderful time. Not sure why all the negative reviews suddenly at the same time we were there…it is like they were at a different hotel completely!!

Here is our family’s prespective (2 adults and 3 children: 11 and under):

Reception: they were very nice and very helpful, we were the only people inline at 10:30am tho. They did have buses full of travelers arriving Sunday night when we were headed to dinner. But they seem to have a system for this as they set up extra tables to accommodate the people. Our room wasn’t ready which we planned for. We finally got to checking in at 4:00 (we lost track of time while in the pool..LOL!) and dh went and checked us in by himself while the kids and I swam.

Room: we had a junior suite to accommodate all of us, and it was very roomy. It had 2 double beds and a large queen pullout that was already pulled out for us. The beds were comfortable. The room was VERY clean, very very clean. We had swan towel animals and flowers on arrival and again later in the week. It seemed very quite as we did not really hear our neighbors at all – except the day we both at the same time for breakfast.
I will say the a/c was broken on the Sunday of our arrival and it was hot when we went to try and sleep in the room, however, the hotel was working on the situation and sometime in the middle of the night a/c was restored. It was fine from that point on. Our did not smell or have bugs or anything. It was located a short path walk from the pool. This was also very nice.

Food: La Cathedral had a great breakfast where they served so many things. They offered mimosas on Sunday with breakfast (wither orange juice or guava juice) which was a nice touch. The made to order crepes are also delicious. We had lunch at 3 places El Arrecife – the only lunch spot in the Bavaro section, La Uva and El Behique. El BEhique had the largest selection and it was very good, a little warm at lunch but the food was good, and La Uva was cooler but offered less, it was nice to mix it up, we all thought so. Dinner we ate at La Cathedral most nights because of the themed dinners it was never the same foods and had all types of foood offered, beef Wellington, roast turkey, seafood, salads, breads, pasta, rice dishes, pork, also always available were an Italian pasta bar (we did not use this) and a grilled meat section (also did not use). So there was something for everyone. We were impressed with the food over the other 2 AI’s we have stayed at. The 2 nights we did not eat in the buffet we opted for La Uva and El Quijote. Dh and I ordered the same dish at El Quijote and mine was very good he however got the end of the lamb and it was dry my was completely the opposite. The kids all liked what they ordered too. La Uva was also very good and very different than anything at home. Everyone enjoyed trying it. The wait staff at each restaurant was very helpful and very friendly. Mi amigios!!!

Beach: beautiful!! Nice waters, wonderful sand, and love that they left the vegetation on the beaches, it actually is not as narrow as they say if count all the sand portion. It was more than enough space for everyone and we never felt crowded. I did go early to get a palapa, we wanted a front one with the kids and everything, and it worked out well. The water was great!! Yes, there were venders but a simple smile and No Gracias, and they were on their way. We did walk down to the hut area to buy t-shirts and we did not find them to be too pushy at all, actually I was surprised.

Pools: we swam in the Bavaro section pool, the La Uva pool and the El Behique pool. We preferred the La Uva and the Bavaro section pools, mostly because they offered some shade in the afternoons while in the pool. All the pool bars were nice and we never found the drinks to be watered down. One afternoon they were offering the kids cocolocos y chocolate…..it was like a mounds bar in a cup you had with a straw…very tasty!!! The staff at the pool bars was also very friendly and very nice! We never found anyone to be rude or not helpful.

Grounds: stunning!!! Very well maintained!

Kids club: we did not actually go to the club but they do offer an excursion for the kids every Tuesday they take them to Manati Park from 10am-3pm for free. My children did not want to go, they said it was too long of a day to be away. My 3 did participate in the beach activities 2 days and also sometimes played waterpolo and volleyball when they kids club came to the pool we were in. For the beach activities they walked the beach asking kids if they wanted to join – they would tell them what they were doing and they kids could win baseball hats and tshirts and get certificates. The beach activities were beach Olympics, etc.

Other: we are English speaking Americans who thoroughly enjoyed our week there. We speak some but very little Spanish. My children have had 30 minutes of Spanish daily in school since 1st grade, I took Spanish in high school many moons ago. But in our attempt to speak with the staff and understand was truly appreciated, and to be quite honest they did everything they could to help everyone. One day at the dinner a man did not speak Spanish or English and when the staff member figured out his native language he went and got another staff member to help the translation. I found this to be the case in most areas. No one ever was rude to anyone that only spoke one language. So I am not sure why this is a huge thing…in fact we always found the opposite to be true. I also noticed how appreciative the staff was if we walked our empty plastic cups to the bar instead of leave them wherever. In my book common courtesy should be used at all times.

We would definitely recommend this hotel!