Gran Ventana Beach Resort All-Inclusive Puerto Plata

Pure paradise, can't fully explain the true excellence of this place. We went in a group of 8 and met a couple there and not one single person can make a single complaint. The food is fantastic with an amazing amount of choice, the rooms are spacious, spotless and very comfortable the weather is fantastic, and the staff truly made our holiday, Derek, Junior and Puba are such great fun, I really miss them guys, the there is Mr Felix, gorg body girls, and Cheeta is destined to get the blokes going! Entertainment is what you make it, we got in there and had a really good time, learning various dance moves that will stick in my head forever! I can't personally imagine a holiday ever being any better, I would go back tomorrow!

I would certainly advise to go on the Jeep Safari, it's a reality shock and it proove's that you can be happy with your life without money, I have a whole different view on life.

Anyone who has a problem with this hotel must have overly high standards, it is a 4 star, I would give it a 5!

I have visited Gran Ventana and I recommend to everybody to do their PADI diving license with the Pool-Instructor of the Hotel. You will find him close to the towel desk at the big pool, and he will guide you from the pool to the underwaterworld of Sosua. It is amazing !

Thanks ...

Thinking this was a 4 stars hotel, I stayed at Gran Ventana all last week. It did not meet those expectations at all!

The rooms were damp and humid. It looked like they had some sort of a filtration problems with the rooms. Mine was located on the 3rd floor and the building had no elevators. The beach area had small piles of sand, so every time the wind blew, it got into my face and eyes. I resigned to be by the pool most of the time. The water at the beach was cold, and it had a what appeared to be a sewer nearby. I saw some of the staff from the hotel making a small tunnel in the sand which helped to move these muddy waters from sewer,unto the beach.

Food was mediocre, and the dining room staff seem to be under stress. They did had time to stop and chat for a few moments. Entertaiment was even less than mediocre. Lots of audience contests, but not a real show. The only plus for this hotel, is it cleanliness. But I did not pay $1000 plus dollars just for a clean place. For that, I could had hired a maid.

Our room was musty wen we first arrived. I attribute this to our arriving during the off-season and that the room

was closed and vacant for a period of time. The mustiness soon was eliminated by the air conditioning. The

thermostat for the air conditioning was broken, so the room temperature could only be controlled by the fan

settings. Also, our balcony door did not lock. Since we did not spend much time in the room, these problems

were not important. The room was very clean. The service was very good. We had everything we needed, plenty of towels, etc. We did leave sundries on the pillow for the cleaning staff and they seemed grateful. All of the employees greeted guests with a “Buenos dias” or “Hola”. There were distilled water coolers on every floor, so we kept re-filling our plastic bottles.

The pool was very nice. We did not have any trouble finding a pool lounge chair and never put towels

out early in the morning to reserve one. The poolside bar was convenient. The poolside deck was scrubbed every morning. The pool was large enough so that it never seemed crowded. Mosquitoes were never a problem.

The beach was a little disappointing. We walked a considerable distance away from the beach in front of the Gran Ventana. We decided that the beach in front of the G.V. was the worst section of beach. It had the narrowest sandy area between the ocean and the resort wall as well as the smallest waves. A short distance to the right of the beach entrance from the G.V. was a sewage canal. It smelled bad, so when we walked the beach, we only went one direction because we did not have the courage to walk through the sewage. The beach volleyball net was also near this canal. There was absolutely no wind the entire time we were there, but we were told this was very unusual. We did not have a problem finding a chair at the beach either. The sand was nice, and the plant life was pretty. There were venders on the beach, but they were not bothersome.

The food was mediocre. We only ate at the buffet. The deserts were good. I would have liked to have had more seafood. I am a big fan of potatoes, but only at breakfast on the last day did they serve a potato dish that I thought was good. The hash browns on the first day were hideous. The milk at breakfast wasn’t very cold. The bacon was good, and the chef making omelets did a fair job. The fresh pineapple was good. We were very conscientious about not consuming the water and did not have any major stomach ailments until the day of our departure. The reason that we didn’t eat at any of the dinner restaurants is that we ate dinner with friends and relatives that live and work in the D.R. I found it irritating that we could not invite my sister-in-law to dinner in our hotel, especially since we were told that it would be O.K. to do so. We would have gladly paid for the additional meals of our relatives. They were not allowed past the lobby. The next visit will be at a hotel that is more receptive to the individual needs of the guest.

I went snorkeling off the beach, but there was not much marine life. The snorkeling was much better at

Cozumel. I also went scuba diving in Sosua, had fun, but since it was my first scuba experience, I have nothing

to compare it to. We also went to Cabarete and had a good experience. Seeing how poorly the natives live made us grateful for what we have. Before departing for the Dominican Republic from the U.S., I had watched a show about how extremely popular baseball is in the D.R. I brought 5 baseballs with me and gave one to the teenager who took our groceries to the car, a kid on the beach, a group of boys going to play baseball, a shoe shine boy, and a guy carrying boxes with a dolly. The looks on the kids faces were very memorable. I had given them something they cherished. It was distressful to see other non-resort beach areas strewn with garbage.

We (my girlfriend and i) went to this place for a friends wedding. 9 hours from uk, is a long time but hey, i've been to australia, so no problem. after the all travelling, ariving in the room was very nice. fully air conditioned. very spacious, nicly decorated. then it was meal time, well, the most gorgeous food and loads of it. after 11 hours traveling a feast of 3 plates full was needed. and went down well. then i'm afraid it was bed time, the travveling had took it's toll.

Next day, down to the pool, well it's wonderful, there's a swim up bar that is a strange experience, the beach is only 1 min walk, but that's when the trouble starts. when you get on the beach, the salespersons start and they don't leave you alone. my girlfriend got her hair breaded after 3 days of anoyence. It cost around £40 or $100 and it was a complete mess. it was glued in, and was a different colour. My advice is stay away from all the traders on the beach.

anyway that's not the hotels fault, so buy summing up this review i would say, so it's great

This is the best resort in Puerto Plata we just got back from our 9th visit and once again we had the time of our lives, We traveled with a group of 27 this year who were family and friends and proud to say that there was not one complaint.

The management and Staff at this resort are the most enjoyable people in the world and they are there for anything and everything that you may need to make your vacation one full of memories.

The resort itself is very clean and surrounded by Fresh Flowers and cheerfull Dominicans. The pool are very clean. If fact you cannot walk anywhere without seeing Staff cleaning something.

The food is excellant with lots of choices from both sit down and buffet style, The beach Grill is one of my favorates where one dosn't have to change their clothes to sit down and have a meal.

This resort is a family resort and it is just that the lights go out at 12 midnight, but don't worry if your the type who wants to Rock, Roll and get down. Just 2 mins outside the gate you can Dance all night at the local Disco or Gamble at their casino.

I could go on forever about this resort it's truely Haven Us.

Hi!whe went to gran ventana on july 97,for our honeymoon,whe had a super time,the hotel was great,the food was okay for me but my husband loved it,the beach was okay,y expected more from it,the staff from the hotel they where great,the cleaning lady was very kind never accepted tips,whe had to leave it on the bed the day whe left,the shopping mall was fun to go,it was so very hot,in 7 days whe got like 10 minutes of rain,and it was at night,compare,to all the other peoples,that's talking about the ventana,whe had the chance to go,to the restaurant a la carte,whe didn't had to wait,y think whe had the reservation for the next day,but my husband dind't really like his supper,but y did,y really enjoyed my staying at the gran ventana and my husband to,now whe decided to go for hour 5th anniversary,to cayo coco in cuba whe gonna stay at the el senador,whe heard it was a very excellent hotel,whe really can't wait,where going in june,for sure im gonna come back here,to let you know how it went,but for the gran ventana,if you ever go,your not gone regretted believe me.

We stayed at Gran Ventana for a week in Feb 2002 and have the following insights:

The Room

There are 3 buildings in the hotel: Saona, Catalina, and Beata. Beata is by the "quiet" pool.

The other two are by the pool with the "fun team". We stayed in Saona. Our room was a junior suite and we highly recommend getting one if possible. The terrace of our room faced out to the ocean and had a nice breeze coming through so there was not much of that "musty" smell that others' reviews spoke of. There is no breeze by the pool but if you walk for two minutes to the ocean, the breeze can get quite stiff. I'm betting the people who complained about the musty smell had rooms facing the pool which don't have much air circulation.

Yes, the electricity is turned on by sliding your key tag in the slot by the door. If you can't deal with your room having no electricity when you're not there, take the key off the ring and leave your tag in the slot. It's that simple.

There was a problem with the hot water while we were there. Sometimes it would be cold, and one afternoon there was no water at all. After promising several times that it would soon get turned back on, the desk sent us to the

building next door so we could shower off the day's sunscreen. (Bring plenty of sunscreen, by the way)

There is satelite TV but half the channels are in spanish and the signal cuts in and out frequently.

We were chanrged $16 US for the TV remote and safe key. It's not much money and for the piece of mind to know you

will have your passport when you're ready to leave the country, it's well worth it.

Otherwise our room was clean and the maid service was pretty good.

The Facilities and Staff

The grounds and pool are also kept very clean. Be prepared to stake out a lounge early because they are usually

taken by late morning. The staff is also very friendly and generally English is spoken pretty well. Our intent

for this trip was to relax, which we did, so we didn;t go on any excursions. However, I did use the "gym" which had a non-ergonomically-friendly universal weight machine. The sauna seats about 4 or 6 but it was turned off when I went to use it and no one was around to explain. I didn't pursue the issue.

Although the place purportedly offers snorkeling, wind surfing, sailing, etc., the gear is located at one of the other hotels in the Dorada complex, so if you want to do that stuff, be prepared to go find it.

The "fun team" spends the day yammering into a PA and trying to rally people to play games. If you want to be left alone they generally will after a couple of refusals.

The "entertainment" was surely lame. Half of what we bothered to witness seemed to consist of dragging people out of the audience and using them as the entertainment.

We got his & hers massages. They cost 200 pesos which ends up as $14 US for a half hour. You get what you pay for. Any trained massage therapist would cringe. They try to crack your fingers and toes and generally it wasn't as strenuous as I prefer, however my wife was satisfied with hers.

Food and Drink

We've stayed at other all-inclusive resorts and I'd say board here is pretty standard. If you're from New York, like us, or some other urban center of culture, you probably won't be that impressed by the food. Those of you from more rural spaces where Italian food in considered ethnic cuisine will probably like it better. We're strict vegetarians and were generally able to do ok but continue to marvel at how the chefs felt compelled to add ham to rice, beans, and "vegetable" selections. I don't know what it is about resort alcohol but it doesn't seem to work.

The Weather

The weather was great! We went in February 2002 and it was always in the 80s (F). A couple of days it was rainy with sunny periods and some days were partly cloudy which was a welcome break from the hot sun. Bring plenty of sunscreen and re-oil often - we saw plenty of scorched Canadians.

Lovely accomodation, backing on to the beach. Friendly staff, plenty of places to walk to and a shopping arcade within 10 minutes gentle stroll. Excellent food and drink (all inclusive).

I just need to say that when you go to a country such as Puerto Plata, you realize just how we take things for granted. We, as Canadians are spoiled. This trip made me realize this. I would recommend anyone visiting this area. It is quite the culture shock, ladies, the men will love you.

I spent the most fabulous two weeks here. It would also be a great learning experience for anyone. I would not recommend bringing children. It is sometimes a sad reality, and at times was hard for me to take.

I keep telling myself if I ever win alot of money, this is where I will go and live. Hopefully make a difference in some of the peoples lives.

I would also like to say that the Dominicans are a very happy and beautiful pepople.

I could go on and on, but, I will just say, given the chance I would most certainly go back.