Gran Ventana Beach Resort
Complejo Hotelero Playa Dorada, Calle Principal playa dorada, Puerto Plata 57000About
Location :
Added by Jopie, at 23 January 2017
Opening Hours
- Monday Open 24 hours
- Tuesday Open 24 hours
- Wednesday Open 24 hours
- Thursday Open 24 hours
- Friday Open 24 hours
- Saturday Open 24 hours
- Sunday Open 24 hours
Gallery
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19 Reviews
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22 May 2018
Setting aside how great and welcoming Dominicans are in general (you’ll find this at any hotel) the hotel behaves like Spirit Airlines. A few things to set the expectation: no room dining options; no food available prior to 7am (don’t judge I wake up early!) internet is free of charge only at the entertainment theater; other than that, you have to pay if you want service at your room (1hr $3 24hrs $10 4days $25 1week $35). Safe deposit room inside your room also had a cost (really?!) yes really!! $16 a week $30 2 weeks - those two things gave me the “cheap” feel to it as these are included in any other hotel, whether is an All-Inclusive or not.
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16 May 2018
Nice resort and friendly staff. Food was good but not great. Entertainment was by far the highlight of our stay. Stay away from the beach, unless you don't mind being harassed by the locals selling their goods. Oh and their WIFI is HORRIBLE!!!! Don't bother purchasing!
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01 April 2018
Excellent hotel for a 4 star. It's clean, is known for it's good buffet and other restaurants, has hard working staff, lovely pools and beaches. Whether you prefer quiet or activity, there is a space for everyone.
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03 March 2018
My boyfriend and I stayed at the gran ventana beach resort from Feb 16-23/2018. It was the most incredible experience. We fell in love with the friendly staff, clean and beautiful resort grounds, and amazing beach. It was our first vacation together and we wouldn't change a thing. Food exceeded our expectations, our personal favourites were the fried chicken at lunch and the pasta at dinner. We went to the Ocean Grill and Italian restaurant, and we loved the Italian restaurant which means a lot coming from two traditional Italian families. The room was always super clean and beautiful. The entertainment staff was so fun and such a joy to watch. Though, if you're looking for a huge party scene this probably isn't the place for you, it's more of a quiet and relaxing feel. You could leave the resort and goto the playa dorada mall which felt completely safe. Watch out for the beach vendors, they are super kind but they are completely over priced, you can buy the same thing from the mall for half the price. Overall, we would both rate it 5/5, and would definitely come back in the future!
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16 February 2018
Great resort with good food. The staff are friendly and helpful! I would recommend for sure. Nice pools and facilities
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28 January 2018
Was just at this resort from 1/20/18 for a week. The good things about this place is the beach is amazing. I really enjoyed that. Most of the workers are very amazing also. Ok that’s about it for the good stuff. My room had mold in many different places. The bed was gross and very hard. The buffet was mostly the same and did not taste to good. The place is super small. Entertainment was just ok. I definitely got bored after my second day. I think it’s a good place for people who don’t really want to do anything besides sit by the beach or pool all week. But it’s definitely not more then a 3 star resort.
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12 January 2018
This was an excellent hotel! we were there for 5 days as a girls trip unfortunately a hurricane hit Puerto Plata during our stay. At first we were freaking out but the hotel staff was AMAZING in keeping us safe and making us feel safe. We were originally in a room on the first floor near the beach. The staff moved us to a room more inland. During the hurricane we were not allowed to leave the new room but the hotel brought us breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We did not mind staying inside the room as the hurricane passed through Puerto Plata. I can't say that this hotel is anything but AMAZING! if we decide to visit PP again, we will be staying at this hotel.
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04 November 2017
We just got back on November 4 2017i have been to many many resorts..this is the best one by far.for food!!!..accommodation ..peopleand staffing.had an absolutely fabulous experience ..first time ever I was not ready to come home..booking again for same time next yearmaybe sooner!
Met some great people who became good friends and they agree..some refuse to go anywhere else.GREAT GREAT TIME
THANKS Gran Ventana..see you soon..for sureresponse / report this review -
19 September 2017
This is my 4th time coming here. I love the attention and humble love of the people who work here. They always there to please and make you feel comfortable. Resort is the best!
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17 August 2017
Great hotel, amazing service, staff super friendly, food was great. I had a great time and there was a lot of things to do around the hotel. Stay awake for the late night shows they were fun for adults and children. Food is everywhere and the staff is amazing. Will definitely go back to this resort.
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21 July 2017
Nothing was included in my package. I had to pay for internet which didn't work well. I had to pay for a lock for the safe if i wanted one. If I lost the towel card I would have to pay for that. The restaurants on site were either booked before I got to the resort or just didn't operate on certain days which makes no sense in the peak of summer. Workers at the resort looked out for their people or people who give them money. My room bathroom had mold in it. Smokers took over the whole resort because it was an motel like place, so I wasn't safe from 2nd hand smoke unless I was in my room. No clubs on site but one was up the street and you would have to pay for your own drinks. Sellers on the beach wouldn't take no for an answer. The pictures look like they were taken when the resort first opened. This place is rundown. No room service because they claim it wasn't in my package but when my agent was booking this resort they said that they didn't have options to chose from. I wouldn't recommend you waste your time unless you want to just sit on the beach and do nothing else. For the most part, the front desk agents were nice but the buffet morning staff were horrible. Its like they were not happy to be there. You don't have a lot of activities to do at this resort.
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30 June 2017
The reception girl Samantha was not friendly at all when we arrive on 06/21, looks like she did not want to be bother, barely answer our questions. Had a bad attitude did not offer me and my friend "Welcome "drinks. The pool water was very warm. The room was okay but every day we have to call them because we got to the room at the end of the day, and our room was not clean. And no towels sufficient. They said all inclusive but the drinks are very sweet and the staff put very little liquor and mix with the juices. No much Seafood choices at the buffet. I was disappointed. Not much activities to do on this resort. A few other bartenders were very nice , smile and were friendly such as Rafael in the Buffet bar, and Eleyis by the beach area during the day, always smile and very nice. The Dominican ladies Show at night was really nice I enjoy.
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04 June 2017
This was my and my husbands first vacation together everything there was an amazing experience wonderful staff and La Shorty is an amazing employee with a good heart I will definitely return again can't wait to go back
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03 May 2017
Rooms could do with updating unless ypu are over thr main side. If you go to the quiet side then not so nice. Staff friendly and helpful and food is good and varied. The entertainment team are so friendly and always happy. They made the holiday for us.
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13 March 2017
It felt like a five , the courtyard room was bright and spotless, kept clean with fresh and extra towels daily, refilling the bar fridge always, the friendliest staff and chefs willing to meet every need. The group doing the hotels games and evening entertainment, awesome. Shorty, Alex, Delfry, Carlos, Yoh, all of you , GREAT!
The beach and pool were always clean with surrounding areas as well. We are planning to go back ASAP.
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02 March 2017
Great friendly staff, good entertainment. The beach is good the pool area and the facility is great. The majority of visitors are older however average age is 60 to 70. not a party resort. but a good resort nonetheless. food was also good at the buffet and the restaurants
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01 March 2017
How in the world is this hotel rated #3? This is by far the worst resort I have ever stayed in. We stayed here over presidents week with a family of 25 people, everybody was incredibly disappointed. Where should I start? The "hotel" is more of a motel, incredibly outdated. The plumbing in the bathrooms was horrendous. From leaking ceilings to faucets not working to water barely coming out of the shower heads. There is absolutely no shade by the pool because of the tiny umbrellas the hotel has. We were so skeeved out by the dirty dishes, flatware and don't get me started on the cups from the bar! The dishes aren't washed with soap and water, they are rinsed in a tub filled with soapy water, we saw this at the bar ourselves! The waiters and men behind the bar are lazy! I always asked for straws for our beverages after seeing how dirty the dishes were and I would always get a response of we don't have, and one waiter had the audacity to tell me that my beverage didn't have ice in it so there is no need for a straw! The bartenders would refuse to make drinks like mojitos and chocolate banana rum cocktails because they claimed they didn't have the necessary items to make it. A few times we would go to the bars by the beach, pool and restaurants for the chocolate banana rum cocktail and the bartenders would tell us they don't have bananas. Meanwhile at the buffet and snack bar there are plenty of bananas! Why not stock up the bars with them too!? The last time we went to the poolside bar to request this cocktail, I took a few bananas with me and asked the bartender to make the cocktail, hiding my bananas. He said he didn't have bananas. Fine, I put the bananas on the bar top. He then claimed he didn't have the chocolate rum, my sister got pissed and said there are bottles of chocolate rum behind you! Then acting as if he's doing us a favor, he said I'll make it but I won't put the chocolate rum. Are you kidding me? If you don't want to do your job stay home! Now how do you call yourself an all inclusive hotel when there is no 24 hour snack bar, no spa, no bottled water at the bars, playing tennis on the premises requires renting the rackets? The waiters won't even leave as much as a sugar and tea bags on the table? Petty stuff like this and not feeling like we were catered to didn't make us feel like we were on vacation. Especially when most and very simple things we asked for wasn't available. What kind of deficit is this hotel having? The food in the restaurants that we made reservations for was awful. Especially the Octopus restaurant. The entrees didn't have any kind of a particular flavor everything was so bland. My kids got food poisoning as well. Overall this resort is a dump and I can't believe that it is still operating. The management is horrible and very poor. Don't waste your money on a ratchet and low quality hotel!
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01 March 2017
We were very pleased with the Gran Ventana. It was our first time there and we will definitely consider a repeat visit. The check in was quick and they honoured all of our room requests. What we liked the most about the resort was the size. It was small and everything was very close. We walked out of our building and the pool, the buffet, the theatre and beach were “right there”. The food was one of the best that we have experienced at an all-inclusive. They managed to come up with different varieties every day. The evening entertainment was quite good. Nice to have free Wi-Fi at the theater although it was quite limited. Couldn’t do e-mail, basically just Facebook but that was good enough to keep in touch with people back home. Our only complaint was with the washrooms at the beach. They were very tiny to accommodate all of the people that were on the beach. They were definitely not handicap accessible. They definitely need to be upgraded. The rest of the resort was great!
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30 January 2017
My family and I were there in January of 2016. Had a fantastic time. The rooms were a little dated, but nice and clean. Really like the renovated buffet area. Had several a la carte meals, and they were good. The Octopus Restaurant was my favorite. The staff are friendly and courteous, especially the housekeeping ladies who kept our rooms tidy. I spent most of my time at the beach relaxing. The only thing that I didn't appreciate were the vendors at the beach. A few of them were quite persistent. Overall, we had a great time, and I would certainly come back again if the package price is good. P.S. If management is reading this, please have Mojito on the drink list :)
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