Solid 4 Star Resort

I have been to a lot of resorts in the Caribbean...and this resort is a solid 4 star resort. The good things: The buffet....for the most part was different every day. The staff were really friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean. There were three options for a beach areas (one to the left near the activity centre had music playing and a little protected from the wind, the middle beach which was like a little cove but was windy and the one on the far right much quieter but had the most wind).  [... lire plus]Lots of little activities to do: mini golf, basketball, shuffle board, beach and pool volleyball, kayaking, snorkeling, casino, disco. The bad things: Beach chairs - not enough of them as many of them were broken. You have to get up at 7am every morning to get a beach chair. Good luck getting a pool chair as people would leave their stuff on the chairs overnight to ensure they had one the next morning. The bedding.... you get one sheet on the bottom that "acts" as the fitted sheet, and you get two sheets on top to cover yourself for sleeping. Although it was very hot, I like to have something a little more substantial to cover myself when I am sleeping. Limited mixed cocktails.... every mixed cocktail is based on either the pina colada slush mix or the lemon slush mix...which made them all taste the same. But I expected this from a 4 star resort. The beach was not great this year....lots of seaweed in the water on windy days. It was cleaned up everyday from on the beach. The staff were saying that this year was not a good year for enjoying the ocean. Excursions: we did the scuba diving excursion. Did the 30 min scuba session in the water first, then went into the open water dive. Again, because the ocean was not good, we had a one day opportunity for this excursion. The scuba takes place at San Sousa... it was good. Great instructors, small ratio. This was my first time doing an open water dive and I felt very safe at all times. I heard from others that the water fall excursion was really good. And we also heard that the carnival in the city was really good to see (it is every Sunday afternoon).

No complaints !

This Resort was great and I have no complaints. The food was great and there was a large variety at all restaurants, buffets and snack bars. The rooms were nice and spacious, as well as the cleaning staff were efficient and thorough. All the staff whether it be bar tenders, waiters or front desk personal were friendly and very accommodating to all needs. The beaches were clean and not crowded. Tourists are able to walk along the entire beach and there are many areas to play sports such as volley [... lire plus]ball or football on the beach. Some nights you could even find the owners mingling about the resort with their guests to ensure the quality of the resort is adequate. During the day there are many activities for guests to interact in and the entertainment staff did a great job in getting people to participate in their games. Nightly entertainment was very interactive and fun for all ages.This is a great resort for people of all ages. I would recommend going here to anyone!

Great vacation place

This place is nothing fancy but it is a small fun resort with excellent food, clean spacious rooms and lots of activities the beach is beautiful i went with a friend and we had no complaints the only thing I can maybe complain about is if uyou didn't get up early you wouldn't get a lounge chair

Amazing vacation

The hotel was ok. The chairs must be replaced and some should be added. The food was good. My husband and I always found something to eat and none of us was sick. Our room was a little small but everything was functionnal. I was disappointed that the mini fridge didn't have a few beers.

Good time

Good food and friendly staff A nice relaxing vacation Rooms kept clean. Nightly entertainmmet ok and activities for the kids. Pools are clean but kinda cold. Beaches are nice but wouldnt go out late at night.

Nice

Loved that the main restaurant and pool were on the beach and that the beach was lit up and usable at night. We traveled as a group of 6 which included two children. We all had a very nice time. The beach was beautiful.

Grand paradise playa dorado

food was good 90% of the time - lots of sun shine - resort is clean rooms are nice - not enough lawn chairs for beach or pool since people seems to get up sat 7 am to reserve them ( i even got pictures of that that i'm happy to share with you ) 4 to 5 times a day i got approched for time share ( every day ) that i did not like ( very bothersome ) i would warn people about this if i recommended the hotel ===

Very relaxing stay

Easy transfer from Airport, we were greeted with a cool drink , Rooms Room was facing the Ocean -Amazing view, AC did not work with the card they give you so called and within 10 min gave me a new card ----worked like a charm .Rooms were clean and bed comfy, Make sure you ask for a remote for the TV when checking in or as soon as you can , they are not in the rooms and apparently in DR thier is a TV remote shortage, Food & Drinks Only ate at the Buffet , it was very good always a new entre avai [... lire plus]lable-i.e Turkey -chicken , ham, Roast Beef----,Service was good , no complaints, Mainly drank Beer and wine , very cold ( bring a bubba or travel mug very small cups) Beach very nice , great view , you can walk for miles , Vendors can get a little tiresome but simple no thanks and they leave My Wife and i wanted a nice relaxing do nothing but sit on the beach and have a few drinks vacation , for the price we paid it did the trick

Loved the Resort!

The hotel was very nice, rooms clean, food was great! and very friendly staff! The beach was amazing, all sand no rocks, the only annoying part were the people on the beach that kept trying to sell us stuff.

Think twice about this one!

Mixed feelings about this resort. Food was good, room clean. - vendors on the beach were annoying - charged you $28US for safety deposit box, $48US for internet - vendors at resort selling time shares - annoying - one key per room - no remotes for tv - disco too close to rooms

Great Resort

Second time back to Grand Paradise for me, seventh time for my other half. Obviously we have really enjoyed ourselves. Staff is great, very helpful, rooms are clean, food is good. Premises are well kept. Beach is fabulous...both sides of the resort. Had a wonderful vacation and will return.jo

Just okay

Grand paradise playa dorado was in my opinion "just okay" There was only approx 200 people at the resort with a typical 800 at full season and yet they said they had no other rooms available when we checked into a room right in front of the pool and actually paid for a superior garden view room. The rooms are dark and although clean not inviting at all. The food was excellent for resort food and the wait staff were also excellent. We found the air transat women that was trying to help us get a t [... lire plus]axi to another town should have did more to negotiate the ridiculous price the taxi drivers wanted to charge us. She was either getting a share of the obscene amount of money he wanted or he was a family member but we didn't go for the $170.00 US price he wanted to drive us to a town an hour away. I would advise anyone using this resort to not worry so much about the scare tactics they use at the resort to tell you about people offsite wanting to take advantage of you, it's the resort staff that you have to worry about. We found a taxi driver off resort that took us where we wanted to go, safely for $35 US It really is sad that the locals have no foresight to see that if they stopped trying to take advantage of the tourist more people would come to their country more often.

Needed some updates

the grounds were nice, the public areas needs to be updated like the washrooms and the guests rooms more ample lighting, screens on the patio doors, better bedding and pillows for sure, air conditioning in the rooms that actually worked. The food was very bland so at lease have some additional herbs and spices available for guests to add to the food. A variety of coffee should be at the buffet each morning for those who do like a change from regular, we had to wait til 10am for the pool coffee t [... lire plus]o be available. the Beach for the resort needs to have more activities there, we found all activities were at the pool area and not on the beach, shade umbrellas were only at the pool and none at all on the beach, all the other resorts offered them to their guest. It was nice having the events posted on the wall each day but no one offered any information to the guest on the day of arrival, we didn't even know the kayaks and other items were available free with our package. Better info sessions should be organized to tell everyone what is available. Better drink selections, like something made with coconut run or pineapple or baileys. meeting room was so bad and very hot have sessions outside around where we had our check in. Staff was friendly, but maybe you should have an event every day for an half an hour for anyone to pick up some Spanish lessons not much just basic words that would be a nice touch.

Grand Paradise Playa Dorada, Puerto Plata, DR

Spent Sept. 22-29, 2014 at Grand Paradise. It was a great resort for the money. Our room was a superior garden view, it was large, clean - we noticed the lock on the glass door was broken as well as the blow dryer in the batherroom. I called guest services and both were fixed within a hour. Staff very friendly. Nice pool and beach area. The food was good, we ate in the buffet for all meals.

The worst resort.

This hotel was NOT inclusive in my books because we had to pay $48 for one week of wifi and the wifi is not to the room it is to each individual's phone so my girlfriend had to pay $48 for wifi too. Totalling $96. Every step on resort grounds they are trying to sell you something as if we don't get that enough outside the resort from the locals. The food options are extremely slim. The staff working at front desk are not helpful at all and over all the hotel is for old people. It has no disco, b [... lire plus]asically one pool and no one works at the swim up bar. They actually have bingo night. I'm 28 and I don't party every night but the entertainment was sucked. We had to book excursions everyday jus to get out. It was awful.

Nice people

Everyone from the maids to the owner is nice and friendly. Food was surprisingly good! I was thinking that i should go for a 4 or 5 stars hotel but trust me this Grand paradise is right as it is! If you want to book don't hesitate

Beach are good !!!

Beach are amazing !!!!! Water soo clean its amazing, hotel are nice, good hot water, clean room, clean facility, waiters are amazing !!!!but front desk they need to learn how to SMILE, to greet the guest !!! Entertainment it's ok, but its not what we expected, food same every day !!!!! They need more variety of choices, swimming pool are small too crowded and its so dirty !!!!

Great resort wull repeat

Would love to come back hopefully in winter of 2014 had a great time service and food and beach very nice waeth and water excellent rooms were clean and staff veey freidly location is close to airport nice to walk the beach

GOOD FOR YOUR MONEY!

OVERALL GOOD EXPERIENCE. FOOD 6/10 EXCEPT CHINESE NIGHT WAS 1/10. BEACH WAS OK 6/10, DEF WAS NOT AQUA BLUE & SAND WAS BROWN NOT POWDERY WHITE. ENTERTAINMENT 8/10 BUT NIGHTLY SHOWS WERE TOO RAUNCHY FOR KIDS, SHOULD BE STRICTLY FOR ADULTS. ASK FOR A HIGHER UP ROOM, TOO MUCH NOISE IN HALLWAYS FOR 1ST FLOOR AND HIGHER ROOMS ARE LARGER!! SMALL RESORT, 1 POOL ONLY BUT EASY ACCESS TO ENTIRE RESORT NO NEED FOR WAGONS/CARTS. GOOD FOR ADULTS ON A BUDGET!

Fourth visit

We were at the Grand Paradise three years in a row about ten years ago. Due to my husband's health, we were unable to travel for a few years, and when he was cleared for travel, we wanted someplace familiar, where he would feel comfortable. This time we upgraded to an oceanview which was well worth the extra, although a little noisy on beach party nights. The room was clean and had obviously been updated, although the hotel as a whole is showing its age, through no fault of the people who are co [... lire plus]nstantly painting, gardening etc. We were forced to take the third floor in order to get two beds, which was a major problem as there are no elevators and he is disabled after suffering a stroke. A big negative for seniors. The safe did not work, which was quickly repaired, nor did the fridge, which was not, but I got used to bringing up ice from the bar when we left the beach, so we made do. In the Caribbean, if you let these things bother you, you can very easily spoil your whole vacation. Hot water was inconsistent throughout the two weeks, sometimes you had to let it run for 15 minutes or more before you got even lukewarm, which seems like a tremendous waste. The food was just as it was ten years ago, lots of choice, with local fish and seafood and other local delicacies offered at special stations throughout the week. Fresh local fruit offered at every meal, which is my weakness. We found no problems with weekend locals, but found consistent good food regardless of the time of the week, and we were there for two weeks. Waiters and other staff, I found, were especially kind in assisting my husband to find his seat and often carrying his plate for him. Never a problem at the bar, the barstaff seemed to be making an effort to keep an eye out for who should be next, and staying fair. Of course, with the bulk of the guests being Canadian, we did not find much rude butting in. The entertainment was considerably different from what we remembered. There appeared to be groups of professional entertainers travelling from hotel to hotel with some first rate shows, but these were few and far between, and often there was no evening entertainment to speak of, a piano player maybe. The hotel based entertainment team did not do many shows, although the ones they did do were well choreographed and very entertaining, despite suffering from shoddy costumes which desperately needed a seamstress to repair unraveling trim and a little budget to replace "holey" pantyhose. These costumes did not do justice to the great skits and choreography, and because the audience is set up on the same level as the performers, they were very noticeable. The animation team planned daily activities which, weather permitting, they followed through with. Especially enjoyed darts, which my husband can play with his unaffected side, lawn bowling and shuffleboard. He was encouraged and really enjoyed these activities. The pool seemed to have more youth-centred activities. There is a room above the pool with a pool table but in poor repair. There is also a plaza not far from the hotel for shopping...unfortunately we found more than half the stores were closed, obviously feeling the effects of the economy. Still the best stretch of beach on Playa Dorada. We do not use the pool, as we do not travel so far to see what is readily available in Canada, but from walking by, it seemed to be kept clean and in good repair. Lounges were generally available both at the pool and at the beach, with the usual problem of people who reserve spots in both places with towels. If anyone, anywhere, finds a solution to this problem, he or she deserves a gold medal. All in all, an enjoyable two weeks (mid janurary 2014) Sincerely, Diane and Roger Davey.