this was booked from jaunt.ca, for a bit under $800 per person, double occupancy...this price dropped last minute to under $700 a person all in, but oh well.

this is a great all inclusive for a great value -- this is not a 5* hotel. but it is clean enough, you will food find to eat, there is always beer to drink, and the beach is right there in front of you.

check in - quick drive from the airport. quick check in but i made sure to be front of the line. they are not super friendly and welcoming, they just check you in and get the job done. rented a safe for $20USD.

rooms - bed is comfy, room is just the basics, a/c worked very very well. balcony door locked, quiet room. showers no problem, lots of hot water every day. toilets were great too. was worried with all the room complaints -- but we had no major issues at all. tv did not turn on one day, but went to front desk, they fixed this immediately and left a remote control (no remote control unless you ask). only minor complaints -- dusty closet shutters and lights, alarm clock was not working, one of the lamps was not working, very lumpy pillows (they should get new ones). but you'll be fine. one room key per room. you will get a big bottle of water and pop in your fridge, no beer.

pool - coooooold. clean but cold. not sure if they can control the heating...but it was too cold! spent most of the time at the beach instead.

entertainment - they work hard but they are amateur. do not expect anything super entertaining. you get 1 hour of free internet a week.

buffet - the staff work very hard and are very busy, there is something for everyone on the menu. not amazing food, but not super terrible like other reviews say. i am not an adventurous eater, so there was always carrots, broccoli, rice, pasta, that i could eat. the fresher breads are good. the men who cleaned up the plates & filled the water were very friendly as well and smiling. i was the most worried about all the food complaints on tripadvisor, but i had no issues.

snack playa - service here is great. prompt, always welcoming you and offering you drinks quickly. luis was always there and efficient to everyone and anyone.

a la cartes - they are nothing special, i preferred the buffet. big portions at edens. i did not like michelangelo (italian) at all. policy is men need to wear pants. they sent my bf back because he was wearing cargo shorts with a rolled up button up shirt. he went back to change into jeans...which was much less formal looking. service did not feel too welcoming or anything special. but the cake was good.

bars - thank you hugo & sandy, bartenders are always friendly

beach - yes, the sellers are there, give a firm no gracias and they will leave you alone. beach is RIGHT THERE, you pretty much eat on the beach for lunch. walk along the whole thing, it's much nicer/not rocky in the part outside of gran ventana & another resort to the right. to the left gets a bit murkier/dirtier but so does the far right of the beach too. this is not a white sand beach with turquoise waters.

monkey jungle & ziplining excursion - highly recommend this! booked tours through james at the playa dorada complex (search tripadvisor). was a bit sketched out at how dead this plaza was when we went on a cloudy day, but do not worry, it's safe and friendly. TOURS BY JAMES was very reliable for both tours booked and I HIGHLY recommend using him -- might be like 15min past pick up time but they are on dominican time :) MUCH cheaper than what the hotel offered the same excursions for.

set your expectations for a 4* and you will be happy. if you are a person who really needs a high level of customer service (wait staff carrying your plates to your table, prompt service, constant friendly greetings by all staff, beach drink service, pool drink service, 24 hour food, top shelf alcohol,lots of a la cartes and great food, room service, unlimited fluffy towels), then I would recommend going to a higher star resort.

if you want friendly service, beer, sun, beach, clean no frills room, this place is great!

I visited Grand Paradise the week of Jan 17-24th and had a great time. It had been 17 years since my last vacation there and realized how much I missed this country and its wonderful people. The hotel is a little run down but many improvements have been made over the years. There are not many places you can sit and gaze at the ocean for all your meals. The rooms were comfortable and very clean, drinks were just right and bar service was great. Honorable mention to Roberto, Jose David, Stephanie and Julian (he should be hired permanently). We loved the beach bar!!! The waiter staff in the restaurants were very attentive and accomodating. Special thanks to Osvaldo, and Franklin and the crew at the Grill restaurant. No complaints about the food. there was plenty to choose from and some very good al la carte meals too.
The beach was lovely but as others have said before, way too many beach vendors but a simple "no thank-you" would send them on their way.
The activities staff were alot of fun. They mingled with all the hotel guests, not just the ones in bikinis...lol. I enjoyed the daily water aerobics and poolside games. Loved the crazy anitcs of Many, Donkey, Happy-man, and Happy-boy. They could always make me laugh.
This definitely isn't a stuffy 5 star resort or a VIP vacation club, but if you are looking for a party you can certainly have one there. We definitiely will be back with family and friends. A great vacation spot for the price !

My wife and i were at the resort last jan/feb for 2 weeks. we can not say enough about the entertainment staff they were fantastic. the beach was great swimming fantastic. our hotel room was ok. we require ground floor as my wife has ms and the stairs are very difficult for her. when we arrived we were taken care of very quickly and had a ground floor gardenview room we were across from the disco so it was a little loud at nite but oh well we were on holidays and wiped out by the time we went ot bed. the time sharing people were a bit of a pain but they left us alone after we went to the seminar and told them we were not interested at all. the beach vendors were all over but did leave you alone with a firm no.we are going back to the resort for 2 weeks again this feb 1 cant wait to see everyone again this year we upgraded to a gardenview suite and hopefully we are on the first floor again.

David and Lisa Whittaker

Our first and last trip to DR, at least Puerto Plata. Have been to many third world countries and was not expecting the Ritz Carlton. The resort definitely was older and in need of a good exterior paint job, but room and pool was acceptable. Some updates to the room fixtures and furniture would have made a huge improvement. Our mattress was hard, and could have been replaced.

The staff at the bars, restaurants and pools were very friendly and helpful. The housekeeping staff very pleasant and did good job. The front desk staff didn't care how long you waited for service, nor did the "customer service" desk.

The beach was pretty, but sand sharks selling their wares or services were thick. They, at least, understood "no thank you" and went on their way.

I believe what made this trip bad was: 1) the timeshare sharks on the property hounded us repeatedly! We had VIP bracelets since we traded through RCI. It certainly appeared that we were their targets. Since we evidently had purchased before, they believed we were sucker enough to do it again. They would not take a "no thank you". We had to get rude and just walk by them or dodge them by going out of our way and refusing to recognize them. Holiday Lifestyles should be removed from the hotel and not allowed to hound customers; 2) Food and drink was horrible. Beef so tough you could not chew it; chicken either over cooked and leathery or undercooked; fish was mushy. Seafood consisted of squid, calamari and octopus. No shrimp, no lobster, not even available at the premium restaurants on the property. Had to go off resort to get this. Buffet food was put out an hour or more before restaurant opened and not properly kept at safe temperatures for consumption, hot or cold food. The wine was unfit for human consumption, both white and red smelled like vinegar and tasted worse. You could purchase a bottle of cheap wine for a ridiculous high price or a good bottle for a small fortune. All other drinks watered down. The Italian restaurant smelled like the toilet. If you sat there long enough, you got used to it and didn't notice it as much. My husband was asked to leave the second time we went to it to put long pants on. Yet the week before when he wore long pants, men were wearing shorts. The women could wear anything and did. 3) reported to front desk at least 6 times that our room phone did not work, but gave up on that. Fourteen days and no phone to call anywhere even to have our bags picked up upon leaving, but bellmen still held hand out for tip to put our bags into taxi.

There is no on-site diving as resort lists. You take a bus to another town which is at least 30 minutes drive.