After reading many reviews on TripAdvisor, we really weren't sure what to expect here. We have only done one other all-inclusive before. We had a great time at Occidental!
Room:
Our room was in Edificio 11, and it was a nice room on the 3rd floor. We were on the back side of the building, so it was quiet and conveniently located. We had all the promised amenities and fresh towels each day. If we had any issues, housekeeping was quick to respond.
Service:
Marcos at the front desk was extremely helpful, and the guys at guest services were also very accommodating. Whenever we needed a restaurant reservation, information about excursions, they were ready to assist us. The servers were very nice. The sales people in the shops are a bit pushy, but they were worse in the shops outside the resort. Since this was our first time in Dominican Republic, we don't know if this is typical or not.
Drinks:
We recommend making sure you get your bottle of Ron Barcelo Anejo rum. It's delicious on the rocks. Once we ran out of that, we kept ordering Ron Barcelo Dorado on the rocks, Presidente, and the pina coladas. Very tasty and readily available. The wine in the restaurants are better than at the bar. The beach bars and the bar near the stage were our favorites.
Food:
Our favorite was the Mexican restaurant and the taco & pizza take out counters. Tinga tacos! Yum. The crepes at breakfast were delicious, and the lunch buffet down by the beach had a variety of foods to choose from. Things were occasionally salty for my taste in the restaurants, but they had lots of options. We never had dinner in the buffet, so I don't have any comments on that.
What did we like best?
THE BEACH. It's sooo beautiful. We went parasailing and horseback riding. Great fun :)
What did we like least?
We received a lot of sales pitches, but nothing we can't handle. If you politely refuse when you aren't interested you will get along just fine.

We were at the Occidental Grand Punta Cana for 2 weeks. One week would have been enough. The grounds are beautiful & well maintained. However, the food wasn't very good. I ate lots of rice & beens, for lack of anything else that was good. There was a nice variety of salads & vegetables and sushi at the buffet once a week which was not bad. The Pizza place is very good, provided Santiago makes the pizza. He is the best. It rained quite a bit the second week, and water was leaking in the room from the ceiling. We awoke 2 nights with a wet bed from the rain. They did move us twice. We stayed in building 10, close to the lobby. Good location, if you don't mind the loud music to about 12:30 a.m. Mixed drinks are all very sweet. All juices are full of sugar- no natural juices. The bartenders are all very friendly & most of the waiters & waitresses are very nice. You have to get up early to reserve your chair athe the beach if you want to have a straw parasol providing shade.The entertainment team proved good shows, but are not very friendly to the tourists during the day. Will try another resort next time I go to Punta Cana.

The hotel starts at the reception! The hotel welcomes you with the most friendly staff at the reception! Will always help! Jhoanna and other people are always smiling!
The atmosphere in the restaurant is very good! Waiters surround you with care! You will not be able to resist the abundance of dishes!
On the beach never get bored! Animation team arranges a variety of competitions!
In the evening on the stage in the theater great show! Live music! saxophone great!
If you want an unforgettable holiday in the Dominican Republic, visit this hotel!
All the people there are your family! For this reason I am going back again and again!

arrived at night, and wasn't sure what to expect. when they say take your own towels, and toiletries, they mean it. the package we purchased was to have: robes, slippers and beach towels, upon arrival. we had the robes, who cares about the slippers, but no towels. arrived on friday night, on monday went to the guest services to request beach towels. i watched the man write it on a piece of paper. we left friday late afternoon, still had no beach towels. you are very limited to what towels you are given in your room, and toilet paper seems to be a hot commodity, as well. the resort was great, not awesome. the food was very good, stayed with the basics, being careful. There was never a time, when there was not food available, somewhere in the resort. service was good, if you tipped. take lots of $1 bills. a la carte restaurants, were good, but time consuming.we were only able to do the mexican, italian, & oriental. steakhouse was out of comish. take the early sitting if you can. staff were friendly. 'HEY BUDDY' to Ony, Emilo, Channel, Santos, Ruth, Alis, Alexander & Fabriola at guest services. SUPERB service. beach was great, drinks were always a plenty. every 2 or 3 nights, the locals come in and set up shop, selling their souvenirs, they're almost a pushy as the sellers out in the local public 'market' if you can handle the hassling, by all means go, put barter. that's the only way you'll get a good price. be willing to walk away. for the pool area, lots of little activities going on every day. the only complaint really would be the time share people. i understand the logic behind it, but every time they saw you, they want to set you up. When we go on vacation, we're interested (especially the first visit) of seeing what is there, etc. not going for a 3 hour seminar, and have pressure put on you to sign up. we got to the point, where we would leave our room out the back, that's bad. entertainment at night, always. Rooms were what you would expect. little fridge, coffee maker, air conditioner, even when we left on all night, it was sleepable noise wise. you're in the tropics, you don't need much. go, enjoy, have fun. that's what it is all about. if we went again, we would probably stay at this resort, but it's the area that might keep us away. not much walkin' to do, but on the beach. down the beach each way, there are little shacks set up, where selling nik and naks. to the west, there are actually a couple restaurants, never took money with us, so we didn't go in. but they advertised lobster. on resort premises, there also the excursion people. there is a booth set up in the lobby, but they also roam around showing you what is out there, for you. they're a little pushy, but not as bad as the 'time-share' ones.