We had read some negative reviews about this resort and were a little hesitant about this vacation. We were very pleasantly surprised.Yes the rooms are older but the air worked, it was clean and the fridge was stocked daily. Our location in the reosrt was perfect for us (Room 6920). It was steps from the pool and the buffet, a two minute walk to the spectacular beach and steps to the Casino. If you have never seen Bavaro beach it is beautiful and you can walk for miles. And there was virtually no seaweed. We spent every morning at the beach and each afternoon at the pool. We never had a problem finding chairs but we did have to search a little. The food was very good and if you want to go to the more popular Steakhouse or Italian restaurants, just go at 6:00, before the lineups start.I have read complaints about staffing shortage at the buffets but we ate at the Punta Cana buffet usually and never had an issue. My tea was always ready by the time I came back with my meal. Also if you to the sports bar at the Bavaro you can get pizza, chicken wings etc. 24/7. Ask for a BLT (not on the menu), awesome. We were most surprised by the amount of English that the stafff spoke compared to serveral other resorts we have stayed at in the Dominican. Especially the restaurant and bartending staff. An employee told us that they are offered classes in many languages at the resort. He has taken French and English and is now enrolling in Russian. However it is still an island resort and they cannot possibly learn every language and you are in their country so try to learn a little of their language, the effort goes a long way. At most resorts you need to tip to get good service, at this resort we WANTED to tip because we were getting such great service. There is lot to do if you want to: a large sports complex, water sports, two evening shows to choose from and a proper casino. Also all of the lobby bars have music every night and there is the disco which opens at 11:15 (earlier than other resorts) and the sports bar. We have been to other resorts in Punta Can and this was one of the best so far. We had a great time and will be back!!!!

I enjoy the stay here, I know very little Spanish but the workers did their best to help me, check in was fast and easy and so was the check out. The best assistance I received was from Karima in the buffet beside the Mediterranean restaurant and the receptionist Marley at the front desk! Great customer service from both of them

Before leaving for our trip I took a look at the reviews here for this resort. Needless to say, I was a little skeptical given the comments I read and the overall rating at the time.... However, all those worries were quickly forgotten the moment we stepped foot on the resort!!!! The grounds are well kept, and beautiful. We had a loft room, and were very pleased with its set up and location. We had building number 85...which in my opinion is prime real estate. The maid, Iris made sure we had everything we needed, and never made us wait. In fact, even when we would place the do not disturb sign on the door, she would place the towels we needed in a bag and hang it on our door... Our room was very clean, and had no signs of aging. Everything was in perfect condition. We were a 2 minute walk to the beach, pool, and lobby (bar). Because we travelled with impatient young children, we stuck to the buffet restaurants and tried all three (palace, punta cana, and bavaro buffet). There was a selection of food for every taste, and even served Nutella at breakfast! The staff in the restaurants greated us with smiles every time, and were very attentive. By the end of our stay, they would set up a table with a high chair ready, the moment they'd see us enter the restaurant.
The pool at the Palace is just beautiful. There is a sectioned off area for children. We also frequently used the pool at the Punta Cana section which has a pirate ship, slides, and sprinklers for children. In that same area (which is less than a 3 minute walk from the palace section), there is a kids club that my daughter absolutely fell in love with. This place had everything!!!! Every day they had different themes (Carnaval, Indian day, etc) and would have the children dress up in costumes, do some arts and crafts according to the theme, etc. There was a huge movie room, a yard with a trampoline and toys, dramatic play area, electronic game room, etc. For those with children three and under, they give you a cell phone to be contacted in case there is a problem with your child. Being someone who works in child care, I found this to be very reassuring, and must say was very pleased with the attention the children received.
The section reserved for the Palace guests at the beach is smaller than in the other sections, however...we never had trouble getting a chair at anytime of day. Yes, if you want one under an umbrella, I certainly recommend getting to the beach early, and reserving one. We were usually up between seven thirty and eight, and 6 out of 7 days, got umbrellas.
Overall, I must say that I was extremely satisfied with this resort, and would definitely recommend it to families, and couples.
One last note, for those of you contemplating which section to stay in...definitely go for the Palace. I visited the renovated rooms in the Bavaro section, and spent time at their pool. Yes, the rooms were newer, and the bathrooms bigger BUT the location is way to far from the beach. The pool at the bavaro is not as pretty either... dont make your decision based on the fact that Bavaro has a better score (which I really dont understand why...). Palace is the the best choice (and you have access to all the other sections to compare afterwards).

My "new" husband and I just returned from our amazing wedding adventure at the Grand Palladium Palace in Punta Cana. Our group consisted of 16 Canadian travelers. Do not let the negative reviews on here scare you. You have nothing to worry about!

Rooms - We had a loft room in the 85 section and most of our travel companions had regular villa rooms in the same general area. Overall, there is nothing negative to be said about our accommodations. Our room was kept very clean by our housekeeper Iris, and the fridge was fully stocked daily. There was lots of clean towels, hot water for showers and our air conditioning worked very well. The pull out bed downstairs was broken, so we just folded it up into a couch since we didn't need it anyway. The balcony had a nice view and we appreciated the drying rack that could be used to hang wet clothes. All buildings were close to the pool, lobby, restaurants and beach. There were a few minor room issues upon arrival (i.e. a safe needing a new battery and a loose door handle) however, these were fixed promptly once the front desk was informed.

Food - The a-la-carts were very good, but they could be difficult to get into. You can't seem to make reservations, and they don't accept names for their list until the restaurant is open for the evening. One night we waited for around 2 hours to get in. Make sure that you get there early! The Japanese restaurant was VERY entertaining and is a must see. The only other complaint that we would have about the food was that there was only one place that was open for food/snacks all the time and it was on the other side of the resort. The buffets were very good and had a wide variety of food available for all tastes. They even have theme nights, which was really nice. If you are at the Palace buffet, be sure to seek out the magical stylings of Alix. He can usually be found with a big smile, whistling like a bird. He certainly knows a thing or two about hospitality.

Staff - The staff at the Palace were very friendly and very helpful. They were always quick to greet you with a smile and an hola. The POP crew was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. We especially enjoyed the "Harlem Shake" video that they put together while we were there. It can be found on Youtube (Harlem Shake Grand Palladium Punta Cana). The shows in the evenings were a lot of fun, as was the beach party. There was always lots to see and do thanks to this group of staff members! A few special mentions would have to go out to William the bartender at the pool for always remembering a face, Mony (sorry if that's spelled incorrectly) the Captain Bell-hop for assisting with many wedding related details (i.e. hanging my dress in the room, and getting us to the wedding office for our meeting), Fransisco from the Disco for being a "bad-influence", Raphael the waiter who went above and beyond the call of duty during our wedding photos and Carolina our wedding coordinator for putting together the entire show.

Wedding - If we could give one piece of advice to anyone planning a wedding, it would be to let Carolina handle the details for you. She was amazing! All we had to do before arriving at the resort was choose which package we wanted and some wedding attire for ourselves and our party. Everything else was planned during a 40 minute, stress-free meeting upon our arrival. Literally all we had to do was show up, go through some pictures, and tell her what we wanted. She handled absolutely everything. She even handled all of the arrangements when the father of the groom was delayed a day and would have missed the originally scheduled wedding. Carolina managed to call everyone, even the photographer, and have the wedding bumped to the following day so that everyone could be present. Where else would you get service like that??? The gazebo overlooking the beach had been decorated in our wedding colours and looked absolutely stunning. The bouquet was beautiful, as were the centerpieces and the cake. Everything went off without a hitch and it could not have been more perfect. It was everything I had ever dreamed of and so much more! :)

Photos - We hired Photo Caribe to do our wedding photos. Their office is located right on the resort, making this a stress free part of the wedding as well. George and Christian were both amazing. Our photos were artistically stunning! All of our friends and family keep raving about how nice the photos are as well. Christian took all of our photos on Wednesday, we were able to see them on Thursday, and by Friday we had our printed copies in our hands ready to share. We couldn't be happier!

I am sure that we could go on and on if we tried about all of the things that made our stay such a wonderful one. I would certainly recommend the Grand Palladium Palace, especially for destination weddings. Thanks again to everyone on the resort for making our stay such a joyous and memorable one. I am sure we will be back someday! :)