TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This hotel is a fur coat no knickers hotel looks good but has nothing underneath!! This hotel has good potential to be a fantastic hotel, if the staff cared I was there for 10 days in 10 days I saw a lot and encountered a lot with staff, the customer service staff were the worst with Reani being the worst she is very rude and unprofessional I’m still waiting on speaking to a manager. The air conditioning did not working for 6 days and on our last day just before we were checking out maintenance came to check! My phone was stolen from around pool area hotel wasn’t helpful at all even know we knew where is was they didn’t help. Children pool are with ship was shut for a few days at beginning of our stay and when it had reopened there was still dirt everywhere dirty nappies butts everywhere and the floor was horrible, also there was rusty nails on children’s sun beds. Children club was rubbish went in to see what was going on wasn’t acknowledged by staff and when I asked a question what was on today? I was given a very rude response.It was not safe to leave kids here as staff not on the ball lots of people working in and out and staff just sitting around talking. Staff at the bar would sit and talk together for a while even when they had a queue of people waiting for drinking. Staff main food hall were very slow some mornings no glasses, folks sometime they just wouldn't come so few days could get a drink as when I went up to the bar I was told to sit down and wait! Food was standard nothing amazing apart from the lobster on the beach meal we paid extra for which was disgusting overcooked and after try the à la carte restaurant that is joined with it was shocked at how good the steak was that we got for free. Overall i wouldn’t stay here again even if it was for free I have never been on holiday and wanted to come home. Wasted a lot of money.

The staff make the resort. The staff truly saved the experience, for the most part they were very attentive from the cleaning staff, to the buffet staff, shout out to Ramon at buffet, the lobby staff, Krystal and Deyter who was super friendly and attentive at all times, definitely took customer service to the next level. Thank you to Walter at the front desk for being so patient and helping to resolve the room situation and Elvis, another porter at the lobby. The Entertainment crew no one seemed to make the rounds except Berkelys who was always professional. I have been to Punta Cana on 3 other occasions, and I can say that there are definitely better resorts. The food was average, thank you to Ramon for recommending the Indian restaurant, probably the best meal we had at the resort, average buffet selection, one night there was a mishap at the El Dorado restaurant kitchen, took forever to get our dinner, and I would almost swear that the food served was from the buffet, stale and dry. Do not bother with this a la carte. Rooms were not updated, the shower was an adventure to itself, trying to prevent the bathrooms from getting soaked was impossible, air conditioner was hit or miss, compared to other family members who had other rooms, the AC in my room would sometimes work, sometimes not, one night, the AC in another family member's room went out and some of the rooms smelled moldy. The staff truly saved the experience, for the most part they were very attentive from the cleaning staff, to the buffet staff, shout out to Ramon at buffet, the lobby staff, Krystal and Deyter who was super friendly and attentive at all times, definitely took customer service to the next level. Thank you to Walter at the front desk for being so patient and helping to resolve the room situation and Elvis, another porter at the lobby. The Entertainment crew no one seemed to make the rounds except Berkelys who was always professional. Too many people selling one thing or other at the pool and at the beach, it was never ending, difficult to relax when you are spending your time declining someone every other minute.

We always stay with Riu whenever we have gone away for the last 12 years. We returned to the DR but thought we would give a different chain a go. This is the second time we have stayed at a grand palladium (the first time Ibiza 5 years ago) and it did fall short of my expectations and unless it has a major update I wouldn’t return. We stayed at Punta Cana resort and spa but had access to the casino hotel and bravaro hotel a train got you round and buggy carts. The hotel we stayed at is very tired, built in 1992 and refurbished in 2017 - not sure what’s been refurbished other than the bathroom maybe. Was nice to have a decent flushing loo which the ones in the pool and hotel reception aren’t! Broken lights around the hotel and no decent air-con anywhere other than the room. The continual reps around the hotel trying to sell you stuff is also annoying, I know it’s their job but you say no thanks to be polite and then they try even harder!! Good points - beds and pillows comfy. Sports bar is stocked well for food and drink and service fairly quick. Mini bar service normally daily and you get packet of crisps, nuts which is a nice touch. Gym is also fantastic for a resort gym although aircon broke for 6 days while we were there which made training uncomfortable. Lots of great sport ball facilities again tennis courts could do with updating but with the heat you can only really use before 8am and after 5pm, good pickleball courts which are brand new. Didn’t see any of the facilities being used. Not so good points - staff are a bit rude and very limited on speaking English, all fizzy drinks are on the pump and usually taste of chlorine regardless of where you order a sprite or Coke, this was in the lunch restaurant the pool bar the sports bar. I stuck to champagne and water in the end so at least it came from a bottle!! Staff from the shops and chemist also had breakfast when we did - not sure why staff were taking guest tables. Limited hot water in the evenings as well. So anything between 5-8pm was a very luke warm shower. Apparently when we stayed they were at 35% capacity- I assume the staff had been reduced as well as very very slow service at breakfast lunch and dinner to get served and get seated. I have never had to queue for any food but each meal we normally always queue to get a table as they had to take your room number and seat you. Tables were always free but not set up so staff weren’t clearing quickly enough. After waiting ages to order a drink at any meal time it normally arrived after we had finished eating Pool bar service was average if you didn’t tip at the bar then you had to wait ages to get served…..if at all. Pool service around the pool when we were at our beds was a good service Al carte restaurants were nice - some better than others but always a good spread put on sumpotorui was defo the best even tho the room we were in was limited on decoration could have had a Muriel on the wall to make it more seem like a Japanese restaurant. With the facilities it offers it could be a great hotel but staff and hotel need updating I may just expect more now we live in 2024 so air con and non chlorine drinks would be nice.

This was our second visit to the resort. All in all it’s lovely, but by far the most disappointing thing was for 4 out of the 9 restaurant bookings we made via the app the restaurants ended up being closed! 2 nights running we arrived and the lights were off. First night someone was aware and moved us to another restaurant, second night we had to make a fuss in reception to get a table at a different restaurant, which took an hour. That night I checked all future bookings for the following week and all restaurants were showing as open on the days we booked. A few days later I checked again and the opening times had changed on 2 restaurants, now showing as closed. No connection was made with us to inform us of this change. Guest services were able to book us in to different places, but honestly had zero clue how we were allowed to book them through the app (that made 2 of us!). She advised that we shouldn't rely on the app bookings as it’s unreliable. So instead head to guest services in reception to get your bookings in and you’ll be fine :) Feedback given via the App Store, surprising as it’s a big group so no idea how it let us down so much this time! So book via guest services and you’ll have a lovely time :) Oh and don’t order food off the menus until you’ve nearly finished your salad bar plate as there’s a high chance your starters will arrive before you’ve finished! We found that asking for 10 minutes was all it needed to get a good pace ;)

The layout is about confusing and takes alot of walking around the get used to but there is always a lot of passenger carts going around picking people up so if you don't want to walk you don't have to. The swim up bar and pools are amazing. so are the in room services and buffets.