Grand Bavaro Princess- All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

17302 reviews

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  Escape room

  We recently stayed at the Grand Bávaro Princess with our family for the second time, and once again it was a great experience. One of the newest additions is the pirate-themed escape room, and it was hands down the highlight of our trip—especially for our kids. We actually decided to do it twice during our stay because we didn’t manage to escape in time the first round, and the kids loved it so much they wanted to try again. It was fun, interactive, and a great family activity. Highly recommend it for anyone traveling with children!

  Dec 29, 2025
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  Honestly, Platinum Review.

  My husband and I (33 and 36, from Canada) stayed December 13th - 20th, in room 5621 on the platinum side. Here is our honest review: We had a fantastic time! We’ve discussed it & we would love to return to this resort for every vacation, as we found what we like and are set up for success for a very relaxing vacation. Checking in - quick and easy! We were greeted at the front, advised we were platinum and were transported over to their reception where it was quick and easy. Then brought to our room, where they were more than happy to carry our bags up to our room. The room - beautiful, absolutely no issues at all. The bed was comfy, the shower and tub were hot. No issues with mould or mildew (which is expected in the DR & other hot, tropical climates so even if there was, we’d have understood!). We were right on the trolly line, and could occasionally hear noise outside but never enough to disrupt us. The beach - amazing, loved the rougher waves as it made for fun but could see this being an issue with small children so make sure you’re always with them as there was some times that I, a grown woman was being pulled out deeper. The service on the beach was great, always coming around asking us if we wanted/ needed anything. The sand is soft, the chairs are comfy. The added padding on the platinum side was a wonderful addition. The food - hit or miss, but when we found what we liked we were able to thoroughly enjoy it. As others said, burgers at most restaurants isn’t our traditional burgers but you realize when they say “HAMburger” they take it seriously. But the “angus beef burgers” in PBG were delicious and we had them every day for lunch, along with it’s the mixed salad and the chorizo. We didn’t enjoy SOHO so probably wouldn’t return there, but we did love both the Italian pizzeria & the Italian restaurant & the steak house (sorry, don’t remember names). We also tried room service twice and were happy with both. Food was delivered hot and within a good timeframe. Entertainment - we truly can’t speak on that, we were in bed by 8pm each night and didn’t attend 1 party/ event. We also didn’t sit around the bigger pool, except one day where we sat off to the side and tried to avoid the entertainment as we just enjoy the quiet. Coffee shop - our favourite place! We’d wake up every morning and start off our day with an ice mocha latte and a caramel frap. On our last day we tried the crepes and they were also a great hit! The pools - we loved the platinum pool! We were able to snag a clamshell a few days during our week long stay, and they certainly were comfortable and made the day very relaxing. It was very frustrating though to see people who’d claim their spots early (we’d get there at 730am and stay all day!) and we wouldn’t see them come to their chairs or the clamshells until 4pm. That’s expected everywhere though as people can be so inconsiderate. The staff - everyone we met were friendly and happy to help. The staff at the platinum bar were quick to learn our orders and ensured our drinks were always refilled quickly, served cold and without question. Massage - I quickly met Elizabeth from the spa and got an 80 minute massage which was so heavenly. I’d later see her around and she’d talk me into a free 5 minute massage daily. I loved this, especially when I pulled my neck the one day and could barely move & she was able to help me fix that and enjoy the rest of my vacation. Safety - I’ve been to resorts before where there was lots of talk of theft from rooms, issues with staff and so on. We tried to always use our safe, but there was a couple times where we left out our electronics or other high value items and we returned to our room without any issues. We always felt safe and welcome. Bottom line, neither of us got sick. We quickly found a routine/ places that worked for us & we had the best week.

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Do not book! Worse resort I’ve been to!

  To begin, this is the first resort where I’m not received with anything upon arrival. I’m so confused with the other reviews because this resort is far from great. Food was a 6/10. The room was given to us dirty and with trash still in front of the room as well. There was no hot water in our room. When we called and complained they said there was not any hot water instead of accommodating us or giving us other instructions. The cleaners huddle together and talk trash about other co workers. They don’t even greet you with a good morning upon seeing you. This is the worse resort we’ve been to so far. We paid extra money to be here during this time of the year and it was a waste of money. The disappointment is immense.

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Honest Review - Must Read

  Take this as a very honest review, as someone who has been to 20+ 5 star all inclusives in Mexico, DR, and Aruba, as someone who has been to 50+ countries and is well travelled.  The wife and I booked a last minute trip to this resort at a very good price. I honestly did not know much about this hotel, but I did know that it has been around a while and it never entered my radar when going to the DR as I was happy staying at the Bahias, etc. We booked the Platinum Princess package, with the honeymoon option, and I will say this: IF after reading this you still want to go to this hotel, please go Platinum. Let's be real - This is not a 5 star resort. If you stay Platinum, maybe you'll have the 5 star feel at times, but otherwise this is a 3/4 star resort at best - Reasons below. First - Let me take the time to mention some of the amazing Platinum staff who made our stay enjoyable and were very accommodating - Nicol at Chopin, Juan at PBG, Juan at Reception, Angelica and Gabriela at the Capuccino Bar, and Tony at the Platinum beach bar.  They all deserve attention here for being wonderful and hard working people who always had a smile on their face and made our experience here more memorable! The Room: We had the honeymoon suite, which was very convenient and overlooked the beach. The room itself was pretty standard. We did not have a mosquito issue in the room, but the odd one would find its way inside. The shower at times had the worst pressure I have ever experienced in the countless hotels I have been in. The wifi was pathetic, and yes I did have to work a little bit while on this trip. It would be decent for a few hours and then just cut out completely for a few hours, or come back 10x slower. Do not rely on the wifi if you need it. Reception said that paying for the "Premium" internet was a waste, and it was better to be in the Reception area if you needed reliable wifi. I can't believe in 2025 this hotel still hasn't figured out proper wifi for its guests. If you're by the beach, tethering from your phone isn't a great option either as I had 1 bar of LTE.  The cleaning of the rooms are inconsistent. If you had a DND sign on the door past 8am you probably weren't getting your room cleaned, even after calling reception to let them know. Room service plates and old food left outside by guests remained outside for days at a time, so you would get a nice whiff of stale ketchup whenever walking by other rooms.  Beach: The beach is pretty well kept and very little seaweed remained in the morning (in December). The Platinum sunbeds are padded and a nice touch. I was up around 9am and still managed to grab them.  Grounds: The grounds at this hotel are pretty unique from what I have seen, and a nice touch if you like birds, ducks, peacocks roaming around. The natural forest that they left in the middle of the resort is good if you like that sort of thing. I think the natural ponds that are throughout the resort do attract mosquitos so have that in mind. The trams are generally packed so we found it better to walk most times, especially during peak hours (e.g. morning and 4-5pm). The walk from the beach to the main lobby was about 10 minutes so it's fine for us. I also do not understand why the walking paths are used by diesel maintenance/delivery trucks - and frequently. These should be on a separate road around the hotel that guests do not see or have to constantly move out of the way for. Food: Ok the food....disappointing. The Chopin buffet had serious health infractions. Food was often cold, and covered in flies. The glasses for juice in the morning were mostly dirty, and same with the cutlery and coffee cups. Items are often mislabelled - Fries were labelled Calamari, and Chicken was labeled Carrots - This is basic stuff and not 5 star worthy. For the first time ever I had a bad case of diarrhea (not viral), even after watching what I ate and not having any tap water, ice, or raw veggies/fruit - And I have been to India, Peru, the DR 5 times before, Mexico 10+ times, Bangladesh, parts of Africa, etc. and never once been sick. We saw some staff openly sneezing in the food area and we were just turned off completely. The hotel bracelets are so long and guests that do not tie them around their wrist properly have the ends dipped in buffet food which is gross. PBG grill was probably the only "bright" spot here. Lunch was usually pretty fresh with meat from the grill and sides (rice, fries, etc).  This hotel cannot make a pizza if their lives depended on it. We walk into Focaccia and we see a nice Italian pizza oven, and then we realize the staff there were not trained to handle pizza dough. The final product comes out with no sauce and is a dense as concrete. The sauce for their pasta is pretty good actually and seems to be from fresh San Marzano canned tomatoes.  Il tartufo was mediocre. Service was poor, slow, and my soup appetizer came out 15 minutes after my wife's - and it was the exact same order. The fresh pasta was particularly "eggy" tasting and not worth raving about. I ordered tartufo for dessert and received a chocolate cake.  We didn't go to any of the other restaurants having read the reviews of others online. Overall though - If you are a vegetarian (I am not), you will have a hard time here. Rice, beans, and steamed veg at Chopin is your best bet. PBG offers some grilled veggies but no protein if you're looking for something vegetarian (e.g. tofu).   The Cappuccino Bar was phenomenal. The crepes were always consistently done and the coffees, fraps, etc were amazing. Service can be slow at times but tolerable. Room service was utterly pathetic and again, the worst I have experienced in 50+ countries. We ordered a Margherita Pizza and a Veg sandwich with fries the night we arrived. We received a cheese pizza with no sauce, rock hard dough, and a few sweet peppers on it (how is this a Margherita??)....probably the worst "pizza" I have ever seen and tried to eat. The veg sandwich came with a couple of onions and sweet peppers. No tomato, lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, etc that the menu had stated. The fries were decent. Overall: I said it above and I'll say it again - This is not a 5 star resort. Spend a bit more and go to a real 5 star resort - There are lots of good ones in Bavaro. With proper training I think this hotel would be much better, but this is on Management - not the employees. Train your employees to handle food properly, to be hygienic, to be attentive, etc.

  Dec 27, 2025
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  Lovely Resort Experience in Punta cana

  We stayed at this resort for 4 days. It was great value for the price. We booked platinum princess for our stay. From service to food to gardens and relaxing vibes, everything was simply awesome! We enjoyed food at Focaccia and Samsara Restaurants and Focaccia was fantastic while Samsara was mediocre. The buffet was all good. There wasn't too many dishes but there was quality. On the first night, we enjoyed ocean front international buffet with live music which is arranged once a week specifically for the platinum guests. The grounds are spectacular with Peacocks, Huron, ducks and storks roaming around creating such a relaxing atmosphere. The ocean is a long stretch. Although a truck was seen cleaning the seaweed but it keeps coming back on the shores even during the winter season but it was manageable. I am sure the situation would be worse during the summer months. The resort comes to life at dusk with lights on the trees and live music.They have an ice cream shop, 11 restaurants, a Cafe and food trucks. We would love to return to this place gor sure!

  Dec 24, 2025