A complete review of Grand Bavaro Princess, Punta Cana, D.R.

My family and I just got back from our trip to Punta Cana and we stayed at the Grand Bavaro Princess for seven days. In this post, I'm going to share a detailed review of our experience to help others who are either deciding whether or not to book this resort, or have already booked the resort and want to make the most of their trip.

Because I realize that most people are reading this post to decide whether or not to book the resort, I am going to write it backwards and start with an overview, and then break it down and talk about more specific categories.

Overview

Overall I really enjoyed our vacation and was pleased with the resort. If I was asked whether or not I'd go back, my answer would be that I'm not sure. Personally, I'm not a very big all inclusive person and think that I would prefer a different type of trip. That being said, if someone who was looking for an all inclusive in Punta Cana asked if I would recommend this resort, I would say yes.

The main highlights of this resort for me were the beach and the grounds. I walked quite a ways down Bavaro beach in either direction from our resort and I can confidently say that I believe our resort was situated on the best section of the beach. Some of the other resorts only had small slivers of beach or the beach wasn't well maintained and there was lots of seaweed. Princess is situated on an area of the beach that is very wide, and so there is plenty of space. Additionally, they took pride in their upkeep of the grounds, so there was very minimal seaweed. Speaking of the grounds, the grounds of the rest of the resort were absolutely pristine. There were maintenance crews working at all times ensuring that everything was in top shape. There were never any leaves on the ground and I didn't notice a single chip of paint the whole time I was there. While walking along the beach, I really noticed the differences in this category compared to other resorts. Some of the other resorts had big patches of shingles missing from the roofs, among other things.

The main downsides of this resort for me were the food and entertainment. Personally, I'm a big foodie, and this is the main thing that would turn me off from doing any all-inclusive again in the near future. Although I feel like the food was quite average compared to other all inclusives, I personally felt it was disappointing most of the time. That being said, there were some things I had that were quite good and some things that were quite bad. In my food section of the detailed review below, you can find some advice on how to find the best food. Another thing that was lacking for me was the entertainment. Now I would say that this resort is definitely not marketed as a party resort so I wasn't expecting too much, but there really was not much of anything going on in the evenings. Aside from karaoke and the sports bar and the occasional beach party in the evenings, we all found ourselves to be quite bored.

The detailed review

Now that I've gotten my main thoughts out, I want to dive into a more detailed review, mostly designed to help those who have the resort booked to make the most out of their trip.

I'm going to break this review down into 7 sections: Beach/grounds, rooms, food, service, pools, entertainment, and whether platinum is worth it. I will rank each section out of 10.

Beach/Grounds - 10/10

There's not too much to say for this category other than what I've already said above. Both the beach and the grounds were beautiful and extremely well-kept. This category gets a 10/10 because I can't think of anything they possibly could've done to make it better. One thing I do want to mention for those who do not know is that beaches in Punta Cana are all public access, so there will be vendors trying to sell you things. However, a polite no thank you is all it takes for them to move on.

Rooms - 10/10

I know that it seems like I'm just giving 10's right now, but the rooms were also perfect. We were a family with two adult kids so we were able to get two adjoining rooms and it was perfect. The rooms were very clean, beds and pillows were comfy, and the balcony was nice.

Food - 6/10

As I mentioned above, I'm a big foodie. Personally, I felt that the food was likely on par with other resorts however I found it disappointing as someone who really enjoys good food. In my other post: Grand Bavaro Princess Food Guide, I break down each restaurant and what I ate that was good and bad, but here I'll just give some general advice. My first tip would be to stay away from anything that is based around cheese. I found their cheese there to be very different from North American cheese and I did not like it at all. Now I think the foods that had a bit of cheese in them were totally fine like tacos or that sort of thing, my advice is just to stay away from anything where cheese is a major ingredient like pizza or a cheesy pasta. Also, I would stay away from the beach buffet. We went once and it was extremely crowded and the food selection was limited because it was very small. For lunch, we opted for the platinum beach grill most days, but if you're not platinum, then I would recommend the food trucks or taking the time to go up to the main buffet by the lobby, which was much bigger and had a better selection.

Service - 7/10

Now I should preface this section by saying that I do not speak Spanish and neither does anyone in my family. That being said, I think if a person did speak Spanish, they would get substantially better service. I don't expect anyone who works at the hotel to speak great English, as I am a foreigner in their Spanish-speaking country, so my rating omits the communication barrier, although I felt it should be mentioned.

Regardless of the communication barrier, I felt the service was okay but sometimes quite slow and it at times felt like workers were in a rush to help you. Certain restaurants, especially the platinum beach grill, were slow. Food and drinks both took a very long time to arrive at the table. There were many instances where I had to ask for something I had ordered multiple times because it was forgotten and a couple of times I asked twice and the item still never came. I do think this is partially because of the language barrier but I also believe that some of it is due to poor communication between employees.

Service at the bars and beachside service in the platinum beach section was great and I really have no complaints there. I also felt that the English Proficiency of the bartenders was better than that of the other staff, not quite sure why that would be though.

Pools - 8/10

Overall I thought to pools were nice, although there was nothing too special about them. The main pool was very big, so it was nice that it didn't feel too crowded. The swim up bar at the main pool however, was quite packed. I also noticed a bit of a strange smell around that area, but it may have just been a fluke incident. Another thing I didn't love about the main pool was that the deepest part was maybe 3.5 feet deep.

The platinum pool was very nice. Much smaller than the main pool but still not crowded since there are a lot less platinum guests. The swim up bar for this pool wasn't busy at all. I also liked that this pool was a bit deeper, with the deepest part being just below 5ft deep. I also felt that this pool was a bit cleaner. There was an employee there whose only job was to walk around the pool with a small net and pick out the debris all day.

Entertainment - 5/10

As mentioned in the first section, the entertainment was definitely lacking at this resort. There were a couple of beach parties but I had this sense that this resort is really not targeting partiers because most people were just sitting around and not dancing. Karaoke at the sports bar was fun depending on the night. We also went to a silent disco one night and I really enjoyed that.

Is platinum worth it?

I feel like I could make a whole post on this topic itself, but I'll just focus on the main details here.

We decided to book the platinum section of the resort when we stayed. Platinum gets you access to three restaurants: the platinum beach grill, SOHO, and the platinum buffet. You also get access to the platinum pool and section of the beach, where there is drink service at your chair (something not included for regular guests). There is also a platinum check-in, although our flight arrived too late at night so we checked in at the regular check-in because platinum was closed. In platinum you get a reusable bag to keep and you can use it for the beach or whatever you like. The platinum bars also have "premium drinks". Lastly, platinum gets you free room service, whereas regular guests have to pay.

For me, platinum was worth it because of the restaurants and the beach section. The chair service at the beach was really nice to have. Also, the chairs in the platinum section had a proper cushion, whereas those in the regular section were your classic, plastic beach loungers. The platinum beach grill had some of the best food at the resort in my opinion. The chicken on the grill was simple but really yummy, and we went here a few times for lunch. Breakfast at the platinum buffet was much better than the beach buffet, and it was convenient to have something close to the room, as opposed to being in the regular section where you would have to take the tram to the main buffet if you wanted a larger selection.

I think for some people the "premium" drinks would factor into the decision to get platinum. I put the word premium in quotations because the only thing that was premium was being able to select your alcohol, the actual variety of drinks they could make was the same as everywhere else. For those who have a preference for certain brands of alcohol, the platinum bars had a variety of your standard name-brand liquor, like Absolut vodka or Jose Cuervo tequila, for example. The regular bars just had one brand of each type of alcohol.

We booked platinum when we originally booked our trip, and it cost approximately an extra $200 per person, and that was for four adults in 2 rooms. Another thing I would like to mention is that we booked the platinum upgrade when we originally booked our trip. I would recommend doing this if you are thinking about upgrading because I had heard that some other people tried to make the upgrade once they got to the resort, and there were no rooms left. Also, I believe it's cheaper to upgrade when you book.

Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed my stay. For an all-inclusive, I had a good experience. I would definitely recommend this resort for those who are looking for something mid-range, and are aiming to relax more than party.

I hope this post helped anyone who is deciding on the resort, or who is going and looking for advice!