Room Number:
7116
Arrival: We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro from November 26 – December 3, 2012. We purchased our package through Transat Holidays, and flew Club Class to Punta Cana. Our package included private transportation to the hotel, which was nice. The only thing I didn’t like was that we were sent out into the parking lot at the airport, in the dark, with our luggage, to look for our cab number! The package also included entry to the Premium Lounge in Toronto and the lounge at Punta Cana airport (lounge in Punta Cana only included one rum drink, any other alcoholic drinks you had to pay for – soft drinks and bottled water were free. Not much in the way of snacks, a couple bowls of dip with a plate of stale bread, a dish of walnuts, a dish of black olives, and a dish of green olives). The hotel is about a 30 minute drive from the airport. Upon arrival we were checked in, and the bellboy accompanied us to our room. We had asked for a 4th floor room, but none were available. We were given a second floor room, but with an upgrade to pool/ocean view, and it was a great location. The hotel is built in a “u” shape. This is a smaller property with only 272 rooms. The lobby area and décor around the hotel is fantastic.
Rooms: The room was very nice, not as large as some we’ve had, but still plenty of room. The bathroom was nice, with a separate shower and toilet area, and at the other end a large Jacuzzi tub, with windows all around, and shades that could be lowered for privacy when taking a bath. The balcony was also very nice and private, and had a small setee in addition to a table and 2 chairs. Suggest you request a room that faces inward, otherwise you are overlooking the next-door Iberostar property. Exception would be swim-out rooms, which do face outwards toward the neighbouring property. There is free wifi in the rooms, which was nice. We had a problem with it the second day, it was very slow, but we asked the butler and he came in and reset the router and it was fine for the rest of the week. Not too many English TV channels, we got CNN, ABC, and some sports channels, that was about it. Maid service was good, we requested morning maid service and the room was always cleaned by noon, except for the Saturday (lots of checkouts and arrivals). There was turn-down service every night, and they did another cleanup, clean towels, etc. and would light a potpourri burner in your room each night. (Also had them in the halls, nicest smelling hotel I’ve ever been to). We didn’t arrive until 10 p.m. Shortly after we got to our room, our “butler” arrived to explain how everything worked and note any requests we had for the minibar, reservations, etc. He assisted us in ordering from room service (our order arrived in about 20 minutes!), and came back shortly after leaving with the slips for our restaurant reservations. I had emailed my request for reservations a week before our arrival and they had already been made. There are a number of butlers at the hotel, you won’t necessarily always have the same one (we never saw this one again after the first night), but there is always someone on hand to help you with anything you require. They are usually outside of the restaurant in the morning, or you can walk down to the concierge desk that is in each building.
Restaurants and Bars: Bar service is excellent around the pool and beach, they are always coming around asking if you want something. The pool also has a swim-up bar. Food was good, but not outstanding. I think they could do a better job of identifying what things are. There are dozens and dozens of dishes, but few are labelled. They put a lot of things out in small quantities, which is good for freshness, but I found some items could/should have been hotter. There is the main buffet restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a beach restaurant open for lunch, and 4 specialty restaurants. You can also go to any of the restaurants at the other Iberostar resorts. We had lunch at the beach restaurant half the time, the main restaurant the other half. If you didn’t see what you liked, you could get fish/steak/chops grilled to order while you waited. Lots of seafood – lobster, crab legs, clams, shrimp, etc. The buffet restaurant had a different theme each night – Dominican, Italian, Chinese, International, Mexican, Caribbean, etc. We only had dinner there twice, as we had reservations at the a la carte restaurants. There is a surf and turf restaurant, gourmet restaurant, Italian restaurant, and Japanese Restaurant. We found the surf and turf restaurant to be the best, then the Japanese, then the Italian (although the service here was slow). Neither of us enjoyed the gourmet restaurant at all.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The grounds of this hotel are beautiful and it sits on a gorgeous section of beach. We have stayed at a number of the top hotels in Punta Cana, and this one seems to have the best features of each. First of all it is kept spotlessly clean. There are washrooms everywhere. Beach chairs and palapas are plentiful, no problem getting a spot on the beach any time of the day. Lots of bali beds around the pool area, those do tend to fill up quicker, but they are lovely. We split our time between the pool and the beach.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: Activities – They have all the usual activities during the day – archery, air gun, yoga, tai chi, dance lessons, Spanish lessons, aerobics, ping pong, volleyball, soccer, etc. The “Star Friends” will come around and ask if you’d like to participate, but if you say no they leave you alone. Entertainment – they have music in the evenings, at the lobby bar or on the “boat”. There is also a nightly show, although we never made it to those, as they didn’t start until 10 p.m., past our bedtime after a day on the beach. This is not a “party” hotel, all is quiet after 11:00 p.m. You also have the option of going to any of the other Iberostar hotels next to this one (there are 3). Shopping – there are vendors on the beach just to the right, also a few hotel shops. There is also a free shuttle to another shopping area about 25 minutes away.
Other Comments: The staff at this hotel are absolutely outstanding! I’d name names, but I don’t want to forget anyone, suffice to say we didn’t have one negative experience. Be sure to take lots of $1’s for tipping! Weather was pretty good while we were there. A little cloudy a couple of days, and rain late afternoon or overnight most days, but nice and warm. In summary, this is a hotel we would return to. Everything seems to “work” there. Fantastic staff and service!
5 plus stars.