This was our 4th time to the Iberostar Grand Bavaro, we were there from February 2nd to February 9th, 2012 – we emailed Freddy (the reservation manager) and requested an upper level room facing the ship. Freddy came through (thank you Freddy) and gave us room 7309 – which was the first room we had at the Grand in 2009 when it first opened.

We had another fantastic week met a lot of nice people from Canada, US, The Netherlands and Austria. The food, drinks and entertainment were all outstanding.

We would especially like to thank the following people who made the week extra special: Laly at Reception for the Spanish lessons; Cedeno and Nathanial for the great service at the restaurants and keeping my wine glass full; Cesar who always found us a great table to sit at for breakfast; Maritza who was always smiling and made the best omelets; Leonardo (for the Grand Marnier Margarita), Leidy, Rosy and Angela at the pool bar; Julio Cesar for the wonderful martinis at the lobby bar; Nicole who sold my husband a cigar and he doesn’t even smoke but he did end up smoking the cigar at the swim up bar; Isabel and the Star Friends (ping pong and bingo bongo) for entertaining us (Rock show and Chill out); Pastor and Jason our butlers who were always asking us if there’s anything they can do for us and to the rest of the staff who always had smiles on their faces and always said hola.

We will be definitely returning again next year.

Mucho Gracias!!

Melpomeni and Joe

We've been to all several inclusive resorts in Mexico and throughout the Caribbean and would easily confirm this as the best we've stayed at to date! Some comments:

- Pool service was tremendous. Rosie & Leady were always there with a smile and a beverage!
- Activities staff was very good. Poolside games were fun, and the staff did a nice job of getting people engaged, but weren't pushy about it. Boom Boom & Leticia were tremendous!
- Many other all inclusive resort shows I've found to be cheesy and low quality. However, they had some very good talent with shows they really put effort into.
- Always plenty of good food to find. There were several additional wines you could get and we were able to find good quality wines at dinner.
- We didn't have any issues with dinner reservations. Were able to book for 6 people every night of the week.
- Golf course itself was good. Fun holes, nice layout. They're still doing some construction around it, but the fairways and greens were good.
- Quick ride to and from the airport. 20-30 minutes tops!

Advice:

- Take some bread to the ocean and walk out to waist deep. Drop small pieces in and you'll be surrounded by fish. Best place to do this is out in front of the Iberostar Bavaro.
- Have your 5pm cocktail at the Tiki Bar between the Grand and the Bavaro. They close at 6.
- Get your 10 minute free massage. Ask the activities staff around the pool and they'll point you in the right direction.
- Have a drink at the bar at the Bavaro by the lobby. It's a great bar with an open air feel to it. The lobby bar at the Grand is very nice as well, but is inside.
- Order a Dirty Monkey or "Mono Sucio"
- They have some really good habenero sauce if you're looking to spice up your food. Might have to ask for it!
- Take a long walk on the beach. You can safely go for miles either way.
- Forget bringing your suntan lotion...they have plenty there for you to use!
- Don't need to worry about fancy clothes...saw several people wearing jeans to dinner (with nice shirts. Don't be a slob!)
- Beachfront vendors are right next to the resort. Don't pay anything more than 40% of what they are asking for.

It's really a nice place. I can't disagree with some comments like the butler effectiveness and the pool tiles falling out, but those are really non issues in the overall scheme of things! Believe the overall ratings...this is a really great place and certainly was our favorite all inclusive.

We visited the Grand between 1/22 and 1/29 2012, this was my 10th year staying in the DR
6 years at the Hacienda Dominicus, 2yrs at the Bavaro this was my 2nd time to the Grand. These are all Iberostar resorts, and all are quite nice. Now that the history lesson is over, the Grand Bavaro is the finest resort in my opinion on the beach. The staff is truly helpful, considering all the different types of people they encounter on a daily basis, and language
differences they do quite remarkable. Lets not forget this is not downtown New York city,or
Chicago. When you step out of the hotel you are on the finest beach in the DR. There are no traffic lites, horns honking, or any other city noise. To us it is a paradise all by itself, water, sand, pools, an abundance of different types and quality food, heck there are waiters walking thru the sand to keep everyone with cold drinks, and cold towels for the beach cool down. The landscaping is really beautiful, and the workers keep it that way with extra effort.
The fact this is adults only was a real plus for myself and my wife, I've done my years at family resorts so it was time to move on, and I'm glad I did. Thanks to all the employees who helped me and my wife enjoy once more, a splendid vacation. This resort is a "CLASS ACT"

We just returned from a quick 5 day family (3 adult couples) trip to this lovely property. It was our first stay at an Iberostar, but not our last.

We arrived at the property and were greeted with pina coladas and champagne. After an easy check in we were shown to our rooms by our 'Butler'. As requested, our rooms were next to each other on the top floor. They were very spacious and the beds were incredibly comfortable. The pillow menu they offer is quite nice. Perhaps we got a bad one, but we felt the 'Butler Service' was a joke. We usually felt we were bothering him if we called to ask for something. We have been booked on different trips in a category that offers this service and have never found it to be beneficial. If I had to find something negative to say about the service at the hotel that would be my only complaint.

Once our 'Butler' showed us our rooms he made our dinner reservations for each night for us. We were lucky enough to get the times we requested, but tried to change a couple after the fact and it wasn't possible. The restaurants never seemed overly busy so it was a bit puzzling why we could never get in, but we think they only have a couple of seatings a night and close at 9 p.m.. Not a big deal....we didn't starve. I would agree with most of the reviews on here that the food wasn't great. Not horrible, but not great. We used room service menu you hang on your door before you go to bed for our wake up call every day and it was always on time and quite good!

The property is very nice and clean. Easy to get around and the staff is incredibly friendly. Love the stretch of beach it sits on. You can walk for miles and not be haggled to buy something. The water is warm and blue and the beach is soft and white.

The fitness room is small, but adequate and the equipment is up to date and very nice. The spa has some amazingly talented staff. I had 2 massages by Wendy while I was there and she was incredible! The rest of the family had massages by various people and said they were great as well.

The variety shows they have each night are entertaining. They really go the extra mile to get people interested.

Loved the property and would definitely go back!! We travel a lot and this was the first hotel on a beach that provided EXACTLY what they promised on the internet. You don't have to sift through 20 room categories that are all classified as 'ocean view' if you can see a sliver of water over the parking lot. What they have on their website is what you will get. We appreciated that!!

As always, I'm amazed at what some people writing reviews complain about......particularly the 'language barrier'. Hellooooo.....WE are the foreigners. Shame on us for not knowing Spanish and expecting them to all know English!