VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8205 reviews

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  Wonderful Time at Gran Ventana <3

  My husband and I had a wonderful time at Gran Ventana! The resort was spotless and very well maintained. The staff were friendly and welcoming, and the food was absolutely AMAZING—both at the main buffet and in all three à la carte restaurants. Security is present 24/7, which made us feel very safe, especially when we went for evening walks around the resort (usually after indulging in more food than we care to admit—LOL!). There are two pools on the property. The main pool is lively and family-friendly, often bustling with activity. The second pool, located closer to the resort entrance, is adults-only and much quieter—my personal favorite. Plus, Jacqui the bartender there is fantastic—super friendly and has a great sense of humor! The nightly entertainment was enjoyable and a nice way to unwind after a day in the sun (at least I thought so!). The Wi-Fi could be a bit spotty around the resort, but it worked well in our room, which was enough for us. Honestly, it's a great chance to disconnect—put the phone down and grab a good book instead. Some guests might find the rooms a bit dated, but ours was clean and comfortable, which is what mattered most to us. We didn’t spend much time indoors anyway. Our TV remote wasn’t working, but luckily we brought our Roku and it connected just fine. Highly recommend bringing one if you like having streaming options! We also went on a city tour, which was fantastic. Our guide, Julio, was friendly, knowledgeable, and kept everything running smoothly. Highly recommend this excursion! Overall, we had an amazing stay at Gran Ventana and wouldn’t hesitate to return.

  May 15, 2025
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  May 4 to May 11 Gran Ventana Stay

  Stayed the first week of May 2025. Stayed in Superior room (Catalina Building) with premium package. Resort is nice and a decent value for the money. Staff were attentive and helpful for the most part. A very few ignored the OOT guests when the locals were there (and yes, we tipped ALL the time), but most were friendly. My birthday fell during our stay and we were granted an extra al la carte, which was nice. The food at the buffet was decent with many choices. Al la cartes were OK. We liked the Italian the best. When we arrived, there was standing room only in the main pool due to a DR Labor Day holiday. The DR people were very rude to the OOT guests! Apparently this resort sells many rooms to locals every weekend. No problem with that unless people are rude, which they were both weekends we spent there. There were also cruise passengers many days while we were there, but they did not seem to impose any problems. The premium package did NOT seem worth the money to us. We had to search out towels on a daily basis, as I understood it, they should have been be left in the room daily. "Concierge" meant going to the Vintage Lounge to address any issues and schedule al la cartes. The beach area was very nice and private for premium and royal guests. But, the worst part was if you wanted a "premium" drink at the Vintage Lounge, you were not allowed to leave the lounge with it in hand. We felt like we were being held hostage in order to have a drink that didn't taste like firewater as the liquor at the other bars was awful! Overall, it was a good stay and value for the money, but I would not return to this property.

  May 14, 2025
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  A great week away

  We stayed from April 29th to May 6th. There was 7 of us from Nova Scotia & we had a fabulous time away at the resort. The hotel is about 15 mins from the airport by the bus transfer. There are a few issues but, for the most part, we are all pretty easy to please. The resort is kept extremely clean! The workers work hard to keep the grounds & other areas pristine. The rooms were kept very clean, the A/C works so well that, I would need to turn it either off or down as the room was so cold lol! The beach was kept clean as well. No issues with the beach at all! We could walk in without water shoes & enjoy the ocean & also enjoyed water aerobics with Shaggy! You can also walk a long ways on either side of the beach & we enjoyed this daily. The pool area was clean however, lots of bird poop in the pool but, it didn’t bother us & it would be a continuous job for someone daily, to keep it clean as, the birds continually fly over the pool area. Music was great at the pool as well. We never had an issue finding a lounger either at the beach or pool. Food was good at the buffet as well as, the a la cartes. We really enjoyed the Octopus a la carte. We went early in the morning to book our times & had no issues with booking them at the same time for 3 different days. Playa Dorada mall is literally a 3 minute walk. They sell an array of things including liquor. They also have a pharmacy which was great to have close by. We spent almost every evening at the beach bar playing cards & Mayerlin was an amazing bartender! We really enjoyed her drinks she made us & getting to know her! The only complaint I would have, was the resort needs to maintain how many locals they allow in for a weekend. The resort was filled by locals as it was Cinco de Mayo. At the buffett, they were pushy, rude, & tried to butt in line. Also, they would take all the food while disregarding anyone in the line behind them. They also were not very nice to the workers. We were very glad that Saturday, we had the option of the quiet pool! We really enjoyed our time away from the huge crowd of locals that gathered in the main pool. However, we made the best of it & didn’t let the locals bother us :) a bit frustrated but, we rolled with it. I would recommend this resort if you are looking for a small, clean, quiet resort. The staff go above to make your stay worry free!

  May 13, 2025
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  My Favorite Place!!

  This was our second time staying at this resort. We love it! The food is always delicious, the beach is perfect, the staff are so friendly " shout to Santa and Olvis at the Vintage club" The best Chocolate Martinis and Cosmos' thanks Olvis!! All of the staff are amazing, the guys at the premium section beach area are always reading to help or chat! The place is sooooo clean, they do a great job making sure your vacation is perfect!

  May 11, 2025
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  Great family trip to the Gran Ventana

  Went to the Gran Ventana from April 25th to May 2. There was 10 of us, adults in early fifties to late forties and kids from age 7 to 22. This is a bit of a tough review to write because we had a really good time and the price was pretty good but there were some deficiencies. The rooms were fine had a great balcony but you are generally not in your room much so as long as they are decent, I think that’s enough. I thought the food was fairly good but not great. We went to the Octopus twice and I would say it was really good. We had different things like steak, salmon, ceviche, pumpkin soup, calamari, all very good. We had a reservation at the Italian but the hotel cancelled it due to a staff party. You have to line up in the morning to book the a la cartes and there is limited availability for large groups. The buffet was decent for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I found the fish, chicken ,salads, French fries, rice dishes and desserts the best. The beef at the buffet seemed low quality, spongy. For breakfast eggs and omelettes were the only things made fresh. Lots of fresh fruit and juice. A lot of the buffet items scared me off, just didn’t look great and maybe sitting for a long time. That said, I gained 5 pounds on this trip and I ate a lot. If you pick the right items and are not a picky eater, you will enjoy. The pool was large. The beach was ok but it was rocky and weedy in places. If you are looking for a pristine beach, this is not the place. But I enjoyed it anyway. The entertainment, this is a tough one. First of all Bryan, Shaggy and Droupy were amazing. The amount of stuff those three guys did was amazing. The problem is they needed more of them. They worked these three to the bone. They kept things lively at the pool and did a tremendous job. We joined almost everything. Crazy games, drinking contests, pool volleyball, bachi ball, bike tour, darts contest. These were all really good. The night time entertainment was fair to good. I enjoyed the guest participation performances the best. Karaoke, musical chairs, trivia contests, dance parties. We got involved a lot and thoroughly enjoyed these activities. The other shows with the professionals like the Dominican night and Caribbean night were not my thing. They had a silent disco one night which I thought was ridiculous but everyone seemed to enjoy it though. One last shout out to the entertainment staff, they were the highlight of the resort. You can walk along the beach both ways for quite a while, that was nice. There is a mall for souvenirs and clothes next door. The hotel is close to the airport. I only drink beer so I can’t comment on the drinks but someone in our group loved the blue lagoons. Overall, we had a great time. They were a bit short staffed and didn’t have some of the frills one might hope for but overall it was quite good.

  May 09, 2025