JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar (Formerly Iberostar Grand Bavaro) - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

15881 reviews

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  Excellent!

  We had an excellent stay at Joia Bavaro by Iberostar. All of the staff were amazing and so accommodating. They truly treat you like royalty and so personable. The only thing we noticed is that the rooms could use some updating. We had a swim up room which we loved. The restaurants and buffets were great, our least favorite would be the Casa De Playa. We will go back to this resort.

  Aug 24, 2025
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  Amazing week

  Our concierge Edwin is amazing, we talked with him numerous times and were so impressed with him, what an asset for you, he is a great representative of Iberostar.

  Aug 24, 2025
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  Excellent service, excellent food, great time : )

  The service at Joia Navarro was incredible across the board. We had a swim out room with Butler Service. Reynaldo and Cofe were our butlers for the week and consistently went above and beyond to make our stay as relaxing and fun as possible. From drawing us a bath with rose petals, to bringing us impromptu bottles of rum when we decided to have some extra fun in the room, these guys were great. They were both always attentive, friendly, available, got us anything we needed, but without ever being too pushy. Sophie was our concierge for the week and really made us feel welcome! She was a constant pleasure, always swinging by to chat with us and giving us recommendations on what to do and check out at the resort. Elizabeth at the lobby bar was an absolute gem. Really took excellent care of us with good drinks and great conversation. Her espresso martini is the best I've ever had and it's not close! Miguel was our star server throughout the restaurants. We saw him most often at the breakfast buffet but also ran into him a few other evenings at various restaurants. Really just went above and beyond, setting up a breakfast table for us with flowers and rose petals, always making sure we had mimosas or whatever we needed available, and just a pleasant guy all around. Reynaldo, Cofe, Sophie, Elizabeth, and Miguel: you guys really made our group of 4 have an extra special vacation. Thank you! The rooms were pretty good, though I knocked a star off just because the swim out rooms seemed to be right by some service road so when we used our pool we were constantly hearing and smelling diesel trucks hauling seaweed ~15 feet away. Food at the resort was absolutely outstanding. The breakfast buffet was particularly breathtaking, and the French restaurant was our absolute favorite. The entertainment staff were great! The two shows we saw were the circus and the queen tribute, both were awesome. And the staff running the daily activities like Smiley and Black Mamba were a riot and their charisma and energy was infectious. Thanks again to everyone at Joia for a great vacation!

  Aug 23, 2025
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  Amazing resort, Amazing people

  Amazing! We stayed in an Ocean View Butler Suite. We received a friendly greeting on arrival, served a delicious cold beverage and were seated in a comfortable area to await registration. The “awe factor” on arrival was a 10/10. Absolutely beautiful. Garcia registered us quickly and efficiently. We saw her later during our stay, and she remembered our names and was very sweet. We were then immediately shown to our room. Right away someone delivered a bowl of fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne. Then, within minutes our INCREDIBLE butler, Danilo, appeared. He went over the resort amenities and answered all our questions. He told us that he was at our complete disposal and he was not kidding! He went above and beyond with our requests and he had a special surprise waiting for us one evening for our anniversary. He checked on us multiple times a day, but was in no way an annoyance. We looked forward to seeing him anytime. He was genuinely kind and we will most certainly request him on our next visit. The bars were well stocked and had premium beverages which was important to us. Tito’s, Grey Goose, Crown Royal, Malibu rum…our favorites. Tobias, at the pool bar was super. He took excellent care of us. LeLy was also a favorite! We tried all the restaurants and would recommend doing that. Reservations were only required at the Japanese Steakhouse (our butler took care of this for us). Reservations are not required for any of the others, but can be made. We didn’t realize this until the end of our visit. I would recommend this if you want to be seated inside. We were able to be seated immediately outside, but probably would have preferred indoor seating a couple of times. We ate the lunch buffet every day and at the grill. La Perla, primarily, where Daniella always remembered our drink order. We ate lunch at Bella Vista Buffet one day. The buffets were very good quality with lots of choices. Speciality dining ranked in order of my favorites 1. Italian 2. Japanese 3. Steakhouse 4. French 5. Dominican restaurant. No matter where we ate, we loved seeing our favorite host, LeBron! A very special young man indeed! The pools were very clean and well maintained. My wonderful husband did get up very early every morning to reserve a poolside cabana for us (6-6:30am). Unfortunately the sargassum was really bad so we did not get to enjoy the ocean or the beach like we normally would. The grounds crew worked very hard, but there was just too much and they were fighting a losing battle. This is a great resort with wonderful people. I would highly recommend.

  Aug 21, 2025
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  Below Average for the Cost

  This trip was intended to be a celebratory occasion—both for my recent graduation from law school and my mother’s birthday. Unfortunately, due to a series of issues during our stay, we feel that we did not receive the value or quality promised by the resort. 1. Check-in Experience and Room Assignment: We specifically requested a room with two beds in advance of our stay. Upon arrival around 1 PM, we were told by the concierge, Rafael, that no such room was ready and were made to wait until after 3 PM, despite seeing other guests being escorted to their rooms. Additionally, Rafael processed my payment for the stay in Dominican pesos without my consent, resulting in an unexpected foreign transaction fee. 2. Mold, Odors, and Room Condition: When we finally reached the room it had a strong mold/mildew smell and did not match the “Upper Floor Suite” category I booked—it was on a lower floor. After almost two hours further delay by Rafael, we were moved elsewhere, but that room also had maintenance issues. There was visible black mold on the bathroom mirror and repeated leaking from the ceiling near the refrigerator. Despite multiple requests, the issue was never resolved, and my mother slipped and injured her knee due to the leaked water on the floor. 3. Accessibility and Elevator Malfunction: The elevator nearest to our room was out of service for our entire stay. My mother has mobility concerns, and the long detours to access the working elevator on the other side of the building were physically difficult and significantly impacted our experience. 4. Beach Conditions: The beach was overwhelmed with seaweed and an overwhelming odor of decay, making it unusable. We had to leave the resort to enjoy any beach time, defeating the purpose of booking an all-inclusive beachfront resort. Unfortunately, we couldn’t comfortably use the pool either because it was the temperature of outside (90°).

  Aug 20, 2025