Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana

See our full Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana Review

Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana is a relatively small resort (228 rooms), which keeps everything in close proximity. You won’t have any of those 10 minute walks to the beach or tram rides like at some of the huge Punta Cana resorts. Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana seems to serve a primarily European clientele. While it’s nice to make friends from around the world, smoking is much more prevalent in Europe than it is in North America. All of the indoor areas are smoke-free, but you will find quite a few people smoking outside at the pools and the beach.

The Grand Paradise Bavaro doesn't seem to have a specific focus, their resorts seems to be well laid out for several different type of traveler. Any negative reviews I've ever heard from travelers about this resort seem to be comparing it to the upper level five star Punta Cana resorts. That is a good thing for the Gran Paradise Bavaro - they are a four star resort that people tend to think is a five. The only differences seem to lie in the level of pampering. While they do provide an excellent service for a four star Punta Cana resort, you get what you pay for!

That being said, the rooms were very clean, well laid out and larger than at most resorts. They all have minibars that are restocked daily, hairdryers, air conditioning and satellite TV. Our room had two double beds that were more comfortable than we’re used to at resorts. Safes are also available in every room, but you have to rent a lock for $20 – get one (you feel a lot more comfortable knowing that your valuables are locked up). One thing that more and more resorts are doing these days is having your electricity work only with the access card (key) to your room – no key in it means no power. This means that you will come back to a hot room every night & if one of you goes out with the key, you can’t leave the power on for the other person. None of this is a huge deal, the AC does work very well and cools down the room in less than half an hour. Many resorts, understandably, are adopting and converting to this system to stop wasting energy consumption. There are three pools at Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana – one huge free-form pool, a medium sized pool and a kids wading pool. The pools are very clean, have a lot of lounge chairs and there is a swim-up bar at the main pool, so you can have a drink while cooling off.

The beach at Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana is one of the nicest around – beautiful manicured white sand. You won’t find any seaweed or hunks of coral in the water, perfect for swimming and playing in the surf. The reef is also quite close to the beach (easy swimming distance) – so decent snorkeling is available right from the beach. There are a good supply of lounge chairs and palapas available, but be prepared to reserve your spot in the morning. Palapas do go pretty quickly and if you’re traveling with kids, it’s nice to have a little shade.

Restaurants at Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana

The food here is quite good, probably above average for a Punta Cana resort (the food at resorts in Punta Cana is better than any other destination). Okay, some people say Florida has good food, but we consider Florida to be a location to get away from not to.

Gran Paradise has one large buffet restaurant and seven a la carte options. The food at the buffet was quite good and that is where we dined most evenings. The other restaurants don’t open ‘til after 7:00, we have two young children – so that didn’t always work out well. We did try the Italian and the Seafood restaurants and found the service to be great and the food very nice. You do need reservations for all the a la carte restaurants (means lining up at 10 AM) – this is never where I want to be at 10 in the morning.

Activities at Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana

There are a moderate amount of activities available here, pretty much all the water sports that are available elsewhere – the boogie boarding and snorkeling were a lot of fun. Kayaking, windsurfing and catamarans are also available – great location for them (always a decent breeze and nice waves). I didn’t do any of these because I was in babysitting mode most of the time and I am the worst windsurfer in history. After a lesson a few years ago, I was very proud that I got up and going by myself until I realized I was going backwards! (I stick to snorkeling now).

While this is a family-oriented resort, there are not a lot of those “kids in mind” activities that you see at a lot of resorts nowadays. They have a kids’ club, with supervised activities (a great staff), but very limited resources. The area is a very simple playground – most kids got bored and chose to hang out with their parents instead. This is not unusual either, kids' clubs are very expensive to maintain and most resorts except for the true "family-oriented" resorts don't have great resources. This observation didn’t affect us as our kids are too young and love to hang out on the beach anyways. Our overall impression of the Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana is that this is a very nice resort – service is great, the rooms and grounds are very well kept. The beach was fantastic and we had a really nice time. They do a great job of keeping the grounds looking great and catering to their clientele. This resort is a lot of fun and a great value as you can usually get rooms here for about $100 per night less than at a lot of other resorts.

Tips for Grand Paradise Punta Cana

If you want a change of scenery from Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana take the 2 min tram ride to the sister resort (Columbus Club) and spend the day at their pool – swim up bar and significantly less crowded (folks from the club have to go to the main resort to eat and go to the beach).

Get coffee at the bars, the stuff at the buffet sucks

Get two keys, you need one to make your Electricity work

There are two good restaurants not listed on the card you get at check-in: the Dominican restaurant next to the seafood grill restaurant and the international restaurant at the club resort

Location of Grand Paradise Bavaro Punta Cana

Las Americas (Jose Francisco Pena Gomez) international airport in Santo Domingo is 205km from this unit (approximately 150 minutes transfer time), La Romana Airport 100km (approx. 90’) and Punta Cana near Higuey is 15 km (around 25 minutes transfer time).

Check out this deal for Grand Paradise Bavaro

You won't find a price like this anywhere and All Inclusive Resorts is a great company to deal with. If you already have your room, don't check out the deal, it will only depress you.

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