Occidental Grand Punta Cana All-Inclusive, Punta Cana

This was my first time to DR. I was deeply disappointed with the resort as a whole: no hot water, IF we had water at all, no CAN-DO attitude, no air conditioning in room, smelly, odorous beach towels and sometimes no bath towels...definitely no washcloths...the tap water is dangerous, and so is everything that's washed it in or with it. I didn't feel clean until getting back to New York. The buffet in main dining room was very nice and on Christmas Eve we had a nice half lobster dinner that was memorable. Most of the people in our travel party had intestinal illnesses for days on end. When my six-year-old cut her foot, there was no band-aid to be found at main desk, room or guest services, but one was "given" to me by doctor's office, at no charge...when my daughter lost her resort bracelet (she's six), they wanted to charge $10,00 US to change it. Be careful if you book boogie bike tours...once at the location, the coordinator will ask you for $5.00US per rider for a cotton bandana. Then if you buy the video of your excursion, be careful, ask to view some of it before accepting...we got the wrong family video. Overall, if you can put up with a great beach for all of this, I'd recommend. However, Jamaica has it over DR one hundred fold.

just came back from a week at this resort with 7 other people. Had read the reviews before we went and was a bit scared. We all found the drinks, food and staff to be great. They couldn't do enough for us. Our only complaint was water. Had to flush the toilet at least five times to get a clean bowl. Also, hot water was non existent. One day we didn't have any water at all, and when they turned it on, one of my friends room got flooded. This resort is in need of a major overhaul for maintenance. Also, don't pay extra for concierge service, told us there to help and anytime you asked him something he sent you to the front desk, all he wanted to do was sell a time share. Again it is a shame for this resort. They overbooked so you had long lines for the buffet. Move the staff and food to another newer resort and I would return every year, but since it appears they aren't planning on spending any money into the resort, they have lost my business. At this time I would not recommend this resort to anyone due to the maintenance issues. As long as you didn't have to go back to your room, you had a blast. We made the best of it and enjoyed our stay for what it was worth.

I wouldn't take the time to do this if I didn't feel I should... The food was disgusting. For breakfast, lunch and dinner the only thing I could find that would stay down was the bread. The drinks were so gross I could not stand it. I could not believe they would give people the wine they offered. It was worse than any jug wine you've ever drank. The room was filthy, bed had bugs, room was hot, had water pooring in from the ceiling... They charged us $24 to use their safe that sounded like you were entering the catacombs... We were pan-handled all over the place and several of the staff members were down-right rude and nasty. Drinks were not served on the beach, kids were screaming all over the place, and the people were generally fat and ugly to look at. We called our travel agent and said 'get us to another resort immediately or get us back on the first flight home! Luckily, we were able to transfer to Excellence Punta Cana. For 6 nights it was only $500 more and we felt like we went from Hell to Heaven. Swear to God - I'm not kidding. So there it is - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!

nice place, mean people, annoying vendors on beach, scary excursions, food poisoning, included activities that don't exsist, empployees who talk bad about you in spanish and seem anoyed with your questions.

After hearing of "All Inclusive" as the "time of your life" this was definitly the "WORST TIME OF MY LIFE". Never go back. Understaffed, extremly rude help, horrible rooms, booked 2 queen beds got 2 double.Only 2 bath towels, couldn't get served at sit down meals, walked out. Staff didn't like Americans catered to Euros. Good thing they didn't create the beaches, Mother nature had her hand with that. I hope other DR hotels are better.

Well, we just got back from our week long stay at the Occidental last night and honestly could not have had a better trip! It truly is a shame that so many of these reviews are negative because not one person in our group didn' t have the time of our life. Granted we are all between the ages of 22-35 and can make the most out of anything, it will definitely be a place where we will all visit again very soon. Typically, each night we ate at a different place then the night before. Every restaurant had delicious food and the service was great. I do not remember much spanish from high school but every person that we had interacted with throughout the resort was more then happy to assist us in english if they needed to. For breakfast we ate at the buffet each morning. Then typically switched between the beach and the pools, of course close to a bar. Then for lunch, we enjoyed the beach club which also had awesome food. As far as excursions go, we decided to go on the party boat which offered scuba diving on the reef, then drinks, and then a natural pool where we all just drank and had a great time with the other people in the water. 4 of us went parasailing and had another great time, along with kayaking. Throughout the day, there were more then enough lounge chairs on the beach. But if you wanted to get a palapa(hut/umbrella) on the beach, you had to get there alittle earlier. Not a big deal at all. As far as people trying to sell you stuff, it was also not a big deal if you have alittle patience. All you have to say is "No gracias los siento" if you are not interested, and they respect that. Throughout the area, there will be many places where you can buy items. Realize this, it is perfectly normal to barter with whatever is being sold. There is no need to be arrogant though if you do not get the price you want. I personally purchased some paintings that would most likely sell for $80 for one in the US, and got two and some marble turtles all for $45 total. I think most people that put these arrogant reviews up just don't realize that you have to understand our standards here in the US are different then those in other parts of the world. Meaning, food is going to be a little different then what you are use to in the states, and not everyone is going to speak perfect english that works there. If you want the typical party vacation or Florida vacation, go to Cancun or Florida. But if you want to have a great time that's different then what most people from the states are use to, come here. You will meet people from all across the world. It was actually a great time knowing that there were not a ton of people vacationing there from the US. I can't stress enough if you come here to just be open minded and leave your proplems at home. I couldn't be more honest when I say this resort/trip was an unbelievable trip. Cheers!

In short, I went there for my honey moon because someone had recommended it to us. I did not know that these people that recommended it to us were about 60years old each and just stuck to the bar of the hotel the whole time they were there. First we get there, check in and the room was dirty. The sheets had not been changed and pillow smelled like old sweat and vomit. My wife and I asked for a new pillow and sheets at the front desk that same day and were ignored until late Tuesday afternoon. In short the room wasn't completely clean until Wednesday, when we had already been there for two full days. Regarding service, people were rude. While you were eating, you are NOT allowed to get your own drink, but they just tell you, we will bring it to you. Needless to say, there were many of times when I was DONE and no one had brought me anything to drink. At the beach, the hotel ran out of beach towels!!!! When we went to get one, they advised us to come back the next day as they did not have any.... and mind you, this was at about noon. In other words, we were not given towels that day. It took my wife a very big ranting to guest services for us to get towels. Our honey moon basket, we did not get it until Friday!!!!! Regarding sports, entertainment, we were sent to 5 different buildings back and forth looking for a football, a soccer ball or a little water raft. We did not receive the football until my wife went to guest services in her bathing suit soaking wet and sat in a chair close to tears with how upsetting the customer service was at the resort. It took us about TWO days to obtain a football but we NEVER got that raft we wanted to take to the beach. Everyone kept sending us to different places or saying that they didn't have any, even as you saw some people coming up with the little rafts on the beach.. You would ask these people, and they would tell you to go to the front desk and then the front desk would send you somewhere in the beach... The only bright spot in this whole trip was 1. being with my wife throughout this horrible adventure and 2. the food was great. I have to give you that. Forgot to mention, even though the resort is "all inclusive" there are tons of things you have to pay for (a very steep price). A "romantic" dinner is $90 (which had nothing of romance and the food at the place wasn't bad.. they had tons of lobster, that's what you were paying for). There was a club were you had free access BUT you had to pay for your drinks.... AND THESE WERE EXPENSIVE!!!! The outside of the facilities were great, but the service and almost everything else was bad. If all you do is sit at a bar and drink for 7 days, then I would recommend this hotel to you (the bar staff was nice.....probably because it was in the lobby haha). But if you are there to relax, look around and be pampered a little, I would not recommend Occidental Grand Flamenco. Sometimes I felt as if my money was squared and wasn't worth the same as others.

We've been to the Occidental Grand PC 5 times and it only keeps getting better. We travel extensively down south, and we kind of adopted this location. Call us lucky, but we never experienced power outage, lack of hot water and all of the negative comments from others who write their reviews. First of all, airlines, flights, PC airport and beach vendors have nothing to do with the hotel. The cleansiness is quite stunning. Some rooms may be in need of refreshment, but believe me, quite acceptable and as long as everything is clean, I can live with it. The buffet is as good as a buffet goes and actually better; and if this is not enough, there are 9 other restaurants. The shows aren't Vegas style but then again I haven't seen too many good shows down south. I rather enjoy a nice walk by the beach after dinner, a couple of drinks at the lobby, pop in to the club for a half an hour, and chill for the rest of the night. Service is great and the staff is always ready to satisfy your every wish. Also, a please & thank you goes a long way. It is a Spanish speaking country but their English is enough to be understood. You must go there with an open mind and don't expect a hotel in Monaco which I've been. This is a third world country people... Overall this is the best value for your money by far and they keep me coming back.

Starting from the original booking this was a disaster. Although adjoining seats for the plane were requested the people at the hotel booked seats in different locations. We had to pay $30 each way to change our seats which were available when we booked. The food was terrible. The place is dirty. Phone3 calls to the US cost $40. each call which lasted under 10 minutes. Management was invisible. You have to pay for a room safe. My wife and I have been to Punta Cana 4 times and this is by far the worst you could ever imagins. At 8 o'clock at night the fumigator released a cloud of chemicals that floated right into the lobby and had guests scrambling for fresh air.

as an occidental vacation club member, the grand flamingo was the worst of all there locations i've been to. their locations in mexico are far superior. the major drawback would be is that no matter what location you go to, the food is the same and you feel like your eating leftovers everyday. i can deal with power outages and loss of hot water. the beach is beautiful in punta cana but, it's hard to find a good supportive lounge chair and forget about a beach hut. people "reserve" the huts against hotel policy and it's not worth the effort to get one. all the food except for breakfast it palatable at best. the grand flamingo does have a restaurant at the beach but unlike the locations in mexico, theirs remains closed until lunch. i didn't care for the safe in the room as it has to use a key that you need to carry with you unlike several other hotels i've stayed at in the d.r. that have keyless entry safes. the drinks were very good and you will like the mamawawa. smoooooth. being a club member doesn't get you any better service, in fact you will get limited service because they already got you and don't have to "impress" you. several breakfasts we would order tea or coffee and lo and behold we'd end up with nothing. our junior suite was ok and cleaning was excellent. we received clean towels as necessary (if you're only drying up you can reuse) and face clothes were plentiful. i see many good and bad reviews here and other travelers commenting what hotel were you at after reading the pro and con reports. i will not be going back to the grand flamingo but when i do go back to punta cana i will go out of club and go to the iberostar. the occidentals in mexico are far superior to those in d.r.. we are planning on selling our membership and will probably go on our own.