Occidental Grand Punta Cana All-Inclusive, Punta Cana

yes, i definetly agree with the person below me. i just got back also yesterdy 4/7/09 and im so upset. i wish i could be there right now and i cant wait to go back!! at first when i booked the hotel i was a bit nervous because people wrote such negative stuff about it, trust me its not. i'v been to more expensive hotels in punta cana and never had this much fun and so much amenities and services. the entertainment staff goes above and beyond. and the bartenders are all great just give them a nice tip and youll be set. the nightclub is also a lot of fun and doesnt close until 8a.m and it has two floors of great music. the food was OK i think dinner buffet was better than the breakfast, it all depends on your taste. just liek the other review said, for the reservation restaurants, i mad my bf like buy slacks and i wore a pretty dress and then when i got there people were like in flip flops and shorts. but you can wear a nice dress and flip flops.overall i loved this hotel and me and my bf can't wait to go back! it has something for all ages!! have fun

We just got back yesterday (4/1/09-4/7/09) and we're bummed that we are back to the reality of the cold weather and work....lol....However, I couldn't wait to get on the computer and put my review on this place because I had read so many bad ones. First of all, if you are going on vacation to relax and enjoy the view of their beaches, this is the place to go. The beach is gorgeous...white sands, clear blue water, palm trees...what more do you want!!! My boyfriend and me also stayed in bldg 26 2nd floor (closest to the beach) and we had no problems with our room. There were no smells, you have control of your airconditioner, there was hot water, our minibar was always full, had clean towels everyday and the room was kept clean. All you have to do is tip the cleaning service....leave a 5 dollar bill the first day you leave your room on the bed and the next few days leave him or her a dollar or two on the bed. I guarantee you that you will not have any problems with your room. All the workers there were very courteous. They always have a smile and say "hola". Regarding the food: well, the best place to eat is at the buffett called "Le Buffett". Your best meal will be breakfast...they have everything and anything you can think of. All kinds of fresh tropical fruit with every meal, steak, fish, chicken, pork, all kinds of starch (rice, potatoes, etc), vegetables, etc... The reservation restaurants were not so great...so please do not go with high expectations to these but I'll let you in a little secret....you don't really need reservations....just show up at dinner time 6:30, 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. and tell them you left your reservation ticket at the room....they will let you in (guaranteed) We did it every time. The best reservation restaurant we would say would be the italian restaurant, however, we have rathered ate at the buffett. The mexican would be our 2nd choice and the oriental our 3rd. We didn't try their steak restaurant (Las Reses), which we regret because if their steaks are anything like the buffetts, than they must be excellent. The red wine in their restaurants including the buffett is decent but we thought their white was not of good taste (bad). You can dress casual to these restaurants...so ladies don't worry too much about what you have to wear or hassle your husbands or boyfriends about wearing slacks and buttoned up shirts....you can go in shorts if you want to....it's really up to you. You do want to bring some nice clothes for pictures. Drinks are great specially when their all included and you pay nothing...lol...but you really have to try their specialty drink called "mamajuana". It's really just a shot but they say it's their spanish viagra for men....so women get alot of these in for your men, lol. Dislike...hmmm...I would have to say that would have to be the vendors....they are aggressive in trying to sell their products....you kind of have to be rude, so that they let you walk away or to have them walk away....but that's how they make their money. We went on an excursion to ride ATV's and horses and we really saw what the outside people are like and it's very sad. There was one guy that was on the excursion with us that must of been on this ride before because he went with a book bag full of crayons and little toys for the little boys and girls on the road waiving hello. We made a stop and they came running up just to say "hola" and the man took out all these trinkets for them and they were so happy. If we would of known we would of done the same. So, if you plan to do an excursion overthere, you will see the poverty and these unfortunate kids. Please go to the dollar store before you go on your trip and get a bunch of little things for them or bring a bunch of single dollar bills and bring a smile to their face. It will definitely warm your heart up. Overall....We loved it and would DEFINITELY GO BACK...it was worth the money...use BOOKIT.COM

The beach and free drinks were the only things that made our trip bearable. 1 hour bus ride from airport. They double booked everyone and tried to ship us to another hotel...wish we would have. We stayed in building 26, 3rd floor. King bed was two twins pushed together. The smell or burning trash and sewage woke us up 2 of the nights. When it rained, the roof leaked and plaster fell off the ceiling in the bathroom. Air conditioning wouldn't turn off. Food was horrible. Stay away from the "reserved" dinners. Only good meal we had was the outdoor, oven baked pizza. Stick to the beach and drinks or stay elsewhere!!!

i went there on november 3 2007. i liked this place becuz it was very beutiful. but the food wasnt very good. they served me bad stuff.

Good grief people. This was the best place we ever stayed at. We were there in November 2007 and are heading back in 2 weeks. We are polite Canadian's, with manners, maybe that is why. We didn't expect the world to wait on us hand and foot, and we were pleasantly suprised when they tried. Everyone was friendly, because we were friendly. It is clean, fun, and I am looking forward to going back! Bring some gifts with you, and leave tips. And work around the little problems. If you can't do that, go somewhere else. Enjoy!

Grounds kept very clean, security pretty good. We were in building 25. When we had a shower the water ended up all over the floor. Design of bathtub the problem. Strategic placing of wash cloth and pressing curtain to the wall helped a lot. Water from room above coming through ceiling. Likely because they had the same flood. Bar fridge does not keep beer cold enough. Sound proofing between the rooms non existant. We were lucky, neighbors pretty good this trip. Room cleaning done everyday but might be done anywhere from 10 am to 6:00 pm. Specialty restaurants just ok. Nothing special. Italian and Oriental the best. Mexican the worst. Other restaurants average but ok. Main breakfast buffet ok, but the toasters are worn out and should be fixed or tossed. Swim up bar was a hit with my friends, but having a water fall hitting me on the back as I am having a drink is annoying. The beach is marvelous and we were in the ocean almost every day. Beautiful. Windy almost every day and we had fun in the surf and even went parasailing. This business of putting towels on the loungers early in the morning at the beach and around the pools to reserve it for the whole day bothers me and seems rude if you are only going to be using it for a couple of hours. But that is the way things are done. No cream for coffee. Just milk. The Dominican coffee is quite good. The lunch buffet at the beach the best, likely because of the setting. Having lunch and a drink while looking out over the beach and ocean is just great. This is were we were introduced to Mamajuana. Staff pretty good and lots of fun. Evening entertainment in the main theatre quite good. There is a disco near the entrance and away from the accomodation buildings. A good feature as this event went all night and is quite loud. Stayed away from the little casino with its' slots. Internet only available in the lobby for us regular folk. Club people get it included. Could not find a comfortable chair in our room. With a bad back, this was a problem. Coffee in our room is great especially with a shot of bailey's. Watch our for Mamajuana. Dangerous stuff along with that bannana liqeuer they hand out. Pools kept very clean. Had no problems checking in or out. Had a lot of fun haggling with vendors on site, but the ones outside the resort in the flea market are in your face all the time and just a pain in the butt. Met folks from all over the world and they were generally quite friendly except at the main buffet when it became a bit of a rodeo at times. Had a ground floor room with a king sized bed and balcony that we could lock. No issues. Air conditioning worked fine, lots of hot water and there were no power outages in the two weeks we were there. The on site doctor directed us to the proper hospital when we had a bit of a medical emergency. She said the Bavaro hospital has the specialists and deals with all insurance companies. She was correct. $25.00 U.S. one way for a cab to the hospital. We were approached about joining the Occidental Vacation club many times. We listened, got our free bottle of Mamajuana mix and a T shirt and left. They made it sound too good to be true and further research showed our caution to be warranted. No, we did not sign up. Transat holidays was our provider. One complaint about the airport is that you might have to walk a quarter mile outside to get to your airplane when you leave. If it is raining you will get real wet. If you are on one of the large planes like an Airbus A330, be prepared to climb a lot of stairs to get inside. But they can also load both ends of the aircraft at once. I would go back especially when it is 28 degrees C there and minus 5 C here.

The room, service, staff, food was just wonderful. The beach and the surrounding area was even better. We had a wonderful room next to the beach, ate everything in sight and danced til dawn. The staff was especially helpful and very courteous! Can't wait to go back! An experience in vacationing as good as they come. You only get back what you put in. Learn a few words of Spanish, smile and be pleasant. Made some friends on the staff, hope that they're still there when we return!

I was at the Occidental Grand Punta Cana during Last week of Aug 2008 and I am going back this Dec. I really enjoyed it and thought it was one of the better resort I've stayed at ( I been to Cuba, Mexcio..etc). However, if you are very very very picky with customer service, facility and all that maintentance issues, then it might not be the best place for you. Pros: -Nice environment, great entertainments all day ( at the pool, beach, then at stage and disco mangu all nite) -Great choice of food ( there are many restaurants for you to pick so I don't see a problem, they have buffet, Asian, Italian, Brizilian, Pizza, Taco..etc so don't be so picky, its good enough for a week, or two) -Beautiful Beach..of course -Fun amination staffs -Fun excersions ( Try Marinarum and Bavaro Runner) -Really Clean ( as far as I know, my room was clean, the resort is always clean) -A good mix of people from different countries ( mostly Canadian from Toronto and Vancouver,a lots of New yorkers and many from Europe) Cons (Might be for you, I was fine with most of them): -No hot water, but its NOT cold, its warm and its fine cuz Punta Cana is hot so its not uncomfortable. -Power goes out sometimes, but its only in your room, rest of the resort is lit. ( I am in the tourism industry so the reason why the power goes out in the Dominicans is because the demand is high there and they need to reserve the energy, if it makes you any feel better, the locals have water 3 to 4 hours a day and energy only at night time ). In this case, bring flash light or something if power goes out in the middle of your makeup or something...it doesn't happen often tho.it happened twice when i was there and usually late at night anyways. -Some of the staff were rude I gotta admit. The front desk ppl are rude when i was there, i guess I wasn't smiling at them so he told me that i was mean one outta my friends and pretty much ignore anything I said. One of the bartender stopped serving me because I refuse to dance with him...... -If you are a girl, you gonna get hit on ALOT by the workers there, some of them will not give up so just a heads up....maybe every half an hour or so!!!!! -My door lock broke and took them about an hour to fix and 5 trips back n' forth from my room to the front desk and back... the mangement is not all that great So would I recommendate..OF COURSE....hence I am going back in about an month n' half!!!! Tips for those who plan to go in the near future: -If you are a coffee drinker, bring ur own mug as theirs is not big enough -bring a spanish dictionary it would be handy at times -bring diahrrea pills!!!!!!!!! just in case...the coconut drinks haha -treat others the way you wanted to be treated...this is not America or Canada...the staff will NOT take crap from you..but if you are nice to them..they will be nice to you! -Perpare dollar bills for tips...it is important you tip well in the begining of your trip and make sure they recongize you ( try to go to the same bartender n' restaurant stuff)..then later during the week, you won't have to tip as much as they will consider you their amigos by then haha -comfortable shoes for the ladies and light under garment as it gets really hot -bring ur own BIG cooling drink cups with lids for the beach ( save you the trips to the bars as their cup is not large enough, keep it chill and clean with the lid) hmm ..can't think of anything else now...well I hope this helps you and give you a better idea about the resort!!!!!!

I just came back from the Occidental Grand Punta Cana and I had a great time!! The hotel is beautiful and the staff was very friendly. I actually miss them and cannot wait to go back. I cannot understand where alot of people are getting these bad rewives from! You are going to a 3rd WORLD COUNTRY! Ofcorse they are not going to speak fluent English. What do you expect?! I think some people are too concerned on the little things instead of making the best of everything and enjoying the beauitful beach and the weather. Who stays in there room during the day anyways?? If the power went out a couple of time I didnt even notice because I was too busy enjoying the everything else around me. The food was good compared to other resorts I have been too. There was alot of varity. The best was the pizzaria that was open till 6:00am every night. The ONLY thing that I didn't like was the fact that you had to pay for drinks at the Mangu. The bar was sooo much fun but the drinks were too expensive and because it is an all-inclusive resort I think that we should not of had to pay. Either that or they should keep the lobby bar open a longer than 12:00am. Other that that the hotel was beautiful and I definetly recommend it to others. ***PLASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS***

We flew from Providence to Punta Cana and from the moment we got to the hotel, nothing was easy. We reserved a king size bed and when we finally got to the room, there were two twin beds, pushed together, with one comforter on it to make it look like a king bed. The "Ocean View" we reserved did not happen. The first room we had smelled like mold and had water on the floor next to the slider door. When we went to the front desk to ask for a room change due to the odor, we were told to come back in a couple hours. when we returned, we were told to come back the next day. It took hours of complaining to finally get a second room. (I guess we were lucky, b/c there were people that had been there for a week and were told everyday to come back in a couple hours, and nothing had been done for them). Our 2nd room did not have working air conditioning and the outlet to the fridge was torn out of the wall. We went back to the front desk to complain to the manager and was once again told to come back. We waited in the lobby and eventually were given another room. Too bad our entire first day was wasted trying to get a decent room. The next day we sat in a time share promotion b/c we were told that we had to attend to get our free gifts they promised us. The food was not bad, but the staff was extremely rude and not helpful at all. The worst thing of all was that the main pool was closed the entire trip (8 days). Everyday we were told that it would open tomorrow. DON'T STAY HERE!!! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! When we wanted to relax on the beach, there is not rest. They let pan-handlers come to the beach and bother you the entire time.