October 2007
Our first trip to the advertised 4.5 star Occidental Grand Punta Cana resort. I will be critiquing this resort based on my experiences at other 4.5 and 5 star resorts. Let me premise my review by saying that I was upgraded by the management when I checked in and this while very much appreciated and enjoyed has no bearing on my review.
I will attempt to rate each item on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.
Flight: Air Canada flight 3 hours and 45 minutes, smooth and uneventful. As you step into the airport, you immediately have your picture taken with a couple dressed up Dominican ladies. These are available for purchase (7$ US) at the departure gates when you leave. Immigration was quite smooth B
Check-In / Check out: Our check in was very efficient, we were given and envelope and a bell man was called and told to take us to the Royal Club, where we checked in very quickly while our bags were put in our room. This was very speedy and efficient. Our rooms were right adjacent the Jacuzzi pool and less than a minutes walk to the beach Check out was even easier room cards and safe key, receive your small exit pass for boarding your bus to the airport. Luggage was placed in a secure room adjacent to the lobby.
5.0 star
Grounds: I=m not going to say much about the grounds since you know that the are meticulously groomed and are very beautiful. The grounds rival any resort I have visited, one thing that the resort should consider doing is upgrading the fence line between the Palladium and itself with some more flowers and bugansvilla to give it more color as it looked very drab on this side of the resort, that was an impression I got when I previously viewed the resort from the Palladium grounds last January. I am sure visitors facing the Palladium would like to see a much nicer array of flowers and fauna from their patio or balcony.
The Area and buildings that had renovations going on were well marked out and the renovations had zero affect on our vacation, very little if any noise .
Caution: Walkways can be very slippery after a rain or brief shower.
No mosquitoes, no sewage smell anywhere in the resort although there was a stagnant swamp smell which is normal for a mangrove which you see to the right of the laneway when you walk out to the front of the resort to the Plaza Bavaro. Security to get in and out of the resort was very good, wristbands were looked at to make sure that you indeed were a guest and belonged here.
4.5 star
Beach: Playa Bavaro as has been stated many times is one of the most beautiful beach that can be found anywhere, there was very little sign of any seaweed. The beach was raked each morning by staff and kept very clean, Loungers and palapa=s were abundant, and there were ashtrays attached to each palapa and I saw no signs of the beach being used as an ashtray as mentioned in previous reviews. The beach bar was very small considering the number of guests at the resort and could be quite slow. Each morning the staff were busy raking and cleaning the beach area and removing any seaweed that may have washed up overnight and any debris that was left by guests.
4.5 star
Rooms: While our room was indeed a suite, which was very beautiful and well appointed. I certainly would recommend anyone who wants that little extra touch of luxury then certainly consider booking the Royal Club.
I had the opportunity to visit a standard deluxe guest room that had not been renovated and found it to be quite roomy, clean but definitely in need of plumbing, furniture and decor updating.
I also had the opportunity the view a recently renovated deluxe room and am happy to report that the renovations and upgrades were very well done and the rooms were fantastic. The resort had taken into consideration many things in the renovation plan from wonderful aesthetics and color coordination in the rooms along with some new safety features on the balconies to prevent injuries. These were well thought out in advance by the management team who have a comprehensive plan to renovate all the rooms as well as a complete refurbishment of the lobby. When completed the resort will be in the category of between a 4.5 star and 5 star resort.
Entertainment: We personally did not go to many of the nightly performances that occurred at the resort except for one night to see the children=s program which consisted of a Disney character production that the kids seemed to be having a great time and parents enjoyed it as well.
4.5 star
Buffet Food and Service: We did go to buffet on two occasions for supper and there was a very large assortment of meats, salads and side dishes that nobody should ever have gone hungry. The buffet was very well decorated with fresh slip covers over the chairs every evening. Many type of meats and fish were prepared while you wait at cooking stations. Be very careful that the meat you select is well cooked.
Breakfast here was very good with a large variety of foods available. Their omelettes were awesome and prepared to your own specifications at a cooking station. One thing that seemed to be missing but there occasionally was bacon. They also had lots of fresh fruit along with blended fruit smoothies and their coffee was to die for!
You could have pretty much anything for lunch, from pizz, hamburgers, hotdogs, roast chicken to potato salad, macaroni salads, fresh vegetable and fruit etc. and a very large array of desserts and sweets at all meals.
The buffet area was actually one of the best decorated I have seen anywhere in the Dominican Republic. My only suggestion would be to see that the wrought iron fixtures near the windows were dusted a bit more frequently, a minor detail that I am sure will be attended to when management reads my review.
Service was very good, if your plate was empty you were politely asked if you were finished and the items removed promptly.
4.5 star
Royal Club Restaurant:
We made a number of trips to this restaurant which was a mere half minute walk from our room. They had the best steaks and seafood I have ever found in the Dominican Republic and being a soup lover, their daily soup specials were fantastic. The service at this restaurant was excellent, the waiters and waitresses were quite fluent in English, and did their best to keep your drinks fresh and water glass full. The restaurant while enclosed was air-conditioned and exceptionally comfortable as visually appealing.
5.0 star
Via Veneto:
I would suggest the lasagna appetizer. It smelt wonderful. My wife said it was quite good. I had a vegetable soup which was basically only lukewarm. The salad bar was a bit on the small side.
The service again was not so great, and a bit slow even though the restaurant was not filled to capacity, I was very disappointed in my meal of chicken as it was over spiced and overcooked, I did not finish it and it sat in front of me for a long period of time before it was removed, but my wife enjoyed hers.
4.0 star
Oriental Restaurant:
We, both thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this restaurant, although I did have trouble using the chopsticks and reverted to the standard fork for my meal. Food especially the soup was served very hot and the main course was quite tasty. Service was very good, your wine and water glass was never empty and the waiter was very attentive in clearing any plates that were finished.
4.5 star
Las Reses:
Brazilian styled steak house with meats served on a large skewer with waiter going from table to table with each different selection of meats. This really did not work out as my wife got the last piece of chicken on the skewer and the waiter never did return with mine. Not a big deal as I am not a chicken lover, I found that my beef portion was very tough and chewy and I did not finish it at all.
I have been to other Brazilian styled restaurants where each guests had 6 different types of meat with onions, peppers etc delivered on individual on a separate skewers along with a bowl full of steaming rice.
Needless to say I was not really impressed with this a la carte, in fact after two meats we left and went to the buffet.
3.5 star
From my standpoint it is not often that I would rate any Buffet ahead of the a la cartes but I have to say overall not including the Royal Club restaurant that we enjoyed the buffet much better than any of the a la cartes we attended.
HomeRum Snack Bar
Very busy but a great spot to catch an afternoon snack of fries, hamburgers, nacho=s, fish sticks etc while looking at some of the sports features going on around the world on various televisions hanging from the walls around the snack bar.
.4.0 star
Washrooms and public area:
Every washroom that either of us attended in this resort was meticulously clean and spotless, although there were a couple of malfunctioning taps in the lobby main men=s washroom, the resort management and staff should be commended for this is, cleanliness is a must in the hospitality business. Only one time during the whole week did I find a washroom that had run out of paper towels.
Other public area=s such as the lobby and walkways were kept very clean, the lobby as well as much of the resort buildings (1st floors)are handicap accessible.
4.5 star
Shopping:
On Friday night, vendors from off resort come to the main resort plaza off the lobby to show off their wares and sell their goods. There were lots of oil paintings, cigars, rum, sculptures, masks, anything you could possibly want as a souvenir. The main thing is to try and bargain if you can as everything was initially priced very high, we offered them a low price that was just as ridiculous, they were very tough and did not want to negotiate this particular night. I actually thought the products they were displaying were very low quality and poorly made items, in comparison to similar products we had purchased at Harrison=s in the resort plaza earlier that day for the same price they were asking for their junk. While this is not a hotel problem, it is nice that vendors are allowed in so guests can get a taste of Dominican culture.
We had previously scouted out Plaza Bavaro across the road from the resort to find better quality items, higher prices and much tougher bargaining is needed here, if you do not like to be bothered by vendors then this is not the place for you. Stay in the resort.
We did have our small meet and greet at Steve=s Corner Bar, nice small open air café across the road from the resort entrance.
Overall:
We had a very good time here and would return for the right price as we would for many resorts, as much as we travel we are always looking for that special deal.
The people at this resort, from the management team to the waiters, waitress= and yard workers are so polite and they are always willing to try and help you, all that is necessary is to ask and they will go out of their way to see that you are happy if at all possible.
Remember, these people work very hard and deserve tips for good service. I did give the gardener=s various new baseball caps I had brought along and they were very appreciative of that, they work very hard and seldom are given anything. These guys keep the resort looking great.
My overall rating of the resort as a whole between 4.0 and 4.5 star resort and with the completion of the renovation programs a definite overall 4.5 star resort.
Hlywud
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