A wonderful vacation with couple of small mishaps

The VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort was wonderful. The resort is clean and they are always working on keeping it tidy. Our rooms were very clean. The beach was awesome although it was breezy by the afternoon which was really a relief from the heat. We upgraded to Premium so there never was an issue getting a sun bed. The service at the premium beach was top notch. They were always making sure we had drinks and always had a sun bed. A great beach to walk in either direction as well. It is a public b [... read more]each with many vendors but they are friendly and respect you if you say NO. The food was amazing whether you are at the buffet or al carte. So tasty and flavourful. We enjoyed the quiet pool a couple of times but found the main pool very busy and noisy. While there, we witnessed two people slip on the patterned concrete around the resort, one injuring his head and the other breaking her wrist requiring surgery. I myself fell 2 hours into our trip and suffered a concussion and whiplash. There needs to be some type of grit or tread on the concrete especially when it is wet. It was like a skating rink. I feared for people older than myself with the possibility of breaking a hip. We also paid premium and our room was not the nicest overlooking a dirty and loud building. I could see that people who did not pay the premium had ocean view rooms (you could tell by the colour of towels) so I was on my way to inquire about this when I slipped and fell hitting my head on the cement. They did move us to an oceanview room which I would expect was a premium perk. Overall, it was a wonderful vacation (minus the injury) and I would recommend upgrading to Premium. The vintage lounge is amazing and a great spot to chill or have pre-dinner drinks (premium liquor) or specialty coffees. Nice finger food to nibble on as well. Friendly people, clean resort, great food, wonderful beach, lots of sunshine and covid protocol was in place with masks required going to the bars and restaurants and hand sanitizer offered and required to go into the buffet. Just walk around the resort with caution. We would definitely return but I would bring heavy treaded shoes. Ola!

V H VENTANA BEACH RESORT

royal section on beach is fabulous, the attendants look after your every need and top line drinks (beafeater gin, johhny walker red label whisky etc) and food from the beach grill is good they do the best pizza’s , burgers etc and you don’t have to leave the royal beach section because the guys will bring you an array of food, they all wore masks & covid protocols were excellent, food was ok at the buffet and hot you won’t starve, rooms are clean & serviced by the maids with towels toilet  [... read more]paper soaps etc , beach area is nice to go for walks do some snorkelling or just swim & soak in the salt water. negatives, you have booked and paid extra for the royal but you cannot get an international drink unless you go up the stairs to the second floor to the royal bar so its not accessible to a person who is not able to climb stairs, so you cannot sit in the main downstairs patio to watch the show and have an international drink (which is why people pay for the royal service so that’s not good) and in a way it’s discriminatory i did discuss this with luis carlos our concierge and he said to write it here. they need to be able to serve the royal guest’s in the main entertainment area, but they don’t. rooms are clean but bathrooms are dated so in the royal room ( same as regular room) no walk-in shower so still old bath & no hand sprayer on the shower head so you cannot clean your private parts and its very difficult to get the sand off yourself just standing under a fifty year old shower head after using sunscreen all day. the staff are excellent and attentive so its time for the management to get something done about their royal guests bar services. the evening adult entertainment is very poor and they could do with bringing in some outside professionals to entertain. i would recommend this resort to a friend also informing them of the terrible evening entertainment and no royal bar drinks in the main lobby area etc.

Great trip

We really enjoyed this little hotel. Great layout , food was good , rooms were clean. The staff are really what make this place though! Super fun entertainment staff!, the bartenders and servers were great! Our only complaint about the whole week was the MUSIC ! The music they played at the pool was horrible elevator music. They didn’t start to play good music until about 4 every day. Everyone around the pool seemed to be on the same page but when we asked for the music to be changed staff [... read more] said management wouldn’t allow it. Disappointing

Inviting, clean place

This hotel is right on Dorada Beach. A long strip of sand and swimmable waters. The resort is small enough to provide good service and make the place look spacious. Staff wears masks all the time. The rooms are clean and with pristine bedding. Good for families and couples. Covid testing is available for $40 US but we were charged more because the person said so. Wheelchair accessible.

An excellent resort for our 14 day holiday.

We paid for the "premium upgrade" on our room and it was totally worth it. Our room was larger than normal, faced the ocean and was very quiet at night. The upgrade also gives unlimited reservations to the "ala carte" restaurants and access to a private lounge with premium alcohol and coffee. Food selection at the buffet for meals was very good with plenty of choices that were sure to please everyone.

Awesomeness

This resort was worth it. It was well maintained and proper ppe used due to COVID and I felt very safe. Staff are friendly, warning and wanted your stay to be a very good one. Awesome beaches and there was always a chair available . The pool is small but didn’t felt like it. Never have to find a chair as there’s always some available. I will go back in a heartbeat.

Very well prepared

Gran Ventana was well prepared to deal with COVID they arranged to have someone come to the hotel to do the PCR testing, you put your name on the list the day before. They did the test in the morning and you got the result at the front desk by 5pm that same day. $79.00US. At the mall the test cost $70.00US but it took 2 days to get the result, we had to walk up there in the morning to get Arlene’s result the day we were flying home, which was very stressful. They Sunwing representative was no [... read more]t up to date with his information and encouraged all of us to go through him for the COVID testing which led to a stressful couple of days. The hotel had a separate section if you tested positive, well away from the other guests, I was told the wifi was great, you placed your order for your meals which they delivered, there was no alcohol and you didn’t have a room key. Overall is was very similar to home in regards to the pandemic. The only negative thing about our stay was the advice we took from our Sunwing rep, who we looked toward to guide us through travelling in these uncertain times.

Loved it here

Came here solo, super last minute like day before ...Beautiful place, grounds were clean, food was great, beach was lovely, the animation team was great, especially Scarlett she was super cute and such a great dancer taught me some Spanish as well. My room was great, weather was amazing. really don't have any complaints! I plan on returning one day in the not so distant future. The covid handling was very good as well...all staff wore masks, hand sanitizer on way into eating areas, I was reje [... read more]cted for drinks a few times for not having my mask on, no problem i may of been a bit drunk an forgot haha no biggie, but i respect the friendly reminder just shows they take it serious

Exceeded Expectations

A wonderful 10 days at this resort and could not say enough great things about our time there. Greeted promptly with a very efficient and quick check in within 5 minutes of arrival, and were in our room in about in 20 minutes. The safety protocols were in full force during our stay and the majority of guests ( 95 % + ) followed all the small rules put in place for safety of guests and staff. The resort itself was spotless at all times with consistent cleaning all over the resort from the bea [... read more]ch to to the lobby, hallways etc. While the pool bar was not open there was 3 locations to pick up drinks throughout and executed flawlessly by a bartending crew that always had a smile on there face. The drink of the day was a big hit with a lot of people there The food was better the great !!! it would be putting an insult to all the chefs and cooks on a daily basis with a great selection of food at the buffet every night for everyone ( sorry if you complain about the food here ,you better give your head a shake!!) as you have to keep in mind that we are in a COVID situation and there are supply chain problems everywhere but the daily selection along with the theme nights selections were outstanding With limited guests there, a great shoutout to the animation crew to get people involved in the daily activities as they did there very best during the day and at night with the small amount of people there A special bonus every week is the manager of the resort Oscar Lora having a local Dominican dance celebration and an opportunity of meeting him but his incredible team from management to the everyday workers of the Gran Ventana While the resort was not running at full capacity the staff was and I know that just talking to other people there their would be no way they thought it would of been not just good but also exceeded their expectations also The beach was outstanding as was the weather from how clean the grounds were but like the pool never had to worry about finding a lounge chair at anytime of the day Since there are limited guests you will see the same vendors on the beach 4-5 X a day approaching you and a polite no thank you is all that is required, keep in mind that this their living selling things/products that they mean well and are always polite themselves An added bonus upon our trip was that the hotel is now doing PCR tests and Antigen in the hotel 6 days a week at a price that is the same as other outside locations ( PLEASE DO NOT use the medical center off site from the hotel, we heard and saw personally ,too many horror stories about test results from the medical center. The resort has absolutely no control over regarding false positive tests) All in all a great vacation and I am already booked for April 2021 for another 2 weeks at the same place

A neat, beautiful spot

We came in December 2021 for our “baby moon”. We had a great time! A smaller resort only at about 50% capacity or so. The beach was great (except for the beach vendors that can be a little excessive) but otherwise great sand, lots of chairs, good swimming! The pool was nice too, music all day if you’re into that. It was clean and again lots of chairs available. The food was good enough, for a 4 star all inclusive. Not fine dining by any means but we were well fed! Good breakfast and lots o [... read more]f options for dinner. The chicken wings at the snack bar were AWESOME. We’re not big drinkers so can’t speak to the bar but they had a big menu of specialty drinks so I think they had a good selection. My only critique would be the staff could be a bit friendlier. Covid protocols were great at the hotel. Masks are expected in all common areas, sanitizer is readily available and required to enter the main buffet. Our rep didn’t show to explain but you need an appointment for the Covid testing at the clinic 1 minute walk from the hotel but they accomodated because I was pregnant. It was quick and super close to the hotel. My second critique would be the airport transfer and the plane itself. The van to and from the airport was VERY cramped and as full as possible with 15 people. We were almost on top of eachother, I didn’t feel great in that situation. Overall I felt very safe at the resort, they had great protocols in place and most guests followed them!

Loved it here

stayed here november 16 to 23 2021. Really liked this resort! Although not much was going on due to the lack of people ( maybe 30% capacity?) like entertainment, games etc, enjoyed my stay so much! The room was a bit small, but did not go away to stay in a room, so that was no big deal as it was always clean and our girl Lidia kept our fridge well stocked with anything we asked for. The food at the buffet was tasty and got to try all of the al carte restaurants which were great. The staff i [... read more]s fantastic here! Joealisa in the vintage bar made sure we had everything we needed or wanted. Spent a lot of time at the beach- the reefs just off shore right in front of the resort made for some very nice snorkeling. Having to go for the covid test before returning to Canada was probably the only downer of the trip, but as the clinic was a minute walk from the front door of the resort no real hiccups there either. All in all a great stay!

Beautiful Beach

I vacationed at this resort the week of March 2-2020. The resort is small however the rooms were amazingly clean and very well maintained. Amazing Beach, Staff and Food. Nice Pool . Not a lot of activities to keep you going though. Just a little quite for me .

Amazing resort

Was good all around thank you trip central. We enjoyed the food. The people are friendly. Clean and beach was well kpet and beutiful. The water on the private beach was good. Selisiting was not bad...

VH Gran Ventana

My co-worker and I spent two weeks at this hotel, it rained five of the fourteen days. The hotel was spread out and had lots of little quiet areas where one could sit and read or families could play cards and or play board games. Our room was in an area where we felt we were in a resort within a resort. This resort is rated four star but I would give it a five star. Our only complaint was at the buffet dining room the water, tea, and coffee service was a bit slow the first week. We noticed al [... read more]l the workers worked very hard, the food was the best I've ever had with a wide variety for everyone. Lots of shade if needed at the beach. Best jewelry vendor #39 at the beach repaired my jewelry I had bought a few years ago for a small fee. Planning my next trip there already. In all my travels at all the resorts I have stayed at I met more people at this resort and felt the safest "home away from home"

Great Resort

Great resort, great food. We upgraded room to Junior Suite, well worth it. Our rooms overlooked the Tranquility Pool, rooms located in Beata building. Staff very friendly. Our only issue was trying to book Ala Carte Restaurants. We could only reservations for Fri and Sat nights at 8:30. We couldn't book reservation for The Octopus until Thurs, for weekend sitting. It would have been nice if all our reservations could have been all at the same time. All Ala Cartes were very good. Would go b [... read more]ack to Gran Ventana.

Beautiful resort

My husband and I really enjoyed the resort. Our room was located on the quieter side of the resort the food was amazing the staff were friendly it was a very relaxing time for us. During the 3 days of downpours the staff made every effort to clean up the numerous floods of water they seemed to be overwhelmed at times but handled it the best way they could. As Canadians we took it all in stride. It didn’t stop us from having a good time and making the best of it. At least it was warm and not s [... read more]now lol

Very good

We enjoy very much our trip Nice hotel ,good food , beach ,nice people , very good time You can fine easy all the activities Good buffet The entertainment people were amazing The people from restaurants,bars , very freely and professional, all were open to help you with and smile in their face Love them

WOW was blown away!!!!!

Met people that had be going there for more than 10 years and we will become that person. From beer in the room, to hot water at anytime of day, VERY clean and great food. The area out the was very safe and the golf course near by is WAY better than the reviews.

Average resort

Rooms clean. Needed an update. Bed too hard. Buffet okay but a la carte could be better. No table service for drinks. Needed to get up early for good spots at beach and pool. Too many venders at beach. Even bus driver asking for tips.

Keep expectations low

I would describe this resort as adequate. There are a couple of large pools and a beach. The food is okay. However, I would certainly not expect luxury. The facilities are very old and worn. It was very crowded in mid February and it impossible to make reservations at the a la carte restaurants. By 8am most pool chairs and beach umbrellas were "reserved" but remained unoccupied until afternoon. The Wifi is very slow and patchy and costs $35 USD per week per device outside one public area. The [... read more]re isn't much in the way of entertainment and the most of the staff don't seem particularly interested in their jobs-- expect long lines at reception.