Perfect For Us

My wife and I were looking for a relaxing one week vacation. We had never been to the Dominican Republic. We chose the VH Gran Ventanna, from a few options supplied by our travel agent, Monique. This resort was perfect for what we wanted. The beach, pools, food, service and size of the resort made for an excellent experience. We will be returning next year!

Great Resort!

We thought the hotel was very nice and very clean. The buffet and staff were all amazing. The food was awesome and plentiful! There always seemed to be lots to do at the pool. The beach, with all of the cabanas and lounge chairs, was the best one of all of the resorts in the area. The beach was also very clean and had the best water frontage. The only negative to mention would be the front-desk staff. We did not find them to be helpful or overly pleasant. They were not on par with the  [... read more]rest of the hotel.

Great Resort

We had a great experience here. Friendly staff, from bartenders to servers to cleaning to maintenance, each staff member takes the time to say hello, smile, and ask how you’re doing. Many make lots of conversation and love to chat. I especially loved my morning “coffee man” who remembered my coffee order after just one breakfast, whose name escapes me. Bartender Elvin at the beach bar is another memorable favourite. Buffet food was solid, with a lot of variety and good taste. I especially  [... read more]recommend attending the Wednesday night “taste of the world” buffet, the pasta station, the omelette station, and the burgers. If you’re a chocolate person, try the chocolate cakes at dessert. The Caribbean a la carte restaurant was outstanding as well, absolutely delicious food. Try the goat stew entree and the plantain with ground chicken in tomato sauce appetizer (can’t remember name). However, we didn’t care for the Grill a la carte restaurant - the fajitas with alright though - and the Italian a la carte was just bad. The beach is simply gorgeous. We walked the beach in either direction and Gran Ventana definitely has the best beach along this stretch. I thoroughly appreciated the wooden cabana tiki umbrella things for shade. Always a gentle wind at the beach to stay cool. Facing north, there is nice sunshine all day. We snorkelled three days in a row, a nice amenity included with the resort. The pool is nice. Lots of entertainment for kids and adults. Also pool tables, foosball, and ping pong tables. The main pool can be loud with the entertainment, but the quiet pool at the third building is a good option for that. For reserving chairs, going early is necessary for shaded spaces, but both pool and beach have lots of space. Adequate bars, never a long wait. Water coolers throughout hotel for drinking which is helpful, plus water bottles provided in mini fridge. Rooms were clean and well kept. Had to pay for in room safe and wifi, as free lobby wifi wouldn’t work. Total for both was about $70 CAD. Tours all looked very nice. We enjoyed the cable car tour - affordable and an amazing view of Puerto Plata. About $150 CAD for two people. This hotel (and many others) are located in Playa Dorada, a gated hotel/condo community just outside Puerto Plata. Also located in Playa Dorada, a golf course and mall. Mall has lots of souvenirs and a movie theatre. Gran Ventana is one of the first hotels to be let off of airport shuttles (we were 2nd on ours), and also one of the last to be picked up, so not too long on the bus. Short distance from airport - about 25 minutes.

Great Resort

VH Gran Ventana's offers a warm welcome as soon as you get off the bus and it never stops ...... Staff are friendly and will help you with any request . The grounds are well kept and very clean We have stayed at the Ventana many times and it is our 2nd home and enjoy every visit . We have made many friends along the way and it is the staff that keep us coming back .. Great work to everyone ! See you soon

Great holiday resort

This was a great venue for our family. The staff were amazing, facilities where very clean and the food was amazing. Always something to do or you could kick back and just relax. I appreciated the fact that they had two pool areas: one quite lively and the other more relaxing where we could do some laps. Beach front was wonderful and kept nice and clean. Yes I would certainly return.

Friendly and fun

Good food, entertainment and long beach with good swimming, long walks and palapas. Beach chairs showing aging. Building and could use some updating. Super friendly staff. Great service. Too many smokers around pool. Charge for in room safe.

Good food, nice beach

Grounds are kept clean and beautiful, public areas are also clean. Our room was clean but would need some renovations, balcony door was broke, we had a hard time opening and closing it everytime. We called the front desk, they sent someone but needs new door.

Good Resort

Very clean resort. Food was one of the best we have ever had on our vacations. Service of all employees working in resort was amazing. They always try to make you feel at home. Very impressive. I would like to thank them all for a great vacation.

Small but nice

We went at the beginning of Dec. It’s a small resort but enjoyed it. The food was good at the buffet. The 3 à la carte was just ok. The beach is very nice and lots of shade if needed. The bed are very comfortable. Rooms and place is very clean. We stayed on the upper floor:) we used their bicycles and surprised we made it back without them falling apart. We bought the extra package of 35$ US for the Wifi.This way you have all the time , but not at the beach. It’s free by the entertain [... read more]ment, but very slow, unless you go first thing in the AM. Little Mall 5 minutes walk away. Lots of venders on the beach. We got massages for 30$ US for one hour. Well I would recommend this place.

Fantastic Resort with great employees

This resort is compact and easy to navigate, even with mobility issues. It is kept very clean, in the rooms and open areas. The public washrooms are well maintained. The grounds keepers are always busy and have everything well manicured. The food is an individual taste and for us it was fine. Juan, the smooth, smoothie maker was fantastic. Elvin at the beach bar was great, and I always had a delicious drink, even when I wanted just lemonade. Our room was kept clean and the fridge full. I rally h [... read more]ave no complaints about anything. The staff is as helpful, cheerful, and welcoming as you continually read in reviews of this property. Oh, the pillows were a bit firm for my liking, and it would have been nice to have stairs with railings to enter the pool - not just the ladders. Hope to return soon.

Amazing Resort

No complaints here! It was the perfect size resort. Everything close by. Super clean, amazing service, clean beach, good food. Drinks were great and we loved the entertainment each night. would come back for sure

Pleasantly surprised

This resort I would return to, for sure! I liked this smaller resort. The rooms were clean and well cared for, staff friendly, the beach is beautiful, and, though the vendors are plentiful, they weren’t too pushy. The massage on the beach was worth it! I liked the pool volleyball, beach volleyball and yoga options! The food was good! The workers were always busy keeping the grounds neat and tidy! Public bathrooms very clean. The bed was comfortable and a towel in my pillow case made them bet [... read more]ter! Bring your snorkels...the highlight was snorkeling right off the beach!

Great time at VH GRan Ventana

This resort was great for us, no complaints. Very clean, service was great and it is a pretty small but well appointed resort, had everything we wanted (2 pools, tennis court, close walk to the beach, restaurants, etc). Only thing was that the gym was pretty bad.. very small and in pretty rough shape. Food was decent for a resort, not amazing by any means but better than what i was expecting. The resort was a very short walk to the mall (tourist mall). they kept the beach super clean..  [... read more]all in all we had a great time.

Another Fabulous Vacation

This was our 5th 2 week vacation to this resort and we can't wait to get back!!! The people are amazing!!! Clean rooms and fantastic food! We love the beach area which is where we spent most of our time.

Such a good time :)

My husband and I spent a week at Gran Ventana the last week of November and it was an amazing vacation. The resort is extremely clean, staff can be seen cleaning both the resort and beach area throughout the day. Beach is beautiful with lots of laungers and palapas. We never had trouble finding a spot at either the beach or pool. There are many beach vendors who will approach everyone every few minutes but leave once you say “no thank you”. The food is good, the buffet is not extensive b [... read more]ut we had no trouble finding something to eat. Service is excellent and very quick. I would recommend the resort to anyone visiting Puerto Plata!

Had a great time - Resort & Staff were fantastic

We arrived and the sort was only 1/3 capacity early in the week (so nice not fighting for a lounge chair at the beach or pool). Entertainment in the evening was a bit lame earlier in the week but really the only negative. Staff were great, beach was great, food was great (for the Dominican), rooms were beautiful. They upgraded us to ocean view. A la cartes were good, the calamari at the ocean grill was better than home. Typically I dislike the wine in these resorts but the house white was [... read more] not bad at all. One of the people we met stepped on a sea urchin (she was snorkelling much further out than the beach area) and they quickly collected her in a golf cart and drove her 2 minutes up the road to a very nice clinic with a sweet doctor who pulled the quills out (fast efficient care...I overseen as a nurse). Would definitely visit this resort again.

Another wedding aniversary success!

Staff, staff, staff! They are why we keep returning to this resort. Good food choices, clean updated rooms. Great location from airport. Wife happy beach. Stayed two weeks at an excellent price. Hard to find a negative comment, but here I go. The bacon was usually tough. Sorry, but that is all I can complain about! That was our fourth trip to VH Gran Ventana and we will be returning next year for our 49th aniversary.

Great Family Vacation

We stayed at the VH Gran Ventana the week of Oct 16 -23. We upgraded to the Premium Package which I was very thankful for. Arrival at airport was easy peesy, and they had us off to our resort within 45 mins of arriving. When we arrived not all of our rooms were ready, but Tony took care of us and made sure we had drinks in hand while we waited. Resort is very small compared to others we have been to, and because it was low season, there really was not a lot going on while we were there. Animat [... read more]ion team consisted of 4 people all week. Two were sequestered for the kiddies and other two hung around the pool and games area. They had nothing going on at the beach, not even a bbq. The rooms were great, and with the premium package we never had an issue with towels, replenishing our fridge items or shortage of Hersey kisses every night. Food was good at the buffet every day and they alternated al la carted nightly between two dinning rooms, but all were good. We celebrated 2 birthdays while there and they were very accommodating for both nights. I do recommend visiting Jacqueline aka “Jackie” at the adult only pool bar. She livens things up. A big shout out to Amable our wonderful server on the beach, he does everything to ensure you are taken care of for drinks, food and interesting information about the beach. One warning, and this may turn me off from visiting DR is the peddling on the beach, they are relentless, just when you think you are drifting of to relaxation, you hear their voice saying “excuse me” Excursions were fun, highly recommend the mega extreme tour. The shows at night were mediocre, but again I think it was due to it being low season. All in all it was a good spot for a quiet vacation.

Very clean and family oriented resort

I was amazed by the cleanliness of this hotel, specially in the main restaurant, where you often see food spills on the counter tops and floors, there was always a hotel employee cleaning any mess made by the clients. The hotel is not very luxurious and not very big, which made it very easy to get around and convenient for family’s with kids. Food was very good and diversified during our week stay. The only thing I think would recommend would be add some entertainment on the beach, as they wou [... read more]ld only do it by the pool. Would definitely recommend this hotel if you’re looking for a relax vacation. If you’re looking for a party crowd this is not the hotel for you.

Nice resort

We go down to Puerto Plata to do missionary work and we stayed at this hotel 3 times. They always take care of their guests. The beach is beautiful and the staff are very friendly and helpful. The entertainment is lacking. The gym is Rundown and is in desperate need of a makeover.