Amazing Resort

Gran Ventana Amazing, fun, clean, great food , great service , would definitely go back or recommend to friends family of 6 (4 young adults) had a great time great weather and fun excursions

Much, much more than we expected!

This resort far exceeded our expectations in all aspects. The food was wonderful, hot and varied in the buffet! The Ocean Grill food was exceptional! This resort was so clean and the staff, from the gardener to the front desk and everyone in between, were so friendly and helpful. Our room designation was mixed up and the front desk quickly corrected it AND gave us ocean view to compensate for our troubles. The beach was clean, and very close to everything! We had a wonderful time at VH Gran Vent [... read more]ana and would go back in a minute! Special thanks to Amber the Zumba lady for her welcoming smile each day! Loved it!

Overall Good Experience

My boyfriend and I went to the VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort from April 21-28, 2017. We had a great time, but not all turned out as we had expected. The hotel itself is beautiful, the staff was on top of everything and very friendly and they keep every location around the resort clean. Our room had a King sized bed (Premium Suite), was cleaned daily by the maids and water and towels restocked. We also got a thrid floor room by the quite pool which was nice due to the loud entertainment in the oth [... read more]er section of the resort at later hours. The only issues with our room was the bathroom sink leaked around it when you turned the water on for any length of time and would drip onto the floor. This was annoying. We also had a day where a pipe had broke in the building and caused us not to have water in the shower. The front desk gave us a key to another room to go shower in and it was back on by that evening.The balcony view looked out to a field with a beautiful mountainous background. The safe cost an extra $16 which was a bit annoying, as they should just include it in the cost of the vacation. The theater area of the resort offers free wifi, but is very slow and does not always want to connect. I ended up purchasing the wifi for around $45 Canadian for the week, which made it so I could connect anywhere on the resort. The only annoying thing with that was when you "lock" your phone and then go back in, sometimes the wifi disconnects and you have to go through your web browser and put the password credentials back in. They do a good job with daily activities and entertainment! I did the water Zumba class with Amber and she is fantastic and energetic at it. She really gets you moving with a smile! The pool entertainment throughout the day was always funny, entertaining and engaging with people. The staff do a good job at rounding people up to participate! You can also do daily Bingo, dance lessons and watch a nightly show. In our case, we ended up doing Karaoke, that was fun! The food was of a wide variety, but this is where I (and my boyfriend), but mostly I had many issues. I have many food allergies (mainly milk) and so not knowing what was in things was a struggle. I went for foods that were seemingly safe, but ended up with a lot of upset stomach issues throughout the trip. We found it better to eat almost more unhealthy while there (fries, burgers, bread, fruits, fajitas) versus the vegetables and salads, as they seemed to upset us the most. We both had one full day wrote off due to our stomach and felt off the remainder of the days! We also found this caused us unable to drink, which was half the excitement of doing an all exclusive trip, so this was very frustrating and disappointing. The beach is nice, theres quite a bit of sea weeds that floats by if the wind picks up but it wasn't too much of an issue! The beach was also very busy and windy so we mainly lounged by the pool. The pool area fills up very quickly in the mornings so you want to make sure you get out and put your towels on a chair so that spot is claimed! The weather was weird while we were here, we picked the wrong time to go I guess. The first 4 days we had nothing but over cast and off and on light rain everyday. The remaining 3 full days we had left we got sun, so at least we got some.... Overall, when discussing this trip with my boyfriend on the way home, we decided other than our issues with the food, this was a fabulous place to stay. There were some flaws with the bathroom and such, but you get what you pay for for $1,200! The staff was really responsive, very polite, very friendly and very quick to get you what you need. They had staff cleaning up empty cups, sweeping anything up off the ground and tidying chairs to make sure it was clean. For the price we paid for this trip, we feel it was worth it!

Not bad, more of a 3 star

Oor weather was not the greatest the week we were there, April 17-24th, 2017. It rained on and off all week and the beach was really rough and windy. The food was very good. The staff was very nice. The pool was quite dirty...cigarettes butts and empty water balloons etc. wasn't quite a 4.5-5 star in my opinion. Nothing fancy. Had some problems with our toilet and shower. We asked for a main floor room, near the pool, I believe. We got a third floor room at the back with only a view of the balco [... read more]nies of other rooms.the entertainment wasn't too bad.

Amazing Resort, thumbs up

The resort is perfect size and location. The staff are ALL amazing and will do anything for you. The rooms and grounds clean and pretty. Food was also perfect with lots of selection, something for everyone and never really a line up. Fruit was fresh, big plus in my mind. The beach was also perfect, you can walk for miles either way. We went to the Orange Market, nice walk but kind of pushy at the market. The beach vendors are everywhere and never go away but that is not a fault of the  [... read more]resort and they were all respectful. I would actually recommend purchasing from them as you can "barter" NEVER accept the price they want to sell anything to you for. Another plus is the Rock Sports Bar, must go!!! We did the Monster Buggy Excursion, booked with our agent. It was alot of fun and reasonable price. Check in and out was easy. This was our second time to VH and loved it as much as the first. Also, the only resort ever that responded to our requests and they were met, above and beyond. VH is our "home away from home" Thanks to the management and staff for their attention to detail and for making us feel like family. Special shout out to "Louie" (Pool Bartender)...He is the best, keep him on staff for our next visit. Entertainment was also excellent. PS....can you speak to mother nature and ask her to hold off on the rain for our next trip....LOL XOXO Can't wait to return.

Decent Resort with Great Beach

The resort was decent and clean and the staff were friendly. The bar staff were great. We really enjoyed the beach, it's a beautiful beach that they keep very clean. I loved the huts on the beach, they were great for shade. The beach is protected by a reef so there aren't many waves, making it great for snorkeling and for kids. The Italian a la carte was the biggest disappointment, the food and service there was subpar. And the desserts at all 3 restaurants were subpar. Loved the sea bass cev [... read more]iche at the Octopus restaurant though. Overall it's a decent 3 star with a nice beach.

Best Resort

The VH Gran Ventana is the best resort we have stayed at, The service and welcome starts as soon as you get off the bus. The staff appreciate you for using their resort from the maids to bartenders and servers right to the management. The food is great from breakfast to lunch and supper, they have enough variety that anyone should be able to find something they like. The resort is small enough that walking to the beach and to dinning and entertainment is all with in minutes. The Playa Dorada [... read more] complex is safe for walking, shopping and enjoying the sunshine. The beach itself has a natural coral reef in front and is great for snorkeling to see all the different fish. You go once to this resort and become family.

Awesome Resort!

The hotel and grounds were very nice and everything was close. The staff was friendly and food at the buffet and a la cartes was great too! Lots of vendors on the beach. Entertainment was above aveeage. Overall a great place!

This resort falls in our top 5

Food was excellent at the buffet and a la carte We liked the layout, cozy and uniform: lobby, pool, entertainment area and the open concept buffet. Our room was ok (could use some TLC). A little too noizy after 9:00pm due to traffic behind the building. You have to get up early (5:00 am) to reserve a palapa. The only drawback are the peddlers on the beach, way to many. They should be located in one area of the beach and leave it up to the tourists if they want to buy.

Perfect vacation

This was our 4th time at the Gran Ventana ------ this time for 2 weeks. Better than ever! Service and food great. Request responded to by assistant manager promptly. Looking forward to returning trip. Thanks to Fred at Tripcentral for his advice.

Perfect family vacation

Went with my husband and daughter and met family there. The staff were all friendly and enjoyed it when we tried to speak Spanish. Ha! The food was delicious and there was a great variety in the buffet at each meal! The al a carte restaurants were fantastic most notably Octopus. Everywhere was kept very clean. Beach areas could use more canopys or shaded areas. Often hard to get a chair by the pool without 'reserving' them in the middle of the night. Overall very satisfied.

Will not return

This resort is def for retired people and babies......it is no good for people from the ages of 20 to 65 who like to drink and have a good time......If you want a resort for just sitting on a beach and read for a week, well this resort is for you. The entertainment staff sucked...Most of the staff were rude, and rarely smiled.....There was the odd few that did.....The swim up pool bar was terrible, 1 bartender took almost 15 to 20 mins to get you a drink..Oh what am i saying, there was only 1 ba [... read more]rtender on at all times and most of the time he had to go up to the top bar to get ingredience's for the drink you ordered so more waiting....terrible....All 3 bars closed at 12, depending on who is sitting there at the time, if there was only a few, they closed earlier....1 bartender was good, his name was louis.......and there was another one at the beach bar, very freindly and smiled alot. The beach was nice. There were vendors constantly in your face on the beach, but were curtious and moved on when you said no thanks. There was a mall by the resort but most stores were closed....If your a shopper, nothing there for that....Cab ride to town was a half hr and that was 90 american dollars for 9 of us...so 10 dollars each and he came back for us in 2 hrs. The rooms were clean....The resort is out dated.....You could get free wifi by the entertainment stage, but only facebook, couldn't get into email etc.....you had to pay for that, and that was for your room. There was 12 of us and none of us will ever go back to that resort. Our ages were from 47 up to 69.....8 from Cape Breton Nova Scotia, 2 from Ontario and 2 from Montana, and most of the people that were there that we spoke too felt the same. This resort certainly does not go out of its way to make you feel comfortable at all.....The staff looked bored to death as were all of us.....Entertainment staff were terrible....You had to be quiet after 12, were not even allowed to talk around the pool, or laugh, we were told to keep it down. Most resorts have shows etc...Nothing at this one, oh there was BINGO and Karaoke....OMG.....Alot of money spent on a resort that sucked....The best thing, the weather was beautiful.......

Not more than a 3 start

Nothing special no glass for dring anywere unless the buffet or if you upgrade for premium. Manager respond quick after we talk directly to him about not having hot water for 3 days he tranfer all of us (4rooms) to a different bldg all in a suite. Was able to keep the room until 3 pm. I did not like the animation team and they do not speak french on the resort.

Could have been better

This resort was clean and the food was good however the service in the buffet was terrible. Sometimes you would get a drink with your meal and other times you would not. There were many occasions where you ordered a drink but it never came. The weather was excellent and we all had a good time other than with the service. Also they had to fumigate for cockroaches while we were there. My other complaint is the vendors on the beach so we mainly stayed at the pool area. Amanda is an amazing ag [... read more]ent to work with.

Amazing memories!!

The hotel was great, the food was amazing, the entertainment was different and one of the reasons why I love this place... wasn't your regular Micheal Jackson show. The crazy games everyday at the pool was awesome!! Did not have a bad day.

Great week at Gran Ventana!

Just got back from 7 days at VH Gran Ventana. Literally cannot complain about one thing. The resort is beautiful, spotlessly clean. We had a superior room which was more than sufficient, clean and well maintained. Mini fridge stocked daily with pop, water and beer. When we wanted diet pop we called and it came quickly and after that we were given diet without asking daily. Buffet was excellent as far as all inclusives go. Tons of variety. Little bit different daily. Tasty,hot and fresh. Beach is [... read more] stunning, clean and lots of space for long walks in both directions. Staff are so friendly and helpful. Overall, an awesome experience with zero complains.

Wonderful resort

VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort was a wonderful place for a family holiday. The food was fantastic, tons of variety at the buffet restaurant and a great experience at the a la carte restaurants. The resort staff were very friendly and wonderful with the kids and the grounds and common areas were very clean and well maintained. The pool is great for both adults and children and the beach was great for kids as it was very calm and clear water. Just a tip if travelling with young children who go [... read more] to bed early, ask for a room near the quiet pool as this is a building further away from the main auditorium where the night time entertainment occurs. It`s further away from the buffet restaurant, reception and the beach entry but is better if you prefer a quieter evening.

VH grand ventana comments

Our stay was wonderful. Very pleasant staff, food was very good. Very clean. The grounds were clean. The only disappointment for me was the decor. We had been there 2 years prior and had really liked the decor (lobby, pool area ect) The new colors are pale, curtains in lobby do not match the decor! Staff very kind and helpful especially reception front desk. Thank you for a wonderful week. PS. People should not be able to place their towel ALL DAY long around the pool area. I hated thi [... read more]s the most!!!

RESTING VACATION

I thought the food was very good as all amenities were near by which was ideal less walking than other large resorts . The staff were very nice and the service was great. I think for a relaxing peaceful holiday this place is great I would go back again

An excellent resort and holiday!

The VH Grand Ventana is maintained with great detail to cleanliness and making the experience enjoyable for everyone. The main dining room was run efficiently with a good amount of variety in the daily menue, and the a la carte restaurants were amazing. The beach was always kept clean and the beach vendors were respectful when their services or products were declined. The pool was kept clean even when it was busy. Puerto Plata is a beautiful Island with a lot of activities available [... read more]. We bought some excursions through West Jet and some others through Elvis and Malo on the beach which we got great deals on. They were all amazing experiences! We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday! Jullie and Kaz