Not what we expected for a resort with a 4.5 star rating

Our expectations for this resort was much higher. The food was average at best and was never hot. The beach bar was always staffed with one person which made for very long lines waiting to get a drink. Not sure how this resort holds a 4.5 star rating. Would not go back.

Perfect Vacation at VH GranVentana

We were two couples that stayed in building 2 at VH Gran Ventana. First time at this resort and it was everything we hoped for. Food was amazing and staff were also great. Rooms were spacious enough and very clean. Carlos and animation staff were terrific. Could not have asked for a better place to stay, Will definitely be back.

Nice resort

Nice resort but it's age is starting to show. Bath tub in room was repaired one too many times. A friend who came with us had a terrible room, too many issues to list and the front staff were unhelpful. No satisfaction was received even after talking to Air Transat rep until we spoke to the staff in the vintage lounge. Our 2nd time here and might be our last. Also was not included in the welcome back meeting. Complimentary fruit basket for premium guests were old bruised fruit with fruit Flys,  [... read more]yuk.

Old Resort, needs repair

Room very dirty and not fixed after 4 repeated complaints. Front desk staff not helpful and will even lie to get you to go away. Locks on patio doors not working (fell apart). Water turned off twice during peak hours (once for 10 hours). No hot water for 24 hours. Fruit platter received for premium booking full of fruit gone bad with fruit flies. Management did nothing to help with complaints.

Gran Ventana Beach Resort

Grounds are well maintained, always able to find lounge chairs on the beach by moving to the perimeter of their beachfront. Unfortunately around the main pool many of the lounge chairs are saved by hotel guests early every morning with towels and other personal items. The Gran Ventana staff will occasionally remove the towels on chairs early just before 8 am on some days. Rooms, pool areas, hallways are cleaned daily. The Fitness room door was supposed to open each morning at 7 am, unfortunately [... read more] this did not happen every day. Many days staff did not get the Fitness room door open till 7: 15 am. One day they had trouble locating the key to the glass door of the Fitness Room till approximately 8am. The a la carte restaurant booking starts every Sunday morning at 8am for the following week ( Monday till Sunday). If you arrive on a Monday, Tuesday or later in any week you may have to accept an 8:30 pm or 9 pm start time for any restaurant times. If you want a quiet meal, the Octopus or Sapore Di Mare resaurants are pleasant. The Ocean Grill for some reason acoustically seems much noisier and as loud if not louder as the main Las Almejas Buffet Restaurant for evening meals. The food was quite good at all the restaurants, however some choices, seafood, beef, etc were sometimes too salty.

Fabulous All Inclusive

Absolutely the best! We never lacked for anything. Super clean all the time,great food and choices of quiet or party atmosphere day and night. All the staff were courteous and met our requests each day. Snorkeling right off the beach, volleyball at the beach or pool,.gym and nightly entertainment plus so much more..we even played a dart tournament!

Awesome Time with beautiful people.

The resort was amazing, the food was very good, with lots of selection for every type of eater. The staff was very friendly and always smiling. The rooms were very clean and we always had a chocolate kiss when we returned to the room in the evening. I will go back to this resort again in the future and I would also recommend it to my family and friends.

....A VERY NICE FAMILY OWNED RESORT, BUT SERVICE COULD IMPROVE.

We were so impressed with our vacation there in 2024 that we returned in 2025. However, the maid and reception service was not as good as in 2024. We waited a whole day for reception to bring us a suitcase stand so we could unpack.The quality and variety in the buffet was not as good as in 2024, but the service was excellent. In one of the a la carte restaurants we waited about an hour to be served. We commented about how very slow the service was and were told that if we want faster service to  [... read more]go to the buffet. The entertainment staff was energetic and creative. Bar service was efficient and quick. Room towels were scarce and sometimes we had none. Beach towels were often unavailable. We may return because the location is excellent, and there's always plenty to do. Generally the staff was friendly and welcoming.

Never disappointed at Gran Ventana !,

We enjoyed our stay at Gran Ventana immensely. The friendly staff, amazing, food choices, and Beautiful facility is the reason we continue to return to this resort. As return guests, we were to a fruit, platter in our room rum and banner on our door. Also, they host a party for returning patrons with a band and a buffet to thank us for our return.

Hidden gem

Staff were great, food was great, rooms were clean , cleaning the resort constantly, I expected a basic resort but surprisingly it exceeded my expectations! Beach was clean, nice pool, a la carte were delicious Thanks for recommending Louise !

Meh

Nice beach. Lots of vendors who make it impossible to relax. The resort is small which I appreciated however we were stuck over across from the main area in overflow by the quiet pool. Our room was huge but backed onto a fence/roadway which was terrible. No view whatsoever and a restaurant beyond the fence with loud music and talking late into the night. Mornings were woken early by cars. Room is very dated. Shower terrible. You can tell no money is put back into the hotel for upgrades. Staff ar [... read more]e great. Buffet is very repetitive. Hot food is not kept hot. Not very sanitary for food. A la Carte restaurants were so bad we canceled our third. Pools are dirty and with thatched roofs over the bars the pools are full of bird poop and not well maintained. Overall dirty feeling. Beach is the best thing about this resort. The beds are hard as rock. Also you get one bottle of water and two beer in your room only every second day. No exceptions.

Loved, loved, loved!

This was our very first trip out of the country for my husband and I. The resort was amazing, everyone was so nice! The pools were beautiful and clean, the tiki bar was gorgeous, easy access to the beach and it was so nice! Our first time at the ocean, the vendors were plenty but not pesky. If you told them no they smiled and moved on. Our room was nice, a bit of an issue with noise due to backing onto what appeared to be the employee and delivery entrance. The a/c worked but only at arctic  [... read more]freeze and if we turned it off it was too humid and hot. The buffet was amazing. The food was sooo good and so much variety. The pasta station was my absolute favorite but hubby loved the omelette/egg station at breakfast. We loved Rosa greeting us every day at the buffet entrance and she was so helpful if we were looking for some water or coffee. Entertainment was great! I loved watching the dancing and they were so great at getting people to join in the fun. We enjoyed our stay so much that we are planning on booking this again next year and taking our teenagers this time.

Amazing time

Resort was great.The food ad the beach were great.pools were awesome to. The staff was attentive and the grounds were well kept.Snorkeling right off the beach was amazing.water was nice and calm every day.will definitely go back next year.

Amazing resort

This resort is absolutely amazing. Food was beyond amazing. Rooms very clean but dated. Beach was beautiful and grounds worker's made sure everything was spotless. Will be definitely booking again next year.

Wonderful week

Just returned from 1 week at VH grand. Most amazing beach!!!!! Can walk forever both directions. Lots of bars close to you. Premium and royal area chairs were “taken” every morning by 6 am so we just went to regular beach. Paid the “royal” price but wouldn’t do that again. Not worth it. Lounge was nice but packed, noisy and dark. Overall food was good. Staff very pleasant. Did the waterfall jumping/sliding excursion and boy was it ever a great adventure. Will likely return another year.

Cozy resort

Resort was on the smaller side which meant that you were fairly close to everything. The 3 restaurants had a lot of variety on their menu. Plenty of lounge chairs for all. The beach was sheltered from the waves by reefs which made for calm waters and the reefs made for interesting snorkeling. The activity staff was friendly and accommodating.

Good value for the price

I stayed for a week in January 2025. For the price, you get good value for your money. 1. Resort is very old but clean. Premises, rooms and grounds are clean. Although they are very old, they are well maintained. This is not a modernized hotel. It is very basic and small. The best part about this resort was that it was clean. 2. I can't comment on how this food compares to other resorts in the Dominican, so I can't give a proper review because food at other vacation spots is ver [... read more]y different. For the buffet, the choices are minimal. The buffet container sizes are smaller so food doesn't just sit there, but the problem was that it was not replenished quickly when it did run out. Sometimes if you didn't get it right away, it was gone. It is rather bland so salt and pepper is necessary for seasoning to your liking. The a la cartes had better food than the buffet, especially the Italian Restaurant. I am used to going to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for vacations, so it is really hard to rate the food here. The food selection, taste and quality is 100% better in Mexico. I did get sick, but it didn't happen until I got home. Every day my stomach would gradually starting cramping more and more. I ate less and less everyday. It wasn't until I got home that I had the runs. 3. Beach is rocky. You need some kind of shoes on due to rock and corral. I wished there was a place where you could go further than 15 feet from the shore. 4. The Entertainment at night was lacking. Some nights they had a proper show, like dancers and other nights it was just the activity staff. 5. Pool is small for the number of people at the resort and is not heated. 6. Service is very good. Staff works really hard and are very friendly. They work their butts off. I would recommend this hotel to a friend who wanted a really cheap vacation at a clean hotel but wasn't expecting much in terms of food and beach.

Expectations Exceeded!!!

This resort was fantastic. An exceptional bang for your buck. This is listed as a 4 star it had everything you could possibly need and more. The food was outstanding (both buffet & A la carte), the service was great, A+ for cleanliness, welcoming & friendly staff and lots of chaise lounges both at the beach and at the pool. Small resort with lots of bars and places to eat. Buffet was always great; had lots of variety and changed menu daily. The three A la carte restaurants were all very good [... read more]. For lunch there was an option to eat at the buffet (12:30-3pm) or The Ocean Grill (12:00-5pm). While we were there, they opened a pizza terrace from 4-6pm. The pizza was offered daily at the buffet as well. There are three main buildings for accommodations. We were given a room in the quiet building (Beata) which was only about 120 meters from the main lobby just past the tennis courts. The other two buildings are around the main pool. Some reviews called it the overflow building (which it's not). We enjoyed our stay in this area of the resort. There was a coffee station, a pool and a bar on site. The signup desk for the a la carte restaurants was also located there as well as the Italian restaurant. We spent most of our day the beach or large pool and then relaxed in a more quiet setting on our balcony. The resort is located in a gated community with other resorts, a small mall with a sports bar (watched a few Leaf games) and golf club. The only part of this stay I would not give a 5 star review is the beach (4/5). Don't get me wrong, we loved our time at the beach and the beach front of our resort we kept immaculate. There were lots of chaise lounges. We always got one no matter what time we got to the beach. The water can be rough and therefore, not very clear. We had many days with a red flag in the morning, but by the afternoon it was lifted. There are some small patches of reefs which have lots of varieties of fish swimming around the area, bring googles to have a better look. We could walk in both directions for quite a distance. A few resorts are empty or are being renovated and the beach front there was not in good shape. Lots of plant debris/garbage on the beach in some areas as well. There were many of vendors walking up and down the beach between the chaise lounges but if you said a polite 'no thank you', they moved on and didn't hound us. We did an all-day trip through nexus tours & our WestJet rep at the resort into Puerto Plata. It was a worthwhile excursion: toured the small Fort San Felipe, central park, went up into the mountain with some open trucks, had a nice lunch, sampled rum and went to a chocolate factory. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave us some great history lessons. The weather was good though we did have a lot of sun and cloud mix with a bit of rain. We would go back any time. We met some guests who had been to the resort 18 times. Bring lots of small US bills for tips. I was unpleasantly surprised that many guests did not tip. Leaving a dollar or two (or 5 at the a la carte) is a token show of appreciation. The service is fantastic, and the employees work extremely long hours. Though the rooms are a little bit outdated, they were perfect for us. I don't need fancy just clean, bright, spacious and comfortable. Speaking of comfortable - the bed was not. They had plush white comforters, lots of pillows but extremely firm mattresses. My husband slept well every night. I ended up sleeping on the plush comforter which helped. Each room has a balcony or terrace (first floor). We were on the second floor facing the pool and had sun on our balcony all day. The rooms facing away from the pool may not be as scenic. Bring snacks if you get the munchies at night as the snacks at the gift shop and mall are very expensive. If you stay at this resort, you will not be disappointed!

Very Nice

Pros: The hotel is exceptionally clean, the food is very good, especially the a la carte restaurants however if you wish lobster you must pay extra in US dollars. I purchased the lobster dinner and it was very good. The beach is very nice and you can walk along for quite a long stretch. The water can be rough when there is a wind. The pool is nice but can get very crowded when the resort is full. The value is good. It is a popular place for families with small children and French Canadian [... read more]s. Most of the staff speak at least 2 languages. For the most part, the staff is very good. Cons: The water is undrinkable and it is difficult to get extra bottles of water for your room. If one bottle isn't enough then you must go to one of the bars to get glasses of water or fill up your mug. No extra bottles of water are available. By 8:30 a.m. most of the chairs on the beach and the pool have been saved. There are rules against diving and jumping into the pool but they aren't enforced which makes it difficult if you are in the pool and parents allow their children to dive bomb you. Sometimes you can wait awhile before you are served water or drinks in the buffet. It seems as if they are a bit short staffed.

OK resort

The grounds of the resort was well kept. The rooms were dated but clean and the beds comfortable. The staff were friendly and kind. The staff made the resort. Always pleasant and helpful. Food was good at the buffet. The evening entertainment wasn't too my liking.