The Unofficial Palladium Resort Site

Trip Report: Bunola Boaters

Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort, Punta Cana, D.R.

June 25-July 2, 2010

Well once again, the Fiesta Group Grand Palladium Resort and Spa Complex in Punta Cana did not disappoint us!

Joining us again this year, were our friends Meg and Terry.

Upon arrival at the Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort we were greeted with “Welcome Home” and offered a cool drink and a cool cloth for our faces. It is really hot and humid this time of year. The lobby was large and had a beautiful fountain and a koi pond and the Caoba bar was located here. Check in was very efficient and we were given VIP bracelets, so that we could have access to the entire resort including the Royal Section. We booked Romance Suites in the Bavaro Section and were located in Bldg. 57 in rooms with partial ocean views. The Bavaro Secton is all cabana type bldgs., with 8 suites per building. Located among meandering paths through beautiful landscaped gardens. The rooms were beautiful, with canopy beds complete with mosquito netting, a nice sitting area, huge bathroom with jetted tub and shower as well as an outdoor shower complete with a hammock. Of course there was a stocked mini bar, but it wasn’t cold and before we called the desk, Dave checked to make sure that it was plugged in and it wasn’t. No problem, solved. Our maid Nancy was very busy creating the flower art before our arrival. It was in every room! She was sweet and shy, and had a beautiful smile. The room was spacious and had a small porch where we could see some of the ocean. The only glitch was the air conditioning unit seemed undersized. If you kept the door to the huge bathroom, open, the room never really got cool, if the door to the bathroom was closed the room was cool but the bathroom stuffy. We called maintenance and they tried to get it a bit cooler, but Dave said with only one unit servicing both rooms, he felt it was not a large enough unit. Oh well, how much time do you spend in a bathroom anyway?

When we returned to our room the first day, after visiting the beach, Daphne Krausch, the Bavaro General Manager, sent us a lovely fruit tray and a bottle of Ron Barcelo rum as a welcoming gift. I talked with her twice during our trip and she’s a really special lady and a very busy one at that!

We would take a siesta, after along day @ the beach and when we returned from dinner, our bed was “turned down” and decorated with flowers. The first time this happened, I did a double take to make sure we were in the right room.

The entire grounds of the resort are absolutely beautiful! The Grand Palladium welcomes you with beautiful gardens, flowering trees and shrubs and many varieties of palms upon entering the resort. We made two stops before arriving at the G. P., one, @ the Barce’lo Convention Resort and one at the RH Arena and to say the least, their first impression was very lack luster. (Now I can’t comment any further as I haven’t been past the entrance to the lobbies.)

The resort is designed with a very Caribbean feel, but the Fiesta touches were everywhere.

Beach: The Bavaro beach is gorgeous! Palm trees line the entire beach and the sand is very soft. There aren’t any hammocks on this beach (wish list), but plenty of lounges. Yes the towel game is fast and furious in P.C. There are also palupas if you’re lucky enough to get under one. There is no reef on the beach L , unfortunately, so my husband and I couldn’t snorkle every day like we always do in G.P. Mx. The water gets deep pretty fast here, so the roped off swimming area is closer to the shore. You don’t want to venture beyond the ropes, as “taxi boats”, para-sailing boats, catamaran sail boats are all zipping by. It was quite amusing watching all this activity, sort of reminded us of the Mon River on a busy weekend. Also, there are no life guards on the beach. Since we had access to the Royal Area, we spent a lot of the time on this end of the beach. No towel game here. There were Bali beds and very comfortable lounges and servers bringing drinks and hot pizza and fresh fruit and sandwiches if you liked. We met Dolores, a very sweet girl and she caught on very quickly, and brought me a bottle of water every time she brought a drink. Hydrate! 　

The town of El Corticito is located next to the Royal Area, right on the beach and very picturesque. A fun place to shop and barter with the locals. I would definitely say this is a “must visit”. They are very proud of their shops and all invite you in to see their wares. If you don’t want to look, a “no thank you is all they need.” It’s at the complete opposite end of the beach from the Bavaro section.

Bathroom facilities on the beach are few and far between and located in the open air beach side restaurants. Unlike the G.P. in Mx, there are no facilities located with the beach bars. (wish list)

Pools: There are 7 pools including the Royal Section and Spa. The Royal and Spa pools are calm and very relaxing. In fact there are suites in the Royal section that have swim up rooms. The other pools are quite lively with music and activities. 6 of the 7 pools have swim up bars. Hint: bring an insulated mug with you, keeps your drinks cold and the water out of your drinks. There are shallow areas in the pools as well as deep areas. Lounges and palupas line the pool area and there are also lounges built right into the pool itself.

Food: We really liked it, especially the variety in the buffets. there are 7 different theme nights for the buffets. I was happy to see I could get the delicious lamb chops and fresh grilled fish on the buffets. There are also grilled pork chops which my husband really liked.

Sumptori is always a favorite ala-carte and we sat at a show table. La Arrecife is buffet @ lunch and a seafood ala-carte @ dinner. It is an open air restaurant with no air conditioning, just ceiling fans. Dinner was great, but since it was an ala carte for dinner, the guys had to wear long pants and it was really hot. The restaurant is on the beach and I forgot to spray with bug spray, before we went and the bugs “feasted” too.

The Royal Gourmet, hands down my favorite! The salad bar alone, could stand as a buffet. I had the Queen Lobster both evenings we dined there. WOW! Dave, Meg & Terry, also tried the surf and turf and they said it was fabulous. There was alot to choose from on the menu. After dinner, a cart is brought around with “top shelf” liquors for after dinner drinks. There is a long pant, sleeved shirt, dress code for men here also, but, two women walked in, with oversized tank tops on over their bathing suits and oversized shorts, looking like they just came from the beach and since they were dry, they were seated. I’m sorry, but this is a classy little restaurant and they were dressed inappropriately IMO.

La Catedral: Is where we ate all but one of our breakfast buffets. A lot to choose from and a abundance of fresh fruit. Yes I had crepes in every flavor for breakfast. One thing was missing @ this breakfast buffet, Mimosas!. Found them @ Los Torres when we had breakfast near the Royal Section.

The menus for the restaurants are located on the bulletin boards in the lobbies.

Desserts: I didn’t find one I didn’t like, especially the chocolate mousse in the hand made chocolate cup! Dave loved the Rum Raisin ice cream and ate it every time he found it on the menu.

Beach Snack Bar: really good burgers and hot dogs as well as fries, BBQ pork chops, chicken and a variety of other things.

Sports Bar: was great for a snack, pizza, chicken wings, burgers etc. 24 hours a day. This one is smaller than the one in Mx. And is located across from the Bavaro Lobby.

We couldn’t possibly eat in all the restaurants, but from what we sampled, I would venture to say the others that we missed, were probably just as good.

Bars: are located in the lobbies, along the beach and at the pools, Our favorite was Hemmingways, air conditioned and quiet near the pool on the Bavaro side. Entertainment is provided in each of the lobbies nightly. The lobby and bar area are open air and were a little hot since the breezes from the ocean can’t travel through the lush vegetation.

Unfortunately we never made it to any of the nightly stage shows. We heard people raving about the “Micheal Jackson” Tribute show. There are 2 theaters on the complex grounds and during the day, they showed the World Cup games on the big screens.

Drinking water: Bottles of water are provided in the mini bar and replenished daily. If you want more, just leave a note. All the water served at the restaurants and ice in drinks is made from bottled water. Don’t drink the tap water, there are signs to remind you not to. It’s perfectly safe for bathing etc.. We even used bottle water while brushing our teeth. The water has a lot of minerals in it and can cause stomach upsets.

Casino: I’ve never been in a casino in my life. This one seemed small, but many people were playing table games and slots. Meg tried her luck at slots and had fun, no big winner that night! I folded my money and kept it in my purse, so I guess you can say “I doubled my money”.J

Excursions: We spent one afternoon, with Bavaro Splash. There we did “snuba”, which is a cross between scuba and snorkeling. LOVED IT! Our guide took a lot of pictures underwater of Dave and I and all the underwater sights. Then we drove these little 14ft speed boats around in the ocean, even though we’re seasoned boaters this was blast! Next we went to another dive platform and snorkeled. Once again I got a lot of great pics. Since I didn’t wear a life jacket and had my own dry snorkel, I was able to follow the guide down deeper and get to hold star fish he was finding hiding under the rocks. So this was my only snorkel “fix”

We also went to the Don Lucas Cigar factory and Mund Autenico for shopping. The guys got free cigars to smoke, I don’t smoke so I passed. It was nice seeing how cigars are made and how they make the different types and how and why they “season them”, let them set for up to75 days, for their flavor to develop. I bought a Larimar (native gem to the D.R.) and silver star fish for my necklace as a reminder of the great time I had exploring the ocean. The transportation for the excursion was free. It took them awhile to come back and get us, I guess they wanted us to shop more.

People: The people at the resort and those we met off the resort were wonderful. A lot of the people were either singing or humming while they worked, and smiles were everywhere. Even some of the men driving the trains and golf carts were singing beautiful Caribbean melodies. Spanish is their main language, and a lot of the people spoke English, plus a few other languages. I know some Spanish and was able to converse quite comfortably. If they didn’t understand me, they got someone who did. I enjoyed brushing up on my Spanish though. Our made Nancy, couldn’t figure out what Meg wanted, so she pointed to her eye, so Meg would show what she wanted, which was an extra bath mat.

Tipping: We did, it’s a nice gesture and really appreciated by the staff, but it’s totally up to you.

Map: The map needs to be redesigned so that you can figure out where each of the resorts is located. ( wish list)

Final thoughts: The Grand Palladium Complex in Punta Cana was everything I would expect from a Fiesta resort after visiting the G.P in Mx. 3 times. I can say after 4 visits, that I can count on their consistency of quality and service and providing a place where I feel comfortable and welcome. Each resort stands on it’s own merit.

We will return one day to the G.P. complex in Punta Cana, but maybe we will visit during Dec-March, when I retire in a few years from teaching, when the “locals” say it’s not so hot and humid.

It’s funny, I’m usually the one who plans our vacations, but my hubby Dave just said, “Hey, let’s try Jamaica next”! That’s all I needed to here.

FYI: Apple Vacations is now using Air Tran to Fly to the Dominican Republic. Our seat cushions were not attached properly to the seat and kept moving as we moved. We were told our personnel headsets would work in the arm rests to hear the XM radio, but we couldn’t get them to work. It was a 4:20hour flight to and from Pgh. and they didn’t have a movie, oh, the head set jackets didn‘t work anyway. The seats are really cramped. On the way home, our reservations were all linked together, but 3 of us sat in one row, one on side of the plane and poor Meg was in a different row on the other side of the plane. If I book through Apple again and Air Tran is the carrier, I’m going to rethink my airline options. I wish they would go back to USA 3000.

P.S. If any one stays in room 1573 and finds a white mp3 player loaded with Jimmy Buffett music, it’s mine, I forgot it in the rush trying to weigh my suitcase before the bell boy got there.L Gotta rethink the packing list again!