This was my second trip to Caribbean, first was to Cuba 2 years ago to a 4 1/2 stars w/ my parents. This time i went with my boyfriend, i'm 24 and he's 27 years old. We went Aug.10-17th. I did about 1 month of solid research and selected this resort on my own without anyone's help and even without asking our travel agent's advice. Let me tell you, amazing resort which resulted in amazing vacation.

We were looking for a peaceful time, quiet and stress free. We're not party people, but we do like a little music, some wine, a good action movie, that kind of thing. This was all ages and it was no problem. Kids were mostly 8 years old, and behaved very well that you could not notice them. We stayed on the ground floor, king size bed (as we requested from our travel agent) with the jacuzzi in the living room. We arrived on time w/ Skyservice (took the 6ish am flight). Bus was excellend, huge w/ air conditioning and a very fun guide who taught us some basic spanish. Bus ride was about 30 minutes. Arrived at 12ish and our room was not ready. No problem! We went to have lunch at the buffet, checked out the beach and then relaxed in the lobby with constant waitress service of cold fruity drinks. 2pm ish, room is ready, clean, bar stocked (water bottles, bottled coke, sprite, fanta, bear - stocked daily depending on how much you drank... what you drank, they re-stocked).

Food - we only went to buffet. Great food. So much choice. At dinner, there was a huge selection of very nice cheese (goat cheese and blue cheese are some selections). They had about 8 choices of fresh pizzas which were very yummy. Pasta, meats, chicken, a lot of salads, ice cream machine. For desert, they would make crapes with fruit and choc. inside or fry up some fruit with syrups of your choice. We never got bored of the food. Every day there was a theme, like the Mexican night when at the entrance to the buffet, there was a girl offering Tequilla. They serve BOTTLED water, which you can take with you to your room or to the beach (amazing).

Beach - wow, my mouth dropped when i saw the beach for the first time. Just like the pictures of those perfect beaches. White sand, really, white white sand. Water is light blue and very warm especially by the beach. If you want a quiet spot, move away from the music where a team does volleyball and dancing. We stayed by the Royal Suites border and there were no kids there and no music. Windy every day but this is not a problem. There will be a lot of bother from tour sales reps trying to sell tours. As soon as they come, just say "No no, gracias" and get back to doing what you were doings. If you're reading a book, or have your eyes closed, they 99% of the time walk around you.

Service - at dinner time, almost all the waiters dance which is so nice to watch. We tipped at lunch and dinner around 2-3$ US to the same waiter and in the end he reserved our table for us and brought us our drinks before we asked. We tipped every single time we asked for something, and we always got a thank you from them. We would tip after they brought us our drinks.

Try the cappucinos at the lobby after dinner, just sit in those comfy chairs by the check in area so in case they live band starts to play, its not too loud there (otherwise you cant really hear what your company is saying to you). Nothing was stolen, nothing went wrong. Oh, i am a snorkeling fan, and here you wont get to do it. The water/beach has a rope in it to block off up to when you can swim (there are constant traffic of boats going back and forth) and all the fish/rocks/reefs/grassy areas are behind the rope, so there are no fish in the water up to the rope area. I guess you can go on a tour and snorkel if you want that experience.

Spa/Gym are in one building, very very nice. They have small huts on the beach for a beach massage ($80 US for 50 min. of Swedish massage) When you come into the room, put your key into a slot on the wall right where the light switch is, then the lights go on and so does the AC. Try bringing candles for a romantic jacuzzi experience or try turning the tv your way when taking a bath.

Just some gift shop prices so you can get an idea (US$):
- small bag of chips $1
- sunscreen $10 (varies)
- pack of Marlboro $6
- small bottle of Perier $3
- wooden sculpture souveniere $3 (6 inches)
- Mamjuana (rum w/ herbs) $12 (varies)
- huge inflatable water toy $26 (turtle)
- beach ball $3
- chocolate bar $2 (Snickers, Mars, etc.)

We brought US$ and that was perfect, everything is in US$ anyways. I hope this helped. I would for sure go back, both of us loved it from beginning to end. It brings tears to my eyes now thinking of how great it was and that i'm not there anymore. Enjoy!

Last april was my first trip to the dominican republic and i couldnt have picked a better resort to stay at. I am 22 years old and i went with my mom and 18 year old sister we had a blast! This was the cleanest resort i have ever stayed in. They clean your room up to 3 times a day which i never had before. You feel extremely relaxed and there is always something to do. I loved all the activities on the beach and the shows at night. The restaurants were all beautiful and the service was incredible. I would reccomend this resort to anyone who enjoys a relaxing good time. We had so much fun that we are going back again this year and bringing our friends. This resort is simply amazing!

The Grand Palladium Royal Suites Resort is located on Bavaro Beach , probably one of the nicest beaches I've seen. There are 4 resorts within the walls of the compound.
We stayed at the Royal Suites section of the resort . It's adult only an a little more secluded from the other 3 resorts. There were mostly newlyweds here, so if your looking for a little more excitement , the other resorts always seem to have some sporting activities and fun stuff for children. (big water slide) .
This is my 3rd time in Punta Cana . I've been to "Secrets of Excellence" and "Dreams" (formally Sunscape the Beach ) . I feel every resort has it pros and cons.

PROS. Beach and Water were awesome .....probably the best beach in DR
Food was for the most part very good... Lunches in the buffet were just OK
Rooms was very big and spacious, we also had a Jacuzzi in our room .
The resorts grounds were beautiful.
Some of the dining staff were very friendly and others not so.
CONS. This is a HUGE resort . It took about 3 days to figure out were we were half the time.
Didn't care for all the traffic within the resort. We were constantly dodging big buses ,cars and motor cycles
Didn't like having to walk ½ mile to and from dinner. Even though the mini train was running ever 15 minutes (really 30 minutes) we always found it difficult to get on and it seemed to be full to capacity.
I realizes when you are in DR you have to go with the flow and the unexpected , but there were continual sporadic power outages. One night the power went out and the backup generators were also out .. We were eating in total darkness. Except for my cell phone light and eventually a candle.
The pool was kind of beat looking the swim up bar was missing a few of the granite moldings .
The swim up bar closed and had to be out of the pool by 7:00 pm , putting a damper on our partying.
Make sure you have cash... no ATM's on sight

I realize having a good vacation is more than just a really nice resort, please don't take this a a negative comment it is a nice resort. More importantly it's the people you meet and converse with and we met many . Just wanted to thank the group of people that were a part of our life for that one week .
I want to shout out to our friends from Charlotte .. Kristy and Jeremy (code yellow) hope my engineered raft kept you a float for a few more days.
Also to Jenn and Jes from Philly .., Jenn hope your feeling better and Jes have a safe trip to Brazil .. Don't talk to strangers , except for guys with the name of Paul.
Tall Mike and his wife from Chicago. Now that your married you'll need to cut back on work and spent e time with your new wife.
Also Mike the bartender and his girlfriend from Northern California .
Of course I can't go without saying thanks to the staff Teodoro, Manuel, Tony??? Yes Tony and Yohanna. for all the MAMAJANNAS
The big question ..would I go back? Probably not.
Only because I like to try different places. I guess when all said I would rate this a 7.5 of 10.

Brilliant holiday

Went for our honeymoon and couldnt have picked a nicer place. Complex was like a butlins complex, but a 1000 times nicer.

Hotel staff we very friendly and bar staff were very helpful in helping your pick a nice cocktail ;) (domingo very nice bar tender)which was of course all inclusive. The food was nice. We ate in the buffet resturant for breakfast & lunch & used the A La Carte in the evening. We were told in the brochure that we could only use the A La carte 5 times in 2 weeks but was told by our rep we could use them as much as we wanted which was good as you got a bit fed up of the buffet style after a while. After the 1st few days we realised it was better to have a good breakfast and save yourself until the evening meal as we were not enjoying the food as much (each to thier own though).

The room was lovey but we did have a trip down to the Bavaro which had the romantica rooms which were outstanding. I think these rooms we only available to book for Foreigners as we did not see them in the brochure. Also they had the Royal suites which we even more outstanding. We didnt have the option to book these either. I think you can upgrade out there if you want though.

This was our 1st all inclusive holiday and we were really pleased. Only thing i didnt like was wearing the band for 2 wks. It irritated me slightly.

all in all a brilliant holiday to a stunning hotel.

Are going back with the children in 2 years time :)))))))