We were married this June and went to the Grand for 10 days for our honeymoon. This as a decision we spent a lot of time on, and the Grand lived up to every promise and then some!

The grounds are beautiful as is every aspect of the hotel. The staff was amazing, helpful and just a pleasure to interact with. We stayed in the 70 building, ocean front. The butler service was great and we felt taken care of in everything we requested.

The food, drinks, facilities, shows and every aspect was AMAZING. We plan on returning sometime in the next year or two. It was worth every penny and we highly recommend it to honeymooners.

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand June 9 - june12... I have to say my husband and I were very impressed with this resort.. I say this because we have traveled and experienced many other all inclusive resorts such as Sandals and Excellence.. etc... THis resort topped it all..... The details were exquisite....

Pillow menu service... which we took advantage of ....lots of pillows... Butler who really caters to your needs we ask for lots of coronas.... Food very good have to try the Japanese rest... any you can order one of everything our waitress there was very nice and wanteed us to order a little of everything from the menu... THe property itself was unbelievable and you never even saw anything out of place.... The resort itself did feel empty but come to find out no one from the other ibero hotels were allowed on our property... We did visit the other hotels and they were pretty busy...nice too... but not as nice as the grand... This hotel went above and beyond to cater to the needs of their clients and they really left nothing out...

This was our first visit to an Iberostar property and we (3 of us, girlfriend getaway) definitely would return. The 1st tropical storm of the season decided to visit the same time we did, so it rained on & off the entire 5 days of our stay. Needless to say, we did not have the opportunity to fully enjoy the wide variety of comfortable lounge chairs and beds at the beautiful pools or the nice palapa huts on the gorgeous beach. With that said, the grounds and the architecture are absolutely stunning at this property. Also, all of the restaurants offer the option of outdoor seating which would have been lovely, especially with the view overlooking the main pool outside the Japanese restaurant - Haiku and Toni's - Surf & Turf. Throughout the property most of the walkways are covered, which was a plus for us with the rain, but be cautious because that beautiful tile is very slippery when wet.

On our arrival we were greeted with champagne and a delicious fruit punch (my favorite), along with wash cloth. I emailed the hotel 2 days before arrival and my travel agent also noted our reservation request for ocean front building 70 or 71 with double beds, non-smoking, and that we were celebrating my Moms 60th b-day so we wanted a little something extra in the room for her. At check-in they said they have nothing in the reservation stating this. We did not get the ocean front room, as we were told they only have king beds in building 70 & 71, but we did get our request of ocean view (in a distance) on the top floor in building 74 on the quiet pool side. Champagne was delivered to our room that night with fresh flowers and 2 nights later they put rose petals leading to the bath and to the swans on the bed for my Mom.

The staff was always smiling with a friendly "hola" as you passed them by. The concierge desks were always pleasant and very helpful, they made all our reservations. Some of the exceptional staff that made our stay special were our butlers David and Rodolpho, Raquel our waitress at the main pool, along with the pool bartenders (we all had some great laughs), Jorge our waiter at La Brisas restaurant by the beach, Dwight - in the lobby bar area always checking to be sure if you needed anything, and the wonderful saxophone player in the evenings at the lobby bar. Our Star Friends - Diego, Chris, Sajeb were always fun to run into, and George - thanks for the DVD!

We really enjoyed the nightly shows and entertainment. And we never had any problems getting a dinner reservation for 7:30 each night at any of the restaurants. We found that was a perfect time to have dinner then walk over to the Coliseum and catch the show at 10.

Our room was very nice and the beds and pillows are very comfortable. The light switches are a little confusing but by the end of our stay we figured them out. There are two nice spacious light-up closets and shelves. I called about the slippers and they do not have them. We also did not have the bath robes in our room for the first couple days but they did bring them eventually for us to use during our stay. Now about the bathroom shower - I have to agree with the previous reviewer. Shower has nice water pressure out of the 1 large rainfall showerhead but no shelves for your shampoo, face wash, etc...I expected the shower, bathroom, and toiletries to be a bit more luxurious. (Guess I must be spoiled from the large showers at Le Blanc and The Royal in Cancun with several showerheads and jets, and a built in marble seat - amazing bathrooms with fabulous toiletries - Bvlgari and Bio Silk!) Oh, and one other thing to mention about the bathroom is there is not much privacy (clear see-thru doors to the toilet and shower).

The Spa/indoor pool were nice but did not impress me and the gym/workout area was nice as well. (In this area again, I am spoiled from Le Blanc with their beautiful Spa facility and fantastic gym area). My Mom and I really enjoyed our massages, especially since we booked with a $200 spa credit. Pedro (I think was his name) was wonderful at the spa desk. He set up a single massage for my best friend, so she did not have to go to the Shopping Center Spa for a massage. We were told they only offer couple massages at the Grand.

We really enjoyed all of the restaurants, especially loved Haiku (Japanese)! And although I love lobster, it tasted different than I'm use to. Maybe it was the grilled taste? I prefer steamed, so I requested this in Toni's surf & turf restaurant, but it still came out grilled. Any how the filet was delicious.
I particularly loved the breakfast buffet at Bella Vista and enjoyed the delicious omelets, bacon, the triangle shaped hash browns and the fresh-squeezed orange juice so much I took a picture just to remind me of those mornings.

We had a wonderful time, despite the weather and would definitely recommend the Iberostar Grand to anyone. It is a truly gorgeous resort and we hope to return very soon.

Thank you to all of the reviews on trip advisor, without them we would have never taken the chance on visiting the Iberostar Grand and would have missed out on experiencing this truly Grand place.

My husband and I traveled to the IB Grand from May 13th to May 22nd. We have traveled to 4 other 5-star AI in the Caribbean including 2 in Mexico and compared this one to all of them. Although they are all different in there own way, we were defiantly impressed with the Grand.

Check-in: When we arrived, we were greeted with cool towels and champagne. We booked an oceanview room and were hoping for a free upgrade to oceanfront, but did not get it, but we did get our requested top floor, non-smoking. Check-in was fast and friendly. A bell boy already had our luggage and showed us to our room in building 74.

Room: Nice size, marble floors and great décor. There were two his and hers closets but no extra draws other then in the TV armoire but then I noticed the cubbies where the safe was and that was okay for me. The safe was spacious and easy to operate, just remember a password. The armoire had a decent size TV, and DVD player and some draws. They have something like ON Demand cable TV with a channel guide but it never worked but there were plenty of channels plus a couple of music channels. There was a clock on the DVD player and a digital clock by the bed with an i-pod docking station. We do not use i-pods so not sure if it worked out okay. The king size bed that was very comfy and I picked the butterfly pillow and my husband picked the down pillow from the pillow menu. Sheets were very comfortable as well. They did provide robes but no slippers.
The butler arrived and asked if we needed anything and we asked for scissors to cut our zip ties off our luggage but never got them. We ended up going the concierge desk and getting them. The concierge desk was very helpful but the butler service was just not needed. We already had dinner reservations so we just confirmed them with the concierge as well. The bathroom was big and had his and her sinks across from each other instead of beside each other, which were great. There was a Jacuzzi tub in the middle of the toilet and shower. I personally did not like the shower, it was too small and there was nothing to put your toiletries on, no shelves just a little soap dish. Also the worst part for me at least was that there was nothing to put my leg up to shave at all. So I had to shave in the tub first and then shower. Although, thankfully the water pressure in the shower was good. The balcony was large and had a couch with a table and also a swing. The air-conditioner did not work that well. One day we were able to get it cooler and set it at 18 but then could not figure it our after that and only could get it at 20. So it was not cold enough for us especially at night, we were quite warm. We told the butler what we wanted in our fridge and he said he would take care of it and it never happened. We told the concierge and it arrived promptly. We wanted 20 bottles a water a day, yes we drink that many or use that many and it was stocked in the area under the glasses next to the mini-fridge.

Beach: Awesome, awesome and did I mention awesome? We are beach people and it was wonderful. The sand was white and we saw them clean the beach every night around 7:30-8. The chairs were comfy, the palapas were big enough and the platform connected on the palapa was big enough to put drinks, sunscreen or whatever you want on them. We liked it in front of building 71. We did try building 70 but building 71 seems closer to the bathroom and the drink service was better. We have had better beach drink service at other places and at the Grand it was hit or miss sometimes. We also would tip every round and this did not seem to help like other places we have been to. Some days it was great and others we did not see anyone come by. Only about 5 of the days on the beach we spent, they only came by with fresh cold waters in the morning twice. I would say only 2 days we had drinks flowing all the time. The rest we just got up and grabbed another drink or water when we went to the bathroom. The water was really blue and we swam in front of the Lindo which was nice with waves but sometimes too many people in the water at one time.

Grounds: Always being cleaned and groomed. The bathrooms are amazing with all the décor and marble and granite. We picked some of our “favorite” bathrooms. There are plenty of walkways and lush plants and flowers. You can even walk over to the Lindo behind building 70 and go feed the koaties over there.

Restaurants: The dinner buffet was okay, not sure why, maybe too much international food for us??? The lunch buffet at La Brisa by the beach was better for us. Maybe because what we like to eat. They had pizza, can order lobster (which was like shrimp but still yummy), can order fajitas and quesadillas not on the menu, they had fresh fruit in a cooler, desserts, ice cream, different breads, etc. We alternated here and at the bigger buffet Bella Vista for breakfast depending on what type of view we wanted. Also La Brisa did not have pancakes and such for breakfast but Bella Vista did so sometimes if we wanted that we ate at Bella Vista. One bad note here- the shrimp, or should I say the huge prawns were way too salty that unfortunately they were not edible.

Venecia Rest. Italiano was our least favorite as far as food. We ate outside for dinner and the atmosphere was great and the restaurant was beautiful but the food was just not our liking. Several guests had said that and talked about it when we were there. Although we learned the head chef is from Italy, hmmm?? Could possible be that this is northern Italian.

Toni’s Surf-n-Turf was awesome and the view is beautiful looking out to the ocean over the main pool! Just all around great food and atmosphere again.

Haiku Japanese was excellent and the same beautiful view as Toni’s. We ate at the hibachi the 1st night and it was good, the only thing it was really salty. I ran into that problem every time I ate the shrimp, so I just stayed away from shrimp and the food was not too salty anymore. The 2nd night we ate at the table and the food was sssoooo good.

L’Atelier Gourmet was a nice restaurant and very, very good food. We finished off with some desserts and a Mayan coffee, yum!

Room service was very good and came quickly. We usually spend our time outside and on the beach but we did spend one night in our room and ordered. It came very quickly and hot.

La Hacienda at the Paraiso Beach or Del Mar, still not sure where it was actually. The food was great but they did not have top shelf liquor like Don Julio tequila or any Negra Modelo beer but it was still good. They had a little buffet of Mexican dishes and a menu but the menu was mainly different tacos.

Just a little side note, small but I noticed, the menus were cheesy paper-like and old, considering it has only been a little over a year but they looked older than that. Sometimes I got a menu that was stained and dirty that I didn’t want to touch it. I think they could use some nicer menus or replace them; it just didn’t seem to fit into the resort.

Iberostar Commercial Center: Cute little mall-like. There are tables outside to eat and lounge. Again the bathrooms are amazing décor and granite/marble. We never made it to the Galaxy disco, way too much fun at the Grand to leave. The taco place was great and yummy, ate there a couple of times. The ice cream bar is okay, same ice cream at the resort. I was hoping for a real ice cream bar with toppings to choose from and whip cream, stuff like that. We usually got our tacos and then walked over to the tapas bar because there was A/C and tables to eat at. We never ate at the tapas bar because we were always too full but they had a big selection. We also never ate at the burger joint there because the tacos were just too good.

They take only the Grand guests in golf-carts around and everyone else rides the trolley bus. It is pretty funny when there is like 10 people waiting at the commercial center to get picked up and we just get on a golf cart and drive away, hee-hee

Pools: The main pool was wonderful with it having salt water, very refreshing and did not seem crowded ever. They had all the activities there but it was not too annoying or too loud that you could not sit there.

The tranquility pool was awesome, especially in the afternoon and very refreshing to swim in. The lounge chairs around it were great and relaxing with the canopies. The drink service from Gabrielle was the best. Always there and would remember what you were drinking and ask you if you would like another.

The spa pool was like bath water and the spa was gorgeous. They had yet another amazing bathroom with a sauna and steam room. Too bad the sauna and steam room were not coed. The pool was great because it was only about 3.5 ft I think and there were different massage jets that you can just press a button yourself. They also had a juice bar as well. We did not exercise on this trip but the gym was big and looked like nice equipment.

Bars: The pool bar was great and for only 2 bartenders and an assistant for all the guests and the beach/pool service waiters the waiting for a drink was not bad at all. Jose and Roberto made the best, best drinks but Jose takes the cake because he just made the perfect Barcardi Mojitos ever! The main lobby bar was fun and the drinks were wonderful. Jonatan was awesome; he was fun and can show you some of his entertaining magic tricks. They also had some live music playing some nights.

Entertainment: The best I have seen at an AI. It reminds me of the excellent cruise ship shows, so entertaining. The shows started at 10 pm so it gave you plenty of time for drinks before and after dinner and time to eat later if you wanted. The Music Bar had karaoke but it was a hit or miss, sometimes it was happening and other times it was not there. But we made our own fun together and meeting people. It is still a great bar to listen to music and dance if you want.

Odds and Ends: The service was great, we never had a problem and everyone was friendly and said “Hola” every time you walked by. It was kind of a haul to go get the towels by the beach buffet everyday but we discovered kind of late in our trip that there are towels in the tables in the breezeways of building 70 and 71. There were plenty of chairs at the beach and the pools even though the resort was at full capacity although it never felt like that. We were able to eat outside for breakfast everyday and most days for lunch except when we decided it was too hot or the day is was really windy.

The Koaties do come to the Grand but you will mainly find them at the Lindo and they are so gentle taking the food from your hands and fun to feed. There was this one koatie who came every morning to Bella Vista to share some bananas with you.

All in all, this was a great resort and just a wonderful time. I would defiantly go back. Although there are a few new adult only AI’s opening up

I would recommend this to anyone that would enjoy a nice resort with plenty of stuff to do but not too busy, no kids, good food and drinks and relaxing places to enjoy.