After reading all the negative reviews on this hotel last year, I regretted booking here. But it was too late as I had already booked.
When I arrived, I couldn't believe how amazing this place was. I couldn't find anything negative about it. The only thing I regretted was going for only one week. I loved it so much that I am going back for 2 weeks. I am leaving this Saturday and I can't wait!

Here's some info for you:

Food:

The buffet had so much variety that you don't really need to go to the a la carte restaurants. Every night is a different theme (spanish, american, italian,...). The service was great and the staff was very friendly. I don’t remember in detail what I ate, all I know is that I had amazing food every night. Bear in mind that I am from Montreal where the food is really good. If I liked the food at this hotel, it means something.

Entertainment:

They had the best show I had ever seen. Their dance routines were professionally choreographed. Don't forget that the entertainers are up early in the morning and organize several activities through out the day. At night, they perform at the show and after that, they go to the hotel's club to dance and get the party going. Speaking of the hotel's night club, only guests of the hotels show up there. If you think people from other resorts are going to come, think again. But if there are plenty of single people at the hotel, the club does get packed. If you don't like it, just grab a cab (ask the reception to call you one) and go to Mangu. Be careful at Mangu, I have heard stories of people have their drinks laced with drugs. Go their with a group of people and be cautious of the locals. If you are a girl, they will ask you to dance one after another, no matter what you look like. So if you crave attention, this is the place for you.

Beach:

Pure white sand and blue water, what more do you want? It can get rough at times, so be careful of the undertow. You can snorkel at the far left of the beach near the water sport rope, but there isn't much to see. If you walk further right and pass a couple of hotels, there's some better snorkeling, but nothing amazing, don't expect to see Great Barrier Reef quality fish.

People:

The guests were a mix of Europeans (french, german, spanish, italian) and North Americans. Note to single men: The Spanish women are incredibly hot. Learn a few words in Spanish and go talk to them. If you get lucky, you owe me a drink. Note to women: The entertainers will most likely hit on you. They are harmless, just don't give them any attention and they will move on to their next prey.

Room:

I don't remember what my room looked like. I was only there to sleep, shower and use the toilet. Once I had the runs and... never mind, I won't go into details. All you have to know is that the plumbing works great!


Some people are frustrated with their personal and professional lives. They actually like going on vacation and complaining about everything. So they tell of the staff so they can feel superior and perhaps for once in their life they feel in control. Just go and enjoy your stay.

Eat, drink, swim, tan, dance and leave your worries behind.

We were there last winter with my wife and a 1 year old child. I loved the place, the room can but we had a better one at Cuba Santa Clara resorts, but room is okay. Clean and nice view. We wasnt able to visit any al'carte restaurants with the baby, so the buffet was great. Baby wakes us up very early and we went to the dinner first so we had no problems with the lines. Many people are saying they had problems with the service getting attention, maybe, I had not much time to relax at dinner with baby so I was leaving $5 bucks tips every meal, in a day they started to remember me better, after that I had absolutely no problem with wine or beer.
Never finish my glass. they were so quick. Very friendly. Just leave them a good tip, you are on vacation!
Ocean was stormy but water was clean and u can see lots of fish swimming arond, unfortunately to my wife :-)
Ones they disconnected the water they had some big problems but it was fixed withing couple of hours so not a big deal.
Bad impression of the sales people coming once in a while to sell some junk inside the resort, once the price went from $200 to $15 bucks, just avoid them if u want to save money and mood.
ANyway I think its a good resort for the money.

Some of the Dominican men at this resort are real players. What do I mean by that? They sweet talk the ladies and pile on the flattery. Sound harmless enough you may say? Not really. It's a game to seduce unassuming tourists in an attempt to extort money. First of all, the resort employees are not allowed to fraternize with the resort guests. The ones who do run the risk of getting fired, but they don't care because they're after "the big easy". Watch out for the guys on the animation team....easy to spot....they are the workers with the orange shirts on who are in charge of beach activities and nightly shows. The waiters are not much better...particularly at the La Laguna buffet restaurant. If you want to know names....email me personally and I'll tell you. But to put it simply...if an employee asks you if you are married/single/have a boyfriend..they are on "the play ". The hard working, honest employees never get personal! The players however will ask you for your room number....a big no no!!!! They will also ask for email and cell phone numbers....don't give that info out! You can spot these guys walking around with their cell phones checking to see which poor girls have called them. They make about $6 US per day and have cell phones...laughable!!! Once you spot one, you see them all! You may want to google the word "Sanky". It will better explain how these guys operate...because that's what they are called....sankies! In short ladies...keep your guard up. If a man knows you only a day or two and tells you that he loves you ..that's a big red flag. You wouldn't fall for that foolishness at home so why fall for it on vacation. If you want to hook up with anyone, go with another tourist. Stay clear of all Dominican men...locals and resort employees because most of them see you as their next meal ticket. One more thing....do not leave the resort at night and don't go to the beach at night...either alone or with others, it's not safe!

Now about the rest of the resort....

This resort was fairly decent and clean, but no frills. The entertainment was good sometimes and tacky other times. The buffet restaurants were good...lots of variety. I didn't eat at the a la carte places but the only one I heard was decent was the Italian one. The beach is beautiful and the pools are lovely. The service was a bit all over the place....good sometimes, but lacking from time to time. A word of advice...go to the buffet restaurants early for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As the hours go on, it gets crowded and the service goes down hill from there. Go to this place only if you get a really, really good deal. If you're looking for a posh resort, pick another one. Like I said, it's no frills. I don't think it really is a 4 star place...more of a 3 or 3.5 star at best.

Hope this helps...email me for more details if you like.:-)

It's a shame that most of the people who take the time to write a review about this resort are those who were not happy with their stay. The average cost for this all-inclusive hotel is less than any overnight stay at a Motel 8 in the USA, so I truly don't know what they expected. Everything far exceeded our expectations, even if we had paid $100 per person per day, which neither us nor anyone else certainly did not. The facilities are beautiful and enormous and well kept, the ac could be a little cooler but we slept well at night. Our fridge was always stocked with water and sodas. There was a stocked coffee maker in the room and a working iron with its board. TV was a 32 inches plasma. The room was serviced every day.

We were a party of 8 people (16 to 47 years old) and had a wonderful 5-day stay at Grand Paradise. The beach and the settings are gorgeous like everybody else agree, and the food was great. I was the only one who got sick but it was out of my own gluttony. Many people eat too much, get sick and, understanbly, speak lousy of their stay here, but I think it's not fair to blame the hotel or the staff.

The staff is very professional and friendly. Christian Cuevas at the lobby, our maid Marcela Alvarado, Yoralaisa, don Alberto, Juan, they all were very nice to us. Fun is non-stop for those who look for it. The quality of the Las Vegas-sort-of show at the amphitheater is sound for the size. Food was great. The two buffets (we preferred La Laguna and you might as well stick eating there rather than trying reservation restaurants) offered plenty of options to eat. The meat might not be done to the American taste. All restaurants look great and their staff is always willing to help. Most of them are multi-linguals, so communication should not be an issue. Tip these folks as you would at any restaurant. They deserve it. There are shows at the beach and dance classes. We also sailed on sail boats and kayaks. One note for management: Set up an emergency crew at the beach. My daughter, who can't swim, and a friend got on a kayak and sailed away into the sea and did not know how to come back. Fortunately a gentleman from Australia saw them in distress and rescued them.

This resort is well worth your money and then some. We also stayed 5 days at Barcelo Golf but overall our time here was much better. I would recommend it.