Where to Stay in the Dominican Republic: Grand Palladium Punta Cana

The Dominican Republic is one of the only countries currently letting in Americans with few travel restrictions. Earlier last month, I booked myself a solo birthday vacation at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana all-inclusive resort. This hotel is part of the Palladium Hotel Group’s chain of luxury hotels in the Bávaro area of Punta Cana. With luxurious rooms, an amazing outdoor pool complex, and a variety of activities on offer, the Grand Palladium Hotel was incredible. In this post, I’ll talk about my experience and thoughts on the room, amenities, facilities, restaurants, and more!

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How to get to Punta Cana

Most people will fly into Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ), the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic. From there, you can either find a taxi to your resort or book an airport transfer in advance. I booked my airport transfers with Hoppa through the Staff Travel Voyage website, which ended up working out perfectly. There was someone waiting for me when my plane landed and I didn’t have to worry about finding my way around.

Booking & check-in

For all my airline readers out there, I was able to book this room at a discount through Staff Travel Voyage. Their website has hundreds of different hotels all around the world at fantastic prices. The booking process was seamless and although the website looks a bit suspicious, it is definitely genuine! My total for 3 nights all-inclusive came out to $292.

Once I made it to the hotel, the check-in process was very easy. The staff took several steps along the way to make me feel safe: they checked my identity before entering the lobby and at the desk, they took my temperature, and they explained the new COVID safety procedures. I also got a quick overview of all of the popular facilities and where they were located. A worker even came around and handed me a delicious, coconutty welcome drink!

⇉ Official website

Grand Palladium Punta Cana overview

In the Bávaro region of Punta Cana, the Palladium hotel group is divided up into four separate (but connected) hotels:

• Bávaro Suites
• Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa
• Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa & Casino
• TRS Turquesa Hotel (adults-only)

If you book your stay at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana, you get access to the entire resort complex (except to certain areas that are exclusive to Royal Suites guests at the Turquesa Hotel).

The Grand Palladium complex is massive. I actually had a bit of trouble finding where everything was despite all of the maps around the property. I would recommend downloading their resort map to your phone before visiting.

The Palladium hotel group also includes the TRS Cap Cana Hotel in the Cap Cana Marina area of Punta Cana.

Facilities

The Grand Palladium Hotel offers tons of different sports, leisure, and fitness facilities.

• Fitness center
• Water sport facilities and an aqua gym
• Spa & wellness center
• Casino (at the Grand Palladium Palace)
• Golf course
• Badminton courts
• Tennis courts
• Petanque courts

Services

Like any decent all-inclusive resort, the Grand Palladium Hotel also offers personalized services to make their guests’ lives easier.

• 24-hour room service (additional charge)
• Laundry services
• Business center
• Convention center (at the Grand Palladium Bávaro)
• Towel service at the beach and pools

Clubs for children

If you’re a family traveling with younger children, the Grand Palladium Hotel offers several areas where the kids can be entertained and taken care of while you relax.

• Castillo del Pirata: Pirate-themed outdoor area and fort
• Baby Club: For children aged 1-3 years
• Mini Club: For children aged 4-12 years

Grand Palladium Punta Cana room

I booked a Superior Junior Suite. My suite was essentially one room with a king-size bed, a living area, and a pretty large bathroom. There was a fully-stocked mini-fridge along with coffee, tea, and bottled water (which was replenished daily — good since you shouldn’t drink the tap water!). I also had a flat-screen TV, air conditioning, and a hair dryer. My Junior Suite looked out onto a small garden with palm trees and was only a few steps away from the main family pool.

Needless to say, my absolute favorite part was the hydro-massage bath in my room. There is a button on the ledge that you can press to activate the jets. It felt like having a spa right there in my room!

Grand Palladium Punta Cana amenities

The pool

This is where I spent most of my time in Punta Cana. The Grand Palladium actually has six different and expansive pools within their hotel complex.

• Boca Chica: Family-style pool with a lazy pool area and a swim-up bar
• Barahona: Main family pool with sunken sunbeds
• Saona: Family pool with a swim-up bar
• The Secret: Adults-only outdoor pool
• Samaná: Freshwater pool with adjacent kid’s pool
• Kid’s water park: With slides and a pirate ship

There was a good balance of sunny and shady spots, and it was easy to find a lounge chair every day. You could order drinks directly from the workers that roam the pool area or from any of the nearby bars. 10/10 experience here, no complaints.

The beach

The Grand Palladium is located right on Playa Bávaro, the main beach in the area. Playa Bávaro is a gorgeous white sand beach with plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas. There are six bars and a beach club stretching across the property, so you’re never far from a good time. The hotel also runs several daily outdoor activities and entertainment on the beach.

One important thing to note is that during certain months of the year, there is a lot of seaweed that washes up (I’m talking mountains of it). This was the case for me at the end of May — it made swimming in the ocean kind of gross. If you’re intent on being by the beach during your stay, try to go in a month when the seaweed is lowest.

The spa

There are tons of different services offered at the Zentropía Palladium Spa & Wellness center.

• Jacuzzi and Turkish bath
• Sauna
• Vapor bath, steam bath, and hydro-massage bath
• Massages
• Beauty salon (extra charge)

Free COVID testing & medical insurance

Because of the United States’ pre-arrival testing requirement, the Grand Palladium offers free COVID testing on-site. You schedule your test with the front desk for up to three days before your return flight. On the day of your test, you are taken to the testing area, get called into a room with a few other people, and take a nasal swab. Despite there being about 20 people in line with me, the entire testing process took no longer than 15 minutes. The test is a rapid test and I got my results via email in about one hour.

The hotel also offers free medical insurance to all of its guests. This insurance covers any expenses relating to Covid-19 infection up to 100,000€. The coverage begins automatically when you check in and runs through your entire stay. Personally, I feel like these measures are a great way to reassure guests and encourage the return of international travel.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana restaurants

While the hotel normally has tons of delicious cuisine and restaurant options, many of them were closed because of the pandemic. The ones that were open had reduced operating hours as well. Despite all of that, I definitely did not go hungry during my stay! The food was delicious and plentiful.

The buffet restaurants (Las Torres and Poseidón) were freely accessible. The rest of the à la carte restaurants needed a reservation in advance. Unfortunately, some of the restaurants I wanted to try were fully booked during my stay. If you’re keen on trying a specific restaurant, I’d recommend booking a reservation as soon as you can. Reservations could be made by calling the front desk or through the Grand Palladium app.

Open restaurants at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana:

• La Adelita: Mexican à la carte
• Sumptuori: Japanese teppanyaki cooking restaurant
• El Dorado: Wide selection of meat
• Portofino: Italian cuisine with a pizza oven
• Bhogali: Indian cuisine
• Las Torres: Main restaurant with international show cooking
• Poseidón: International show cooking and local cuisine

Besides restaurants, the Grand Palladium also has several juice bars and coffee shops.

Book a tour in Punta Cana

Final thoughts

I loved my stay at the Grand Palladium. Besides being a great value for money, it was absolutely beautiful and the staff made me feel special. I think it would be a great place to stay for any occasion — I saw families with young children, honeymooners, and groups of friends. There’s something for everyone!

Despite the current closures and travel restrictions, I think the Grand Palladium was able to keep the full resort experience. The restaurants, bars, and amenities that were available were awesome. They also made the whole travel process easy and pain-free by taking care of all of the more stressful aspects (i.e. COVID testing). On the whole, my stay felt like the perfect reintroduction to international leisure travel.

Thanks for reading! You can check out more hotel reviews under my Hotels tag.

xoxo Niki