I have based this review on 8 other Dominican republic hotels I have visited, 6 of which were 4star, 1 3 star and 1 five star.

This is nowhere near a 4 star hotel it barely meets 3 star standards and I can only think that repeat customers have not stayed in any of the good 4 star hotels like iberostar, Riu , princess or Bahia, etc

Not sure where to start but the only good thing was the restaurant, it was very clean, a lot of food is covered and for a buffet the food was better than average. Although I write this it doesn't mean it will be your taste in food. The 3 al a carte restaurants were not good ocean grill the food we got was cold and not a high standard, the Italian looked the best but they did not cook my steak medium / well done it was raw and bloody the starter and dessert were a joke. Octopus was just average. Some guest's liked the al a carte but have they anything to compare it too certainly not any of the other Dominican hotels I have stayed at including a 3 star.

Rooms, we had a revamped room. Newly painted with new curtains and bed linen and a bit of new furniture. 4 hangers in old wardrobe, no coffee maker or cups, no mirror in room, had to pay for safe, clean towels although when taken from room you could wait more than four hours until the clean ones came. air con good but room small for Dominican standards and not four stars hardly had any extra facilities as mentioned.

Plastic glasses for all drinks except in restaurant, could not have a drink in a glass not even in the reception which was well away from pool area. Make your own tea and coffee in plastic mugs in an area near the pool, never have I been more insulted for a 4 star hotel!!! No decent coffee or tea from any bars they didn't serve hot drinks except if you had upgraded to VIP bar. Always managed to get coffee waiter served in bars even in the 3 star I stayed in but not here. Cocktails were a joke, just spirits chucked on ice, in a plastic cup of course. That is not a cocktail and it's not 4 star service when it's given to you like that. Kids room was awful I wouldn't leave a dog in it. Kids area near beach had climbing frame and 2 swings behind a fenced area but the gate was hanging off the hinges for the full 2 weeks that I was there, hardly 4 star . Hardly any tables to sit at in the so called coffee area and what few were there all did not have chairs around them, it was like this the full 2 weeks. We kept asking for chairs but none materialised. Nice quiet pool area but the same there 3 round tables, 2 with a parasol but hardly any chairs around them. 2 more patio type tables with chairs but no more shelter . People reserve the beds all day even though they are never there. Bar serving drinks but I only got one in a glass when I explained I wasn't around the pool, every other time in a cheap plastic glass even when sitting in the small 'reception area . Make your own nescafe/tea area once again. A drastic lack of seating thought the hotel.

Terrible scruffy looking stage area barely a two star and many others at the hotel agreed with my husband and i. I just do not understand why people go back there are so many really nice hotels in DR especially in and around Punta cana which are truly the star they say.
Beach could be lovely but poor cleaning away from the VIP and main area I have photographs of plastic bottles and beer cans that were at the back of the ventana beach all two weeks, large bin bags of rubbish just feet from sun beds were also there for the full two weeks and this was on the hotel beach. Photographs will go on Facebook as soon as I have time to do this. Playa dorada beach full of plastic and polystyrene I have never seen as much as at this resort. It was disgusting some left to go back in the sea and to the left and right of the ventana about 3/4 of a mile away the natural beach was a wash with hundreds and hundreds of bottle, bottle tops, plastic forks general plastic rubbish, plastic straws and polystyrene, this was not cleaned away while we were there. A lady we knew stood on a used sanitary towel in the sea whilst bathing at the ventana beach, this is not the fault of the hotel but it's worth a mention.

Entertainment was shocking and I am not basing this on my personal taste it was nothing like professional, not the fault of the staff but there appears to be a lack of funding for any professional type shows.although some people like it here at this hotel this review is regarding the so called 4 star rating which it is not. Lady in shop changes the prices for same item on different days so be where.
A good point is that this hotel does provide some shelter on the beach but if your not out for 6 o clock you will be lucky if you get one. Guests reserve pool beds from the night before why wont the hotel stop this just remove the towels. All in all the hotel needs money spending on it to bring it to a four star rating it needs to introduce proper waiter service like other 4 star hotels, which it did not have regardless of what you may be informed by others. I could go on but please if you want 4 star choose somewhere else.

Disgusted at TUI UK for marketing this hotel as 4 star I HAVE BEEN MISOLD WHAT I PURCHASED FROM FIRST CHOICE THAT'S FOR SURE.

Not a bad hotel. Food quite good. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Part of the hotel further up the road was closed and empty. Only 5 minutess to the local shopping plaza, most of which were closed.

The hotel could do with a bit of upgrading like somewhere comfortable to sit. Which to my mind was not a 4* star hotel. But everywhere was clean. The resort Puerto Plata itself is more like a 3rd world country, looking very poor and run-down.

My report is almost identical to the previous report by Cheeky fairy, so I will just add a few comments. I wasn`t happy with the location of the room allocated, this was changed without question. Although the room was clean and tidy, there was insufficient drawer space for two people. The food was excllent with plenty of variety, however sometimes the steak was a bit tough. All the staff were hard working and very friendly, they do seem to like the British people. The best entertainment was supplied by the animation team, their shows are often hilarious, I don`t know their names but one is called "sexy face". I was disappointed with one of the excursions. The City tour which included a ride up and down a mountain in a cable car which took 10 minutes each way, had no seats, and they crammed up to 20 people in each car. When we reached the top, a guide took us along a winding pathway pointing to a few plants etc:, then at the end demanded a 200 peso tip. ...Talking about tips! Unless you own a fibreglass case, wrap your case contents in a plastic sheet, we arrived in a thunder storm, our case was put into a non-water tight trailor on the back of the coach. When we got to the hotel alot of our clothes were soaking wet.

Flight was uneventful bit boring did watch Shopaholic, Bolt & Marley & me on the flight (and I sobbed) which passed a few hours meals we lovely, arrived around 8pm British time which was 3pm Dominican time, transfer to hotel fine everyone on our coach was going to same hotel so no messing about with other drop offs. Checked in bags got taken to room by bell boy ($2 tip) unpacked changed & went for quick wander around. To get our barings and some food although we were not that hungry as we were so well fed on the flight. The 1st night we were all sleepy by 8.15pm so had an early night but this meant we were all wide awake by 5am the next morning!

The next two weeks were very samey each day we would get up have breakfast get sun cream on & hit the beach, the pools were lovely but the heat around them was unbearable we stayed here for the 1st couple of days until we found out the beach had a slight breeze & was more bearable, never really had an issue getting a sunbed on the beach whereas round the pool you would struggle due to the people reserving them despite being given a note at check in saying your shouldn

This is an excellant hotel. The food was superb in the main restaurant and Octopus restaurant. The rooms were large and clean, although they could do with more storage if more than 2 people are using them

The beach is striking , everything you would expect in the Caribbean, white sand and turquoise sea. There are a lot of sun beds and covered areas ( though you need to get up early to get one).

The staff are extremely friendly and helpful and most can speak good English.

The only bad points are the lack of dress code on an evening (people in sea shorts and vests) and a small minority of loud ( mainly British ) guests.

All in all this is a brilliant hotel and we would highly recommend it.

Well i stayed here for my birthday in early april. I live here but im english and ive stayed in 5 or 6 hotels and this is the best, the rooms, the pool, drinks, view. Everything.

The animacion, well obviously they have their off days and they can make you feel angry. Biggg hello julio, mosquito, pepe, kokoloco and david.
I had a good birthday although i was alone because my friend was ill.

Julio and mosquito and pepe were the best and made my birthday by getting me to dance and inviting me out, thankyou :)

The shows were some of the best i have seen, different dances and people every night.
The entertainment in the day could have been better, they always go to the same people and dont really join in, when youre playing, they leave.

The food was great, big choice, flavour and hot.

The pool is the cleanest pool ive seen.

The rooms were modern and clean, not very big but nice.

Reception men were horrible when we were booking.

BEST HOTEL
STAY HERE
BECAREFUL WITH ANIMACION! They tend to go too far, just keep your distance!

As other guests have commented, the rooms are a bit dated and ready for refurbishment, but the hotel as a whole was spotless with an army of cleaners always on the go.

Food was good, staff always friendly and helpful.

On the whole a very enjoyable holiday.

This hotel was amazing one of the best hotels we have stayed in. The location was superb right on the beach for the daytime and near to the plaza at night so that if we had one too many we could stumble home.

The hotel was always clean and the maids were always leaving us things to go back to in our rooms flowers swan shaped towels etc.

The entertainment team were fabulous working hard all day with water polo footbal etc and at night especially julio, pp, mosquito and johnny bravo, the song that the team dance to is so catchy I even downloaded it when I got home.

The bar staff and even the waiters were all very friendly and would do anyhting to help. The pool was always clean and we never found any problems getting a sunbed.

Also if you like snorkelling there is plenty to be done on this island we went to sosua where there were brilliant coral reefs.

Where the hotel is situated on the beach if you swim out a bit there is plenty of fish to see.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone. Also ensure you get your al carte resturants as these are well worth a visit, the food was always nice and well presented in the buffet resturant but can get a little repetitve, we also like to eat at the plaza sometimes roadway and hemmingways do lovely chiken fajitas.

This hotel was graded a 4+ in the thomas cook brochure, i wonder if any of the team have visited this hotel, yes it is right on the beach and in fab surroundings and entertainment is ongoing, however the rooms are so dated the bathroom needs changing as everything looks old, we had a leaking sink, blocked toilet, toilet handle falling off, broken patio lock, a fridge that if we were lucky contained a large bottle of water 2 beers 1 coke and 1 sprite, my suggestion remove then each morning so they have to stock them up, no special attention paid when it was a member of our parties birthday even though i had emailed them, very disappointing and needs grading to a max of 3 stars.

Gran Ventana is a fantastic hotel

The hotel is spotless the staff work none stop to keep this hotel clean, although the rooms are dated they are now being up-dated one block at a time, there is no noise coming from the blocks which are being worked on so don't worry.

The restaurants are all fantastic, there is a massive choice of dishes.

A'LA CARTE RESTAURANT

Italian was our favourite

The Octopus was our second favourite

The ocean grill our least favourite but only because it's on the sea front and the sand fleas have a field day with your ankles.

you can book all the restaurants in advance for the week, which i reccommend you do save's you keep going back every day.

STAFF
they are the most amazing people, they can't do enough for you, and always have a big smile on there face.

ENTERTAINMENT STAFF
These guys work from 9.00am - 11.30pm
they never stop entertaining you and really try hard to please, our favourite was Julio is energy was infectious, some of the show are dated but keep in mind it is a third world country, so whats old to us is very new to them, and they do try and make it very funny.