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Hotel overview
For those seeking the most luxurious of experiences, Iberostar presents Iberostar Grand Bavaro. Located on the stunning Playa Bavaro in Punta Cana, just 30 minutes from the Punta Cana International Airport, here you'll find an exclusive resort filled with swaying palm trees and every pleasure imaginable. Reserved exclusively for adults, Iberostar Grand Bavaro has been created with one thing in mind - your ultimate pleasure. From personalized butler service and spacious, elegant suites complete with a pillow menu, to a relaxing, two-story ocean front, world-class spa and gourmet dining, everything here is created to spoil and pamper like never before. Guests staying here will also enjoy access to all 3 Iberostar sister properties and their amenities, located in the Bavaro Beach Complex, making this an excellent option for Destination Weddings.
Location
Punta Cana - BeachProperty information
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Hotel details
Hotel advisories
General policies & fine print
Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Spring Break Policy - Bookings in the months of March and April will be subject to the following conditions:
- The minimum age requirement for check-in is 18. One parent or chaperone at least 25 years of age will be required per room for check-in.
- Students/youth between 16 and 23 years of age. Adults accompanying are responsible for the students’ behaviour. of the remaining nights.
- In the event that any guests engage in inappropriate behaviour or cause physical damages to the facilities, the Hotel Management reserves the right to expel the said guest without reimbursement or refund of the remaining nights.
Ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor traveler rating
15674 reviews
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Feb 10, 2025Birthday / Vacay / Couples' Getaway
The rooms were clean and the grounds were beautifully manicured. The staff was friendly and helpful. We especially appreciated Armando, Eridania, Francisco, Yari, Anna, Daniella, Ortiz, Rosa, Lely and Augusto! It would be extremely helpful if members could make restaurant reservations. One night, we went to dinner at a walk-in restaurant and was given a wait time of 30 minutes. After about 50 minutes of waiting, we removed our names from the wait list and went to a different restaurant. The hostess from the first restaurant (I think her name is Vanessa) was very apologetic. She came and found us at the second restaurant, during our dinner, and offered a reservation time for dinner the following night. We appreciated her actions and accepted the offer. I am very glad that we did because my steak at the surf and turf restaurant was on point! Member inconveniences like these are potentially avoidable if member's reservations are accepted. Thank you
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Feb 10, 2025
Relaxing vacation in beautiful setting
Resort is beautiful. Staff is very polite and welcoming. Many dining options with good menu choices Alex and Jose were attentive and eager to please. Samuel at restaurants was magnificent and fabulous. Cristian at front desk was polite and helpful to our needs
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Feb 07, 2025
We will be going back!
My husband and I go somewhere tropical every January. We have never returned to the same place...however, we are planning to go back to the Joia in 2026! It was amazing! Great service, food, the best beach ever! When we arrived, check-in was very easy and quick. We found out that our "oceanview" room was the furthest from the beach that you could get. We were staying for 9 nights and we upgraded to "oceanfront" which was as close as we could get. The upgrade was about $600 total...well worth it! We absolutely loved this resort...but, the rooms are only OK. The beds are comfortable and there is decent closet space, but very little drawer space. A very nice jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. The vanity has 2 sinks but is pretty tiny. Good tile shower! When we got there the water wouldn't heat up. They sent someone right away and it was fixed with no further issues. The patio area is covered, which was nice and we had room service breakfast out there a couple of times. The layout of the resort is perfect - like a horseshoe. So everywhere you want to go is close. We loved every restaurant! The French was probably our favorite! The hibachi was fun and the only one you needed a reservation for. The poolside food was great too. The bars had topshelf options and they were quick to fill your drinks. The beach was incredible! Plenty of seating and if you like to walk, I challenge you to walk far enough where you can go no further...I don't think you can. It is the perfect walking beach...best we've been to! The entertainment was ok...we saw most of the shows, but really only enjoyed the circus and the singing trio...not sure if it's the same every week? One complaint we had was that we were there during nfl playoffs and the only place to watch the game was in the cigar bar. After about ten minutes, our lungs were burning and we had to leave. When you stay at the Joia, you are allowed to go to the other Iberostar resorts located nextdoor. We were told they had a sports bar, so the valet hopped in a golf cart and took us whereever we wanted to go...no game playing anywhere, but it was a fun ride :) The last night we were there, they had "White Night"...so be prepared and pack a white outfit. The evening entertainment consisted of the shows at 9:30 (Nice to have the later time so you can enjoy dinner without rushing) afterwards there was live music in the lobby area and dancing...fun...and then at 10:30 the disco in the bottom of the ship...small but really fun! Tip the DJ and they'll play whatever you want...good drinks too! We loved that this is a fairly small, adults-only resort. Easy to meet people, fun things to do, if you want to. Very relaxing and the perfect winter get away!
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Feb 06, 2025
Still a 5-star experience, but some downgrades and don't count on the Zumba classes...
My husband and I stay at this adults-only luxury property (formerly known as the Iberostar Grand Bavaro) once or twice a year for the last 10+ years, so we obviously love it there and we became Club Members in ~2018 after our 5th visit there. It is still a 5-star experience with wonderful staff/service/food/drink, but we have seen changes over the years with many downgrades - especially post-COVID era. In fairness, that was a tough time for the hotel/resort industry and many hotels/resorts downgraded service in that challenging financial climate. We enjoy the quality of the food with much of it imported from Spain as well as fresh local produce offerings, drinks are often top-shelf although cocktails have been reduced in alcohol content over the years, and nightly entertainment has been especially downgraded over recent years. With the exception of the Circus, which is top-notch, gone are the days of the Michael Jackson Show, the Beatles Show, top singers and dancers, and top productions all held at the theater. Now most of the shows are held by the Galleon boat area open to the weather and often cancelled due to rain or hurriedly stuffed into the Lobby area at the last-minute with improvised seating. My main complaint is that I'm one of many who likes fun exercise while on vacation and due to shoulder injuries, my main exercise is Zumba. While there in December 2024 for an 11-day stay, I found that 5 of 11 Zumba classes had been cancelled with little or no notice in a 7-day period. Those staying at the JOIA property can go to any of the properties for short Zumba on the Beach classes, or go to the main gym for Zumba where most of the Zumba classes seemed to start late and end early and on 2 occasions were cancelled without notice leaving me a wasted 30+ minute round-trip walk when I could have used my vacation time differently... The new palapa between the JOIA and Bavaro properties now offers some short Zumba classes, which is great and I wish they were longer, but those were run by the main gym personal and were the most frequently cancelled. My recommendations? 1) Bring back the top-notch shows and move them back to the theater; 2) Keep the Circus Show - it's great; 3) Advertise better when there is a good show or Zumba class at one of the neighboring properties and give easier access to that info on the app at the JOIA property so we don't have to go searching hotel by hotel at separate properties for nearby entertainment or Zumba; 4) Increase Zumba offerings at the main gym and make the classes longer and reliable. There should be back-up staff available to avoid schedule changes and cancellations; 5) Perhaps put JOIA Animacion (Entertainment) Staff in charge of Zumba classes at the Palapa between the JOIA and Bavaro properties. They are more reliable than the main gym staff at the Palapa and are easily reached when there is a complaint or if no one from the gym shows up for a scheduled class; 6) Add the time and location of Catholic Mass offered at the Bavaro property on Sundays to the app for all properties. More people would attend if they knew it was available. We had to taxi to another town for Mass for a couple of years when it was not offered at the Iberostar during COVID years; 7) I haven't seen fresh flowers in our room in years. It was a nice touch - as are the towel decorations on the bedspreads (all housekeeping staff should be trained in that skill - I'm sure it would increase customer satisfaction/delight and could lead to improved tips for housekeeping staff as well).
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Feb 06, 2025Our Trip
Overall we enjoyed our stay and would recommend to future guests. Upon arrival we were greeted with friendly staff with a towel to refresh our faces and a nice non alcoholic drink. We did have to wait 1 hour past check in for our room which was a negative but we had lunch at the buffet with great food selections and quality was excellent. The room was very nice. We selected the swim out room with butler service. We did not like the swim out room as it backed up to a loud all inclusive with no view. Butlers are extremely friendly but not worth the additional fees, they do very little for you. For example, they are not allowed to reserve a spot at the beach or pool which was something we expected. This is very common at other all inclusives when you pay additional. Also, they could not get the dinner reservation at time we wanted to dine at the one location requiring reservations. We Loved the pool area! It was very clean and many cabanas for shade or sun. Great swim up bar.