I (we) travel quite a bit for both work and pleasure, and have had the luxury of staying at some wonderful resorts. This was not one of them. If you like staying at a Comfort Inn or Days Inn, then you might think you've died and went to heaven. If you are accustomed to the amenities/service of a Hilton or Hyatt (or high end all-inclusive resorts) - most likely, you will be disappointed.

1. The airport/arrival process is seamless except for the cheesy photo the locals snap on your way in (yes - you will stand in line for a crummy picture that you probably won't buy for $8 on the way home...). Be sure to pre-buy hotel/transportation transfers when you book your trip. VIP (yellow shirts) were wonderful.
2. Once on the resort, you will be greeted by staff with very limited language skills (English). Spanish is the primary language, so if you have even basic Spanish skills, you will be farther ahead. Their English is very limited, and that comment stands true for all the staff. Some wait staff speak no English - and they don't even try to. You'll have lots of puzzled looks if you try to ask for more than the basics.
3. The rooms are OK - again, basic. The air conditioning had a hard time keeping the room cool, and the light/AC controls require the room key be in the reader in order to work - meaning if you leave your room and take the key - the AC will shut off. The room gets very musty and damp quickly. The mattress is the cheapest mattress I have ever slept on and the pillows were horrible. We asked for 4 more pillows just to make them a bit more comfortable than a 2x4. The sheets/towels were fresh every day. No turn down service. No fresh towels in the evening (other resorts we've been to give fresh towels 2x/day) . The mini-bar was only restocked 2x for a 7-day stay.
4. The food is basic at best. This resort seems to cater to the European crowd - lots of meats/cheeses/breads for breakfast. They constantly ran out of what I am now calling "American Breakfast Food": breakfast meat (bacon/sausage), potatoes, etc. and you will wait in line for eggs of any kind. Lunch was my favorite meal - better variety. Vegetable salads, wraps, pizza, pasta and french fries were always on the buffet. The ala carte restaurants in our opinion were horrible - everything is loaded with oil and the service is less than attentive. Stick to the buffet. The best meal we had was off-property at the Hard Rock Cafe - USDA Certified Angus Beef (!) and cold Corona. It just stunk that we had to spend $100US for a great meal, when we were staying all-inclusive.
5. The drinks were a major dissapointment. No-name liquor and local draft beer were all they offered. At other resorts we've been to, we got our money worth drinking products like Absolute/Tangeury, etc. The drinks here are watered down (really - they are!). The only alcohol that was decent was the wine served during lunch/dinner and the beer was OK, but you shouldask for a lime to make it a bit better and it gets warm very quickly. Silly little plastic disposable cups that contain one swallow worth of beverage keep you spending time going back and forth to the bar.
6. The pools were nice. Again - drinks in miniscule cups were frustrating. We drank water (in bottles) just because we can carry several of them at a time and not spend our time in line at the bar. I mentioned previously the service was slow - poolside was no different. No one was overly happy to serve you - I always felt like we were putting them out. We only saw a poolside waiter once all week - go fetch drinks yourself.
7. Have lots of patience. The resort does not have a "no saving chairs" policy. At 9am, and I am not exaggerating - the beach chairs are all taken and you have to scramble to find a poolside chair. People claim chairs in the wee hours of the morning (or the night before) and then seldom use them. One day we spent poolside, after finding 2 chairs at 9am. Directly in font of us, four chairs were saved under a tiki hut (premium spot). The people who saved the chairs never showed up (we left the pool at 3pm). We never had the chance to sit on the beach - there were no chairs available. Period. The resort either needs more chairs (beachside espeically) or to institute a no saving chairs policy.
8. If you are modest and not used to "European Style" resorts: this might not be the resort for you. Topless is the norm and people think nothing of it (beach and poolside).
9. The beaches are wonderful and to walk on the beach/in the water was great. You can walk further than your eye can see. And you don't get accosted too much by "locals". Again, I am sure we would have loved the beaches more if we could sit and watch the water, but all we could do was leave our bag/towels poolside and spent 2 hours walking on the beach.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate this vacation expericence at Grand Palladium a 5. Any vacation involving sun, sand and warm weather is great. But it could have been much better. We'll stick to Mexico, or find another all-inclusive resort with better amenities. Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions.

Stayed at the Grand Palladium Palace in January as part of a group there for a wedding. Found it to be a great place to stay, with terrific staff and everything kept immaculate. The grounds are beautiful. The only thing missing was a lack of staff that could speak English.
Went on the Bavaro Runners Tour and had a blast! Our guides, Rudolph and Rapael were great.
The catamaran to Saona Island tour was also well worth the money.
If you enjoy seeing the countryside there is also an all-day trip to Santo Domingo that is very interesting.
The country is beautiful with beautiful people, but I believe if they want to increase their tourism, they MUST do something about their problem of garbage spread all along the roadsides.

The SCUBA was dangerous. THe equipment was faulty.My son was given a regulator that leaked. WHen the group of 4 reached depth, he noted this and showed the divemaster, who did not care. The divemaster promptly disappeared. Then my sons weight belt fell off, causing an uncontrolled ascent. Thankfully, he was OK. The divemaster was not interested. We told the hotel and PADI people. THey did not care.

Do not be mislead in paying premium for upgrade to the Royal Suites. The rooms are all supposedly oceanview. we were housed right next to pool on ground floor with no view other than pool and the crowd. the front desk receptionist (Carlos) was unprofessional, had a bad attitude from the initial contact. our room was not ready when we arrived. we had to wait in the lobby for 3 hours. I would not recommend this resort to anybody especially after having just deboarded a long flight. i expect to be happy and relaxed when i arrived, with smooth check-in. but this was anything but! i will stick with my favorite Riu or iberostar chains from now on. grand palladium royal suites is no more than 2.5 stars max.