Grand Palladium Select Bavaro Resort & Spa
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Grand Palladium Select Bavaro Resort & Spa is a family-friendly all-inclusive resort in Bavaro, Dominican Republic with 506 rooms. Amenities include Beach, Buffet Dining, Diving, Family Vacation and Gym. Travelers rate it 4.7/5 across 17,058 Google reviews.
Seaweed & sargassum
Punta Cana gets sargassum, typically worst May through August.See the month-by-month guide →Room Upgrades
Restaurants (14)
| Type | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Buffet | La Catedral, Arrecife, Poseidón (at Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa & Casino), Las Torres (at Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa & Casino), Behique (at Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa) |
| Mexican | La Adelita |
| Italian | Portofino (at Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa) |
| Japanese & sushi | Bamboo, Sumptuori (at Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa & Casino) |
| Steakhouse | La Paisana, El Dorado (at Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa) |
| Mediterranean & Spanish | La Lola |
| Indian | Bhogali (at Grand Palladium Palace Resort Spa & Casino) |
| International & fusion | Chic Cabaret & Restaurant (at Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa) |
From the resort's own dining pages, checked . Only restaurants the resort lists are shown.
Amenities
Traveler Insights(940 discussions)
Grand Palladium Select Bavaro is the former Grand Palladium Bavaro Suites, rebuilt. The resort closed for a $61.5 million renovation that gutted the lobby, every guestroom and villa, the restaurants and the pools, and reopened in December 2025 under the new Select name with Family Selection at Grand Palladium Select Bavaro launching alongside it. The practical consequence for anyone researching this place is that reviews written before December 2025 are about a different hotel, and the ones written since describe 506 renovated rooms running from 33 square metre swim-up and garden-view junior suites up to 70 square metre rooftop Jacuzzi terrace suites and an 88 square metre Master Suite with its own balcony pool. The resort sits directly on Playa de Bavaro, about 30 minutes from Punta Cana airport.
What your rate buys is worth reading carefully, because this is a tiered property inside a much larger complex. The booking covers three Grand Palladium hotels: Select Bavaro, Grand Palladium Punta Cana and Grand Palladium Palace, the last of which carries the casino and most of the complex nightlife. That access matters more than usual here, because Select Bavaro itself has only one pool plus a children's water park, so the pool-hopping variety guests talk about means walking next door. TRS Turquesa and Family Selection are listed as separate hotels and are not included unless you book them, though adults in Family Selection do get TRS access. Palladium's rate-plan notes also flag a la carte restaurants, the Dine Around program, butler service and spa access as extra charges, and CHIC Cabaret charges both entry and a reservation fee, so confirm what your package covers rather than assuming. Fifteen restaurants are reachable across the complex and the a la cartes consistently beat the buffets.
After the first post-reopening season, Select Bavaro makes the most sense for families who book Family Selection and get the private pool, private beach stretch, butler and TRS access, and for couples and groups who take a Select room for the upgraded suite and the premium dining access. A standard booking still carries the inconsistency that dogged the old property: spring 2026 guests reported sunbed hogging with no enforcement, patchy room maintenance despite the refit, and the Palladium Travel Club sales pitch following them around. Travelers who want predictable execution without picking the right tier are better served at Royalton Punta Cana or Barcelo Bavaro Beach. On the beach itself, 2026 was a heavy sargassum year across the region but Punta Cana was rated moderate risk in early October 2026, with the water mostly clear and the November to January stretch being the regional low season.
Pros
- +This is a genuinely new hotel, not a touch-up. Grand Palladium Bavaro Suites closed for a $61.5 million rebuild of the lobby, rooms, villas, restaurants and pools and reopened in December 2025 as Grand Palladium Select Bavaro, so any review older than that describes a property that no longer exists
- +The room inventory is varied in a way most Punta Cana all-inclusives are not. The workhorse category is the Superior Junior Suite Garden View at 45 square metres and there are 189 of them, there are 48 Rooftop Jacuzzi Terrace Junior Suites at 70 square metres with a private rooftop Jacuzzi and bar area, 30 rooms with their own private pool across the Superior and Romance categories, and a Master Suite Private Pool at 88 square metres with an outdoor shower
- +An all-inclusive booking covers three Grand Palladium hotels at the complex: Select Bavaro itself plus Grand Palladium Punta Cana and Grand Palladium Palace, which is where the casino and the complex nightlife sit. Palladium's own FAQ names those two specifically
- +Fifteen restaurants are reachable across the complex, including La Adelita for Mexican, Bamboo for Asian, Sumptuori for Japanese, Bhogali for Indian, Portofino for Italian and El Dorado, plus the buffets at La Catedral, Behique, Las Torres and Poseidon. The renovation added casual venues the old property lacked: Piacere Coffee Shop, La Grand Gelateria and The Pizza Stop
- +Family Selection at Grand Palladium Select Bavaro is one of the stronger family premium tiers in Punta Cana: private lobby and check-in, an exclusive family restaurant, its own pool with poolside snack and bar service, a private beach area, butler service and dedicated kids' areas. Adults staying in Family Selection also get access to the adults-only TRS hotel
- +Non-motorized water sports are included rather than sold: kayaking, paddleboarding and snorkeling, alongside volleyball, tennis, daily fitness classes and yoga, with direct access to white sand at Playa de Bavaro about 30 minutes from Punta Cana airport
- +Family logistics are cheap here. The kids club covers ages 1 to 12, is free, and runs 9am to 5pm every day of the year, children under 3 stay free, 3 to 11 year olds pay half the adult rate, and room service costs nothing between 11am and 11pm
- +Entertainment was rebuilt along with everything else, with a nightly program split between The Stage and the area outside the Sunset Theatre: live bands, DJs, outdoor parties and themed nights rather than the single-stage format the resort ran before
Cons
- −There is one pool. Palladium's facility list for Select Bavaro reads "1 pool and 1 children's water park", which is thin for 506 rooms, and the pool variety guests describe comes from walking over to the Grand Palladium Punta Cana and Palace pools instead
- −All-inclusive here has more asterisks than most. Palladium's own rate-plan note says a la carte restaurants carry an extra charge, and its list of paid services includes butler service, select restaurants, the Dine Around program, spa access and hairdressing. CHIC Cabaret & Restaurant charges entry plus a reservation fee and First Wine only includes dinner if you buy a bottle. Ask which venues your specific rate covers before you plan dinners around them
- −The three-speed structure is visible from the ground. Standard, Select and Family Selection guests share one property, and the best pools, beach zones and restaurants belong to the tiers that paid, which makes a standard booking feel like the budget seats
- −The Palladium Travel Club membership pitch starts at check-in and does not stop until you have declined several times. It usually arrives dressed as a welcome breakfast, a VIP orientation or a property tour, and guests describe the pressure as the worst part of the stay
- −First-season growing pains were real. Spring 2026 guests praised the renovated rooms and the new dining venues but repeatedly reported sunbeds saved at dawn with no enforcement, room maintenance that lagged despite the fresh refit, and inside Family Selection, friendly butlers paired with slow service and charges they had not been told about
- −The renovation fixed the hardware, not the staffing. Buffet food still draws noticeably weaker reviews than the a la cartes, and service consistency is the property's standing weak point rather than anything the money solved
- −A number of guests have reported unexpected charges on cards used during their stay, so pay with a card that has solid fraud protection and check your statement after you get home
Common Questions
Which other hotels in the complex can a Select Bavaro booking use?
What is the difference between Select and Family Selection?
What actually costs extra on top of the all-inclusive?
How do I avoid the Palladium Travel Club sales pitch?
What is the beach like, and should I worry about seaweed?
Google Rating
Google Reviews
“In january 2026 we stayed in Grand Palladium Select Bavaro. The hotel is newly renovated. The room, the pool, the beach - everything is beautiful. The selection of a la carte restaurants is extensive, the food is very good. The animators at the pool...”
“Outstanding Beach Service – Ask for Jose Miguel During our stay at the Grand Palladium Riviera Select, we had the absolute pleasure of being looked after by Jose Miguel at the Select beach area, and his service truly made our trip unforgettable. Jo...”
“Staff was very friendly and helpful. Beautiful location and grounds! We very much appreciated and enjoyed being here - Feels like family. William the butler was hands down amazing, he made us feel right at home - anything we needed he was able to he...”
