We booked this resort June 18-24th and did not have any of the problems that others reported with staff, rooms, or food. Not to mention we had our wedding at the resort. The staff is helpful and willing to work with you on anything - open minds are a requirement when traveling to other countries. Cheers to Santiago at the lobby bar!!

PS: make sure you hit up the taco and pizza mini-restaurants on the second level - DELICIOUS!!

The facilities are not bad. The service is terrible specially for those paying with US dollars. Europeans have a different treatment. The food is horrible and boring. They repeat the same menu day after day. If what you have in mind is to have a taste of Dominican food you may forget it. Turkey and mashed potatoes with some mediocre sauces is all what you are going to see. The restaurants are awful and it's a hassle to make a reservation in any of them. Lobster is not included, you have to pay 35 dollars per person to eat one lobster, and shrimps are not even known there. On the other hand, there is a constant harrassment everywhere you go. If you walk through the lobby, some hotel staff people would try to sell you a package for next time, and no matter how strict you are in telling them you are not interested, they will keep bugging you until the moment you are finally and happily getting the heck out of there. If you go to the beach, the entertainment staff won't leave alone not even for a minute, they want you to dance, to play games, there is not peace in that place. If you try to walk somehwere else you will run into someone else trying to sell you something. I had a horrible experience. I saw people as sad and disappointed as I was. I really discourage any of you to visit this hotel. If you have a family keep in mind this is a topless pool- beach hotel.

Me and my boyfriend were here from late June to early July and both enjoyed our stay. We had both read most of the reviews prior to our vacation, and were shocked once we arrived; we didn't understand why there were so many poor reviews. The only complaint are the few whiny guests staying here. We had booked our vacation through Air Canada Vacations, and the representative was extremely helpful.

Check In/ Check out:
I checked in at 9ish p.m. Everything was very efficient, we were given drinks, card, map, and all the info we need. We purchased a safety lock here for 25 dollars (I believe, don't quite remember.) Check out was great as well, everything went by very smoothly.

Staff:
The staff here are extremely friendly and helpful. I had only encountered one rude staff member and it was over the phone, whatever, no biggy.

Buffets:
The buffets were very good, a lot of variety, and the quality was average/above average. They do try to mix it up every night, but it does get kind of repetitious, so I would recommend signing up for some a la cartes. At every meal, there would be crepes made to order and fresh fruits.
In the morning, there would be fresh vegetable/fruit drinks made to order, as well as omlettes made to order and crepes. There would be bacon, pancakes, french toast, pastries, and a lot more.
For lunch, you could choose between the buffet by the lobby or the beach club buffet. They basically serve the same stuff, but the one by the beach is opened for longer. Examples of dishes include: pizza, pasta, made to order meats/fish (varies everyday,) icecream, salad, potatoes, basically your typical lunch stuff.
Dinner consists of a variety of meats (there was also frogs, pretty good,) cakes, pudding, pasta,etc.

A La Cartes:
We were only able to book the Italian and Brazilian.
Italian:
It was self serve appetizers and desserts. Consisted of the usual, there was a variety of cheeses, deli meats, and soup. For dessert there was tiramisu, two chocolate mouse, and apple pie. I had ordered the salmon with rose sauce for the entree, and my boyfriend had pasta. We were both satisfied.
Brazillian:
Once again, it was self serve appetizers and desserts. Basically the same as the Italian. They would bring meat on a giant sword to every table. They had, I believe, six different kinds of meat. It is all really filling and satisfying.

Bars:
We both didn't drink too much. The wine was below average. The bartenders at all the bars were very efficient and mixed very good drinks. I would recommend the tiki tiki.

Rooms:
We had a room in building 12 on the second floor. It had a king sized bed (an actual king, not two twins,) and a mini living room. Everything was cleaned and maintained nicely. The bathroom looks dated because of the rusting on the tub, but that is because of the design of the tub. The producers of the tub had obviously not thought about the design very thoroughly. It was poorly designed where after a shower, water would not drain properly down because it is not at an angle. And obviously, if water is left there for long periods of time, it will rust. This is definitely not the resorts fault. Whenever we had asked for something (written it down on the pad in the best spanish we could muster up,) it was provided. If anyone wants to know, we had tipped the maids 2 dollars a day.

Activities:
There were a lot of activities to choose from, such as: kayaking, parasailing, banana boating(?,) windsurfing, archery, too many to name!

Entertainment:
We didn't really watch any shows either then the michael jackson show, which was absolutely awesome!

Excursions:
There are many excursions to choose from, they average to about 80 dollars a person, just ask your representative. We had went on the Reef Explorer, which was 89 dollars a person and very much worth it. It was basically a variety package of kayaking, swimming with sharks and stingrays (actual encounters where you get to touch them and everything!) massage and just relaxing on the water. The staff on this excursion were very friendly! One of the masseuse had braided my boyfriends hair during his massage, they definitively have a sense of humour =)

Lastly, of course the beach and grounds are all beautiful, I figure this would be a given.

I think I have covered everything, and I hope this has helped you all!

This was our first experience going to Punta Cana after going 5 years in a row to Cuba. Each country has its own characteristics and we enjoyed both.
The Occidental Grand where we stayed was amazing. The overall resort was really something to be seen. Although we had read a number of negative reviews about this resort, we thought that we would not let that discourage our vacation.
The hotel was well kept and very clean. Everyday you saw a number of staff keeping the grounds in tip-top shape. Although we had requested 2 connecting rooms because we are a family of 5, we didn't get connecting rooms, but we got rooms side by side. The rooms each had a king size bed, a sitting area with balcony and a large full bathroom with a tub. We requested to be on the third floor which we got and the view was great (maybe just a few too many stairs).
The pools (3) were always cleaned and kept free of any garbage. Of course, my children enjoyed the pool bar immensely which by the way us adults got to enjoy as well.
We got to try some new drinks such as a Tiki Tiki, Banana Mamma and a Melissa.
We had no problem finding something to eat at the Hotel Buffet Restaurant. Every night seemed to have a theme. We even got to enjoy the all Canadian/American meal - hams, hots, nuggetts, and home made turkey. Overall you never went hungry when at the Buffet Restaurant.
The a-la-carte Restaurants left something to be desired. The steak (brazilian ) restaurant left you with an empty stomach as you were served every piece of meat off of a sword and dare you ask for seconds!! Vegetables served at the table were barely enough for one person. To sum it up, we enjoyed a great stone baked pizza at the Pizzaria after the steak restaurant.
The beach was "amazing". The sand was as white as snow and the ocean was as blue as the sky. No rocks were around and no sea shells to be found. There were chairs available at all hours of the day, so it didn't matter what time you went down to the ocean. The ocean was a bit wavey but nothing that couldn't be tolerated.
Overall we really enjoyed our vacation at The Occidental Grand Flamenco and would recommend to anyone to stay there . Its a great family oriented hotel and many things to do for all ages. We would recommend you take the Bavaro Runner excursion. We had a great time and know that you would too!