We flew out of gatwick and had pre-booked preimer seats and im glad we did. All our on board drinks were included and we had our own tv on the back of the seat in front and so much more leg room.

Didn't get to see much on the trip to the hotel as it was getting dark.

It rained really hard on our first few days but when the sun did come out it was lovely.

The room was very clean. We had clean beds and towels everyday. The fridge in the room was also stocked each day. When the cleaners had finished they always tidyed our shoes up and put them in a line under the table which i thought was really lovely.

The food was great, my partner is a really fussy eater and he really enjoyed the food.

Our thomas cook rep amanda was brilliant. Any problems we had she would do her best to sort out. Couldn't fault her or the staff.

The beach was beautiful apart from beach venders selling things. All you have to do is say no and the leave you alone.

We would definitely consider coming back again in the future.

The room we stayed in was run down we couldn`t get the door opened. We had to get it fixed so that we were able to get in. We were also situated in front of the pool which was a great view but the show kept us up all night because of the music and the bar. We hardly slept..Then we found bugs in our room. Our room was fumigated after that. I saw a rat in the main lobby.

The buffet was ordinary and the the restaurants were no different than the buffet. We had no bottled wine or beers everything was draft.

The staff was very nice and so was the beach.The pool area was also nice.

I have to say that I have travelled to many places and this one is without a doubt the worst. I would never return and would discourage people from going.I am sorry to say but you will never get me again...

The rooms were tired looking but spotlessly clean even the bedding. The maids were so friendly and made a huge effort in ensuring your fridge was well stocked and extra special towel sculptures with fresh flowers e.g. Swan.

The food was good and lots of it although the buffet restaurant got very hot of an evening due to having ceiling fans.

There were 3 other restaurants, Italian, Caribbean and Grill. The food at these restaurants were wonderful. You had to book these and you could only go one of each per week.

The location was superb, hotel on sandy beach which was lovely and clean and outside the hotel was a huge complex that had well maintained lawns, shopping complex and other hotels. Golfers would be in their element on the golf circuit.

Staff are friendly and love to make the time and effort in getting to know you and your family.

Entertainment was strictly average but the entertainment team did try hard and were fully committed.

We would go back to this hotel without a doubt, there were people who went back year after year and for 3 weeks to a month.

That says it all.

FLIGHT:We flew with Thomsonfly and prebooked the premium cabin, we feel glad we upgraded, we had all on board drinks included, much better flight meals, and extra legroom. Outbound flight from Gatwick we had individual seatback tv screens with choice of videos, and on the return we had individual digi-e-players with bigger choice of movies, tv programmes and music.the crew and service were very good.

REP: Our Thomson Rep 'Alexis' was very friendly and knowledgable, we prebboked all our excursions through her (read all about these below later).

HOTEL: Gran Ventana hotel was perfect, we booked this after doing our homework browsing the web and found very good reviews, and our review too is a very very good one.
Staff -are very friendly and couldnt do enough for you, our maid Clara was very grateful for the daily tip we left (100 pesos a day-which is alot to them) and left me a gift at the end of the stay to show her appreciation of the tips we left. On our last day we left all our cosmetics and toiletries as they appreciate this too.
Room was very nice,number 2304 in Catalina block,we feel was one of the best rooms the hotel offers, top floor with lovely pool and mountain view.

We did have a very small hitch at the start of the stay shortly after checking-in, the hairdryer in the bathroom fell apart into 5 pieces and all the electric wires inside were dangerously out, but very promptly maintenance team were there re-fitting a new one.

Pool/poolbar-We stayed around the larger pool as we preferred the atmosphere, little music, etc and loved the swim-up bar to cool down with the great range of cocktails, our favourite was the 'gazebo'-yummy!

Food-always fresh, hot and plenty of choice in the main buffett restaurant. You can dine a la carte restaurants up to 3 evenings per week. we chose the ocean grill and had a lovely meal there, with excellent waiter service.

Activities- The hotel team provide good range of activities during each day from volleyball,waterpolo,aerobics,pool and darts tournaments,spanish lessons etc-you can do as much or as little as you wish!

One afternoon they had a poolside party with cocktails and buffett, one afternoon they did a teaparty with coffee and cakes.

Evenings- show each evening at 930pm, live bands,dance shows, magic shows, karaoke-the team worked very hard each evening however after the 1 hour show theres not much else to do as the staff just have a little dance for 1/2 hour and these same songs each evening we did find repetative and eventually boring. There is a bar 5 minutes walk from the hotel called hemingways which does live music and discos if you do want a change of scenery one evening or just want a drink out of the hotel.

Beach- on site at hotel with watersports, some of which are included in the all-inclusive holiday cost-eg kayaks,snorkelling, windsurfing. and others which are payable eg, jetskis, banana boat.

Horse riding and other excursions also available to book on the beach.

Would definately return anyday.

Fantastic, we moved here from the very disappointing Occidental Flamenco (shocking hotel).

The food is really good and the beach is fantastic.......met a lot of people from different hotels and from what we can gather this is poss the best around.

Hope this helps.

This hotel is fantastic! i stayed here over xmas with my 3 daughters and from the staff to the food to the immaculatly beutifull kept hotel/grounds it was a holiday in paradise , entertainment team was awesome so lovly , having visited over 20 all inclusive hotels this is my number 1 in every way .

We had a fantastic time at the Gran Ventana beach resort.

My husband booked the holiday for my 40th birthday and the hotel was recommended to us by one of the girls in the travel agents who had been there.

We really feel that we hit the jackpot the hotel is clean, the staff friendly and always smiling even though they work extremely hard.

We spoke to several couples who had returned to the resort several times. The food was great with plenty of choice even for the fussiest of eaters. We really enjoyed the pool bar for it's fantastic cocktails.

The rooms were basic the bathrooms could do with updating but very clean. We only stayed a week but would have liked to have stayed longer.

We managed to go on three trips. The monster truck safari is highly recommended we had a great day. It was a good oppotunity to see how the locals live and our guide was very informative and entertaining.

We had lunch by a gorgeous lake and swam in it for about one and a half hours.

We would very much like to go back again and would recommend it to anyone.

Check in- very quick and efficient, polite staff.

We were allocated a ground floor room in Catalina block next to the kids club. We had no view whatsoever and weren't overlooking the pool so we went back to reception and were given keys for a different room which we found acceptable. Our luggage arrived with 5 mins and the bell boy showed us how everything worked etc. air con very effective but leave you balcony door shut otherwise it drips.

Maids- friendly and polite- Hola from everyone. Did a good job cleaning but we did have to ring reception to get the fridge filled properly and this arrived promptly. We had clean towels everyday- again no prblem requesting more.

Pools- lovely big main pool, witha shelved end for kids, a bit sectioned off for volleyball. In my opinion, pool bars a big no no! There was also a little kids pool next to the kids club.cleaned regularly throughout the day.

Beach- the work to the beach has been done and it is lovely, but you do get a lot of vendors asking you to buy, have a laugh and a joke with them, and chat to them, but do be wary of the prices- haggle haggle haggle, at the end of the day something is better than nothing and you get a better bargain if it was raining a lot the day before.

Do not buy trips from anyone on the beach!

Entertainment- not the best but these guys work hard. Thye do the kids club, so you will see them for 8am until 12.00 pm and they do not stop.

Food- very good, couldn't fault it. waiting staff were lovely and will soon get to know your order. Plenty of choice and always hot. basic slection at the beach grill, bit fine for lunch. We ate at the Octopus ala carte and were very impressed.

Drinks- the beer in the rooms is quesqyua?? The cocktails are lovely, I worked my way through the list. You have to try a Gran Ventana special, and a Sammy Sosa also the non-alc fruit punch was lovely.

All in all this was a very good hotel and wouldn't have any probs with recommending it, the staff and food more than make up for any lacking bedroom wise. We would visit it again, but next time would go somewhere diff, only because we don't go to hotels for 2 yrs on the trot and there so many to choose from.

We booked the holiday as a last minute deal which was well worth the money we paid. We would of slightly dissapointed if we had paid the full price.

We have given the hotel 5 stars for cleaniness because there was always cleaners mopping floors etc, however it can be a bit of a pain as seems as though no privacy when going to the washrooms round the pool etc, also the maids just walk in your room without knocking on a morning.

The Buffet had a huge selection of food which was really nice for the first couple of days but as in anything you soon get bored. The Al-A-Carte's were fantastic and a nice change (Ocean Grill not as nice as the other 2). Booking for these where a nightmare.

The hotel was apparently only 60% full but we still struggled to make reservations as the female staff on the customer service desk were not interested and VERY RUDE and were more bothered about the MSN messages they were getting on the computer. We called up the resturants on a few occasions and they allowed us to just turn up.

The male hotel staff where fantastic and also the cleaners however felt that the female staff a little rude.

Entertainment was good alot of effort put into the acts etc.

Beach was nice but you where constantly approached by beach sellers which was a real pain, they didn't take notice to the fact you where reading or talking to someone. A walk down to the shopping Mall on a day was also the same getting mobbed by people to go on their excursions etc.

Airport extremely stressfull when going home, queing for hours to check in and then to get into the building (take a fan).

We say NO to returning to the hotel but purely because we would like to travel else where however if the right price came up I would definitely return as we had a great time.

We visited Gran Ventana for the second time in September, this time we brought friends who had never visited the Caribbean or done all-inclusive before, they were absolutely delighted with the hotel, service etc.

The beach was lovely, you do get vendors selling their wares, but you only have to say No and they leave you alone, the cleanliness of the hotel could not be faulted, the staff were extremely friendly.

We did a trip to Paradise Island, which was excellent. Security was low key but in evidence.

All in all I would recommend this hotel, and would certainly go back again.