JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar (Formerly Iberostar Grand Bavaro) - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

15643 reviews

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  Great Place

  Joia Bavaro was great. Did Jet Blue Vacations for 6 days. I did a lot of research for this vacation and went through all the reviews, and most gave this place five stars. I was nervous because I felt for the money we were paying it was hard to believe it was five star. I was pleasantly surprised that most of the reviews were accurate. Airport to JOIA is about 30 minutes. 10 of those minutes is navigating the massive Iberostar property to get to hotel. Check-in, pretty easy, took about 20 minutes. Arrived at around noon, room was not ready, was told should be ready by 2pm. We went and got lunch and received a text by 1pm room was ready. If you do not have whatsapp, get the app before you arrive, this is how the resort communicates with you. We stayed in a ocean view room, 7253 on third floor. It was nice, roomy, bathroom was fine. California King bed. AC worked great. If you leave the balcony door open, it will get damp in room....So dont leave it open. the balcony had a love seat and table with 2 chairs. The room is pretty sound proof. Fridge was stocked everyday. We met our Butlers, they were awesome. They tried to find us daily to see what we needed and also checked in daily via whatsapp. They went above and beyond, leaving champagne on ice, beer on ice, surprised us by setting up jacuzzi bubble bath, with rose pedals leading to bathroom from front door. They set up Japanese dinner and spa for us. Food- so I saw reviews with complaints. This is an all inclusive, seriously set your expectations at the right level. The food was good, I'm from NY and foodie. I didnt have a bad meal. Breakfast and lunches are buffet. Near pool there is a grill where you can get all type of burgers, sausage, hotdogs made to order and a nacho bar. The buffets had made to order eggs/omelets. Lunch buffet had made to order burgers, steak, chicken, pork and made to order pasta station. We never had to wait to be seated at the al carte restaurants. Did Ala Carte for all dinners. Again, the food was fine/good. For an all inclusive, was above your average all inclusive. The resort was beautiful, well kept. Pools were nice. Beach was amazing, very sandy, however, your first 5 feet of getting into water is a bit tough with smashed shells/rocks but this was expected because it on the ocean. The pool area has first come, first serve cabanas and loungers. Beach has loungers under the grass hut. If you want prime spot, you need to get up by 7am and claim with a towel or bag. Two of the days we slept in and still got loungers with shade on the beach. The lounge chairs are better than average. The staff is constantly coming around to see if you needed drinks, food. This is a laid back place, not much excitement or party atmosphere. They did have some activities, but we did not partake. Iberostar owns 3-4 properties in a row, JOIA is the last of the properties. JOIA guests can use all the other sister properties, but they can't use JOIA. You can walk down the beach in each direction for quite a while. The sister resort next to JOIA has an amazing beach side bar which is well worth trying. There is a casino at sister resort, to get there we just went to lobby and they take you by golf cart, same for way back. Plenty of bars. They all make good drinks. Beer choices were good, they have bottles. No water bottles, but the water is filtered and we had no issues. There is a bourbon bar and wine tasting room. Lobby bar is top notch. The resort was almost at full capacity but felt like it was empty. This is a big place and laid out nicely. JOIA is doing things right. We had a great time and I highly recommend this place. The staff was all great and want to please you. Checkout was quick, no hidden fees. We tipped often, and the staff is grateful to be recognized. We will be back hopefully sooner than later.

  Jan 19, 2025
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  Lovely trip to the Iberostar joia bavaro!

  Wonderful trip to the Iberostar joia bavaro. Even better than the last time we visited in 2023. We were a group of 14 family and friends here for 10 days and everyone had an amazing time. A few shoutouts to some amazing staff members that made our trip unforgettable. Our butlers Jose and Valentim were superb and on top of their game every day. We never wanted for anything. Augusta at the members beach area was amazing as always. Daliana and Rosa from the prestige lounge made sure the entire trio went smoothly. There are many many other staff members that made our trip memorable and I can’t list everyone here but they were all simply amazing. We had one small snafu during the trip but the Iberostar team made it right and we could not have been happier with our trip! Thank you to all the staff! Hope to see you all again next year!

  Jan 18, 2025
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  kicking the winter blues

  excellent services, waiters were extra helpful. the hotels were excellent, as was the open buffet everyday. the hotel is only for adults--a fact they don't advertize. but next door resorts allow children and you can go visit (they can't come to this hotel). so grandparents can visit all day and have peace and quiet in the evening.

  Jan 17, 2025
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  Iberostar excels again!

  Our butlers, Houston and Armando, were exceptionally polite and helpful. Beautiful hotel and grounds, good size rooms and everything in good condition and working. We will return for another stay soon. Excellent massages in spa. Food very good also. Top shelf liquors included at the several bars.

  Jan 16, 2025
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  Great times in the Dominican!

  Loved every bit of our vacation! Friendly staff and great food. Entertainment every night :) Enjoyed both Jr and Renoldo helping us with anything we wanted! Excellenta!! great ocean view from our fourth floor room and wonderful walks on the beach.

  Jan 16, 2025