Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro

The resort, at first sight, is beautiful. Checking in wasn't too much of a hassle and our room was ready right away. We were somewhat disappointed with the "junior suite", we had requested a king bed and ended up with two doubles. The pool closest to our room had a problem the first day we were there and by the second morning it was empty and crews were digging all around it. It was empty all week, which posed a problem on the windy days that we were unable to be on the beach. My suggestion for future travelers would be to get beach towels early and save chairs at the pool, the quiet pools fill up quickly and unless you are interested in playing the "crazy, crazy pool game" at the large pool by the beach, you'll have an issue.

The food at the buffets and restaurants is sub-par at best. I'm not sure how this resort is considered 5 star. Our room was rarely cleaned before we came back from the beach or pool. The earliest it got done was 4pm.

There is also a major language barrier everywhere you go, so if you can't speak spanish, be prepared to not do much talking. We spoke only to each other the entire time.

The pictures and the price make this resort very attractive, but I would have rather spent more money and had a better experience.

This is probably one of the best hotels ive ever stayed in, and i've stayed in a few.

Massive resort with 3 hotels on site a bit confusing when you arrive as you have the grand bahia principe in bravero and the punta cana hotel as well as the amber.

There is a shuttle bus that takes you up and down from the receptions to the beach regularly these run til 0300 am and start again at 0600.

Rooms excellent, clean no bugs. Mini bar stocked daily.

Food great good selection they have the speciality resturants too.

3 large pools.

very safe place security staff do wonder around at night.

Staff where polite and friendly. Service at the bars was quick.

Beach tended to get busy but we always got a lounger. The loungers at the pool got covered with towels very early in the morning by selfish people who didnt use them untill late morning.

None of us were ill.

The entertainment was very good too.

No hassel from the sellers on the beach (which were a night mare the time we went )

Only problem we had was at the airport coming home very confusing screens were not working we and the other travellers didnt know where to check in very slow service and security check ins this took over an hour but thats probably because it was a saturday and there were 4 other flights around the same time. Not a majour problem though.

We will be going back without a doubt

This was our first visit to the hotel, and also our first visit to the Dominican Republic. We decided before we went that we would make this holiday our honeymoon. Unfortuately the tour company we went with "forgot" to inform the hotel, however when we told them, they certainly made it up to us. I cant describe our feeling about the hotel, it was excellent. First time all inclusive, extremely good value for money. Widfe selection of food, great drink combinations mmmmm! great service. The room was spacious, comfortable and spotlessly clean. The maids changed everything everyday. The first two days we stayed by the pool and enjoyed the swim up bar, much to much. The rest of the time we spent on the beach, it beautiful, my wife and i spent hours swimming and walking hand in hand along mile after mile of white soft sand absolutly wonderful. We went on a few excursions, we can recommend the Punta Cana experience, swing with sharks and stingrays, and in between partying on the boat, fantastic. The out trip we did was the out back adventure when your visit diminican homes etc, again very good value for money. A word of worning though watch out for the "Dominican Champagne" lemonade and rum, it flows most of the trip. The service this hotel gave us was great, nothing was too much trouble. We found that the majority of people spoke english but they appreciated the fact that we tried to speak spanish to them, our spanish wasn't very good but it was fun trying especially when i confused quatro for dos and ended up with four cocktails, instead of two, still i found that quite useful. As a romantic honeymoon location i would definately recommend it, you can join in, but you can also be by yourselves, it has enough to accomadate both. My wife and i want to go back next year, now that we know the ropes, the hotel is so big it can be a bit daunting initially. As with all holidays there are lots and lots of plus factors and there were with this one, however to give a balance view i have to speak about one or two negative factors to consider. Our tour rep First Choice/Thompsons were very poor and the information they gave us was very inaccurate. We tried to book seats together on the return flight, the reps guaranteed we would have seats together because we were premier class and that it was our honeymoon, guess what we had seats behind each other. We also found one or two of the people on reception could be very rude if you didn't speak spanish and would ignor you totally, there was one girl especially, we just walked away, because she was so rude.

All that being said five star says it all, a wonderful experience in paradise, made even more special by my lovely new wife Karen.

My brother wanted to have a destination wedding and decided on the GBP Bavaro as the location. I think this was hands down the best decision he could have made. Let me start by saying that anyone who thinks the staff at this resort are rude need to have their heads shaken. They're probably impossible to please in their own lives as well. The staff couldn't be more friendly and warm and helpful. I'll try to keep this brief and as useful as possible.

Arriving at the airport, there are guys everywhere wanting to help you with your bags. Do it yourself. Two guys will try and get your stuff and both will expect to be paid. If you don't have transfers included in your package I suggest going with dominicanairporttransfers.com. They arrived on time and were super nice. We paid $90 roundtrip for 4 people. A taxi runs you about $40-$45 each way. The ride to the hotel is roughly 30-35 min.

When I arrived at the hotel, I checked in at a separate area for Club Hacienda/Club Diamond guests. The stupid travel agent never gave me a voucher so I had to wait a good hour before they finally e-mailed one over to the check-in clerk. However, while I waited I was fed drink after drink after drink. By the time the whole voucher ordeal was taken care of I was pleasantly buzzed :)

Now here's where people were and weren't telling the truth.

The Resort:

The resort is MASSIVE. But the grounds are immaculate and absolutely stunning. It really is a tropical paradise. Everywhere you look someone is maintaining the grounds or cleaning or coming around and picking up cups on the beach. I was super impressed with how clean it was. And considering the number of smokers on the resort you rarely find a cigarette butt anywhere. If you're standing on the beach facing the resort it's shaped like an upside down "U". The right hand side is the Bavaro side. It has the Ambar (adults only section with a private pool and is closest to the beach). As you make your way to toward the lobby is the Royal Golden Section (also close to the beach) then the Club Diamond/Hacienda (which also has a pool exclusive to this section). The top section is the main lobby area which hosts the buffet, lounge, and front desk. It's REALLY big. Note: If you go to the bar in the lobby on the Bavaro side at night, Rodolfo and Alejandro are AMAZING!!!! Love those guys! As you continue along the top of the resort is the theatre which has nightly entertainment like a circus act, Michael Jackson, Dancers, etc. Then it's the Punta Cana lobby which is a mirror image of the Bavaro lobby. Then as you continue down the left side back toward the beach is the Hacienda/Diamond section then the the Royal Golden then the beach. The villas with the lower numbers are closest to the beach. My villa was 34 and was a 2 minute walk to the main lobby. I had to take the tram to the beach as it was quite the walk. However there are "bus stops" all throughout the resort.

The Food:

There are several restaurants on the resort. There's Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Mexican, The Garden Grill, French and Seafood. There is also the main buffet on the Bavaro side and the main buffet on the Punta Cana Side. Guests on the Punta Cana side of the resort CANNOT eat at the Bavaro buffet. However guests on the Bavaro side can eat anywhere. Now I know people had tons of bad things to say about the food but it is not bad at all. There is no shortage of food anywhere throughout the resort. There are 2 buffet style stack bars at the beach and main pool area. You are bound to find something you like. If you go hungry at this place then there's a problem with you. The food itself ranged from good to quite tasty. The a la cartes were super hard to book yet when we'd get to the restaurants there were dozens of empty tables. Book your a la cartes as soon as you arrive!

The Rooms:

The rooms are identical regardless of which section you stay in. I was in the Club Diamond section at the Bavaro and it was right night next to the exclusive Diamond pool, but like I said it was far from the beach. So when you have all these people talking about how the Diamond section is the place to stay I'm not entirely sure it was worth it. If you are a beach person like me, it was not worth it at all. If you are a poolside tanner then there are a lot less people at the Diamond pool than at the main pool by the beach and it's easy to find a chaise. You get 4 a la cartes in the Diamond section vs. the main section, and you get beach 2 beach towels, 2 robes, and 2 pairs of slippers in your room. That's it. It's seriously not worth the extra money for me.

The beach:

Our group was 47 people plus 4 children and we spent every day at the beach. There are palapas set up everywhere to provide shade from the sun. There are two buffet style snack bars that serve things like chicken, sandwich meats, pasta, veggies, fruits, etc. Not bad at all! And the animation team is always conducting exercises or salsa lessons on the beach. Tons of fun! Again, there's always someone coming by to pick up empty cups so the beach is never dirty. Warning: There are alson TONS of guys roaming the beach bugging you to buy cigars, jewellery, or some excursion (parasailing, deep sea fishing, ATV's, safaris). Someone bugs you every 5 minutes. Just give them a firm "No, senor" unless you're truly interested in going.

The disco was kind of lame but it all depends on what you make it. Our group had fun! The casino is really small but I won $60 so I was pumped anyway :)

Getting out of the country was a hassle as we stood in line after line. But all in all it was an AMAZING resort! I loved every minute of it from start to finish. In a heartbeat I would recommend this place to anyone. If you have anything bad to say about this place, like I said, you cannot be pleased at all. It's so totally worth it!

I am 32 years old from Toronto and went with my Mother the first week of June 2009. Just to let you know, this was my 17th all inclusive trip and I also have lived in different all-inclusive resorts throughout Mexico working in Public Relations. It was my first time to THIS hotel and I must say that this was my absolute favourite so far.

It’s a hotel that is perfect for everyone. It’s great for families, great for couples and also for those that are looking to dance and have a good time. It’s a safe hotel, service is great and you can relax if you like or enjoy the nightlife this hotel actually has to offer.

Hotel Lay-out and Rooms

Yes, the hotel is big but there is nothing bad about it. I always thought I preferred smaller hotels but the size of this hotel is absolutely manageable. In smaller hotels, normally crowds develop easier and people meet easier, but there were still chances for that here.

Walking from the lobby to the beach is 10 minutes but you can take the cute little shuttles that come all the time, all day ‘till 3am. My Mom would take the shuttle and I would walk as I love to walk. And how can you go wrong with walking in beautiful weather in a beautiful scenery.

There are 3 sections to this hotel and we were in the Bavaro section (which is the section for most people). The room was very nice, mostly marble and super super clean. Either way, whatever section you choose, everyone comes together for the theatre and the dancing. Everyone uses the same restaurants and same everything, only the location of the rooms and the types of rooms differ. Our building was located right half-way between the lobby and the beach, which we preferred as that way it’s closer to the lobby, the theatre, the lobby bars and so forth. For the beach, it wasn’t far either. But some people for sure may prefer ocean view, which I normally do as well, but in this case, I preferred to be closer to things to do rather than the beach. Whatever you choose, NOTHING is far.

Beach

Beautiful – cannot go wrong. Lots and lots and lots of chairs, even when the hotel was super busy.

Pools

Nice pools throughout the hotel. There are some pools reserved for certain areas but I loved the ones we were at. The first 2 days we hung out at the pool closer to our room (half-way between the lobby and the beach) which was smaller than the main one but still had the usual water-aerobics and the usual pool activities. The last 5 days we hung out at the MAIN pool which is right by the beach. There are lots and lots of people there. We did reserve our spot but that’s because my Mom always gets up early. If you don’t, you shouldn’t have a problem finding spots. There are lots of people and it’s fun to be at.

Restaurants

Depends on what section you’ll be staying at – the Bavaro had 3 a la cartes per week allowed (versus other sections having been allowed 4 or 7). Out of the 3 allowed a la cartes, we went to 2, which were Japanese and Mexican. So, I must say that in Toronto, Sushi is my favourite and here it was quite good. I’d eat there again for sure. It was the Teppanyaki table (cooking table). Mexican was great too – having lived in Mexico, I can appreciate Mexican food when it’s done well. We didn’t do any other a la cartes as we were happy with the buffets as there was always good variety and that way we didn’t have to be anywhere at a certain time. If you belonged to other sections, there were many more a la cartes to choose from.

Day-time Entertainment

You can find your usual day-time entertainment – water aerobics, volley ball, bingo, dance lessons and so forth at all the pools (except for some of the reserved and adult ones).

Night-time Entertainment

I must say I loved the entertainment at this hotel. I dance Latin so I always try to go to resorts where there is dancing and this hotel was great for it. The way the night-time entertainment goes is there is a huge huge huge lobby filled with chairs and tables so my Mom and I after dinner would go and play some cards there along with sipping on some vino tinto. There was some light music in the background, sometimes a man playing the piano and singing. Great ambiance – lots of people. At 9:30 the show started (which normally I watch but I didn’t so much as I had seen so many and used to participate in them). The theatre is HUGE, probably for about 1000-1500 people. When the show was over (this was my favourite part), from 11-12, there is an outdoor beautiful plaza area just outside of the lobby where the casino and disco are. So from 11-12, there was a live-band EVERY NIGHT and the entertainment staff dances with all the guests. As I love to dance, I danced almost every single song for 1 hour every day, which was great. The bands are great also. At 12 when they finish, the entertainment staff heads to the disco which is right there also. And I must say, this was the best hotel disco I’ve been to. There were always lots of people. The music in the beginning started off with some Spanish songs (which I love) and then they played mostly English stuff, some house and top dance songs - great music as well. It’s open ‘till about 2am (sometimes later). After the disco, in that same plaza, there is a snack place open ‘till 6 am serving hot dogs, sandwiches and burgers. I only ate there twice but was great.

Tips:

Bring some gifts with you. If you take an excursion, you can give them to someone that normally doesn’t have access to gifts. (On one of my many previous Punta Cana trips, we visited a Haitian village where we handed out lots of things. I wish I could hand out things every day for the rest of my life as this life is not fair. We brought an extra sports-bag filled with gifts for kids, clothes and some basic necessities. I went to the $ store and stocked up. Whatever you can bring, bring please !!!

Also, we tip because it’s so much easier for us to make that tipping money as it is for them to earn the little $ they do.

If anyone goes there, I’d like to send a t-shirt and a CD to one of the staff that works there. If you could contact me, I could meet you and show you what I’d like to send. Thank you so much. My email is sarah_worldwide@hotmail.com

I hope this helped, if I can answer any more questions, please let me know. (Just a few months ago I stayed at the RIU Palace Macao in Punta Cana but this was by far in my opinion, the better hotel.

Thank you.

I stayed at the gran bahia principe last year with two friends. The resort is massive and they haev a trolley that can take you from one end to the other. The beach is beautiful and the pool is a good size too. The resort had a good food selection at every meal and the food was always good. I would defintely recommend the Japanese restaurant. The dinner there is amazing. There is always somewhere to sit on the beach and there are activities for those who want to participate.

The nightlife at the bahia principe is very lively. Since its not very safe to travel the dominican on your own we wanted a resort with a disco and the the disco at the bahia was always popping. There was a piano bar next door to the disco and across the little piazza was a late night snack bar. It was basically any partyers dream. I would recommend this resort to almost anyoen except the elderly and people with small children since there is alot of walking since the place is so big.

Oh and ladies the dominican men at this resort are very friendly so be prepared to attract some admirers. :)

when i went i was nervous at first but as soon as i got there i felt relaxed...

i would love to go there again but right now timming is not good right now..but as soon i can get the funds iAM THERE! :) iam trying to get my hubby to come with me hope he will.

and also i told my friends about it and i want them to go.

I would love to go for my Birthday March 24th

Before I say anything else, let me say we had an absolutely AMAZING time at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro in Punta Cana and would recommend it to anyone!!! Whether you are travelling with your significant other, family or a group of friends this resort is perfect. Do not hesitate to book your holiday with this resort, you will not be disappointed! It is definitely a five-star resort which is evident from the moment you get your first glimpse. I have been on numerous all-inclusive vacations before and this was by far my most favourite resort!

My significant other and I, both in our 20s stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro from May 26, 2009 – June 2, 2009. We flew with Sunwing Airlines from Toronto, Ontario. The flight went well with no delays or unexpected problems.

The Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro resort is literally like its own little city. It has its own shopping area, disco, casino, karoke bar internet café, soccer field, tennis courts, basketball court, mini golf course, spa and more! The walk from the main front lobby to the beach is about 10 – 12 minutes. However, there is always a trolley (every couple minutes) going from the lobby to the beach which can always be used if you don’t wish to walk.

Grounds - the greenery including trees, flowers and brush are abundant and extremely well-kept. There are always gardeners around making sure everything is well groomed and their hard work sure does pay off because it truly looks stunning. The Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro has done an excellent job of preserving the natural environment in and around the resort. The gardeners are super friendly and we were always greeted with a smile and “Hola!” I have been to many 5-star resorts and this resort is definitely the winner when it comes to grounds maintenance and appearance.

Service – The service at this resort is top notch! The staff always have a smile and don’t hesitate to say “Hola!” They are always willing to help and are truly friendly, not in a fake sort of way. On the second day of our stay we realized we had lost our towel cards, and the penalty for one card is $20 USD. I was so sad that we would have to pay $40 USD. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find them. I went and explained the problem to the man at the front desk and he gave me two new towel cards, no questions asked! Drink service at the buffet was always quick and efficient. You were asked for your drink orders as soon as you sat down. Dirty plates were always picked up and taken away quickly.

Rooms - The rooms which are all junior suites are very spacious, well decorated and clean. The beds and pillows are very comfy. They are not hard and uncomfortable as some people have said. But the best part of the rooms has got to be the shower where you can always get hot water and the tub is equipped with jets. The mini fridge is stocked daily with colas and beer. The room also has a coffee maker which you should definitely try because the coffee is very good!

Food – Overall the main buffet was very good with lots to choose from. There is even a kids section with foods catered towards children (i.e. fish fingers, fries, hotdogs etc…). We were also impressed to see a section with “healthy” food options at the buffet. They also had themed nights (i.e. Mexican, Italian etc…) which provided some variety in food. The two snack bars by the beach were also very good with foods such as hotdogs, burgers, fries, pasta, chips and salsa (so yummy!), potatoes, cheese, breads, fruits and so much more.

Bars – At this resort a bar is never too far away. There is a bar in the main lobby, in both snack bars, on the beach and near/in the pools (swim-up bars). The bars all have their own juice/water fountains where you can help yourself. All other beverages must be ordered with the bartender. We never had to wait long for our drinks and the bartenders were always friendly! The Very Well (non-alcoholic) and Strawberry Daquiri were our favourite drinks.

Beach – The beach at this resort is very beautiful and the shipwreck adds a nice little touch to the view. We were at the beach around 9:00 a.m. everyday and never had a problem finding beach chairs under the shade. Don’t believe the reviews that claim it is impossible to find chairs, we never had a problem! The beach water itself is a nice turquoise blue with gentle waves but often times the water had a lot of seaweed and was not 100% clear (making snorkeling impossible). However, we found that if you walked a little further down the beach the water is super clear!!! The seaweed seems to shift to different spots of the water depending on the time of day.

Pools – The pools are very nice at this resort. Our favourite pool was the one right next to the beach which had its own jet pool, kiddie area, high shallow pool and fountain! We really appreciated how clean the pools were kept. We were usually at the pools around 9:00 a.m. and had no problems finding a lounge chair. Even in the afternoon and evening it was possible to find one! The pools are where a lot of activities happen such as water aerobics, bingo, ping pong competitions etc… The swim-up bars were also a delight!

Entertainment – The entertainment at this resort was fantastic! Every night there was live musical entertainment in the lobby bar (piano bar) which usually began at about 7:00 p.m. and lasted into the late hours of the evening. The music was always mellow, perfect for conversation with a warm cup of coffee. We really enjoyed this after dinner. At 9:00 p.m. entertainment began in the main theatre. 9:00 – 9:30 p.m. was usually a time for audience interaction and games. At 9:30 p.m. the scheduled performance/show began. Performance shows included; The Lion King, Circus, Disco, Bahia Spectacular, Michael Jackson etc… We never missed one show and they were all excellent. After the shows, which usually ended at 10:30 p.m., entertainment moved to the Pueblo Principe where there is a live band nightly until midnight after which the disco opens until 2:00 a.m. The casino, shops, internet café etc…are all located in Pueblo Principe which is a one minute walk from the main lobby.

Excursions – we did two excursions (1) the Country Adventure ($75 USD) and (2) The Caribbean Festival ($89 USD). (1) The Country Adventure was an excellent opportunity to see the real Dominican Republic. In this full day excursion on an all terrain jeep we visited the sugar cane fields (and ate fresh sugar cane), a local village and school as well as a coco bean ranch where we grinded fresh coffee, went horse back riding and had a very tasty Dominican lunch. We also visited Macau beach (a lot of the locals go there) which was stunning! This excursion was definitely worth the money that we paid for it and we recommend it to anyone who wants to see what the real Dominican Republic is all about. (2) The Caribbean Festival. This was a half day excursion where we went snorkeling with stingrays, sharks and coral fish. We were picked up from our resort early in the morning and driven to where the catamaran is docked. We set sail on the catamaran to a quarreled off area in the ocean to touch and hold the stingrays. After interacting with the stingrays we went into the shark area. After that, we went further into the ocean to snorkel with the coral fish. I must say that the staff operating this excursion are the BEST! We had the best guide, named HANSEL, who got us up close and personal with the sharks and even dove down to take photos of them and us on my underwater camera. He also gave us food when snorkeling with the fish so they would come up to us! If you are going on this excursion you MUST remember to take an underwater camera! I just got my photos developed and they came out excellent! They do sell cameras on the catamaran for $20 USD, but you can save some money if you buy one before you go.

Areas for improvement :

- At times it was difficult to get through to the operator to set-up our wake up call. We usually got through by our third try.

- The rooms didn’t have an iron. To get one you had to go to guest services.

- Since there are no shower curtains the bathroom floor gets soaked (word of advice turn the water pressure down a little).

- The bottled water/purified water that they serve tastes bad at first but you will get used to it.

As you can see these areas for improvement aren’t huge or major. This resort is definitely a top resort in Punta Cana, if not the best! We would return to the resort in a heartbeat!!! You are guaranteed to have a fantastic vacation if you stay at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro!!!

Hope this review was helpful!

we went to punta cana from feb 12-19 for our wedding. there was 42 ppl in our group and every single one of us can't wait to go back!! the age range was from 15-82 and there was something for everyone!!! the food is amazing and even though you get 4 ala-cartes we chose to do buffett as it was different everynight and very very good!! the resort is huge but takes only a day or so to figure out. i do suggest using the trollies to get around but walking is also great. we upgraded to the diamond club, which i also suggest as you get access to a seperate pool area (nice and quite with the best swim-up bar) and more alacarte's (that we didn't use) and better booze :) we spent most of our time at the swim up bar :s but also did the dunebuggy tour. that is a must do!!!! also don't be afraid to go down to the beach (beautiful!!! white sand cleaned everyday all day and not to hot for bare feet) and talk to the guys wandering the beach. you can get way better prices on the different excursions from them then directly from the hotel.

our wedding coordinator Leslie was awsome!!! everything was perfect the flowers are beautiful and cheep. ($100 for mine plus 3bridesmaids and 4 boutinears) and you have your choice of beach or gazeebo. we took the gazeboo and it was perfect!! i would sugest that you do not get officially maried in the dominican but just have the ceramony there. we did it officially and it cost us about $1500 US more. as there are only two judges that can marry you legally they come on the morning of the wedding and marry you infront of your witness' and then the wedding coordinator does the ceremony later that day. we are from canada so we had to send all our paper work to the dominican consult here in canada which cost around $500. then once the marriage certificate get here we have to send it back to the consulate (another $138) and get it translated and legalized in english. also don't let them bully you into paying for one of the alacartes for the reception. we refused to pay as it is all inclusive and all our family and friends were fine with just going to the buffette. after some arguing they agreed to reserve a section in the buffett for us (no extra charge) and it was perfect!!!! after we all went to the kareokee bar and sat around and drank and had fun!!

Also spring for the professional pictures!! ask for Jose he is amazing!!! they are a little pricey but worth every penny!!! tell him that the couple who walked down the aisle to "highway to hell" sent you.

all in all it was an amazing trip and we can't wait to go back!!! Gran Bahia Principe is amazing!! also a side note. our lock on our suitcase broke and we could not get it open. the suitcase had all the little extras for the wedding and i was freaking out!! the maintenence guy came right to our room and just popped the lock. he was there in 5min of our call and was very pleasent. there is a language barrier but it can be overcome with some hand signles. there is always someone around that understands english.

My boyfriend and I just got back from our trip (May 24-31). It was both our first time to Punta Cana and our first all-inclusive. I spent about a month reading reviews on this website about countless locations and feel that I need to give back to all the helpful reviews everyone has posted - thank you!

First, we booked through Air Canada Vacations and can't say enough about how well that worked out. All flights were on time, if not early. Transportation provided easily for to and from hotel and airport. A room safe was included in our booking (something some people mentioned having to pay for earlier). And our rep Kim was so pleasant and helpful during our entire stay.

We upgraded to the "Golden" section when we checked in, totally worth it. It meant we stayed in Villa 20 (right by the pools and beach), 24hour room service which we used 3 times and food came in about 20 minutes every time! Plus free internet access and another a la carte.

Our room and towels, etc. were cleaned every day. The cleaning staff were very nice ladies and we left them a couple dollars tip every day and knowing the room was extra clean because of it was worth it, we're both clean freaks!!

So I was really paranoid about food poisoning/other sicknesses I've heard about people getting at these resorts. But after the first day at this resort, I stopped worrying so much and started enjoying ALL of the amazing food. They have hand santizer when you go into the buffets and restaurants and all the food is served hot. We asked them to really overcook our meat and they would make it fresh for us right there. We both totally pigged out and felt great! (Except a bit full lol). We had 5 a la cartes and our favorite was the Japanese, which is not normally our first pick for food but WOW. It was our last dinner, if I had known it was that good I would have tried to go twice...

The pools were huge, never felt crowded even during peak hours. I read you had to get there at 6am?? to get seats in the shade but we usually got there around 8-8:30 and had no problem. Same with the beach, TONS of chairs that were never even half occupied. The water was great to swim in and there's tons of water sports available right there too.

We did the banana boat ($9/person) and parasailing (amazing!). The parasailing was $75 for the two of us plus $25 for a photo cd of us - this is my only real complaint, we got home, put the disc in my computer and it was blank :( We found this out at the end of our trip, but if you want to use the catamarans for free, you need to already know how to sail them. If you don't know how, you can pay $35 for them to give you a lesson and then you can use them every day if you want to free after that. So I'd recommend getting the lesson right at the beginning of your trip.

We booked two excursions, but cancelled the Saona Island one after hearing some bad reviews from other people there about the beach, plus it's a whole day which seemed kind of long. However, we did the Canopy Zipline half-day excursion and it was SOO GREAT! $89/person plus $20 for a photo (which turned out really nice). It was exciting and fun and also really good to get off the resort and see the "real" Dominican. Make sure you do specifically do the "Canopy" zipline, not just regular zipline because it's way better, you go up into the mountains. Bring about $10 in one dollar bills for snacks/beer on the way back (you'll be tired!) and we gave some money to the kids because they are so poor and appreciate anything! Please everyone that goes, if you can spend thousands of dollars to go there, bring a few extra dollars for the people outside the resort, it will make their day :)

We met lots of really nice people at this resort and everyone we spoke to was very happy with their experience at Gran Bahia Principe. We met some other people from Majestic, Iberostar, and Riu - Riu was highly spoken of as well, it's right next door to Bahia. Esthetically it's more beautiful but you share the same beach and their pools aren't as fun. Hope this helps! I strongly recommend booking here if you want to enjoy your vacation without having to worry about anything! We will definitely go back to the Dominican one day and would also book with other Gran Bahia resorts in other destinations :)

If you are considering booking this hotel don't hesitate its abosolutely amazing and you will have a perfect holiday for sure.

Everything about the hotel is great, the food is buffet all inclusive and you will never be spoilt for choice as this is themed throughout the week. The cleanliness of the hotel is instantly noticed as soon as you arrived nothing is out of place and there is always at least 50 people working hard on the grounds to keep it immaculate. This is a massive hotel and you can easily get lost so best to get your bearings as soon as you arrive. The beach is massive and is adjacent to the riu hotel complex. The beach has multiple activities available from dominicans wanting you to pay for parasailing, banana boats, speed boats etc... we did few of these and had no worries about our safety. The hotel offers a wide variety of entertainment and is of a high standard. There are beach activities throughout the day... If you are looking for a quiter holiday you can upgrade to diamond club and then you can use an exclusive pool and believe me this is so quiet.. if you like quiet this is for you. I dont so enjoyed the beach and sea. There is a great karaoke bar so get practising before you go dont be shy.

I can fault this hotel its the best place i have ever been and would rebook again if revisiting this area.. We did a few excursions which involved picking up others from different hotels and we do believe we chose the best.

Go on book it now you wont be disappointed.

I've stayed at 8 different resorts in the Caribbean (Varadero, Cayo Coco, Cancun, Mayan Riviera, Puerto Plata), and I have to say that Punta Cana has the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.

The first resort I ever stayed at was the Bahia Principe in Puerto Plata, and it was amazing. The food, resort, entertainment and staff were all perfect, so I knew the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana would be great since it has a higher star rating, and nicer beaches.

The Resort: It is very big, about a 10 minute walk from one end to the other, but the little trolly buses are going 24/7. We never had to wait for one...by the time you walk to a bus stop, you turn around and it's there. The size of the resort was not an issue at all.

The grounds are very clean and beautiful.

Food: I loved the food. It was way better than Cuba.....the Meat and Desserts acutally had flavor! I found it better than the food in Cancun as well....which surprised me. We ate at the Mexican Restaurant, the BBQ Grill, the Dominicano, and the Gormet Restaurant. My favorite was the Mexican, then the Dominican, then the Grill, and lastly the Gormet (but only because it was mostly fish, and I don't eat fish).

The food at the Buffets was always great. There was lots of selection, and there was always something for everyone...and the deserts were so good. 2 people in our group have Celiac Disease, and they had no trouble finding gluten/wheat free meals...and at the a le carte restaurants they made them special gluten free meals that weren't even on the menu. They will cater to anything and anyone....just let them know what you want, and you'll get it. One day at the lunch buffet by the pool, I asked a guy that worked there if they had any pineapple (cause there was none in the buffet and there usually was) He tells me to go sit down, and comes out 2 minutes later with this HUGE plate of cut up pineapple. I started to take a few pieces off and he said NO NO it's ALL for you! Very nice.

Oh, and there was 24/7 room service...which was very fast....we'd get it in the afternoon sometimes if we wanted to take a break in our room. Theres pizza, hot dogs hamburgers, fries, sandwiches, nachos, salad, fruit, desserts....

Pools: We only ever went to the main pool by the beach, which was very clean and the swim up bar was great. We spent most of our time on the beach.

Beach: Most amazing beach I have ever seen. White sand, clear terquoise water, no rocks or seaweed! The water was a perfect temperature too....and theres a bar right on the beach so it's convenient to get drinks. We never had any trouble getting chairs. There was a big group of us, and we'd usually meet there at 10 after breakfast, and there were lots of chairs available....we'd just have to move a few around to get all of them together though, no biggie.

Rooms: Very big, nice bathroom, always clean. We were on the first floor and didn't have any issues with bugs at all. The mini fridge was always stocked with beer, water and pop, and the maid service was wonderful.

Excursions: We did the Tropical Storm and had a blast. The snorkling was amazing, and the boat was one big party. Open bar all day.....and they even had a floating bar that they'd bring into the water. The huge inflatable slide was a blast too...and the dancing on the boat was hilarious!

Bars: All of the bars had great service. We'd usually go to the lobby bar after dinner...then to the Kareoke bar, which was a ton of fun, and then to the Disco, which was huge and packed every night.

In the same area as the Disco, Casino, and Kareoke bar, there are also a bunch of stores (clothing, jewlery, souveneirs, photo shop, painting). They go all around in a sguare, with a big open area in the middle with a stage and huge seating area. In the middle they also have a bunch of kiosks/vendors where they have no set prices...so you can bargain with them...but if you don't like the pressure...just go into the shops....because they are set prices, and they'll leave you alone to shop.

We were there for a wedding, and the service was amazing. The set up and decoration were beautiful, and the private reception was perfect, with great food.

Everything about this resort was just too good to be true. I have never been so sad to leave a place in my life. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone of all ages...groups, singles, couples, weddings....

It's the best place to relax, swim, walk, eat, meet people, dance - basically whatever you want...it has it all.

Writing this live from Punta Cana airport so possibly the most hot off the press review and it's a good one.

Having never been on an all inclusive holiday before wasn't entirely sure what to expect and was definitely surprised. Having read some of the reviews on here you'd think either everyone was a bit anal or something really was wrong with the place. Thankfully I think it's more of the first.

We got here on a Wednesday afternoon and after the transfer only took about 20 minutes to get through checking in and being taken to our room. First thoughts were this place is huge and the whole 4 hotels in one seemed confusing. However it's actually just a mirror image. On one side is Bavaro (standard class) and the other Punta Cana (standard class). They both have the same check in lobbys they're literally the same just flipped on the left and right. Then further down the Bavaro side you have Ambar (upgraded) and in and around this Diamond club which we weren't too sure what the difference was.

Anyway the room was really nice, the minibar wasn't packed but was refilled each day and a little tip seemed to provide some extras. The place was always really clean and in the surrounding area there were always people working on gardening or cleaning, there seemed to be ridiculous amounts of staff.

We read about the whole swimming pool towel thing and unfortunately you can't beat them so best thing to do is join them and get up about 8am to go for breakfast. On the way grab a towel and just reserve a spot. We always got one under the little huts for shade so the whole 6am thing was bit of a white lie. What's more the pool and towel hut doesn't open till 8am either. If you're standard class you have the choice of the middle pool or the one by the beach but the middle one was the best. The couple of guys that run the pool and play the music are quite funny to listen to and endlessley trying to get people involved in activities from Bingo Bango lol to just gym aerobics. I guess if you don't like noise then you'll be in trouble but it wasn't overbearing.

Food wise the buffets on both sides are identical and are nice the food was always loads. However it does get quite chaotic with special requests taking a long time e.g hot water for a cup of tea lol. This could annoy you after a while but it is quite funny how much of a mayhem it is. It's more of a problem in the a la cartes where you think it would be more of a better service and actually it seemed worse. They seemed all over the place at times, not with the food but with the drinks! You might wait awhile for a beer lol.

Drinking at the bar was always pretty good service and give them a tip and you'll be there best friend. In fact on the last night I gave a tip to a barmaid i'd given one earlier in the week. We don't know what happened but all of a sudden another barmaid came up put 3 drinks down and just smiled and walked off but the previous barmaid then didn't speak to us lol. However we legged it as was bit excessive!

The staff on the whole do seem friendly and generally are there to help. In the a la cartes i think 2 of them were having an arguement over the time we turned up and did it in front of us but didn't matter. On that point long shirts aren't required as we wore polos each time but we saw people in shorts get turned away. As at the main buffet dinner saw the same for women still in bikinis.

Overall I'd definitely go back and had a great time.

We went with Thomas Cook and only real sour point was the trip we went on which anyone could book and that was the Tropical Storm. It was 60 quid or 90$ and basically wasn't worth it. They just sailed you up the coast to a wreck that they told you a lame story about then sailed you back to this big slide. Well the slide was about as thrilling as my singing and most people didn't bother with their second go. After that you got taken to a place where you could snorkel and finally to a place where it was waist high water and they just had drinks. Because the hotel was all inclusive the appeal of a boat trip wasn't just baout the free drinks and they seemed to try and put as much down your throat as you could manage if you were up for it. The food was shocking as well, cheese and ham sandwiches lol and bit of pasta, one american described it as "What's that pink ****". It was ok and the staff were quite fun but it really wasn't worth 60 quid!

First time on Dom Rep East coast - much better than north although liked Playa Dorado when visited 2007.

FIrst time also to Gran Bahia Principe Group - on this evidence very impressive & will undoubtedly use again

Visit for 2 weeks - flew Thomas Cook - punctual as always - much better aircraft on return journey. TC are ok - but still a bit short to First Choice with in flight service & seat comfort. Flight attendents always very courteous.

2 weeks of total relaxation - just a couple of short showers at day time was another plus

This is enormous site as everyone says - it takes 10 minutes to walk from reception to beach although the hotel has a nonstop bus service that gets you there in less than 3.

We checked in & first thing noticed we had different colour wrist band. Thought is bit stange - bell boy dropped us at Hacienda Diamond CLub section. Mm. Decided to recheck at reception as not booked this - very pleased to be advised free upgrade. What a good start - superb room over looking the private Hacienda pool in very central location.

Main things

- Room - very spacious with king bed, bar , sofa, balcony & bathroom with jacuzzi - all in top condition - room safe, TV, tea/coffee perculator etc

- Restaurants - excellent buffet (can use BAvaro or Punta Cana sides of hotel) - 12 a la cartes of which you can use 3 per week - but we twisted their arm for a couple more. Buffets very varied with loads of options. No one could possibly go with out. Plenty of fresh cooking stations for meat, fish, pasta, pizza etc. A la cartes all superb, pick probably the Garden GRill & the Gourmet with the Japanese being very different & well worth the visit . Fish & Italian also opened lunchtime along with the beach snack bars

- bars - one at each pool + the beach + lobby. Full range with plenty of branded drinks available. Special bar for Hacienda members. PLastics in activity areas , glasses in others. Excellent cocktail range + champagne. Coffe/tea also in lobby area 24 hour. All bars had such as coke, sprite, lemonade, iced tea, fruit juice, water, on self serve

- Beach - excellent beach stetching about a mile. Absolutely loads of sunbeds & plenty of umbrellas. No need to put towels out early unless you wanted front row - we went after breakfast every morning & no problem getting super position. Yes if you arrive at 10.30 you might not find a brolly but sorry folks you need to get up & about - you are on holiday to enjoy not to lounge in bed. There is a little bit of building work if you turn right after the bus drops you off but it is in no way off putting & spoils nothing. Only downside on this part of the beach it is takes 5 minutues to reach the rest rooms (which are spotlessly maintained)

- Pools - 4 excellent pools - the two by th ebeach are the busiest with the one by the Garden Grill having most of the activities. The Hacienda pool very quiet & our favourite. All have swim up faciliites (or walk up given modest depth) kept to high standards - again plenty of sunbeds & brollys

- Towel service means you do not need to take one

- Bus service - very frequent as one goes another arrives - cannot understand those that have complained about this

- entertainment - very good range at the theatre although it is repeated weekly. Live band at the village. SMall casino

- shopping -good range of small shops selling normal souvenirs youwould expect to find etc

- sports - tennis, crazy golf & usual water sports on beach. Plenty of daily activities

- SPa & small kids club

- there is disco but we retired before it got going

All areas extremely well kept, gardens, paths, public areas, - the hotel should be proud of its standards

Service

staff very polite & friendly - sure I gave small tips here & there but NEVER once did I feel these were necessary to ensure I got served. The Americans have to realise this is the Caribbean & service is different to what you get in the USA - most USA restaurants etc only seek to look after you to drive up the tip in any case

THings to improve

- well maybe more fresh fruit at the buffets

- bottle beer which is always one of my pet groans

- another set of toilets on the beach

- a bit lax on dress code for restaurants in the evening - it does not take much to make an effort - citizens of the USA this is largely you

A very cosmopolitan crowd were in situ, from North/South America to various parts of Europe - hotel catered well for everyone. Not convinced the bulk of the caribbean is good for under 5's - too hot & sun too intense

Tnomas Cook - friendly rep was around most days- had decent range of trips - we took one - was OK, various local factories & then Hard Rock Cafe - but nothing out of ordinary. We tend not to do boat trips so cannot comment although from people we met the trip to Bounty Island was well received. Don't know of anyone ill - we certainly had no problems - only a couple of sore heads after going through the cocktail lists!!

In all very impressed with this hotel & we are now looking to visit another in the Gran Bahia Group. We have been to many other main groups & would rank them above such as Riu & Sols, pretty much on par with IBerostar & slightly behind Karisma. Not been to Sandalls so cannot comment

Warmly recommend this to anyone looking for top quality sun break

Stayed from April 24 to May 1 and found all staff to be very friendly and eager to help. I would suggest to go club diamond as this gives exclusive pool area with a bartender that will not disappoint ! perfect for meeting and chatting with friendly people like we met (Steve,Cory,Mack? and the rest of the gang from N.B.Canada).Went with my wife and 2 teenage daughters and enjoyed the Karaoke bar and the Disco as well as the shows. Tip a buck every so often,it will make you feel good as well as get a warm friendly smile from your friend at the omllette station in the Italian restaurant (Carlos). The best kept secret would have to be lunch at the Italian restaurant,superb grilled fish and nice crisp salad's. Stayed in viilla 32 which was a great location to pool and beach. It was my wife's 50Th birthday while there and happy birthday sung in Spanish by all restaurant staff was superb. Disregard the bad reviews as most of these people are probably unhappy with life! It is a big place but has a lot to offer. If our club diamond friends from N.B. read this then sign on and send a response to my post. Thanks to all previous reviewers as your tips were a great help in planning our vacation.

been ten years since i visted the domincan and times have moved on ,myself and my wife have stayed at many supposed 5 star in the caribbean resorts from antigua to mexico cancun etc, only moon palace many years ago fitted the bill to make us go back

I agree with some reviews stating that overall it is not a 5 star resort as in the rooms are not what you would expect from a 5 star hilton in NY or london for example,but on the flip side the scenery and level of service make up for the lack of luxury in the rooms.

Many peoples reviews i have read complain of lack of staff speaking english ( well guess what we are not in the uk or us so make a effort speak their language or try to ) !! supposed lack of drink on offer ( yes its not all branded but its ok you want the best pay the price doh !!) bad service ( well i found all the staff to be superb regardless of if you tip them or not ) but overall enjoyed the holiday a lot fantastic views on the beach good food in general beach food ok avoid the salad and seafood on the beach (common sense)

all i can say is go enjoy ,as for the reviews stating the place is to big and not enough bus's etc is you can walk from the entrance to the beach in ten mins not exactlly a marathon nor complicated ,so avoid the bus's and enjoy the grounds

Ohh by the way as the bookable a la carte goes french( avoid just like a french restaraunt stuck up staff cold over rated food bad service) italian ( good nice welcome good food ) steak house ( samr as italian worth a visit)

Buffet great service every night and good food most nights

I've just got back from a week vacation at GBP Bavaro and it was lovely.

Rooms:

Very big and confortable (king size bed); the look could be more tropical but it was fine. No bugs or other things indicated in some reviews even for a ground floor room. The cleanning lady would pass 2 times a day, replacing the toals and refilling the mini bar.

Gardens:

Beautiful and extremelly well cared. There is always some one taking care of someting.

Hotel:

the hotel is quite big but there is always shuttles passing every 2 minutes and the trips are very pleasent. I booked for the premium but they upgraded me in the Royal Golden area, in front of the beach.

Beach:

not so large but very wide. There was always chairs available and the animation team enternains in the morning with aerobics, dance,strectching classes or "olympic games". There is always someone playing voley.

Restaurants:

Buffet - is was fine. Tasteful food but after 2 or 3 meals you get bored. Too much chicken is served.

à La carte - the Japonese is a disapoitment for the sushi and sashimi lovers...it relates more with chinese food - to much fried food is served.

The grill is nice- the meat is great. the mexican is regular and the Fish and Seafood restaurant is agreable (order for the parrilada de peixe - it serves a little lobster

There is always a place to eat at any time - mainly hamburguers, pizzas, hot dogs, etc.

Service:

it is fast, agreable and not tip related.

Souveniers:

there is in one point of the beach some "stores" where you can buy paintures, artefact, etc; but the sellers are too pushy... you cannot look in their direction that you are instantly pulled in to the store...and the all do that... it is terrible. I bought my souveniers at the hotel stores in Pueblo Principe where you can enter and see what you have to see quietly or even at the sellers in the beach, that passes by when you are in your chair

Pool:

The pools are nice, but there is always too much people near the pool bar, and the chairs are all taken early.

All considered, it is a great place for a week vacations, to enjoy the beach and relax

We were part of a large group visiting for a wedding. As for as using this hotel for a wedding: DO IT 100%. The ceremony was beautiful and the wedding planner was very good.

The hotel grounds are huge. They are also a little bit confusing. Explore the place with a map or risk a long walk back to where you came from! Also confusing: the resort is connected to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and the Gran Bahia Principe Ambar. It seems like it is one resort, but there are times when you will enter a pool, restaurant or bar and you will not be permitted depending on the color of your bracelet.

Beach: Fabulous. Clear water, white sand. Pretty crowded, but there are more than enough available chairs even if you do not wake up early. I read reviews on this site that said you have to get up at 6AM to find seats. There are some people up this early, but we never went down earlier than 8:00AM and always chose our preferred seats... Every Day. The Beach is clean except for a few jellyfish and minimal seaweed. There are people constantly patrolling picking up all the garbage. There are a lot of locals trying to sell you things at the beach. They are not annoying; if you tell them you are not interested, they do not persist. When bargaining with these people they are reasonable. Excursions are better to book at the beach (much cheaper and you see the same faces every day, so you know they are not scammers). Cigars are also al most as cheap at the beach as at the flea market up the beach. These prices are far better than the lobby store and the Duty Free. The water is pretty calm. In the 7 days we were there, the red flag was up only for 2. The water sports (kayak, banana boat etc) are not available when the red flag is up. Personally, I am not at all interested in these things, but some friends that are said to book your time slot early in the day because they fill up pretty quickly.

POOLS: Also beautiful. The pools and pool areas are huge and clean. Although the lounge chairs fill up quickly at the pool, you can always find A chair. The pool bars are numerous and the service is relatively fast even when there are a lot of people. Some people briught their own cooler mugs. This is smart, because then you do not have to wait to refill your drinks. The pools are very clean and there are bathrooms right by every one.

ROOMS: Rooms are very clean, but nothing extraordinary. Get an extra room key card so you can keep your AC running. The room safe is an extra charge of 30 USD but it is worth it for peace of mind. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom was gorgeous. The only problem we had with the room was the pillow. The pillows are tiny and flat and hard. They only leave one extra in the closet. Another thing to note: if you are a light sleeper, bring earplugs. The walls are very thin, and the hallway is open air so there is a lot of extra noise (human and animal.)

FOOD: The buffets were average, like any resort. Some people got nauseous after a few days, but nothing serious. Reservations at the a la Carte restaurants were practically impossible to get. We tried to make them on Day 1 (Saturday) and they were full for Sat and Sun. They told us to call on Monday because that is when their "week" starts, but when we tried on Monday they were full for the entire week. We only got in by raising a huge scene at Guest Services and they gave us one reservation at the Italian restaurant. We were told it was not great, but in all honest the food here was terrible. The appetizers were served buffet style and they were decent. The Main courses were terrible. Of the 4 people in my group 2 of us had one bite and could not eat any more. The other 2 could only eat less than half.

We ended up being able to eat at the Japanese restaurant which was very good. We were told they were full and that we could not reserve. We stopped by at reservation time to see if they would have free space. The hostess said they were full, but "found" room for us when we offered her a $10 US tip. The food was very good here, and the "show" of the chef was mildly entertaining.

The wedding dinner was at the French Gourmet restaurant, and the food and service was excellent. One note: the wedding planner said the DJ was included, but the DJ took one look at the equipment and walked out, saying he had no idea how to work it. It was not too complicated, one of our guests was able to figure it out and make a playlist, even for when everybody was dancing after.

Other people in our group went to the Spanish, Mexican, Barbecue and the Garden Grill restaurants and gave them very good reviews.

Snacks are hard to come by. You must go to the lobby shop where they have chips, candy and nuts. After 11, you have to go to the snack bar in the Pueblo Principe courtyard where you can order burgers, hot dogs of sandwiches.

They entertainment was what is to be expected.

All in all this resorts is beautiful and I would definitely recommend it. Members of our group had visited the RIU and Majestic resorts and declared the Bahia Principe superior.

Final Note: WEAR AND REAPPLY SUNSCREEN. I have never seen so many sunburns and blisters.

Me and my husband went to the Grand Bahia Principe for our honeymoon on 16/4/09 when we arrived we had express check in on the 20 min bus journey to the hotel, when we arrived at the resort we were shocked at the size of the resort and how clean the grounds were compared to some of the minging places we dropped off at!! We stayed for 2 weeks and we are in our late 20's and have travelled the world, I must stress how fantastic we found this place and would recommend to anyone, we loved every minute and had 14 days of lovely weather, the japenese restaurant was the best and the food was amazing, the maid was spotlessley clean and the staff were superb, dont let any of the prev reviews put you off and some people expect the world when they travel and it is a very poor country!! We had the most amazing time and would go back 2morrow... Buenos Noches!!!

This is my 3rd time back and this time the perfect place in our eyes has changed. The place is absolutely awesome but 2 days into my stay I ate at le goumet resteraunt and got very very sick and still after 12 days can not go far from a bathroom. I am on strong anti biotics and am still not sure what it was I ate but 3 out of 12 people ate the samre thing and all 3 of us are violently sick. (calf filet) be very careful what you eat at this hotel. again the place is incredible but they definately need to fix the filtration system for the water or something because many people from the smell of the bathrooms got sick with the same thing. On our return from the trip other people that stayed at other nice hotels also were sick on the plane. That being said it may not just be at this hotel. It could be the water in general . They say you can brush your teeth in it but dont drink it. I brushed with bottled water and still got sick. I guess its time to find a new place.

Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro

9-16 April 2009

Your Arrival

This was our first time in DR. As soon as you’re off the plane, they take a picture of your group with to young local girls. When you leave you can buy it for $10 and we did. The porters at the airport are a little bit overwhelming if you are not used to having someone impose himself on you. A polite no gracias is all it took to get rid of them. We found the kiosk for our Carrier “Signature Vacation” without any problem and was directed to our bus that was maybe 200 feet away. On the way to the resort, we stopped at a small bar on the side of the road and purchase some Presidente for the drive. It took no more the 20-25 minutes to get to our destination. We were to early to check in (11h30). So our room wasn't ready. My wife had a migraine due to the airplane ride and heat. I explain our situation to the reception and within 5 Dominican minutes (about 20 Canadian minutes) we were given our keys and were on our way to our room in one of the big golf carts the bellboys use. We were prepared though and had bathing suits in our carry on luggage.

Rooms

Before our departure, I had sent an e-mail to the resort asking for a top floor room with a King size bed. Within a couple of days I had received a confirmation of my request indicating that they would try to accommodate but it would be based on availability. We were pleasantly surprise to get our choice. We were in room 76301 which translate to building 76, 3rd floor, room #1. The room was very spacious with a king size bed and a day bed where our 10 years old slept for the week. The room was very clean with its own balcony. The maids kept the room very clean and we didn't have any issues there. We left a few dollars every morning with a note in Spanish to say thank you. On our second day there we found the bath tube all filled up with flowers floating on top. My son slipped in before my wife had a chance ;-) and he said that was pretty cool....He also enjoyed the Jacuzzi function. We didn't use the room safe during our visit. We kept the few items of value in a lock suitcase and he didn't have anything go missing. The bar fridge was being filled up every day. We like diet cola so we put a note asking for "tres diet Pepsi por favor" with a tip and found 3 very cold diet Pepsi waiting for us on our return from the beach that day. I tried to add "Presidente por favor" but only got the regular beer anyway :-( But there was little store on the resort that had it for sale for $4 a bottle so I treated myself to a few during the week. A note on the building itself, it appears that it might be newer then the rest of the resort since it doesn't show on the older maps. I think it was building 72 to 80 that were in this new part of the Bavaro side. The building was about a 5-7 minutes walk from the beach and about 3 minutes from the main lobby. Our balcony was facing a restaurant but we never had problems with odours or noise coming from it so it wasn't an issue. The power plugs in the room were all 2 prongs with one big and one small but no 3rd leg except where the coffee maker plugged in this one had the standard 3 prongs like we use in Canada.

Restaurant and Bars

The main buffet was good and we could always find something to eat. Even my 10 years old who can be picky at times always fund something to his taste. The only draw back was if you wanted something different then it was hard to communicate with the cook. For example one night, their was prime beef but since I didn’t know how to say well done and ended up with mostly rare, I couldn’t eat the meat. This is no fault of their own and I promised myself to be more prepared next time and learn a few key words in Spanish like “well done” I did learn to say: , “Deuce Huevos Fritos” 2 fried eggs… We had 3 a la carte dinners. We did the BBQ which was on the beach and was pretty much a buffet but you had to dress with long pants and the atmosphere is more relax and quiet then the main buffet. We then had the Dominican. I enjoyed all the food there and the waitress we had was very friendly and helped me correct some of my Spanish pronunciation. Our last one was the Japanese and I don’t know if its because of my 10 years old but we were put together with 2 other families with smaller children and it felt more like romper room then a restaurant. It was also late (21h30) and all the kids including mine were pretty tired and cranky. The food itself was delicious. I sample everything that was on the grill. The cooking show itself which is what I go to a Japanese Restaurant for, wasn’t the best I’ve seen. He made a lot of noise but that was about it. We spent our lunches eating at the buffet by the main pool. They always had hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, pizza, fresh fruits and salad, so something for everyone. If I can generalize, the food was really good.

The bar in the lobby was great and we could sit down after dinner and enjoy Spanish coffee. Most nights there was some kind of demonstration going on about different drinks including Mamajuana (sp)

Beach/Pools and grounds

The beach and pool I guess is typical to all resorts and you have to play the towel game. This is no big deal for me since I’m a very early riser at home (05h30) and don’t like to sleep in. One thing I was glad to have brought with us colourful towels from home. This made it easier to find the reserved chairs after you’ve gone for breakfast or gone for a dip in the ocean. One day I had reserved some chairs at the pool and when we got there, someone had moved the towels on the other side which put us in the sun instead of the shade which I had planed. I express my displeasure to the woman there and she gave me a look that said:” I DON’T CARE” My wife calmed me down and reminded me loud enough for the woman to hear that there are rude people in this world and you can’t fight them all” So we took the other chairs in the sun but it made for a tense afternoon.

We use both the main pool an the one in the middle of the resort. The main one is busier and noisier. The other one was a little big more quiet and was nice to just relax.

The beach is really what you go to Punta Cana for and I enjoyed it immensely. I did take a long walk one day all the way to where there are vendors on the beach. It was about 1 hour each way. I didn’t have any money on me so only browsed to see what they had and it was just more of the same stuff tourist buy.

I tried snorkelling off the beach one day and since there is no reef, didn’t see anything beside a lone fish about 10 inches long and all silver.

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel - Did you go on any tours?

One piece of advice I have to give is once you book your excursions, double check the dates and times and write it down somewhere. We had booked for Dolphin Island for the Sunday and Outback Safari for the Monday. Saturday afternoon, I was looking at our receipts and noticed that the days were wrong. He had booked us for Sat and Sun. The Dolphin experience was the one thing my wife wanted to do and she was pretty upset, never mind how much it was. We went to our tour rep right away and at first told us that if we missed it there was nothing he could do to help. Then he looked in a book where he wrote things down and saw that the Outback was actually on Monday and he wrote Sunday on the receipt. Even though he had said nothing could be done, once he realized that he had made the mistake and not us, he got on the phone and fixed things up and we were good to go for Sunday. This could have ruin our vacation as far as my wife goes. So after giving up you hard earned cash, check the dates on your receipt before leaving the office.

Another point with purchasing the excursions. For some reason, they couldn’t take my CC for both. We could pay with CC for the Outback Safari but had to pay cash for the Dolphin Island since another tour operator was taking care of that one.

The folks from Dolphin Island came and picked us up at the lobby. After a bumpy ride to the beach where they are setup, we attended a safety briefing and we were put on a boat that took us to an enclave in the middle of the ocean. This is separated in 4 sections, 2 for dolphins, one for sea lions and one for the sharks and stingrays. We spent about 20-25 with the Dolphins and it was a very good experience. We then could go and snorkel with the stingrays and sharks. This was really nice and both me and my son enjoyed that part. Once we returned to shore, we went inside a building where you could buy your pictures. The prices were $20 for 1 person, $30 for 2 and $30 for 3 Dolphin Island was $120/ person plus $40 for the picture CD. The only bad part of the trip was the lack of cleanliness otherwise, it was all good.

The Outback Safari was the best part of our vacation as far as I’m concern. The picked us up at the lobby and we were gone all day. We went to a cocoa/coffee plantation and got to see the house people live in. We then went for lunch at a private ranch. I have no idea why they call it a ranch since I didn’t see any cattle’s or horses. The food was good. We then went up the mountain to another place where they told us about the benefits of coconut oil. We had the chance to taste sugar cane, sweet grapefruits and fresh pineapple. From there we made a stop to buy coffee ($4/lb), rum ($10/bottle) and cigars at various prices. Once everyone had purchased their goodies, we drove to Macao Beach for some body surfing. After 1 hour there, we returned to our resort. We were hoping to donate some things for the children while on the excursion but the school was closed due to Easter. We left the school supplies with the guys from the company and they said they would make sure it would be delivered to the school. Our Guide was Sammy and he was very funny and super informative about how they use plants for medicine and any other questions we had about the DR. If you are going to do only one excursion in DR, do yourself a favour and do this one.

Other Comments

Go with an open mind and don’t expect people to speak English. Would you know to answer in Spanish if they came to “YOUR” neighbourhood? I for one enjoyed learning a little Spanish and plan on taking lessons to make my next trip even better.

If you need extra cash while on your vacation, the lobby has an ATM. I used my RBC convenience card without any problems. I can’t recall the exchange rate but I do know that my bank charge a $5 fee for the transaction.

Do yourself a favour and buy Bubba Kegs for everyone in your group, even for the kids. We used the 20oz and they were perfect to hold our drinks nice and cold.

Our tour rep told us at the in briefing that we could leave clothes behind for the children of DR. Since our son grows like a weed and need new clothes for this summer, we left just about all his summer clothes from last year. It was great because it made room for all the coffee, rum and vanilla we purchased. We left with the same weight that we had left Halifax.

Signature vacation offers an 8% discount before tax for DND employees.

Our tour rep offered free shopping trips to town. This wasn’t really worth it for us since everything was more expensive then on the Outback Safari. There was some interesting jewellery for sell though.

We flew Skyservice out of Halifax. They do stack you pretty tight (I’m 6’ and my knees were touching the seat in front of me) but it’s only a 4 hour flight.

I read mention of this resort being too big. I’m in my early 40s and not in the best of shape and I had absolutely no problem going from the main lobby to the beach in under 10 minutes without even raising my heartbeat. If you are worried about it, there is little trains that go by every 5 minutes and they go all day and all night long.

If you want to exchange your towels at the end of day, don’t wait until 18h00 when the towel bar closes as they sometimes run out and you will have to wait until the next morning.

I would definitely recommend this resort

This was an amasing holiday my boyfriends proposed to me here! The accommodation was clean and the service was first class the cleaners always did some towel art for your return and kept the mini fridge well stocked! There was plenty of choice at the restaurants and if your hungry later on theres a late night snack bar or there is always room service which we took full advantage of! The pools are fab very big with plenty of sun loungers as well as a swim up bar! The train which takes you around the resort is handy and gives you a good tour of the resort. The entertainment is good but repetative once the holiday went on. We recommended this resort to our friends and they also enjoyed it.

Well to start this is very big resort but once you get to know the place its fun. We spent alot of time at the main Lobby it seemed to be the place we could relax at night after supper. A La Carte restaurants we ate at the Dominican if you like sea food the shrimp are the best. and the Mexican was just as great, The BBQ was good also I think there is something for everyone that is if you are willing to try something new!!!!! As for lounge chairs there was always place to sit but you had to be there between 6 and 7 in the morning if you wanted a little hut. The staff were wonderful a dollar goes a long way!!! you don't have to tip because you will be treated just as good. The rooms were always clean when we returned from the beach, our maid didn't speak any english but she was very polite and made shure we were well taken care of. The front desk staff were the best they are always willing to help you if you need it. Diego is the man to see if you want to go out on an adventure on the water he is always in the pool with the scuba gear very very nice guy speaks really good english. I have to give this resort 2 thumbs up and would go back in a heart beat!!!!! Oh one more thing for the men when going for supper even at the buffet they want you to wear shorts at least to the knees and no muscle shirts they wont let you in we found out the hard way HeHe!!! but they are nice about it!!!! Have a great trip and just remember its a big place but you are on vacation its your time to take it easy and take the trains that they have.......Bring little gift or your maid they really enjoy that..

The Resort

I had a wonderful trip at that hotel. It is very clean, beautiful and paradisiacal. Obviously, it is a big hotel so you don’t feel that there are a lot of people even if it’s full. The service is excellent and people are nice. The shows in the evening were okay and the drinks were very good (I was stick to lemonade, vodka and grenadine it’s so delicious) but you have to be careful and tell them you want a little alcohol because for them a little is an ounce. Otherwise they fill half of the glass and it just tastes gross. The Lobby is just beautiful. We went to pick up people at other hotels and their lobbies were not even comparable. Everything is in marble and the place looks very huge and rich. There is a shuttle every 5min to go from an extreme to another. If you walk it can take maybe 15 to 20 minutes from the lobby to the beach which is good since I read it was taking 30 to 45min before I got there. When I say that the resort is clean, it is VERY clean. Every day staff takes care of flowers, grass, water on the floor, flowers, bushes, trash, etc. to make sure it ALWAYS looks perfect. It is funny because when you go visit the village it is the complete opposite for cleanness. There are stores on the side of AMBAR with the Casino and Discotheque. There are some really nice things but the sellers are really annoying. You cannot look at necklaces without having them all over you telling you it’s cheap, that they are broken and that they are making you a deal of the day. I wanted to buy and they started the price at 160, and then went down to 104. I laughed at the guy and told him I would only buy it for 20$ and that I bought something similar in the morning for 25$ (which wasn’t true but that’s how you play it) and when I was just leaving because he didn’t want to he accepted. So be careful and don’t be afraid to deal the prices.

The Room

The room was pretty nice. It was just the right size and had a big bathroom. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the bed was not really comfortable. Good thing I brought my own pillow to find comfort somewhere. The bathroom was all made of marble and had a lot of space. There was a jet tub as well but I didn’t even stay in it for more than 10 minutes with the crazy noise it was making. We also had a balcony and a really nice view of part of the pool and the garden with an arch for marriages. The maid was really nice even though she couldn’t speak a word of French or English. She brought us two blue towels for the beach the day we arrives and never exchanged them for new ones. Each morning we gave her 1 to 3 dollars for her service and she even gave us a book to say thank you. I was afraid to sleep too hard on the last two days because some people got robbed in their rooms while they were sleeping. We then decided to put a glass on the door’s handle to make sure it would wake us if anyone would try to come in. It was pretty hard to feel safe after that. The maids have a card to open all the doors so who knows if anyone else does as well? You always have to be careful in poor countries, even if you are in a 6-star Hotel. We had access to a safe but it would have cost us 30$ to activate it. Plus, it didn’t even looked solid so anyone could just tear it off and get away with it. However, I should have used it in light of what I’ve heard though. There was an umbrella and an extra warm sheet in the closet just in case you’d get cold (Which I doubt would happen). Despite the fact that some people got robbed, I found the room experience pretty good. I hope that you’ll take your precautions and have fun like we did!

The Food

To be honest, the food was AWESOME. I thought it would taste different and weird since they don’t feed the same way we do but it was really good! The buffet had really good stuff and weird stuff I didn’t try because I thought I wouldn’t like it. The pizzas, fries, noodles, fruits, bread, seafood and anything that looks normal tastes good! For breakfast I really liked the pancakes even though it wasn’t real syrup. The sausages and fruits were so good too! For lunch you can go to the buffet or the snack bar near the beach. Both are really good but I really liked the snack bar because there was more like hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, pizzas, rice and stuff you eat more often. There are 8 A la Carte restaurants as well. We were able to get 4. The first one was the Dominican: the food was okay but the soup was SO good. There were fruits in there and it didn’t even tasted sweet. It was spicy and delicious and we really liked it! I took the shrimps for dinner and it was pretty good too! The 2nd one was the Italian: with everything I read on trip advisor that it wasn’t good I was really surprised with how good it was. Maybe it depends on what meal you choose but I took the slices of beef and it was very good and it was really tender and quality beef. The 3rd one was the French Café de Paris: This one was really nice too but they have really small portions. My boyfriend asked for two plates and they didn’t mind so don’t be afraid to ask. I took the langoustines. It was okay but my boyfriend took the veal and I tasted it and it was very good. They have A la Carte deserts there which I really liked because when it is on a buffet it doesn’t tastes as fresh. We took the Cheese cake and it was divine. It doesn’t taste like normal cheese cake; it was really light and fresh. The last one was the Japanese: Everyone told me it was the best one so I had to try it. I agree that it is very nice. They cook in front of you and ask you what you want to its fun and you get A LOT of food. I found it pretty goof even if I thought the sauce on the meat tasted a bit weird. Everyone told me to try the fried ice cream for desert but I didn’t have to chance to try it since I was full. It was all very good and I really enjoyed all the restaurants! The other ones that we could have been to were the Mexican, the Spanish, the BBQ and the Grill.

Overall, this is a really nice hotel! I really enjoyed my trip and the weather was nice all week! I hope you will enjoy it as well and if you can, take 10 days instead of 7 because time goes too fast! =)

I would definitely give this a 5 star rating. The grounds are just out of this world to go along with one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever lay your eyes on. At first we were over taken by the size of it but after a few days when you got your bearings straight it was quite easy to get around. The sun seemed stronger than ever this year so make sure you bring enough sunscreen and aloe vera as they charge an arm and a leg there for it. With UV rays the way they are it is almost best to lie low between 11 am and 2 pm for that reason. The food at this resort does not have to take a back seat to any other place. The only thing here I would recommend is that you book your a la carte prior to getting their as you might not get any and if so the times could be 9 - 9:30 pm which is late in our eyes. Actually our travel agent told us we could not book them in advance but you can . There is never a dull moment at the beach with all the activities going on. The live shoes at the theatre each night were fantastic. I would recommend you take a day trip into the mountains to see how the local people live if it is your 1st time visiting here. We did the moster truck but when talking to other people their are a couple over excursions similiar that sounded much better. I would recommend the Tropical Storm also as a day trip. All things said I would definitely recommend this place to anyone and we look forward to next years return.

Dan / Faye

Annapolis Valley

Nova Scotia

Canada

I have just come back from the bahia pricipe resort and i loved it. It was mine and my boyfriends first holiday together and we had a wicked time! The pictures that you will see in Brochures is exsacly what the resort looks like! It is a massive resort but u do have little buses running up and down all day long. The staff are friendly and chatty you dont feel pressured to give tips, but the bell boys will wait around until u ave tipped them but you only need to tip a couple of dollars. There is enough sunbeds for everyone we never had to hunt around on beach or around the pools. The buffet resturant is ok alot of choice i must say but not much english food, you have to book you resturants quickly you can book all 6 at once so i would reccomend the GARDEN GRILL that was amazing the french,italian and japanese but there are a few others that you may decide to try. There is a Karaoke bar which is a laugh gettin up having a sing song,there is also a night club which plays spanish and english music but if u speak nicely to the DJ we had him playin english all night!! but this is round by the looky looky men as they call them, they do pressure you into buyin something but just say no and walk away otherwise you wont get away but der only at that area so you wont have them on the beach or around the pools. We went on 2 trips while we was there the caribean festival and swam with the sharkes and stingrays, i would not reccomend the caribean festival as we found it really boring when you reached the beach. The shark and stingray was a good exspirence but we did really want to swim wid dolphines but this worked out to 350 dollars each as you have to fly across to ocean world. But there is another dolphine place thats much closer which worked out at 90 dollars each we was told that thomas cook didnt use that place due to animals being treated badly,but a couple we met out there went and said it was amazing so we were quit dissapointed we didnt go there. Also another couple we met went on the mega trucks and had a great time said it was really worth it and that was about 85 dollars each. They did have mini golf and tennis also all water sports that dont have a motor were free so that was great. There was always alot of activities going on around the pools and shows every night near the lobby. I think i have covered everythink all i can say is i had a great holiday and would reccomend this hotle to a friend, i do hope if you choose this hotle you have an amazing time too!!

I went and stayed from June 4th to the 8th. The resort is large and beautiful. We went to two a la carte resturants, Japanese and the Steak House. The Japanese food was very good, and the steak house was top notch. The steak was sooo good. The pools were nice, although they could have been a little deeper.

The buffet sucked. The food for the most part was nasty and bland. Some items were very good, some ok. Most of the food was not good at all. The lobby bar wasnt that good either. The service wasnt good and the one chick barely added alcohol in her drinks. I think since the drinks were all inclusive, the free liquor was underproofed. One night i had 6 tequila shots and i was barely tipsy! The air conditioner in my room stopped working mysteriously and it was very hot. The tech did come within a reasonable time and repair it though.

We also went on the safari tours excursion. We went through the mountains where they showed us how village people lived, how they made cocoa and coffee, and how they made hand rolled cigars. the cocoa they had made for us was the best hot chocolate i ever tasted in my life. They also had mamajauana that was way better than the stuff they gave us at the hotel. We then had a traditional dominican lunch, which was the best food we ate on the whole entire trip. After that, they took us to a beautiful private beach that looked 10 times better than the beach at the resort. The tour was worth every penny it costed.

The market place wasnt all that good. every store and booth outside had the same stuff, and they all wanted high prices for that crap.

overall, i enjoyed my stay. The food and drinks could have been better. the a la carte resturants were very good. The place is beautiful and i would recommend it to others.

We stayed at the GBP Bavaro section with Signature Vacations from May 2-9, 2009.. Just an FYI for the flight: we flew with Canjet & they have an option online to do 'seat selection' where you may reserve your seat, USE IT!! Canjet had a Boeing 737-800 model plane & we reserved seats in row # 1 seats A & B. Those seats were the BEST. We had enough leg room to fully extend our legs infront of us plus we were the first off the plane! That wave of heat is incredible! The only downside was that it was close to the lavatory & many people would stand infront of us waiting to use it & block our view of the TV screen, but the stewardess would ask them to move. I felt it was well worth the extra $25 per seat for all that extra room. I believe row #16 had great leg room & #15 too but 15's seats do not recline.

Now for the arrival. We got into Punta Cana at night. The airport is much bigger than it appears from outside, but it's not huge. They ushered us in to take a quick photo with the ladies dressed up, then it was off to collect our luggage. I went to the washroom first thing & good thing because a line quickly formed. My financé luggage was dammaged, one of the wheels were ripped off during some point of the trip, we didn't claim anything though. Next it was off to our small bus which took us to the hotel. Our check in was done right on the bus, which was convenient. We were greeted with a specialty drink, no idea what it was but it was good. We were taken buy a small bus to our rooms. The rooms are large and very clean. Noise travels here so when others around you are loud you can hear it & in the morning you can hear the maids yelling at eachother. You can also hear chairs being moved around on the floor above you. If you can get a room on the 3rd floor. I can't remember our room # but there was a view of the garden, it was on the 2nd floor & near the Premier pool. The mini bar had 2 bottles of water, 2 beers & 3 types of pop (an orange a pepsi & diet pepsi I think). TIP: There are doors on each floor that only have a lock, no knobs, these are the supply closets & they are open for most of the day. I helped myself to bottles of water because you cannot find bottles at the bars or restaurants. We also tipped the maid a few dollars when we saw her in the hall to get a few extra towels & she also gave us extra waters. We did not pay the $20 for a safe as I have a lock built onto my luggage & we didn't bring any valubles except cash which we carried with us. We kept our do not disturb sign on the door & only had the room cleaned a couple of times. We purposely requested 2 double beds where one was used for sleeping & the other for something else ;-) My brother stayed at the Royal Golden section of the Punta Cana side & he was much closer to the beach. He was able to use all the amenities that we could. His room had slippers & bath robes too.

On our first night a few of us took off to the beach where we went swimming in our under garments. It was refreshing, I love the ocean! The way it's so easy to float, the salty water! I think our adrenalin was running high because any other night we went to the beach we found it was too cold & windy to swim, lol!

This hotel is massive! The grounds are really beautiful and very well maintained. It's way too big for my liking though, lacks a personal touch. I prefer smaller resorts where you can get to know the staff. Anyway, it's still nice. The structures & amount of marble used are incredible, it's really lovely. There was never a problem getting around. There was only 1 or 2 times where we had to wait for another shuttle bus to take us to or from the beach. We would always board the shuttles at either end, never in between. There were many times were others could not get on at the in between stops. If I remember correctly there were 5 stops. It took less than 5 minutes to get from one end to the other. We always used the shuttle that runs along the middle of the resort. There are shuttles on either side but they didn't seem to be as freqent yet they did run the whole length of the resort as the middle one starts at auditorium - which was just a bit of a walk from our room to the main lobby & past the auditorium.

I emailed Albania at: [--] with my a la carte requests. She forwarded my requests to Guest Services. It was Daniella from Guest Services who responded & accomodated my requests. We had the pleasure to experience the Japanese, the Steak House & the Gourmet plus the wedding reception was held at the BBQ Grill. All the a la cartes were FANTASTIC! The Japanese was entertaining with the cook right infront of us. If you can, get extra shrimps. I had the fried ice cream for desert; which was really good. The Steak House was by far the best. My fiancé had bacon wrapped shrimps - ummmm! I had the steak, & it was perfectly cooked to medium and so savory. Their appetizers were buffet style. The musaka was great. I was stuffed after all that. The Gourmet started off with small appatizers & I thought I might have to visit the buffet restaurant afterward but boy was I wrong! Our main courses were plentiful & delicious. My finané had the lamb chops & they were to die for, so tender & the spice used was perfect. I had the lobster which was cooked nicely and really who can complain about lobster?! The BBQ Grill was excellent too. I did not personally enjoy the buffet restaurants, the food is very bland & there was usually a line up to get in. I know they have to cater to many different people, it just would have been nice to have some flavor. The food is edible & is MUCH better than food found in Cuba.

The wedding was on the Wednesday and the location had to be moved in doors for the ceremony instead of at the outdoor gazibo. The staff did not put up signs at the gazibo site nor did they have anyone there to re-direct the guests, which I found frustrating. It was sweltering hot and we were all dressed up huddled under the bus hut waiting forever. The only reason we found out about the ceremony being inside was a couple guys went to get some water & a staff member by the diamond pool notice them dressed up & told them. Good thing it was inside too because there was a downpour right when the bride & maids showed up. The ceremony was short but did not feel rushed. The decor was lovely. Buy the time it was over the rain stopped & the sun was gleaming, which was nice becuase the party was able to get some pictures by the pool & then the beach. There was also a misunderstanding regarding the reception site. For some reason the bride & groom thought it was the Garden Grill but it was actually the BBQ Grill by the beach, which worked out perfectly as the area is dead at night so there was privacy & the sound of the ocean nearby was nice. No idea where the miscommunication came from & it did work out in the end.

The beach is the absolute best, just magnificent. We spent our days there tanning swimming & of course drinking. There are tons of people walking up & down the beach. I didn't participate in that, wanted to but never got around to it. Some of our friends were at the main pool buy the beach one day & they seemed to have a good time. We never had a problem getting chairs, palpas were a different story at the main pool. At the beach one would eventually become available, there are also lots of spots with shade beacuse of the palm trees. We did spent one day at the Premier pool at the other end of the resort on the Bavaro side. The bartenders there are really nice. The salsa danicing lesson was fun & quite a work out.

We only went to one show, the Michael Jackson show. It was well done. The audiotorium is big & smokey. We would mostly hang out at the main lobby bar area at night & then head over to the disco or casino. I found the staff at the main lobby bar to be a hit or miss. They were not overly friendly & they were pretty slow in filling orders. For the most part I drank champagne, vodka & 7 or Bahia Principe's. The disco is small but we had a blast there every night. It's what you make of it, we had a great time with our friends. Jeffrey the bar tender there is the best. He is also at the bar outside earlier in the night where the house band plays.

Shopping at this resort is a joke. For the first time ever while on vacation I bought nothing. It's all over priced and it's all the same stuff. I even found some vendors selling items which said Boca Chica or La Romana on it - hello, we were in Punta Cana!!! Try to get into town. I think I would have enjoyed shopping there much more. Oops, I lied, I did buy a couple of pictures that they take with you & different animals. I picked up one of me with a monkey (he was too cute) & a couple with us and parrots.

We did late checkout on our departure day. I was told the night before that I had to go by the lobby the next day or call in this request in the morning. I called in the morning of & was told that it was fine & it would be an extra $12 per hour. Check out is 12pm & we checked out just after 2pm. We returned our keys and were charged NOTHING! That was nice. No clue if they forgot or just let us have it for free, either way we were satisfied. We got on the bus to take us to the airport around 3:30 and off we went. The airport is ok, it cost $9 USD for a combo at Wendy's. Our departure tax was included in the tour. The duty free has some really nice watches, but they're expensive and they have a good selection of perfumes & liquor. We checked out our picture with the ladies taken when we first arrived & they were horrible! We really looked like we had no clue what was going on! There were lots of people at the airport & seating was limited. Fortunately some of our party had gotten in early & held seats for us close to our departure gate. Flight home was pretty cool as while flying over parts of the US there were some storms happening & we got to see the lightning from overhead, it was a really pretty experience.

I am always happy to be home after a week away. This week long trip was just enough time for me to enjoy & rest up. I will not return to this hotel for many personal reasons but if someone is ok with the size I say give it a try, you may like it. Happy travels all!

We stayed at in the Diamond Club Section for a week last Oct 2008, family of 5 with 3 kids ages 12, 9, 5 and my sister. Had 2 rooms on the ground floor and so glad we upgraded to Diamond Section....it was nice to have a private restaurant, pool and bar since it was quite a walk to the beach , main pool and main buffett restaurant. Also because we were Diamond club we rec'd 30 min each day internet access, it was nice to go and sit in the cool A/C room and check in with freinds and family at home and my daughter played some games online...

We travel with and without our children 2 or 3 times a year, have been all over Mexico and the Carribbean , first time to Dominican Republic. We really enjoyed the beach, thought it was beautiful. I was so impressed with the cleanliness of the place; the rooms, pool, beach, restaurants, bars etc... For such a large resort it was amazing to see how the staff take care of everything. They really deserve credit. The ocean and pool water temperature were so warm, loved it! I don't think we needed to use our towels to dry off the entire week. Always plenty of chairs at the beach/pools, we never had to reserve a seat.

The food was really good at the buffet and the A La Cartes. I think we did a la carte 3 times, i can't rememeber the name of the steak place but it was awesome! Japenese was fun too, the kids enjoyed.

Rooms were nice, beds comfy enough, clean modern bathrooms. Fully stocked mini fridge, excellent maid service.

We got a great last minute deal which is why we chose this resort. I would only return again if we got the same deal because honestly the only complaint (and not really a complaint more of a preference) is that we don't like the large resorts. Prefer smaller resorts where you can leave your room and walk to pools/bars/beach/restaurant and we missed the oceanviews we have had in the past at RIU Resorts in Mexico, Jamiaca and Aruba. Other than that if you want a nice clean hotel with a great beach and you don't mind having to wait for the trolly to take you around the resort VISIT THE BAHIA PRINCIPE BAVARO and you won't be dissappointed.

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from April 19 to April 26, 2009. This resort came highly recommended from people we know, our travel agent and reviews on Trip Advisor.

First, the positive. The resort is beautiful. The grounds are immaculate and there is always someone working on the grounds. The resort is huge, but you really only need the pool, the restaurants and the beach to have a good. time.

We were given a room in the Premier section, which was supposed to be an upgrade. I don't think there was a difference between the Premier and other section other than the fact that the Premier had its own lobby, buffet restaurant and it was the farthest part of the resort from the beach.

The food was good for the most part and there was plenty of it. There was always room at the buffet restaurants and the bars at both the Bavaro and the Premier lobbies always had snacks and coffee available.

The beach and water were beautiful. Although a lot of reviews on Trip Advisor complained that it was hard to get a chair on the beach, we didn't have a problem when we arrived usually after 9 am.

All of the rooms on the resort are junior suits with a sleeping area and a sitting area. This was great because we travelled with our 13-month old baby who recently started walking and needed lots of space to run around. The room was big enough to keep him running around when we were inside and we did not feel crowded with 3 people in the room as we usually feel in a regular hotel room.

Now for our experience. Although the resort is beautiful and the grounds and rooms are definitely a 5-star quality, the service was disappointing and I would not give the resort more than 2 stars for the service.

The people at both the Bavaro reception and the Premier reception are the grumpiest people I have ever met. On occassion you would get a smile but we found that for the most part the reception personnel were simply grumpy and looked like they wished they were somewhere else.

We were travelling with a 13-month-old who is still drinking formula. As soon as we checked in I called down and asked for 2 more bottles of water to make sure that I had enough water for formula for my son for the rest of the night (2 bottles of water were already provided). Over the next 5 hours I called down 4 times and had to go down to guest services once before I was given more water 5 hours later. Every time I mentioned that I have a baby and need water for him, and every time I was told that water would be sent up, but it wasn't. I tried to get water from the bar in the lobby but they did not carry bottled water, they told me to go back to my room and call reception. It was frustrating and not a good start to our trip.

A couple of days into our slipped I tripped down the stairs coming down from our room. I looked up and noticed a wet spot on one of the stairs. I ended up twisting my knee and am still limping 3 weeks later. After the fall I went back to my room and called guest services to let them know. Guest services did not ask who I was or for my room number, and just wanted to know where the wet spot was so they could clean it up. When I spoke to my travel rep later that day, she contacted guest services and they actually claimed that they spoke to me and got all the details from me and filed a report, which was a lie. When I asked to see the report I was told by the manager of guest services at the Premier that the report is confidential and they cannot show it to me. At no time did anyone from the resort ask how I was, whether I was injured or whether there is anything they can do to help.

We also had an issue with our sheets on our bed. One morning our son vomited on the bed after drinking his bottle. We called guest services and requested that our sheets be changed. We marked our sheets with a pen just in case, to make sure that they were actually changed. When we got back to our room that evening we checked, but the sheets were not changed. We called back guest services and they insisted that the sheets were changed. After arguing with them for a while they finally sent someone up to change the sheets.

Finally, at the buffet restaurant in the main Bavaro lobby the wait staff seemed to constantly forget to get us a high chair for our son and on one occassion we asked for a high chair 7 times before one was provided. Although it is not a big deal, it is frustrating to have to ask for something so simple again and again.

There were a few other instances of bad service during the week, but these examples show where improvement is needed.

So in sum, if you are looking for a beautiful resort to relax and don't care about how your'e treated, this is the place for you. The grounds are beautiful. The service needs lots of improvement.

This was my family's first time to Gran Bahia Principe and we all enjoyed it. We really liked the fact that the whole facility was very clean right down to the walkways outside.

This resort has winning conditions every day. Shame there are no proficient English speaking staff members on site (none that we ran across anyway). Unusual odor from water supply in Villas.

Overview

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro from 16th April 09 to 30th April 09, and had a good time in what is for the most part a very nice resort. It’s not without its drawbacks though, which I’ll go over in this review. I’ll try to split things up into different sections just to make sure it all gets covered.

Lobby and check-in

We were all given an express check-in whereby we were given our wristbands and room keys on the transfer from the airport to the hotel. This was good as it saved you having to get involved in any stampede to the reception to stand in a queue at the end of a long journey. Upon arrival at the lobby you then get whisked away to your room in a cart by the bellboy – there is a “passport” (guide) in your welcome pack, which introduces you to the resort and has a map included to allow you to get around the site. There was a slight problem in that they had run out of English guides, so our coach of arrivals (all English-speaking) were issued with an Italian version. Having said that, we didn’t end up getting an English version at all during our stay and don’t really feel we missed out on anything – its main use is the map for finding the a la cartes/pool areas etc.

The Lobby area itself is a pretty vast, open-ended wood and marble affair which (and this is a recurring theme at this resort), is kept spotlessly clean, marble polished at all times. At one end there is a bar area, off to one side is the main buffet restaurant, and there is the odd shop, guest services (where you book your a la carte reservations), and an office where all the tour operators hang around.

Upgrades

I wasn’t sure where to include the stuff about upgrades but I might as well do it here where we’re talking about check-in. The standard package at the hotel will see you presented with a yellow wristband. With this you will be entitled to:

• 3 a la carte restaurant visits per week of your stay – all of your other meals (breakfast/lunch/your remaining 4 evening meals per week) will be at the main lobby buffet (there are snack bars around the place, but we never used them so I can’t comment on what they are like, but they would serve as an alternative for lunch I guess)

• Use of the two main pools (one is down by the beach, another is around the centre of the resort)

• Use of the beach/bars/everything else the resort has to offer

There is also the Diamond/Hacienda club, which is an upgrade that will cost you $15 per person per day. This will entitle you to:

• 4 a la carte restaurant visits per week of your stay.

• Use of a pool that is reserved for Hacienda/Diamond club members

• Use of the Il Capriccio Italian restaurant for your breakfast and lunch

• Some other bits and pieces like a bit of free internet, a turn-down service, etc, but the key benefits are the 3 listed above

Then there is the Ambar, which is an adults only section of the hotel which is sort of off-to-one-side to ensure that the “adults only” bit can be observed. I’m not completely sure how the Ambar upgrade works, but it’s $30 per person per day and I think it works similarly to the Diamond/Hacienda, only that now your pool is adults only, your room is slightly bigger and better and has a four poster bed, and you have a completely separate lobby with its own bar. There seems to be a separate section of the beach that is reserved for Ambar customers, where the sun loungers have more room around them too.

We ended up upgrading (more about that later because we didn’t quite do any of the above options) to Diamond/Hacienda and were very pleased that we did. It will become apparent why we were pleased in the following sections.

Rooms

The standard rooms are big and spacious with a nice-sized bathroom with Jacuzzi bath and shower. You’ll have coffee facilities in your room, a mini-bar that will be restocked every day with Brahma beer, and various soft drinks/mineral water. The room has a sofa, a couple of chairs and a table, and a small balcony area with chairs and table. You’ll also have a TV with around 90 channels – a lot of them Spanish-speaking, but plenty US channels to keep you going when you’re in your room.

Our maid was lovely, and would do a great job of cleaning the place (usually by lunchtime) and leaving flower arrangements around the room which was a nice touch. We left a tip on a daily basis for her – whether this made a difference to the service I don’t know, probably not as the level of cleanliness on the site was impeccable at all times.

Overall the rooms are very nice, and you would be hard pushed to pick fault with them in my opinion.

Pool Areas

Most of our time at the hotel was spent at the Diamond/Hacienda Club pool which is in the centre of the resort. The pool area is very clean, there is a swim-up bar, and beds are available pretty much all day – people would turn up in the afternoon and be able to get a bed easily enough. The Il Capriccio restaurant, where you eat breakfast and lunch as specified above if you upgrade, is right next to the pool so going for lunch is no hardship at all. The staff at the restaurant and at the bar are all great and will make you feel very welcome during your stay – for the most part ALL of the staff at the resort are very nice and friendly, but it seemed they were particularly so at this Italian.

There is a very friendly pool attendant who walks round the pool all day keeping an eye out for people who haven’t upgraded and have accidentally set up at the wrong pool. They are asked to leave and told which pools they can use – for the most part this happens when people have just arrived and just haven’t realised they shouldn’t be at that pool.

If you haven’t upgraded, you will have the choice of two pools – one that is in the centre of the resort, and a larger pool area down by the beach. The difference to the Hacienda/Diamond pool is marked. Firstly, you will need to be up very early to claim a bed – these pools cater to the majority of the resort, and consequently they are busy! These pools are also fairly chaotic as there is an animations team running various events throughout the day. If this is your sort of thing, and you like to be involved in all of that, then you’ll have no problems. If you don’t (and I don’t), then the normal pool areas will be nightmarish – we spent our first morning at the pool by the beach, upgraded at lunchtime, and when I went down to collect our towels to take them to the sanctuary that was the Hacienda/Diamond pool, the place was bedlam – loud music, kids running all over the place, organised volleyball going on in the pool, etc.

Like I say, if you have kids, or you like getting involved in this sort of carry-on, then you’ll be fine. If you’re like me and like to lie by a fairly quiet pool reading a book, or listening to your ipod without having to contend with the thumping bass from the music that’s coming from the bar area, then you will hate the main pool areas, and you should be doing everything you can to upgrade!

Restaurants and the food

I’ll start with the main buffet area as this is where you’ll eat most of your meals if you are on a standard package. Unfortunately, it’s not great. Each day there is a different theme (Italian, Spanish, Dominican, American, Oriental, Gala (a mixture of all of the above) and something else that I can’t remember).

When you first enter the buffet you will be led to a table by a (usually quite surly) member of the staff. They will eventually find you a table, grunt and gesture towards it, and that will be the signal for you to sit down. Someone will descend on you immediately to fill your glass with water, and take your drinks order. Sometimes you will receive these drinks within a minute. Sometimes you will receive them when you’re eating your dessert.

So then you need to go and get some food – my advice is to leave someone guarding the table. On two occasions (we ate in there 8 times) we went to get our food and returned to find someone else sitting at our table.

The food itself is fairly average – there’s plenty choice, but there never seemed to be anything you could construct a normal plate of food from. I know it’s a buffet, and that’s kind of the idea, but it seemed like such a mish-mash of random bits and pieces that were average at best.

As I mentioned, because of our upgrade we only had to eat there 8 times over the two weeks. I don’t think we had a meal there that we enjoyed, so the fact that our visits were limited to 8 was a godsend. For illustration if you were there two weeks and hadn’t upgraded, you would make 32 visits to the buffet over your two week stay....which doesn’t even bear thinking about.

The A La Cartes are a bit of a mixed bunch, but are generally pretty nice. We went to the Japanese, Steak House, Mediterranean, Spanish, Italian and Mexican and had decent meals at all of them. It tends to be a buffet starter followed by a main course/dessert that you order. All in all, not too bad at all.

Breakfast and lunch we ate every day at the Italian by the Diamond pool, and it was very nice. There was a good selection of buffet food every morning, with omelettes also made to your specification on request. At lunch there was a nice salad buffet, along with some waiter service food which comprised a selection of pastas, pizzas, or meat/sauce/fries and vegetables. I pretty much lived on the chicken in pepper sauce every day which was very nice. Another plus to eating at the Italian was that at the very most there would be 20 people in there at any one time – quite often less than 10. Contrast this with the main buffet where you would probably have a minimum of 100 people, and it’s easy to see how you would receive a better service.

The Beach

We only really visited the beach to have a walk. The loungers seemed to be fairly well packed together, and from what I can gather it was pretty busy most of the time, and you had to get there pretty early. I don’t really feel qualified to comment on the beach though as we didn’t really spend any time there, so I would refer to other reviews if you’re interested in the beach. It’s very nice for an early morning walk though if you want to see the sun rise.

Entertainment

We didn’t really bother with the entertainment too much, and what we did see wasn’t spectacular or anything. Although the friends that we met there who went more regularly enjoyed it, so I wouldn’t take too much notice of my opinion on it!

The bars/booze

No complaints at all on this front. The lobby bar was nice both on an evening and during the day, and the pool bar was good. There’s a wide selection of cocktails available, and you can order “premium” drinks at the lobby bar (brand name spirits etc), which you would have to pay for, although we never felt the need.

Not a lot more to say here, as there were really no problems with it.

The Resort in general/Miscellaneous

I see a lot of stuff in people’s reviews about how the resort is too big etc, but I don’t really get the complaint. The resort caters to a lot of people, so the fact that it is big is a good thing, as it never really seemed busy other than when you were in the main buffet. There is a shuttle service to get you around the place anyway so it’s not like you’re having to hike all over the place, although I think we only used it a couple of times, preferring instead to just walk around. I guess I can kind of understand the complaint if you were, say, spending your days at the pool by the beach and having to travel up to the lobby and back for lunch, as that would get to be a bit of a bind every day. There is a snack bar by the pool though so it wouldn’t be necessary to do it every day.

I’m sure there are rooms that are more out of the way/in noisier areas than others, so there’s probably an element of luck of the draw there, but if you get put somewhere you really don’t like then I’m sure you can get moved.

A final word on upgrades

I mentioned earlier that we didn’t really get any of the specified upgrades. We asked on arrival and were told to come back the following morning to see if there were any rooms available. We did so and were told to come back later, which we did, and there were still none available. I don’t know if it was the look of disappointment on our faces or what (!), but the guy at reception disappeared out the back and re-appeared with silver wristbands. He explained there were no rooms available in the Diamond/Hacienda area, but with these bands we would be able to use that pool and the Italian restaurant for breakfast/lunch.....and the best thing is there was no charge! I think this might be something that they reserve for people who’ve stayed with them in the past or something, I’m not really sure, but it definitely made our holiday. If no Diamond/Hacienda rooms are available then I would make it clear that you are happy to stay in your current room and just upgrade, as there is very little difference from talking to other couples that were there.

I can’t stress enough the fact that if you are like us (go on holiday for the quiet life, and to enjoy the relaxation), then the standard package at this hotel is NOT going to be for you. An upgrade is going to be pretty much essential, so I would try to either arrange this in your original booking, if you’ve already booked then I would contact the resort direct to try to arrange, or if you go tomorrow then I would just badger reception about it on arrival!

Conclusion

We enjoyed our holiday, and met some really nice people when we were there who we went for some of our a la carte meals with. The resort is big, but not too big, and is kept spotlessly clean at all times. The Dominican people all seemed lovely and were very friendly – you really did feel like they were pleased that you were visiting their country when you spoke to them – you couldn’t walk past any of the staff on the resort, be they gardeners, waiters, chefs or maids, without them bellowing out a friendly “Ola!” at you.

The food at the a la carte restaurants was decent, but the food/service at the main buffet wasn’t great.

I guess the main thing to take away from this review (and we spoke to other people who said similar) was that it was the upgrade that made our holiday – without the ability to use the quieter pool, and the Italian for breakfast and lunch, I think we would have had a pretty bad time of it.

I have scored the resort on this basis – i.e. if we hadn’t upgraded our scores would be lower. I just want to make that clear that the score I’ve provided were for our holiday specifically and not the resort in general.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message, and we’ll try to help out with responses.

NOTE: I'm aware that this review might come across as snobby, but that's really not the intention. I just wanted to make it clear that you could go to this resort and have two very different holidays depending on whether or not you upgrade. There will be those that could have a great time regardless of whether or not they upgraded, and those that will only have a good time if they upgrade. I fall into the latter category so this review is written with that as a pretty heavy theme as a result.

This was our first trip to the DR. We were overwhelmed by the selection of resorts. I booked the Bahia before I found this site, and I was a little nervous after reading some bad reviews....But I would go back to the Bahia in a heart beat. The food was not only plentiful and assorted, but it was good. We had 4 a la Cartes, which were already reserved for us prior to our arrival. Our favorite was the French Restaurant. The drinks were good, the staff at the resort made every attempt to make our stay memorable, they always had smiles on their faces, and always greeted us with a friendly "Ola"... The grounds are immaculate, they are very well maintained, and the Bavaro beach is perhaps one of the nicest I've seen. If you are not an early riser however, you may not get a choice palapa on the beach, the towel game is in full swing. We were always able to get a spot at the Diamond pool. This is a massive resort, but we didn't seem to have to wait for service for drinks or food. They have plenty of staff on hand.

Approx. 40 of us went to this resort the day of our friends wedding here in Canada. Check-in was easy...we actually checked in on the bus ride to the hotel. When we arrived (at lunchtime) a bellboy greeted us with the room key and plopped us on a trolley and took us to our room. The room had two double beds with a balcony, a jetted tub, a mini fridge, and a couch and table. Very nice room!

The resort is pretty big and it takes a little while to figure out where everything is, but we got to know it very quickly.

The main buffet is okay and we ate at two a la cartes and they were not good. We had the BBQ and Italian. The food on this resort is edible, but not incredible!

We took an excursion called "Tropical Storm" and it was amazing. Our group chartered this whole excursion and it was so fun. We got to ride in a catamaran, snorkel, ride a large waterslide, go to a Natural Pool in the middle of the ocean, and drink Mama Juana...very fun!! HIGHLY recommended!!

The beach on this resort is awesome, but very busy. We always managed to find chairs and a quiet place could be found by walking up or down the beach.

The pools are quite busy and hard to find chairs by the main pool at the beach, but there is usually seats at the other pools.

We had our photos taken by a professional photographer on the resort....very awesome...do it!!!

In all, this trip was awesome, big resort, but beautiful!

Hi the resort is a fantastic place to stay had lots of fun. My only conern is that you CAN'T TRUST ROOM SERVICE, I know your thinking are you not there when it is delivered... Yes you are but don't turn your back on them as they scan the room for valuable and take what they can when your not watching them.. Young man that delivered the room service took my Oakley Sunglasses... Was not and still am not impressed. The Guest service "Guy" for the Royal Golden Rooms looked at me like I was lying.... Yes... I really want to spend my $'s on another pair of sunglasses when I had the pair I like very much...

We flew a group of 11 out of NS with Sunquest. There were 7 teenagers (14-18) in our group and four adults. Overall we had a great time. As a persepective, it is our first trip to DR - we have been to Cuba 3 times and Mexico 4, St Lucia 1.

Arrival - we arrived at 11:00pm and were the only ones checking into Club Diamond so checkin was quick and simple. However, we could not get a key to the safe and were told to come back the next morning. We did this, only to get a girl who was the first day on the job and was not given a password to access the computer, nor could she speak English. After 15 minutes of trying to communicate with her, we decided to come back the next day. We are very easy going people and this did not ruin our morning but we did joke that this would be a large paragraph of frustration from someone else we were sure.

Rooms - We were in Villa 34 in the CD section, overlooking the pool and beside the restaurant. Great location - easy access. One thing i can say is that when you look at the resort map it is a bit misleading as to the locations of the villas around the pool. They are all very close so no matter what room you are given here in ClubDiamond, it is close to the pool. Rooms were cleaned daily from Lucia our maid who was an absolute gem. We had four rooms, two of which held 4 teenage boys and you can only imagine the mess. Lucia would attempt to clean it for them, always with a smile. The boys were so impressed they all left her tip money out of their own money.

Food - Here i was impressed. I was expecting just a notch over Cuba but it was actually really good. The Club Diamond restaurant was great for breakfast but had a smaller selection of the main buffet so we actually used both, alternating days. The lunch here is great because it is an order of the menu relax meal. We had the chicken, pork, and beef. All were great. Just watch out for the Garlic Chicken - it had about two full cloves of garlic on it - that lasted with hubby almost all week! :[ Buffet theme nights were good, one night we had lobster which was awesome. (Tuesday)

A-la-Cartes - We did the japanese, Garden Grill, Steakhouse - we loved all of them. The only downside was the service in the Japanese was too quick - as soon as you put your spoon down they serve the next course. I prefer to have a little break in between courses.

Beach - It is a beautiful beach, lots of sand, the waves were not too big. But, man is it busy. Helicopters flying overhead, boats going up and down, and people everywhere you look. The Bahia seems to be the only beach this bad along the strip. However, if you look you can find a quieter spot away from people. Closer to the Ambar seems busier. When you get to the beach, go right almost to the end by the Watersports and it is not so hectic. To get shade under the huts you have to be there by 6 am - no joking. Our first day we went at 7am, nothing, the next 6:30 - almost nothing, the next 5:30 - huts closer to the beach. This is crazy. We heard people saying they put towels out a night. Our kids got sunburned the first day, therefore we had to play the game but otherwise, wow, who wants to get up that early on vacation. We did tell this to management that they need to do something about it - but hey, who knows. On our excursion we went up further on the beach to the marina - much nicer beach - quiet and calmer waters. This would be closer to the Edenh Real etc.

Excursions - we only did the Tropical Storm. We had a blast but i can tell you, it is a party cruise. When the bus picks you up the music is playing and everyone is getting in a happy mood. The official line is no drinking until the snorkling is done, but as soon as the boat pulls from shore - the bar is open and the staff are out pouring drinks non-stop. I actually felt bad for a family on this boat with two small daugthers. It is not a family excursion. However, we had a great time.

Pools: We found 4 pools (Diamond, Other, Premium and Main). The Main pool, i would not even venture into that one. Crazy busy with all the kids and very cloudy..hmm i wonder why. I can see why they would shut it down one afternoon for cleaning. They test several times daily and if the levels are not where they should be because of whatever (pee, sunscreen, spilled drinks) they shut it down and clean and shock it. That is a good thing. Club Diamond pool was awesome, chairs at anytime of the day, not crowed and great bar service. There was another pool directly across from us that anyone could use though some thought it was only Club Golden - to my knowledge there is no Club Golden Pool.

Entertainment at Night: We took in the Circus show which was amazing (this same show travels to several resorts). Other then that, the kids went a few nights. The Principle Square has entertainment starting at 10:30 at night - way to late in my opinion. The Karaokee bar seemed busy, and people were having fun. The Disco opens at midnight and one night we did look in people were having fun.

My Gripe - Not much for Teenagers to do at night after the show. The schedule we were given said teen disco Friday - Sund from 9-12 but when all the kids went up there was none. I spoke to customer service who knew nothing about it and had to call the disco to find out what was going on. Apparently, they were changing the schdule and did not inform customer service who gives out the schedule...strange. So the kids all said they were bored at night. Us old folks, we are in bed by 10 so not much entertainment for them.

Observations by us: Watch out for the Mamajuana (local drink) wow, it is potent and hits fast. Drinks were great. Diamond Club had Smirnoff Vodka and all you had to do was ask for it. Lots and Lots of slushy drinks - Dirty Monkies seem to have been a favourite. Red wine is better then Cuba for sure but still not great but drinkable. Beer was always cold and good. Bars never ran out of drinks and the resort always had a drink of the day which was great and a nice change.

Lobby Bar serves great irish coffee, coffee and muffins all day long.

Tipping - I am not sure at what capacity the hotel was at but tipping here was not as expected as in Cuba. Maybe cause of the amount of people here but we drank at the pool bar in Club Diamond alot and only tipped the last day - service was great each and every time. We always tipped at mealtime but we did wander around alot and got great service at any and every bar we went to.

Dominican People at the Bahia are probably the friendliest i have encountered at any resort anywhere. They are always singing, smiling and look like they are truly enjoing their jobs.

English is an issue - and yes i know we are in another country but i do expect people who are dealing with you in customer service to know how to speak english. In the bars and speaking to Lucia we never had any problems.

We met several people at this resort who said that the Bahia was their favourite one in the DR. They tried others but liked this one the best.

Take out a Kayak to the Aston Wreck on a nice sunny day - the coral colors are amazing

Photo Shoot - by the pool is a kiosk that offers photo shoots of your family - you have to buy a minimum of 10 photos for 100$. We did this. Willy spent two hours with us taking lots of amazing pictures and we bought 26 of them. Where in Canada can you get this done for this price? It gave us photos to last a lifetime.

Overall : We have been to the Bahia in Mexico twice and loved it which is why we chose it here. I think, size for size, they are comparable, the only difference is the crowds. In Mexico each resort has their own massive pool which i think lessens the congestion on the beach. I think had it not been for our Club Diamond i would not have liked it as much. But, this trip was about kids and if we were just a couple, we would have chosen the Ambar hands down. Very different feel, relaxing and not crowded. The food is good, the rooms are nice, the resort grounds are fantastic, the shows are great and the beach is beautiful. I would recommend it to any of my friends and hubby and i are planning a trip back but to the Ambar side. However, if we were going with the kids again, we would choose this resort, no problems.

We stayed here for 1 week Jan 30th-Feb 6th 2009. There was a group of 9 of us. We flew with air transat which was crowded but fine. We arrived at the resort at approx. 9am Checkin was pretty crazy, One staff member tried to be very helpful but it was very unorganized. We were pretty much thrown a glass of fruit punch and then had no where to put our glass after.. so there were many lying around everywhere. We all eventually got room and safe cards but were not able to check in until 3pm. We all changed, left our bags up front with tags on them to be brought to our rooms. Which was fine, we went to the pool and hung out and had a great time. Rooms were not ready and we finally got to them at about 4:30 pm. Turns out we were put in building 11. The worst building in the entire resort as there is construction 7 days a week right outside our window. Not impressed. We even tried to pay money to be upgraded anywhere. They said they were at capacity and final answer was no. So we avoided our room at all costs...which is ok cause we are not there to hang out in the room but still very dissapointing to be woken at 7am to construction...

The grounds were beautiful, kept very clean, well manicured. Didnt see any wildlife though.. only one tiny lizard. The resort is HUGE so be prepared to get your exercise..Beaches were amazing! Water was beautiful! walks along the beach were very nice.

The food was ok, we knew coming to the Dom. Rep. not to expect much of the food so we didnt. The japanese a la carte was the best.. The wine was not very good. My biggest complaint about the food was that it really wasnt available all the time. I am a snacker and found i never had snack food so i had pizza everyday for lunch.. repetitive..Also the earliest you can have a "special coffee" was 10:00 am in the lobby bar, i dont know about you but i love coffee and that was a bummer.. it seemed there were no restaurants available from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. and 3:30 pm until 6:00 pm.. i could be wrong but we couldnt find one open. Bartenders in the main lobby were so much fun! Loved Graciella! Give them 5$ and you'll be treated No. 1 for the entire trip! Front desk staff not very helpful..

We went to the disco almost everynight and it was a blast! Very packed, busy with all ages too which was neat! And definitely do the karaoke as it was really fun.. and dont forget to bargain if you want to buy anything, there is the market right in the resort and the guys selling stuff are very abrupt and agressive. Keep walking if you have already bought something cause they will even follow you..

We had a good time overall because there were 9 of us. I would have been dissapointed if we didnt have each other to entertain ourselves and make things positive. I would come back to the Dom. but not to this resort. I would definetely pay more money and stay at a 5* palace (like the riu next door). We had heard really good things about the bahia chain as some of us have even stayed at them elsewhere but i wont ever book bahia again.. If you still want to come here make sure you pay more and stay in the Ambar part of the resort. We didnt have the option but apparently that is where you want to be.

Have fun!

The complex is HUGE. The facilities and site was very clean. The Beaches beautiful. That's were it ends, first off I've read past reviews about how great the food was, was it really or were they just commenting on how much there was, there was alot of food as for being GREAT! that's left up to your palate. I don't know if they knew the HOT food is prepared at the two buffets located at the main entrances and the shuttled to the other eateries located throughout the complex were the breakfast and lunch is usually cold. No hot eggs, hash browns, bacon, saugsage ect... Toast is warm you can make it there. That could explain why the satilite resturants were empty during the moring and afternoons. The lunch areas at the pools were okay, the hot item there were the french fries, you could also get a burger patty that was set on a steamer and under hot lamps. The other problem with food was that you had to eat at the times they set, there were no snack bars that you could get a quick snack at like pizza, fries, hot dog, burger ect... when you felt like it, I thought that was kind of strange. Now the complex was built in 2004 and yet they are still working on it. he first thing I needed for the room was ice, there were no ice machines in our villa, we had to go over two villas for ice and did you know that it rains there? and I mean hard. Don't ever complain about something that you feel needs to be addressed, if you go to maid or call the front desk, first establish if they speak english and they say they do, yet once they figure out your not happy about something, they don't speak english after all and then the run around begins. I was so upset the hotel up graded my stay because I wanted them to book me on the next flight out of there and to return my money. I need to mention this was day two. Now I'm not the only one there having a bad day, another family was looking to leave the same day because of thier experiance. Alot of people go on these vacations that most have spent alot of money on and never say anything about the service they recieve and normally I'm one of those people. You see I've stayed at other Grand Bahia's and had a wondrful experiance and why I booked this one. But this one had it coming, for instance, why would you shut down one of your largest pools at 1 p.m. for cleaning when it could be done after 6p.m. when the pools close and this one was the one with the kiddie pool. Now you have twice as many people in the other pool. Now speaking of pools, don't get caught using a pool (Diamond) your not suppose to or they will kick you out rudely. Now why do they mention all these pools and then you can't use them in this compex, they didn't mention that in the travel guide, you paid to go on vacation to be told not to us a one certain pool which happens to be right next to each other, and then they close the biggest one in the middle of the day, go figure. If you go to the beach, you need to get out there by 6 a.m to put out your towels and what-nots on a lounge chair or good luck trying to find one after 9 a.m. Am I lying?. Stay out of the Ambar which is on the same complex, don't get me started about that place. If you book diner reservations for an evening meal outside of the buffet and I suggest you do, book it on your first day there or they book up fast, find out were they are located it will save you time because the paper map they give you is so hard to read even with bi-focals and thay are not all listed on the map either. Those evening meals were good. After and only after my issues were addressed properly, did we start to enjoy our stay. I'm not telling you NOT to go here, the place is beautiful, I just saying don't let the service staff get away with sub-par performance, after all your suppose to be at a 4 plus star resort and you paid to enjoy yourself and they are there to insure that is going to happen. One final note I did not book through this provider.

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe (Coba section) in Mexico in 2008 and had a brilliant holiday, so we thought we'd try another resort in the same chain this year. We weren't disappointed. Do let the guest services staff at the hotel know in advance if you are a returning GBP guest - we did and we were upgraded to the Diamond section, which gave us access to 2 extra pools, the use of the Italian restaurant for lunch and dinner every day, a smaller buffet restaurant in the Premier section and one extra a la carte reservation. Our booking was made through Thomas Cook and we think we got a great deal.

This resort is large and beautifully landscaped. The accommodation is arranged in small blocks to leave plenty of room for the gardens, pools, restaurants etc so everything is very spread out. We heard lots of people complaining about this so if you would object to walking for 5 minutes or sitting on a trolley bus for 2 minutes to reach other parts of the resort, don't stay here! On the other hand, if (like us) you would enjoy strolling around well maintained gardens and don't like everything closely packed together and densely built-up then you will find this hotel ideal. We were in block 30, about halfway between the beach and reception and right next to the Italian restaurant and Diamond pool. If your room is close to the beach you will be a long way from reception and vice versa.

Our room was large, clean and comfortable and was kept spotless by the maids and our minibar was restocked every day.

We found the majority of staff to be extremely friendly and helpful. We certainly had plenty of "service with a smile" and did not feel under pressure to tip in order to get good service. Other reviewers have complained about the poor standard of English spoken by the staff at this hotel and it is fair to say that the staff in Mexico seemed to have a better command of English than the staff in the Dominican but we have very limited Spanish and were able to get by just fine...politeness, patience and a smile always go a long way wherever you are in the world.

The food, service and ambience were great at the Premier buffet and a la carte restaurants (Italian, Mediterranean, steakhouse, Mexican) and we really enjoyed our omelettes for breakfast and a la carte lunches at the Italian. The upgrade made a real difference to our enjoyment of our meals as our only experience of the main buffet restaurant on the first night was pretty average by comparison, and the main buffet was also quite a long way from our room and the pools.

The beach was lovely, and the sea was a beautiful colour and great to swim in. In our opinion, the beach was better than the beach at the GBP in Mexico which was rocky and spoiled somewhat by ugly coastal defences. Our only issue with the beach was how busy it was, with sunbathers packed into a fairly small area. Getting a seat on the beach was difficult. The huge main pool area was also busy but we always found somewhere to sit. The pools here are amazing and there is something particularly decadent about ordering drinks at a swim-up bar!

The weather was exactly what we had been led to expect in April...hot and dry. We only had one cloudy day out of seven and the sun was strong. We only had three or four mosquito bites between us in one week so, in our opinion, mosquitoes were not a big problem here, though we were advised to take pills for malaria and we also used repellent in the evenings just in case.

In the evenings the "Pueblo Principe" here was nowhere near as busy or as lively as the "Hacienda" at the GBP in Mexico so our evenings were fairly sedate and relaxing, although we did venture into the disco once and had a good laugh there.

The Dominican does not offer the widest range of excursions but there are boat trips, jeep safaris, ziplining trips etc to get you out of the resort and it sounds like there is some good nightlife in nearby Punta Cana if that's your thing. We took 2 days out by boat, a trip to Saona island (paradise) and the "Sunset Tropical Storm" excursion. We enjoyed both of these trips and the copious amounts of rum included in the price helped everyone to have a good time.

A wonderful holiday overall...highly recommended!

Hello all,

I have to say that I do not understand such good reviews.. The Resort is nice, clean, good conditions and the staff are very friendly. But that is not evertyhing.. When I go to a resort for example in the Caribe, I expect to have all kinds of fresh fruit, all sort of cocktails and drinks.. well, to my disappointment we had only watermelon, melon and pineappple, and papaya (often too ripe or not enough ) everyday. I could find banana's on one single meal and mango's on two. There was also often the passsion fruit and that was all. Let me add that many times they weren't even ripe.

And what about fresh fruit juices? well you could only find them on the main restaurant/buffet which was 700mts from the beach. Which will also be a problem if you have a room near the beach and want them for breakfast.

If you want to eat something at the middle of the morning and/or afternoon you will have to live with the same things they have available for lunch and dinner! You have to other restaurants near the beach&pool but not as complete as the one 700 mts away and don't expect natural juices and other good stuff. Also the bars at pool and beach do not have them... We all found the drinks at the bars way too sweet.

Pool opens at 8am and closes at 18h(!!!) like the bars and restaurants near the pool/beach. So if you expect to drink or eat something after 18h you will have to go to the main restaurant/buffet far away from the beach.

The resort was recommended by some friends of mine but they were when it was smaller.. The brochures and pictures do not say everything. Inside the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro there are the Bavaro resort, the Punta Cana resort, the Ambar resort, Premium, Diamond, Gold and Club Hacienda. too many rooms for too many people in order to get decent quality. The Ambar resort is the most recent one and the pictures you see are modified ones. When you see pictures from the Gran Bahia principe Bavaro (Bavaro and Punta Cana) you verify that there are no more resorts around!!! couldn't be farthest from the truth starting from their own Ambar. Then you have the Riu just next to it and another on on the opposite side. Check on google earth which is also missing the one I do not know the name...

If you have a booking for the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro when you get there you will be given a bracelet for the Punta Cana or the Bavaro which in fact are all the same expect for the different receptions and main restaurant(which share the same kitchen). But there is one advantdge with the Punta Cana side which is the possibilty to be closer to the beach.

If you walk south into the Riu area or Iberostar you will find better sea water (clearer due to not so many boats driving around)

There is lots of animation and as I have said the staff are very nice and the conditions also excellent but it is not enough for me to return

Just my opinion....

I just returned from a trip to Punta Cana after being deverted from Cancun due to flue outbreak. My initial opinion of the Gran Bahai Principe was very good, the beach, pools and rooms were top notch. However after a couple of days my overall opinion changed dramatically. Other than the bartenders and maids the staff left much to be desired, and at times were extremely rude, this included issues with guest services who were less than pollite. The towel service personnel acted in a very abrupt manor when requesting to change towels. Finally the shopping experience in the hotel was very dissappointing the staff were extremely aggresive and again very rude. Overall I would not return to this resort as the service was far below the standard expected when paying so much to stay at what is advertised as a 5 star resort.

a very clean hotel, some likeable employees, others only wants money.a is always the same food.the coktails with much ice, does not have natural the highest points of fruit, the thematic restaurants, is not good.

Overall....... the resort was right on!! but wAY tooo big.....!! USE the little kinda buses that take you every where!!! You ARE on vacation and you did pay a lot of money so don`t wan`t to be walking everywhere and getting bliserts!! Make sure you book your a la carte the same day you arrive!!!! Reception staff not realy helpfull... not happy,, not smiley... Just there........ Lobby bar staff realy nice and smiley!!

Getting there:

We went two of us and left from NS, Canada. We booked with Signature Vacations and had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS what so ever. Our rep: Jean Luc was realy helpfull and had answers to every questions we had. We got at the resort on thursday, april 16th close to 9 a.m and only got our room at 3p.m........ that wasn`t realy fun.. but we had read a lot of reviews b4 leaving so we were expecting that...... TIP: In your cary on, bring your bathing suit, shorts or whatever you want to change into when you get there so that if you have to wait for you room, you can just go at the beach, of sit in the main lobby bar to have a drink .. because it IS going to be warm, sunny and just beautifull as soon a you get there!....... About SIGNATURE, the only problem that we had was that we only met with the Jean Luc on friday morning ....... it would of been nice to have knew about him as soon as we got there instead of beeing almost lost in this super HuGE resort....But it wasn`t THAT bad... I think that if the staff at the main lobby (reception) would of been more nice, smily and helpfull it would of been soooooooo much easier and more understanding...

Now getting to our resort, since we had booked with Signature vacation, a bus was already waiting for us to bring us to our resort. TIP: Once you have your lugage, take out a few bucks (4 a tip) and just ask one of the guys that work there (one is probably going to come see you) and he will bring you to the right bus, that will bring you to the right resort ! :) If you booked with Signature Vacation, your bracelet, towel cards and resort map will all be given to you by the entertainement guy in the bus! Make sure not to lose the towel cards, because without them (one each person) you will NOT be able to get towels!! So do not bring towels from home because they have enough there! as long as you have you card to exchange for one!

Food:

Excellent! different theme of food every day!! Lots of choices!!

A la carte restaurants:

Make sure to book your A la carte restaurants because we booked them the second day and ALMOST did not get any of what we wanted! (that`s why it would of been nice to have met our rep. on the first day! so make sure to meet with your rep!!!! VERY imp!!!!)

Beach and Excursion:

REALY crowded!! but still ok.... Make sure to put your towel on a chair, set it where you wnat it and leave it there allll day if you want to ... it will still be there when you get back if go for lunch, a walk, etc.... everybody even leaves there bads there..... their are a lot of gards that watch! And you DO have the right to walk wherever you want on the beach because que beach does NOT belong to any resort!! so you can go take a walk at the Riu resort ... or whatever ,,, but you can not got IN the resort .. ... all for control of the all inclusive and stuff .. wich makes sence of course!

Guys that try sell cigars (carefull because they do sell fake ones) If you want to by good cigars (real ones) and pay VERY good price! Go on the Runner Excursion where you go adventure how the dominican people live! VERY RECOMENDED!!! Not scary at all!! We will never forget what we saw and experienced!! if you chose not to go you will be missing something!!!! Our guides name was : Mimi and he was the best tour guide !! He answered any question that anybody had! It was a bit rough but still right on!! We saw how they made cigars, plantations, sugar canes and a whole lot more !! TIP: Bring crayons, colouring books and little gifts like that for the kids that you will see during the excursion!! it is realy a culture shock and you have to keep in mind that most dominicans live very poor... so giving the kids gifts doesn`t hurt and it makes you fell REALY good when you see there smiling faces !!!

Cleaning lady and Room:

Our room was realy clean and the cleaning lady was very nice, but did not understand more than 50% that we said... ... they should realy learn to speak english!....

Every time we had our room cleaned we left her gifts that we had brought (pads, ETC) and a little tip$... she relay enjoyed it and always wanted to clean our room. When we left back home we left her a whole bunch of stuff that we did not want to bring back because of our luggage weight like our shampoo, conditionner, hairspray, ETC!) Every piece of clothes and expecialy luggage you have will be HEAVIER once you go back because of the humidity.

Airport:

Don`t try bringing something fishy because there ARE dogs heheh!! wich are very cute by the way :)

Souvenirs:

Carefull when you try to bargain with the guys in the little I don`t know how you call that! We found them PERSONALY REALY anoying!!!! YES they are on the resort!!!! We foud that realy bad for the resort, and that actualy had turned us OFFFF about this resort at first because they were set allllllllll the way on a side of the streets so we had to almost run so they would not bug us!!! but that only lasted one day!! THANK GHOD!!! then they were only in the little scare where the casino, kareoke (realy funny!) and houseband plays............ Make sure to bargain !!! some guy wanted 10 000 pessos total for a few gifts we wanted and we ended up paying 1000 pessos for it!! WOW!!! he even took out a picture of his kids.................... my ghooooooooood!!! sometimes it`s juste cheaper to just by it at the little stores!! at least they don`t BUG you!!! The photo shoot is recomended!! the photos are professional but WAYYYYYYY TOOOOO EXPENSIVE!!! by the CD instead of the pictures!! but BARGAIN on the price for ghod sakes!! They charge 10$ per photos!!! WOW!! The ones with the monkey and animals are 10$ fix but the CD should have a smaler price!!!!!

When April 6-13, 2009, Nice resort, nice rooms. Found information hard to come by as to where things are, they ran out of maps. Resort very big, and the beach seemed to be too small for the number of people,we wlaked the beach from one end to the other and could only find one chair in the full sun. Shaded areas were so crowded that you had to step over people to get around. We would have liked to spend time at the beach, it was beautiful, but spent all our time at the pool. Get to the pool early 6 A.M. or you will not get a chair there either. Food was good, they had alot of very good employees in the resturants. Be very careful what you eat we all had intestinal problems, take anti-diahrea meds with you, that said they did a nice job on the wedding and gave us a private area for the reception, very nice.

Hola. Traveled to DR for the 1st time & stayed for 5 nights @ the GBP-Punta Canta side.

THE GOOD: The Beach> Beautiful! Soft powdery white sand. The water was a pretty light green color with little to no seaweed. Not too much trouble in finding shade when you needed to. Ocean water temp was just right-refreshing, compared to the pool water which was like bath water- but that was good for the other 1/2 of our family. Enjoyed watching all the activities around the beach while relaxing on the beach or just wading in the ocean. The only disappointing thing was that there were no sea shells to be found. THE AVERAGE: The Pool> closest to beach, was ok. This was the only pool we used, we were Golden Club members & our villa was #21 which was very close to this pool & beach. We could not get any drink service by the edges of the pool. Some were lucky & did. We had to use the pool bar which got crowded & rowdy @ times. Still no major problem. Very difficult to find seating @ the buffet restaurant by the pool for lunch. Inadequate to say the least for the size of the resort. The Check In> We had an early flight so we were prepared to wait. Went to the Golden Club for our welcome & set up our ala carte dinner reservations. Luckily I printed & took my return e-mail from the resort stating we were to receive an upgrade to 4 ala cartes instead of the usual 3 when we choose the Golden Club because the were not going to honor it @ first when I merely mentioned it to the host. The Restaurants> we had ala carte reservations @ the Mexican, Italian & Garden Grill(steakhouse) these 3 were set up the same way- after you ordered you went to small buffet stations for your appetizers & desserts. Your meal was served in between. We found the Italian to be the tastiest. My son & I did not like the food we ordered @ the Garden Grille we had bacon wrapped shrimp-Over Done!! My husband did enjoy his steak. Alsot the buffet stations here we not as tempting as the others. Our last ala carte was theJapanese-tenpenyaki style. The food was good there. Our waiter was wounderful. The chef was not too entertaining. He basically cooked our meal. We did eat @ another Japanese restaurant 2 years ago in Cancun & the chef did many fancy moves while cooking-we had a fantastic time there. We ate @ the main buffet located in the lobby for breakfasts & lunches. Not too much to say they were your basic buffets. THE WELL BELOW AVERAGE AND THEN SOME: The room> Decor was shabby/worn looking. We were told our room was to be ready @ 3pm. When we arrived @ 330pm IT WASN'T!! WHAT A MESS!! The beds were not made & pushed in the middle of the room. All the glasses were in the bathroom sink. Dirty towels all over the bathroom floor!! The floor of the entire room was filthy-needed major sweeping! WE did take pictures & showed the staff. Until we were able to talk to someone who spoke and or could understand english-our calls were bounced from the front desk to the Golden Club host then back & forth etc...We finally got to our room around 5pm. Then the air conditioner was leaking & dripping all over our floor. We had to use a garbage can & collected 4-5 inches of water in it until it was fixed. Our fridge did not work.. The front desk said it is supposed to just keep the drinks cool & we were to get ice to make them cold. We still requested to have it checked out & long behold afterwards it did actually get our drinks cold so we did not have to run for ice all the time. There's more- when we finally settled down to sleep my daughter said the bed linen smelled & so did the bed & pillows. I thought she was joking or just imagining it. But when I, my husbad & son smelled them we knew she was not.. It smelled like really BAD body odor. It was 11pm but we called the front desk again requested to have the maid to bring fresh new linens & pillows. She was supposed to be there in 10 mins but never came that night. Sleeping arrangements were not very comfortable out first night. We called the front desk 1st thing in the morning the next day & were offered a detailed cleaning of our room or a new room but the only one available was in villa #1 next to the construction. We requested to see it before we decided. It was Golden Club but was also a little smaller. In turn we asked for the Detailed cleaning of our room & we would stay there. They did come through & we had no problems with room for the rest of our 4 nights remaining. Thank God!! What would anyone else had done?? You are really @ their mercy. We just remained calm & finally it did work out. We were compensated with a plate of old/over ripe fruit from room service on our 2nd night. It's the thought that counts I guess. We will not return to this hotel if we vacation to the DR again. We stayed @ The Palace Resorts in Cancun- Moon Palace & Cancun Palace. In Cabo San Lucas we stayed @ the Riu Palace chain. This place was actually a Dump compared to them. Overall we decided we liked Cancun the best out of all our vacations. Sorry SOO Long.

I booked this holiday after reading some of the great reviews on Trip Advisor, but also noted some of the negative points made. Im very open minded when reading reviews, and take into account that everyone has a different background, and different expectations. After all if you listen to everything people tell you, no location would be good enough.

My fiancée and I decided to go ahead with booking. We are both well-travelled young individuals, and have spent a lot of time in all types hotels, all over the world. Unfortunately this one missed the mark.

On arrival you will find two receptions, which are a mirror image of each other. This is purely to do with having two management structures to deal with so many people. You then have the amber reception, and rooms. This is apparently a little bit more special. However it is all on the same complex – can’t really comment on the benefit.

You will also have the option to upgrade your package to Diamond, Gold and Club Hacienda, these all come with different entitlements and price tags (not cheap), one being that you have access to another pool which is identical to one of the main pools only 5 meters away. It was only slightly less busy than the other. There is also access to a couple of other restaurants, which to be honest is no great loss!

On your stay you will have an allowance of three visits a week to their a la carte restaurants, which you need to book. I only recommend the Japanese. I’m not a fussy eater, and have a broad taste in food, from eating in exclusive restaurants in London, or just a greasy kebab from up the road, I tend to be ok in that department. However this had to be the worst food I have had for a while. The a la carte is just novelty, it’s the same as the buffet which rotates its themes, Spanish, Mexican, Italian, Dominican etc. Quite a few people that we met on holiday suffered from stomach upset after eating in the Restaurants, fortunately we were ok. The buffet has a wide variety to choose from, but quality was very poor. Some nights we found ourselves skipping breakfast lunch and dinner, but on a plus I lost a stone and a half by the time I got back.

Some staff were ok, but as a general rule I found them to be miserable, and moody.

We had an incident where the cleaner was using our products and cleaning her teeth in our room, whilst we were out. Unfortunately on our return to our vacant room, my fiancée picked up what she thought was her toothbrush and used it, to then realise it wasn’t ours. We complained to Management who then confirmed after speaking with the maid that it was an unauthorised entrance after the room had been cleaned. They had a print out which had at least 3 additional unauthorised entrances going in. For this they offered us a free t-shirt, and were slow on the uptake of an apology first.

The all-inclusive alcoholic drinks were not nice, but others seemed to be happy with it. I do believe that this may have been due to the fact that people were trying to make the piano player in the lobby, a bit more bearable to listen to.

I did feel that this holiday was more geared up for Mexicans, than UK & US. From music to events. And everything is repetitive, even the background music they play.

I generally felt that everything had a cost implication, and they will try to get money out of you however possible, from authorized stools on the hotel grounds grabbing you every time you go past, to the men on the beach trying to sell us cocaine! Even a bag of crisps cost $15. A holiday I won’t forget.

I am disappointed with this holiday as majority of times you get what you expect, if you book a two star don’t expect the red carpet and champagne, but this did not feel like a five star hotel, or 4 in some places. Seriously disappointed. Only good thing is I can say ive been!

First let me say that the property and grounds of the hotel are absolutely gorgeous. My husband and I just came back from a two week stay at this property and were not treated very well by some of the staff. We have been traveling to the Dominican Republic for thirty years and have never been treated so badly by hotel staff. This is our ninth time to the DR. There are too many rules for guests to have a relaxing time. The first night we went to dinner at the Boganvilla restaurant we went to the bar and got a drink, when we walked in the dinning room the girl told us we could not bring the drink in there we were only allowed to have wine or beer in there. She took the drink from us and threw it out. Why if we are willing to get the drink ourselves does it make any difference to the restaurant staff? What if you don't like wine or beer? We did not feel the food in the Boganvilla was of five star quality and most of the meat in there was uneatable. The spare ribs were not cooked long enough and the pork chops and the beef was cooked to long so they couldn't be chewed.

That same night we couldn't use our bathtub because the plug was broken and the shower barely dribbled it took 2 days for this to be fixed. We also did not have a working ice machine, we did bring some back from the pool but most of it was melted by the time we reached our third floor room. I called down to guest services and asked to have some ice delivered and was told that we do not have room service. I told her I was not asking for room service just for some ice as the machine was broken. She then told me to go down stairs and go to the next building and get some there. I asked her if she knew if the ice machine was working there. She said if there isn't some there to go to the next building until I found some. We did go to the next building and found some. She did call about two hours later and said she would send some ice today and every day at 4:00PM. Which never materialized. The ice machine was fixed the next day but broke down again the following week and was not fixed by the time we left. We also had problems with our room keys. We came back from the pool and walked up the three flights of stairs to find out our key cards would not work. We couldn't find the maid so my husband got on the bus and went to the front lobby. He stood in line for abut half an hour, talked to the desk clerk and he said here are two new keys go back to your room and if they don't work come back here and I will send a technician. My husband said no, he wanted a bell man to come with him and if these keys didn't work the bell man could come back and forth to the front desk until they would work. The desk clerk went with my husband and talked to the bell man and told him in Spanish to go with him to our room. When the desk clerk left the bell man said to my husband you go get on the bus, when my husband refused the bell man took him. The keys did the same thing in another couple of days and we had the same problem. The desk clerk said we had the wrong key cards and assured us the new cards he gave us were the correct ones. When we got to the room the keys wouldn't work, thankfully the maid was there to let us in. Finally they sent a technician to re key the door.

The system you have for rating guests at the hotel makes it very difficult for guest to have a relaxing, enjoyable time. The two public pools are used by Diamond and Amber guests while their pools sit two thirds or half empty. They are using the public pools because that is where the entertainment and music is which leaves Bavaro guests with no shade or chairs. We were not aware of this and it certainly was not made public in the information of your hotel.

They do have some fine employees, our maid Anastiasia couldn't do enough for us and felt bad for all the problems we were having. Some of the staff of your restaurants Elicio, Pontier and his brother Franciso made our dining experiences a pleasure, the rest of your staff could learn a lot from them.

My husband was re-cooperating from heart by pass surgery and we went down there to have a relaxing re-cooperating time, we did not expect to do the staff's jobs. The reason you go on a holiday is to be waited on and looked after. We have never encountered this at any resort in all our years of traveling and we usually go to a resort or cruise at least two to three times a year. We certainly would not recommend this resort and would not travel with your chain again as we feel your methods of staff training are very lax and very poor management.

I've collectively spent several months in the Carribean amongst several resorts.

Grounds & Common Areas & Beach are absolutely top notch.

Food & Rooms are average to slightly above average.

Service & Alcohol were TERRIBLE and ruined the trip.

Management at this resort has put in way too many stupid policies that absolutely kills the potential of this resort. Towels & Pool Bar close at 6:00, yet it was light out until 7:30. If you don't turn your towel in and take it back to the room, then try to get a fresh towel in the morning it is a very large argument (3 times on 3 days for that topic). Dinner Reservations were a joke. Golden Club had a nice little call us if you have problems thing by our phone. Yet every time we called, they told us to come visit them. No big deal, except the resort is so big it took 1/2 hour travel time to get there & back. Golden Club reception is by the public road, but the Golden Club rooms are by the beach. Make sense? No.

One last major complaint - alcohol. Their 'Tequila' is 'Mexican Liquor', which is 30 Proof (15%) alcohol. The only real alcohol at the resort is rum (by looking at the bottles). However, I watched the bartender serve a 15 year old from our group 2.5 shots of rum in a Daquiri. The kid drank it 10 minutes. Says he never felt anything, which was impossible if the rum was real. I'm convinced even the good alcohol is fake or watered down. They do have a premium bar, which you pay for even if you have all-inclusive. Of course the premium bar was at the other end of the resort.

We were in a big group, despite several hours of arrangement prior to our arrival, nothing was the way it was supposed to be.

If you haven't traveled a lot, and are looking for a more cost effective hotel, this is a good bargain. If you know what service is (and expect a little), this place absolutely fails.

Hotel itself in good location with awesome beach. Food just adequete.

To get a shade hut on beach - 4:30am. Lounger problems all but the Diamond Club pool we were at. We were caught in the Conquest vacations collapse. Were detained by security at the hotel until all bills were paid even though all guests had paid in Canada months before. Physically taking guests from cabs and marching them to front desk to call Canada for someone's credit card number. The bills dropped drastically after I informed the manager that they were price gouging - charging full price and not a travel company price. We were treated as if we committed a crime. Shame on the Bahia hotel chain and its owners, The Pinero Group. No more Dominican for this traveller !

Well, as I see in the previous review I'm not the only one upset with the way Gran Bahia handled the Conquest situation. My girlfriend and I had booked this package 5 days before we went for a great price through conquest having no idea that the company was going bankrupt. When we arrived to the hotel the bell boys expected to be tipped, no big deal but don't make it look like I HAVE to tip you. When we got to the front desk, the reception staff was extremely unhelpful and rude. Not a great way to start a vacation. Going forward, the breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet's were really good. Food was different most nights and of good quality. When you book the a la cart restaurants, the "Las Olas" restaurant is actually a buffet...? We complained and got another a la cart. You may want to do the same haha. Anyways, our room was very nice and clean, we were in the Royal Golden section so we had room service and such. My girlfriend on the second night had bug bites all over her legs, we're not sure if they were from the beach or the bed...I didn't get them, strange. We went to the so called 'doctor' and she recommended a burn cream which didn't even work. The beach & pool was amazing, only down side was you had to be up at 5am to get beach chairs under the 'tee-pee' sorta things. Also pool chairs were hard to come by as well. The restaurant staff & bar staff was extremely friendly which was really nice for a change. The biggest problem about the resort is its HUGE. Way too big, and after a week you start to understand where everything is.

Now im going to start my rant...

My girlfriend and I are in our early 20's and super easy going, the trolly driver whose name I believe was D.Biaz was extremely annoying and inappropriate every time we saw him. Can you believe he actually tried grabbing my girlfriends chest? She told me afterwards because she knew I would loose my mind if she told me while he was there. I can't explain how mad this makes me. He tried to get me to give him my Sperry shoes? claiming I was his friend and his shoes wern't good...LETS BE SERIOUS...YOU HAVE A JOB, GO BUY YOU'RE OWN DAMN SHOES!!!

Like the previous review said, we got our letter under the door on the 17th of April. Our departure was on the 19th. After speaking with the manager, Mr. Tavaras explained that it was necessary for us to pay because there was no guarantee that they would get the money from conquest so every guest needed to pay before they were allowed to leave. He also said that our flights were still a go, and that transportation would be arranged to the airport. I called TICO about the situation and they said it was the hotels choice to take the guarantee of payment from Ontario. After meeting with the manager again he said it was the decision of his head office. I had to call back home to get a family member to basically BAIL US OUT OF THE COUNTRY!! it was like being a criminal in paradise! Going forward, our transportation was not arranged even after he said it would be, we had to pay $40USD for a cab back to the airport and I wasted a whole day dealing with this matter. The hotel should pay me! Overall, I would NEVER EVER stay with a Bahia Principe resort again due to the service and unprofessionalism given by the management and desk reception.

What a sour trip.

**If you do stay here, talk to a girl at reception named Alexandria, she was amazing....the only amazing person there.

I HATE GRAN BAHIA

-Wes

Before I start I should mention that I have JUST returned from Punta Cana 5 hours ago, so I'm not in a 100% working mode yet, but I'll try to be quick, to the point ( I'm tired )

I've been to Bavaro beach befoe a couple of times so I new exactly what I'm going to get in a sense of beach weather drive to the location and so on. This hotel chain though.... was the first and the LAST time guaranteed. They are owned by a HOTEL BEDS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ( or something of that nature HUGE corporation with if I remember correctly a half a dozen different logos fo go with them, anyway )

My vacation started beautifully, but it was doomed from the very beginning simply of the fact that our tour operator was CONQUEST ! On the third day there we got the letter under the door that we need to see the manager of the hotel.

Conquest went belly up !

And our vacation turned ( for the six of us Family of me my wife 2 kids and grandparents ). 360 deg. in the other direction. How so ! Well the hotel manager

presented me with a bill of $3600 US for my vacation ! How nice is that !

I refused to pay of course and got on my phone with my sells rep in Canada, She has assured me that insurance TICO will take care of the bill for all us Canadians stranded here, before we will be going home, ( that was Thursday ) so I felt condident that by Friday everything will be done ( we all there will be covered ) proper emails exchanged and of we go..... NOT SO FAST ! I tried to reason with manager of the hotel, but guess what, on the day of leaving, I have purposely got up in the morning and wanted to a pair of twins that refused to pay any money to the hotel, checked out properly and got a taxi, 5 min later that are BACK ( turned back from a check point, YES check point ) They were FORCED to pay or there would be no flight home. Apparently there was a list of people myself included that were NOT to be allowed to leave without paying for the hotel ! PURE UNLAWFUL EXTORTION ! If I remember correctly almost everybody had to pay in some way ( usually getting in contact with someone back home and simply paying the ransom )

Instead of hotel chain trying to take that matter properly with the carrier themselves ( which is insured with TICO here in Ontario, they right away went for the easy kill, us end users vacationers....

Half of our vacation ( if you want to call it that ) was absolutely destroyed, I did not know if by coming to my room I will still have my stuff there or am I going to be thrown out ) Like everybody that I spoke to said the same thing " The hotel chain should have handled this type of situation in a totally different fashion, that would give them a way to plant a seed ( if you will ) and let it grow with months to come, but know the chose the route which most likely will detour at least some of the customers, just from my story. I'm sure that in a couple of days you will find more people getting down with similar stories.

Going back to the hotel rating, nice, clean, huge place sometimes even impersonal ( matter of taste ). Bar tenders, bell boys want to be tipped no biff about that ( you don't get a better service regardless ) What is the point of paying all inclusive ?

You come with your own conclusion

PS

1 Travelers insurance does NOT cover bankruptcies ( go figure )

2 Please forgive if I made some spelling or other mistakes, I just wanted to unload this right away and now I can get some rest.

Regards. Ziggy