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~ Bahia Principe Punta Cana/Bavaro Reviews Posted — 26

Have just returned from a week at this resort to attend my grandniece's wedding. The resort was clean, the food good and varied and the staff very friendly. I took three tours and enjoyed each one. My one complaint is that I was robbed twice in the main part of the hotel, once in the hotel store where I lost approximately $100 and again in the front lobby near the desk where I lost another $20. As I have lived in poor countries for some years, I do not think I am careless with money. I reported the first incident to the desk and encountered a very cavalier attitude towards the whole affair. No one bothered to follow up on my complaint as far as I know - certainly I was never contacted or offered any explanation or apology. I do not know whether they have a few lightfingered staff, or whether security is careless about strangers being allowed into the hotel. I expected the least the hotel management could do is to offer me an apology. As I lost the money the second day I was there, I had to pay out a good deal extra in visa and ATM charges to replace what I had stolen.

Going to split this review into 2 parts, first , general comments about the whole holiday, then specific comments about bars,restaurants, beach, pools etc. Flew out to Punta Cana mid February for two weeks. On arrival at the airport we were pleasantly surprised by the speed we got thru' Immigration altho' we had quite a long wait for our suitcases.First moan, the usual problem with "porters" - we found a trolley but were prevented from taking it out of the airport to the carpark by a group of porters with their own trollies.I refused to be blackmailed on principle and was proved right when we only had about 50m to walk to the coach. Once on the coach we had a relatively painless journey to the GBP Punta Cana with check in being carried out on the bus (there was however a confusion over another party with the same surname which came back to haunt us later). No issues on arrival, porter was ready and waiting to transport us and our suitcases straight to our room - 12301 - located conveniently near to the pool, with a balcony looking out over the widerness area between GBP & the neighbouring RUI complex.Straight in the shower and then out to explore and have dinner. The following morning we had a pleasant walk back to the reception area for breakfast and our Reps meeting (the Rep for First Choice was really on the ball and the meeting was much snappier and entertaining than normal!) I then organised a room safe - $63 for 2 weeks-bit surprised that I had to pay up front (GBP Mayan only wanted paying at the end of the holiday) - but well worth having for peace of mind. Whilst at Reception noticed loads of offers to upgrade to another hotel for free for periods of up to 5 days with a $200 a night incentive- we decided to investigate further with a view to maybe looking at another part of the DR but (unfortunately) we decided to sleep on it! The following day we went back to try to arrange an upgrade with Guest Services but unfortunately the only offers still available were for 1 night only - however as the upgrade to GBP Cayo Levantado included a free whale watching trip we decided to go for it! We actually had to check out and put any luggage that we didn't want to take into a "secure" storage area, which wasn't as anyone could walk in when the porters had it open!I will review this trip under the GBP Cayo Levantado review section. On our return to Punta Cana we were given a complimentary upgrade to the Ambar section - again the porter was on the ball getting us and our luggage across to our new room - 62201, nicely positioned between the beach and the main bar/buffet areas. The room was a little musty due to a problem they had obviously had with water leaking from the balcony above which had resulted in some of the ceiling paint peeling off but we decided we could live with it. I went to use the "complimentary" room safe but couldn't get it to work.Now, my second moan, it apparently needed a small key to activate the touch pad electronics which we should have been given on our second check in but hadn't.I spent about 3 hours and several journeys on the site trams travelling between the Ambar reception and the main reception at Punta Cana trying to get this key, both sets of Reception staff denying responsibility and fobbing me off.They even wanted a second lot of money!Finally got it sorted when a "manager" got involved. At the end of the first week we got back from the beach to find that our room keys weren't working - the maid had to let us in.Went to reception who looked puzzled but just reactivated the keys for our actual leaving date. The following morning we found a note pushed under our door asking me to contact the Reception manager urgently about our departure arrangements - again a couple of tram rides ensued before I saw the Main Reception manager who explained that the confusion over surnames on the original bus ride from the airport, had led to us only being booked in for a WEEK! but he quickly resolved the issue. At the end of the two weeks departure was painless - porters were well organised and got us back to the pick up point and the coach journey and check in were smooth prior to a good flight back to the UK; Only issues were a wait on the tarmac for an hour due to a couple arguing over excess luggage charges and a non working toilet on our side of the aircraft which meant a long detour from our seats. Now to specifics:

Stayed the week of 7th March in the golden section, building 5. This is our 3rd stay in the DR and it definitely had the nicest lobby areas. It was a great week with lovely weather and lovely staff, as usual. 4 stars I would say.

This is a little late but a group of six couples from Erie, Pennsylvania USA stayed at the Gran Bahia for 7 days in late Feb. 2007. The trip went absolutely perfect. The flight down went without a hitch leaving from Pittsburgh and landing at the Punta Cana Airport. After going thru customs and paying the $10 tourist fee we boarded a bus run by Apple and were given a very nice orientation to the country by a local Apple rep.on the 30 min. bus ride to the resort. Upon arriving at the Bahia our luggage was handled and the people at the front desk were very accommodating after showing them an e-mail from our travel agent that had us all staying in the same villa. There are 36 rooms per villa and about 1500 rooms total at the resort. We were permitted 4 a la carte restaurant reservations throughout the week and they all were very good. The beach barbeque was excellent with plenty of food to go around. The 2nd we tried was the Hibachi which was as good as any I have been to. The last day there we ate at the French Restaurant where we had surf & turf and the entire meal was very elegant and the staff was totally friendly. The ocean was very warm and we enjoyed a couple of days body surfing just like young kids and we are all in our fifties. The only thing that would have been nice is some music that we could have danced to and been more familiar with from the US, but other than that it was fun. The workout area was very undersized for a resort of this size, but we were usually able to fit in a workout somehow. The buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all very good, we ate like royalty. The weather, the accommodations, maids, bartenders, cleanliness of the entire resort was top notch. We would not hesitate to go back again in a heartbeat. Kudos to Apple and the Gran Bahia Principe for a wonderful vacation.

GRAN BAHIA PRINCIPE BAVARO February 28/08 to March 6/08
Just got back into Vancouver this morning.... I definatley have to say this trip was nothing short of amazing. FLIGHT: Well, what can is say. 6 hours and 45 minutes direct flight from Vancouver going down there and 8 hours coming home. This was the only bad part of the trip. Being crammed in the air transat seats with no leg room for this period of time sucks. I swear these seats are not made for anybody taller than 5'9 and more then 150lbs...nevermind being over 6 feet tall and over 200lbs. But I guess theres not much you can really do about that unless you want to fork out a tonne of money for first class. But once you get down there it makes the long flight all worth it FOOD: This hotel is definatley a 5 star. The food is incredible. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the buffets were always excellent. The A la carte's were also very good aswell.The service inside the restaurants are very fast and friendly. There is always a crew of waitors in tuxedo's there to take your drink order or take your plate away when you're done eating. We were worried about getting sick from the food. We were fine. People we talked to at the airport that got sick stayed at 3.5 or 4 stars. ROOMS: The rooms were clean and a good size. The a/c worked very well. The plumbing worked just as good as back in Canada; good water pressure. The maid service came in everyday and cleaned the room very well each day and always stocked the mini-bar. We left a $2 tip everyday and the maid loved us...i think after 7 days of tipping we put a few of her kids through college since thats close to what she makes in a week(or something like that). GROUNDS: The grounds were beautiful. It seemed like in the daylight hours there was always a crew of at least 12 gardeners doing pruning, grass cutting, watering, etc.

Let me preface my review by saying that this was the sixth all-inclusive vacation for my wife and me in the last 10 years. It was our second trip to the Dominican Republic and our second stay at a Gran Bahia Principe property.

We were at the Gran Bahia from Feb.9th.to 16th ,stayed in the Premier side ,and what a terrific place. There is not a thing I could complain about except having to leave to go back to Winnipeg, Manitoba! The beach, food, rooms, fancy drinks,and friendly people were all we could of asked for and more. I would definately recommed this hotel for your vacation but save me a room for next year as we will be back!

Your Arrival - Beautiful resort. We checked in at the Golden Club area. There was (bartender) an open bar with snacks. We made sure to get the room safe and also to find out what all is included with the Golden Club Rooms. Rooms - We had villa 22 (22112) a corner room with a beautiful view. Bananas growing right out our door, palm trees, flowers, etc. Two double beds in the room, nice sized bathroom with seperate area for the toilet. Plenty of closet space with shelves and a desk with 4 drawers that our girls used. Fresh fruit on the table in room and t-shirts for each of us from the resort. Another table with chairs on the lanai. Our maid stocked our fridge with our requested beverages, we had fresh pool towels every evening and turn down service. She decorated our room with balloons several times, towel art with fresh flowers, slippers, special toiletry items for our girls, candy, etc. Very attentive. They also have rules (in their passport book) about not hanging clothes/towels on the lanai, being quiet at night, etc. which was really nice. Everyone there had mannerly bahavior - no drunks or loud guests. You get what you pay for. Restaurants - The food was wonderful. Not too spicy or sweet. So much on the buffets and beautifully displayed, ice sculptures, carved (artistic)melons, all kinds of entrees, fruits, desserts, etc. The ala carte restaurants were all fantastic. From the atmosphere, service, menu, plate display, and entertainment. We also ordered room service after the nightly shows (45-60 minute wait) and the food was good and fun as well. Bars - Lobby bars,pool bars, and beach bar all had great service and very accomodating to both adults and kids. We always tipped to start off. Even after the lobby bar closed our group was able to get waters from them. They always were in a good mood. Made us feel very welcome. Beach and Pools - We tried all the pools and no complaints at all. The music was never too loud, pools were clean, never had trouble securing lounge chairs (not always where we wanted but there wasn't a bad location). The pool had more activity with volleyball, games, dance lessons, aerobics, etc. Grounds and beach were kept clean. Ocean water is crystal clear and sand is soft, never got hot to walk on. Nice beach - no rocks or shells in the water, or little fish. Grounds - Everything was clean and manicured. Beautiful resort with lush landscape. The workers kept up on everything, hedges were perfectly trimmed, untouched areas by the bridge were a nice touch. The birds liked to hang out there so when you pass by in the tram (or walk) you could hear them chirping. Peepers (frogs) at night. Activities - The nightly shows were professionally done with dancers and actors. Best we have ever seen without paying a big ticket price. They really worked hard and it shows. Sunday night show is more of an audience participation. Before the shows (1 hour or so) they get the crowd involved and pull people from the audience to learn the Bahia theme song/dance and do an elimination game. Very nice open air theatre. There is also the Pueblo Principe Town that is open at 0900 for shopping and stays open until 4 a.m. with live music, a disco, karaoke bar, casino, etc. Tours - We spent all our time at the resort and didn't do any tours/excursions. Conclusion - We thought this was a beautiful resort and everything was top notch. The service was excellent from arrival to depature. The Golden Club Rooms had some nice perks that we really appreciated (private pools, private restaurants for breakfast/lunch, 4 ala carte dinners, pool towels, 25 hour room service,etc.) It will be hard to top the Bahia so if we go to a different destination, we will look for the Bahia properties.

Your Arrival
December 22-29 2007
We arrived to the resort at 1:30 am as our plane was delayed 3 hours, so our check in was done in the bus as we traveled from airport to the hotel, we were handed envelopes with room keys, towel cards and appointment cards for briefing with our tour operator that was supposed to happen that morning @9am. We traveled with two kids aged 18 months and 4 years old so we were pretty beat up from our travel and completely missed that meeting (big mistake). We didn't know where to go or who to talk to, our first mission was to get some food or at least milk for our toddler and when we finally found OUR lobby the receptionist didn't know where we could get some milk, and quite rudely informed us that only food we could get was at the beach. So on we went for hunt for milk to two lobby stores, and surely had to visit both of them to find it. We went to beach snack bar and had something to eat and from then on things got better.

My husband and I just returned from a 10 day stay at Bahia Principe Punta Cana. We had gotten so much helpful info from Debbie's website that we thought we would return the favor and share our experience. Most of what we read on your website was very true, so thanks for the information! The number of "december" reviews were limited, so I wanted to be thorough. This review gets a bit wordy, but hopefully you'll find some helpful info here... We are both 36 and neither of us had been to the Caribbean nor had we done an all-inclusive vacation before. I'll admit that I tend to be pretty picky and often like to take the road less traveled, so I was a bit wary of the "super huge and impersonal" impression I had of this place. We don't yet have kids (and weren't sure we wanted to encounter them), yet we're not late night party hounds, either - was worried this resort would be one or the other. Not to fear! This resort surpassed all of our expectations - even mine, being picky! It was an absolutely fanatstic place in nearly every way. Any complaints we had are so minute and insignificant, they aren't even worth mentioning (altho, to be informative, I'll mention them a bit later). We will most certainly be back!

Weather: First full day we waited out Tropical Storm Olga - it poured all day, there was a bit of thunder and lightening, and it was quite windy but nothing to worry about - didn't even compare to a midwestern thunderstorm. Apparently the rain was extremely rare for this time of year. After the rain, the weather was gorgeous for the rest of our stay...mid 80s and very sunny. Each day the wind died down a little more, the clouds thinned out, and the temp rose. It is quite humid, although with the ocean breezes it was never uncomfortable. I say, expect a little rain each day, but it seems to shower hard for about 10 - 20 minutes and then its over for the day. The hotel provides a nice, large golf umbrella in each room - no need to bring any other rain gear (it's too hot).

Check in: we checked in at about 4:00 p.m. Rooms were ready and very few people were checking in at that time - smooth sailing. Getting a safe was no problem - it was already in the room and we just had to program it when we got into the room. There ws a charge of $40 for the week - WELL worth it for the peace of mind. It's about 6" tall, 18" deep and 18" wide - large enough for your documents, money, jewelry, etc. Also, we concur that there is absolutely no difference between the two sides of the resort (Bavaro vs. Punta Cana). Most of what you do all day (pool and beach) is shared anyway. You can confidently stay at either side an be completely happy.

Upgrades: I begrudingly gave into my husband and we didn't take any upgrades (gold club, club diamond, etc.) As far as I can tell, we didn't miss out on anything. Rooms are the same. In-room arrival gifts seem to be the same. Maid service is the same. We did not have robes in our room, but we were never in our room long enough to wear a robe and it was too humid for robes anyway. Upgrade provides you with an extra a la carte meal ticket, but we asked for an extra one (since we were staying 10 days) and they gave it to us. gold club is closer to the beach/main pool, but we were happy to be away from the chaos/noise that sometimes surrounded the pool and beach. Our room was exactly half way between the lobby and the beach (villa 10) and was absolutely perfect - we will probably request this same area again. It was very quiet at night, we had a tram stop in front of our building, and never too far from any one spot in the resort. The only benefit (if you can call it that) that we could really note in the upgrades was free internet access, and quite frankly, I found that not having constant internet access was a blessing. If we would have had unlimited access, I can tell you where my husband would have been much of the time. On vacation, I'd rather not have access to computers. I'd say the upgrades are a waste of money. In retrospect, we're glad we didn't pay for it. (Internet access can be purchased for $10 for 45 minutes. This 45 minutes is good for 5 days - you don't have to use it all at once.)

Language: my husband is fluent in spanish - very helpful to know some spanish. Most people know a few words, but few people can truly speak fluent english (why should they?) - some of the professional staff (front desk, guest services, etc) are more fluent, but the average waiter, bartender, maid, bell boy, etc doesn't speak much if any at all. Bring a phrase book and make a few attempts. They'll appreciate it and remember you kindly for trying. Some staff are Haitian and therefore fluent in French.

Guests: From all over the world. very fun - nice to meet different people. everyone was friendly and patient. No one was in a bad mood. we met some lovely people. All ages. From 3-week old infants to 90+ years old. Definitely a family-oriented place. If you're a college student looking for a great place to party and be featured in a "Girls Gone Wild" video, this is not your resort. Fly directly to Cancun, Mexico. If you're a guest looking to relax, have some peace and quiet at night, and be able to enjoy the disco, casino, or bars when you're in the mood, then this place is perfect for you.

Beach: Wow! gorgeous water, beautiful sand, meticulously maintained, constantly cleaned and raked. We usually got to the beach around 9:30 a.m. and we were some of the first people to arrive. We NEVER had a problem finding chairs and there are PLENTY of palapas and palm trees that provide much-needed shade. The beach was perfect - we were able to move in and out of shade/sun as we wanted. We didn't find the "chair reservation game" to be a problem what so ever. If we left our chairs and belongings unattended to walk on the beach, swim in the ocean, go to lunch, whatever, they were never disturbed. People were very respectful. I thought perhaps the resort wasn't very full, but in talking with the staff, they said it was full. There are designated swimming areas at the beach and it would be foolish to swim outside of these areas as there is constant boat traffic - dive boats, catamarans, kayaks, parasailing boats, etc. The down side: no place to snorkel from shore. The only way to snorkel is to take an excursion or have the Scuba Caribe staff take you out to the reef on a boat.

Pools: All gorgeous. We only used the main pool near the beach and only visited in later afternoon (after we left the beach) to swim, cool down, and sit at the swim-up bar for drinks. (the other pools looked great but we just never made it there.) The pool chairs were also mostly open at 9:30 in the a.m. but filled quickly. The pool was a very popular place (we can't understand why, when you have a fantastic beach at your disposal, you'd choose to sit at the pool all day, but many people did it) but the crowds never bothered us. It got a bit crazy if they did pool-side aerobics or had music blaring (quite common) but you're so relaxed, nothing bothers you. We just sat at the bar and downed a few cuba libres - the rum tempers everything! The two Juans - bartenders at this bar - were the absolute best bartenders of the trip! Be sure to bring a few $1 bills with you on your swim to the bar to tip these guys - they don't care if the money is wet! :) We found that few people tip while they are at the pool and what a shame! These guys are fun, really friendly, work hard, and serve you very quickly - we didn't even have to ask. We'd turn around and a fresh drink would be in front of us.

Alcohol: I tend to be pretty picky about my alcohol - my system doesn't tolerate the cheap stuff well. I thought for sure the "all inclusive grade" alcohol would be the cheap stuff, but it wasn't. They used the best dominican rum, stolys vodka, etc. All the all-inclusive drinks were really good - great quality! no need to pay additional for "top shelf." I will admit, however, the house wine was pretty bad. If you consider yourself a wine drinker and plan to have a couple glasses with dinner, you may want to splurge and buy a bottle with your dinner. (for-purchase wine is only sold by the bottle - not by the glass). We never did, and by the last few nights I could no longer stomach the wine.

Food: amazingly good. Remember that people from all over the world vacation here. Americans - North Americans for that matter - are not the majority. The hotel has to please about 20-30 cultures at once. They do it amazingly well. We tried the following a la carte restaurants and were happy with all: french, italian, japanese, BBQ, seafood. Buffets ALWAYS had something that was great - buffets offered about 50-60 options each meal, so you shouldn't have a problem finding something. We had been warned to avoid the fresh vegetables on the salad bar b/c they may not be washed with purified water, but I had salad 3 times and never had any stomach problems at all. Ate fresh fruit at every meal - just avoided unpeeled fruit (e.g. apples). And if you try only one thing while you're there, you MUST try the "3 milk icecream" at the main buffet. wow. amazing stuff.

Insects: In 10 days we each got about 4 mosquito bites total and never used bug spray. Bugs are there but never a problem - we didn't notice them at all. The only thing we did notice were the dozens of species of beautiful butterflies everywhere! gorgeous!

Size of resort/grounds: many of the previous reviews seemed to complain about this, but we didn't find it to be a problem...and I was worried about this. Neither of us have mobility issues so we often chose to walk the length of the resort instead of take the tram. It is an absolutely gorgeous 5-10 min walk and the grounds are perfect - lush and green with fruit trees everywhere (and yes, much of the fruit they serve is from the trees). We took the tram if it was raining or if I had heels on for dinner. Trams seem to come evey 60 - 90 seconds or so - VERY convenient. What a great service!

Rooms: Very nice! One of the best rooms we've ever had. Spacious, VERY clean, comfortable, nice beds, jacuzzi tub, shower, always had warm water, great water pressure, daily restocked fridge. They provide you with water, beer, and soda every day - if you need extra, just ask and leave a little extra tip. (we usually left our maid about $3 per day). Airconditioning was just fine (and again, I'm really picky about this). Remeber - the climate is humid, so even with the airconditioning things stay a little damp. just a fact of life there I think. The only complaints about the rooms: 1. The pillows are horrible - really hard and thin. I had a stiff neck/shoulders and didn't sleep well. When we go again, I plan on buying a cheap pillow at Target and just leaving it behind when I leave. 2. Towels: On the first day, the towels they give you are gorgeous: thick, white, fluffy. Each day after, they give you old, gray, thinner, stiff towels. I recommend hiding your nice bath and hand towels and holding onto them for a few days. They will replace all towels whether they are hung up or left on the floor. 3. Washcloths are unheard of. If you like to use them, bring a few of your own (but don't bring white ones or the maid may accidently take them). They only give you 1 bath towel per person - if you need more, bring one of your own. We did try to avoid using the tap water to brush our teeth. never had stomach problems.

Beach towels: they give you 1 towel card per person upon arrival that you can exchange for a beach towl near the pool. nice, big towels. You can change them in for fresh towels as often as you'd like. We never had a problem being able to get a fresh towel when we wanted. No need to bring your own beach towels - I brought one and never used it. Smoking: we're not smokers, but you might as well be in the DR. Many people smoke and sometimes it was bothersome. Not allowed in hotel restaurants, and most guests seemed to stick to this rule. Due to language barriers, sometimes smoking occured in restaurants, but it was often soon noted by staff and extinguished. Elsewhere, smoking reigns. on the beach, at bars, at the pool, on the tram, walking thru the resort, in the rooms. You get used to it, just be prepared. We noticed that the guests in the room next to us smoked and, if we had our airconditioner on, it drew their second-hand smoke straight into our room. This was pretty bad the few times it happened. If you are a smoker (esp one from the U.S. where smoking is pretty much illegal now) you'll love this country.

Money: the best advice we got - bring lots of American one dollar bills! we kept it in our safe and had no problems. We also brought some travelers cheques, but when using these, you get your change back in Dominican pesos, so I recommend sticking to smaller denominations (like $50) rather than $100+. All the prices in the shops are given in pesos, but they all take american money...or pesos. There is a bank at the hotel for getting cash, cashing travellers cheques, etc, but again, it only gives out pesos. Bring plenty of American cash with you so you don't have to worry about it. And yes, sunscreen is about $20 per bottle there so don't leave home without it!

Packing: I am a pack-aholic. I WAY overpacked. Next time we go (for 10+ days), I'll bring a few dresses/skirts for dinners and 2-3 shorts/tank tops and the rest will be swim suits. Other than for dinner, we never wore anything but our swim suits and a cover-up of sorts. You don't need much! Guys, bring a few pairs of pants and a few nicer button down or polo shirts for dinners. Shorts at dinner looked tacky. and for gods sake, button your shirt (yes, we saw a few open shirts with hairy chests and big bellies hanging out at meals - yuck.) I highly recommend bringing a sunhat/visor of some sort. The sun is intense.

Excursions: We went on the 3 1/2 hour bus trip to Santo Domingo. A great way to see the country, a large city, and a lot of Christopher Columbus-related history. It makes for a long day, but we enjoyed it. The bus picked us up at the hotel at 6 a.m. We were supposed to get back about 7 or 8 p.m. but due to a traffic jam, we took an adventurous 1 hour detour through a sugar cane field and didn't get back until 10 p.m. It was quite the exposure to the culture/countryside. stressful at times but very interesting. I would recommend the trip - especially if you're at the resort for 10-14 days. The only other "off site" thing we did was the 2 hour snorkel trip to the reef provided by the Scuba Caribe staff (this is the staff who work in the dive shop on the beach at the resort). It cost $31 per person. Equipment included. Definitely worth it. Probably our best experience. Bring a roll or a banana to feed in bits to the fish - they go crazy for it.

Spa: I hadn't hear this mentioned much in other reviews, so I tried it and had a deep tissue massage - wow! A gorgeous spa facility! It offers every service under the sun, from facials to wraps to waxing to massages to nails. You can even pay a $30 fee to just use all the facilities (pools, jets, saunas, steam rooms, etc). Prices for massages are simliar to the states ($78 for a 1 hour massage) and well-worth it. It was a great way to start my vacation and melt my stress away. The spa also contains a gym. The gym use is included in the all-inclusive package. we didn't use it.

Nightlife: we went to the casino once, nice but small. Some of the best airconditioning in the resort. a good place to go on a hot night. we never went to the disco (not our bag). We played pool and hung out around pueblo principe (the "town" of shops). Went to the Michael Jackson show. Fun - good choreography. recommended but don't be too sad if you miss it, either. We also watched "Mr. Principe" show which was great - it was like a "beauty" contest for 4 randomly-selected male guests of the resort. There was stength, talent, etc components and the audience voted at the end. Very funny. We often just retired early. The resort was so quiet after 10:30, it felt good to just go to bed after a day in the sun.

Service: most definitely 5 star all the way. some of the best service we've ever had. Dominicans are kind and generous people.

Other resorts: we met a few people from other resorts. We heard the Occidental at Punta Cana is a "no go." Apparently the staff calls you in your room daily and hounds you to buy a timeshare. who needs that on vacation? plus food is really bad and resort is older/not as nice. we heard this from 2 independent parties. We heard the Breezes is also a "no go." We got to drive through the Palladium Punta Cana - seems nice, but overall we were far more impressed with Bahia Principe. A couple people on our excursion bus talked very positively about their resorts, but when we got dropped off first at Bahia Principe and they saw our resort, they said "wow! this place is gorgeous". Long story short...I think Bahia Principe is one of the best resorts in Punta Cana. You will not go wrong here. We consider ourselves so lucky to have chosen the best resort on our first attempt. We had a fantastic time and have literally no complaints. We will most certain be back - maybe next time with a couple kids in tow!

Arrival - Dec. 1 to 8, 2007 - We flew on West Jet, departing approx. 40 minutes late, as we had to be de-iced in Ottawa. Amazingly enough, we landed 5 minutes early of our scheduled time! We were on our way within no time. There were only 8 people on our bus, so it took approx. 40-45 minutes to get to the resort. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the most beautiful of people in the world. Big smiles, perfect English, and welcoming us back to their wonderful resort. Having been to the resort on previous occasions, we were upgraded to VIP Gold and stayed in Building 62 (Ambar section). We had to wait a short while for our rooms, which we expected, due to our early arrival time of 1:30 pm.

We got to Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro around 2.45 on 22nd Nov 07, check in was easy but room wasn't ready, rooms aren't supposed to be ready until 3pm anyway. This wasn't a problem we just went and found family that were already there. After about 30min to 1 hr we went back to reception to see if room was ready and it was. When we got to our room had a nice surprise, we had been upgraded to Diamond Club. We think this was because the previous day family and friends that had arrived and it wasn't a very smooth check in for them, we don't think it was the fault of the Hotel but the travel agent not sending through the correct information to the hotel. Anyway to cut a long story short they were upgraded to Diamond Club and because they were, so were we. The room was in very nice and spacious. It was in Villa 31, right beside the Diamond Club pool which was very handy for our 6 year old who spent a majority of the holiday in the pool. I think if I went back to this hotel I would upgrade to the Diamond Club, it would be worth the extra for the extras you get. The main pool by the beach was very busy so the Diamond Club pool was great for our daughter, not too crowded and she finally learnt to swim. We didn't go on any excursions as we were only there for a week and the main reason was for a family wedding. We went to the buffet often. The food was very nice, always plenty of variety. My daughter always found something that she liked. No complaints at all with the food. We went to 3 of the restraunts which were very nice but because we couldn't get late bookings, my daughter fell asleep at the table at almost everyone, but we still enjoyed them. Her dad just had a hard time carrying her home each evening. The wedding that we went to was lovely, very well organised and the whole day went very well. The bride and groom enjoyed the day. This is a very nice hotel ideal (we felt) for couples and families with young children. If we had brought our two older children (17 and 16) we don't feel they would have enjoyed it as much as they have done in previous holidays as there didn't seem as much for their age group to do but I would still recommend hotel, this a lovely place to have a holiday. Here is some extra information, not sure if you need but thought it might give a fuller picture
We travelled with MyTravel from Manchester Airport, England
We booked for 1 week 22/11/07 - 29/11/07
in our party there was myself (40), my boyfriend (43) and our daughter (6)

We went down to the Dominican Republic leaving Nov 24th at 6:10 am from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The only problem we had with the flight was that we were flying in a group of 17 people and had requested to be seated together which didn't happen (thanks to our travel agent at Flight Centre for telling us it would be no problem). We flew skyservice and it was a typical flight, jammed in like worms in a can. Ask for the emergency exit seats, there is 5 inches extra leg room! We arrived at the airport, and its beautiful. I've never been anywhere before so I didn't know what to expect. I won't go into detail, but your pretty much in and out of the airport in about 20-30 mins, it went quick. I will mention there are numerous bagage boys at the airport trying to grab your stuff and take it to the bus for some $$. I just shook my head and held onto my own bags. You only have to travel about 100 meters to your bus. The bus ride to the resort took us about 35-40 mins. The dominicans drive like maniacs, its crazy fun to watch. Once at the resort the bell boys unload and organize your luggage, we had a group of 17 people and one of my friends didn't get his luggage, it somehow stayed on the bus. Trying to find anyone who could understand our plight was a mission. We told the Sunquest rep, who said not to worry, the bus will go to the next hotel on the list, and then bring the extra luggage back. We decided not to worry, he had his passport and cash, and we had extra clothes to spare so no big deal. We went to check in and found that none of the rooms were ready so we headed to the buffet for some lunch. I'm just going to say the food was amazing. I'll try anything once, and alot of it I had to try twice!

We stayed at this resort Nov 15 to Nov 22/07 . This is definitely a 5 star resort Grounds are beautiful, staff was great, food was excellent with a wide variety of choices to suit everyone. Rooms were large and beds very comfortable. Of coarse the Beach is the best. We have been to other locations but as far as I am concerned Punta Cana is the only place to be. We highly recommend this resort.

This was our 9th trip to the Caribbean, Luperon Beach DR PP, Tryp Cayo Coco Cuba, Coral Hamaca DR Boca Chica, Rui Merengui, Bachata and Mambo DR PP, Sirenis DR PC, Princess Bavaro DR PC (also very good), and now the best one at the Bahia Principe Bavaro DR PC. Folks the food is GREAT! One night at the buffet we had rib-eye roast of beef and lobster! The a-la carts are good but the buffet is outstanding. The trip starts off with your check-in on the bus. You're the first ones off the bus and you already have you room keys, towel cards etc. One surprise was the additional cost of the room safe $27 for the week. The plane ride was awful, we had to disembark in PP and go through Customs, then wait to re-embark our plane. What in previous years was approx a 4 hour ride was over 6 hours (we left Toronto at 10:00 and arrived in PC at 4:20) watch out for these stop over flights! We got a free upgrade to an ocean front room with robes, slippers and room service beach towel exchange (villa 65) If you can find something wrong with this place, you should stay home! FYI - I used my lighter to soften the edges of our wrist bands prior to putting them on & we had no cuts from sharp edges, a neat trick for you seasoned travelers!

About Us.... My wife is 47 and I turned 50 while on our vacation for 2 weeks to the Royal Golden Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. We have travelled to the Dominican Republic several times and this is our second time to the Punta Cana region.

Date Travelled.....August 26 - Sept 9 2007...Air Transat Holidays

Resort....The resort is huge as stated in other reviews. There are trams that travels from the main lobby / restaurant area to the beach. They run every 3-4 minutes at peak times and at the most 5 minutes apart but there are always a minimum of 2 passing each other at the halfway mark. There are several tram stops along the way should you wish to board at any time. It takes about 15 minutes to walk it on the pathways and is about the only excercise you will get so if you want to help your waist line from the drinking and food keep it in mind.

Staff...The staff are very friendly and english is spoken with little problem. If one person doesn't understand another one will.

Guests.....Most of the guests were from the Spain area and therefore spanish was spoken almost all the time.There were several instances of total rudeness from other guests and complaints to staff were negative in the result area. It is there policy not to interfere in the disputes between guests so we were told.With the language barrier of spanish guests and english guests the spanish obviousley wins. Food....The food was excellent in all areas that we went to and we were there for 2 weeks and never really got tired of the variety. For a la carte we recommend the Japanese and the BBQ at the beach as they were both excellent.

Weather...If you are planning on going this time of the year it is hot probably 90's + so be aware with the breeze from the carribean that is is hotter than you think. We had next to no rain and if it does rain it is always only for 5-10 minutes and back to sunshine. It is the start of the hurricane season but we did not have any trouble.

The Royal Golden Club.....The club is worth the money as far as being closest to the beach and pool area and also having your own customer relations office for you to book your a la carte dinners or lodge a complaint. The internet access is good peace of mind however it did go down for 3-4 days when we were there and when we complained a little louder we were told that we could use the internet on the other side of the resort that was for the sunquest side. There rooms are located in the area closest to the beach and main guest pool.

Pools....The main pool is loud with music and guests so be prepared. If you are a Royal Golden member you have your own pool that you share with Sunquest Diamond members located about half-way between the resort.

Beach....The beach is excellent and it is not hard to find a quiet spot where you can keep your chair and a straw hut for shade. If you want this you have to be prepared to be away from the main pool and bar area and also to have it stolen from you even if you have a bag or towel on it. We went for a swim and found a spanish lady and her husband and kids under our hut. A complaint led to a no comprendae comment and not budging from our hut...they litterly dragged our chair out from under it and into the sun and replaced it with there chairs....now i know why i wouldn't visit there country. Although we have no problem complaining I have no desire to visit a jail in Punta Cana , so we walked down the beach where it was quiet and found a chair and hut that nobody was near for the rest of the week.

Comment.....We took down gifts to the children and maid and were not overweight on the way down but even though we left all of this for them down there as a good will gesture we were dinged with a $70.00 overweight charge on the way back from Punta Cana to Toronto. We have been before and didn't buy anything down there. This has happened before to other guests who travelled from Punta Cana with Air Transat including a fellow co-worker who went at a different time. A complaint letter to the airline and voiceing our objection down there at the time didn't help. I'm not going to travel with them again because of this,.They weighed our carry-on and checked baggage together which they aren't suppose to do and then said we were overweight. We objected but with no result other than to pay the charge so we were told. We will return to this resort and area again but not with Air Transat due to the baggage charge. I am writing the president of air transat and will let you know the result.We are not holding our breath to a refund. U.S. currancy widely accepted so no need to exchange it to the dominican currancy. Take some small denomination bills . If you like potato chips take pringles in your suitcase they are $6.00 us to buy. HAVE A WONDERFUL VACATION IN PUNTA CANA

September 2007

My wife and I were married at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana resort during our stay between Sept. 02nd to Sept. 16th of 2007. For the most part the reviews posted about this resort are good but there are always those exceptions that complain about everything from not enough english spoken, to not enough beer in their room fridges, to strange/not enough food selections, to slow service, to being too big, to whatever. In reading these reviews I would caution readers to remember that a review is always an individual's "personal" experience relative to their past experiences and travel history. Complainers have likely not been outside their province/state, or are comparing their experience to that of a Cayman Sandals resort which cost thousands more. I would suggest you read many reviews and compare the travel habits and experiences of the writers to your own to put your expectations into perspective. I have travelled to many countries over the past 10 years including Greece, Turkey, England, Jamaica, Cuba, and Venezuela. This was my 2nd to the Dominican Republic - so I have a reasonable travel resume for comparisons. Because it was a wedding event with approx. 50 people attending, I did due diligence in researching suitable resorts with good amenities and value for price. I can say without hesitation that for a Dominican resort the Bahia Principe Punta Cana exceeded all of our expectations, especially the staff and service - they were as professional, helpful, friendly, and as courteous as you can get - from the gardeners and maids to the waiters and bartenders to the desk staff and wedding planners! All were great! These people work hard and round-the-clock keeping grounds immaculate, rooms clean, food plentiful, and drinks flowing.

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from August 19 to August 26 in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. We booked the Gran Bahia based on reviews from friends and acquaintances. The resort greatly exceeded our expectations. The minute we arrived we were greeted by girls wearing traditional costumes, men playing the merengue and waiters bearing glasses of delicious fruit juice. What a way to start a vacation! Greetings of "HOLA" resonated throughout the spacious lobby putting all the travelers into an instant holiday mood which lasted the entire week. We upgraded to the Golden Club which allowed us to be checked in while we were enroute from the airport, so we were taken to our room immediately upon arrival. The rooms are gorgeous. They are neat and meticulously cleaned every day. The bathroom is spacious and very clean. We were nervous that there might be some insects in the rooms due to the country's location, but that was certainly not the case. Our mini-fridge was well stocked and became even more so after a tip to the maid of only $2. We usually left her $2 - $5 a day. We were very unsure as to the appropriate amount of money to tip, so we asked our tour guide and she assured us that we were being quite generous. Canadians are used to tipping 15% - 20%, so we thought $5 at the a la cartes was a little cheap, but she said it was quite the contrary. The wait staff at the restaurants were so very eager to please and accommodate. The people were always smiling and they tried their hardest to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. Sometimes the language barrier was difficult, but since we were in their country and did not speak Spanish it would be very unfair to place the blame on them. We tried to learn a little Spanish, which was kind of fun, and after a few days we could communicate well enough with the locals. I think it was Spanglish.. My wife is even considering taking Spanish lessons as she found the people so endearing and the language so lovely. The bar tenders on the beach and the entertainment staff by the pool/beach were quite entertaining. They would break into song, dance the merengue with whomever was close by and bring a smile to all those around them. The mood they created was quite infectious. The beach is gorgeous, lots of white sand and turquoise waters. It was easy to get chairs and palapas; we never had a problem and we did not get to the beach until around 11 a.m. It was easy to spend 5-6 hours at the beach/pool. The restaurant on the beach allowed you to take a "break" from all the lounging around and refuel for the next round. The nightly entertainment was fun and different every evening. Our villa was right on the oceanfront and the restaurants were close to the lobby at the far end of the resort. Most often we walked from our room to the restaurants, which took no more than 10 minutes. Sometimes it took a few minutes more if you got in a lively conversation with the staff, or if a sang and dance broke out, which was contagious. If we were too tired we took a shuttle bus. We had 5 a la carte dinners. We ate at the Garden Grill, the French, the Japanese, the Mediterrean, and the Italian restaurants. They were all great; my wife's favourite was the Japanese as you got to see the chef prepare your meal. We took a couple of day trips off the resort in order to see more of what the island has to offer. The Bavaro Runners was excellent. It is an outback safari trip throughout the Dominican Republic. It is an eye opener for those of us from developed countries...a definite must to help put things into perspective. We also took a marina tour which included snorkeling and swimming with stingrays (minus the stingers) and nurse sharks (herbivores). That was pretty exciting! There is not one thing my wife and I found lacking in our holiday. It was such a wonderful way to spend our 25th and will cherish those memories forever. For all of you planning a trip to Punta Cana you will greatly enjoy yourselves. For all of you planning on staying at the Gran Bahia Principe, please do not pay too much attention to anything negative you might read on other reviews. I have read them upon my return and cannot believe my eyes. I can only concur that some people are very unhappy and find little pleasure anywhere they go. Enjoy your vacation and be happy. and if you like the service you get -please tip the kids. we saw it as an act of kindness rather than expense, a buck or two to them is so appreciated. and you will be treated even better than you could possibly imagine.. pack lots of $1.00's . Its not required for good service but you will feel great. Adios!