Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Family Vacation

I will start by saying the staff was amazing. Any complaints were met and resolved. The grounds were very clean. And I would have to say, this is one of the better beaches I have ever been to. That being said, the room fridge was never cold. Some of the lights worked in the room - very dark at night. There was almost no water pressure and one night we only had cold water. I have a smaller child and I did find it disturbing to see the lifeguards on phones. It was very challenging to book  [... read more]our a la carte dinners, as the restaurants are not even open every night. Overall, very good trip and I would go back again, but request room in the 26 villa complex.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beautiful Resort! BUT...

Everything was fantastic, the views, the service, the rooms The only 2 negatives are: 1) we were there the 2 last weeks of september and what this resort do is they open to the Dominican people from Friday to Sunday! it cost them 200.00 US for the weekend. A lot of peoples and their family comes in! the pool is full!!! the Bar is full!!! the buffet restaurant is full and they eat everything in site! so if you are not there at the opening of the buffet there's no place to sit and hardly any  [... read more]food left!!! Luckily for the evening meals they are not allowed to go the the " A La Carte Restaurant" PHEW!!! 2) the beach of the hotel is very small you cannot take long walks and also just at the end it is open to the public so they come into our side, the vendors come in too (discretely) but are still there to bother the people. So that's not great because they are very insistant. we heard also that this resort will become a "non all inclusive" starting next year. So I think with point 1 & 2 and the non "all Inclusive" that there will be less people that will go there that's for sure! Next time that we go to Samana we will go to Grand EL Portillo because we like Samana but before I book I will inquire if in the fall the Dominicans are allowed to go to that resort too for the weekend!

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Beautiful resort to enjoy

Beautiful resort to enjoy ocean beach hotel entertainment restaurants and amazing food. Very calming atmosphere, all facilities working just perfect, guest service outstanding and caring about all guests needs. Very appropriate Lidia for comfortable stay. Live music enjoyable and give more charm for romantic vacation. Very happy return home and thank very much for beautiful and unforgettable time at Bahia Grand Principe Portillo

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Amazing Resort!

I highly recommend this resort. I have not one complaint and all but positive feedback from the price, food, housekeeping to the grounds. The cleanest and prestine hotel with continual perks. We even found out in the bungalow section we stayed in we had a butler, Adonis who was very informative. We had room service 24/7 on top of an extended buffet 3x/daily with food to die for. Three beautiful restaurants on top of the buffet that we only took advantage of the last night as we were all alway [... read more]s exhausted and back in our rooms by 8p.m. with food comas 🤣. The beach is breathtaking and although I am a water baby, I didn't quite make it fully in as the ocean was often volatile but still no complaints, the sound and view was beautiful enough and the pool sufficed 💯% As I don't drink alcoholic beverages, they had more than enough amazing selections of mixed fresh juices, Cafe frappes, club sodas and of course ice cold bottled 💧 water. Wi-fi everywhere and someone asked about the mosquitoes.... there were some but I didn't see any. Only had one bite that I didn't feel but it was there. We had visits daily from a family of felines while we ate and entertained us, the kittens were adorable and had a hard time ignoring. Cutest dogs roaming the beach with a care free vibe and such respectful boundaries to tourists. I left extremely satisfied.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Very good!!!

The hotel is very clean. Very friendly staff. Very good service. BUT! We paid for a Superior Junior suite, but they gave us a Standard room. We arrived and looked again at the photos on the hotel website and this is a Standard room. We were told that this is a Superior Junior suite. Room 7202, we stayed from September 21 to September 28. Svetlana Baiguildina and Albert Baiguildine.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beautiful view

The resort was beautiful and the food was very good, except that they had pizza and spaghetti everyday on the buffet. As far as the maids and cleaning the rooms, that was awful. Our towels were not changed for 5 days, even though we kept telling them, then no water was left in our fridge, then our shower wasn’t working and the water was rising up to my knees every time I took a shower. It is sad that they don’t take care of their guest with respect.

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Amazing cozy resort

Extremely good beaches with ability to walk many miles, very easy swimming in the ocean for elderly people. Clean resort with excellent landscaping, reasonable food. Personnel is very friendly and supportive.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Amazing beach

Overall a very good vacationing spot. The beach is amazing, with lots of palm trees to provide shade. The coral reef is right in front of the hotel's beach so we did lots of snorkelling and fish feeding (my 10 year old was in heaven). We spent probably 85% of our time on the beach in the ocean and then the rest at the pool. The pool is somewhat small for the place it was full most of the time, they do have a second small pool further out between the villas but it was too far to walk too and tend [... read more]ed to be crowded too. Rooms are very dated but clean and that is all that matters. Service mainly good but you can tell that most servers/bartenders were overwhelmed as the resort was full so not all the time you received the best service and had to wait for drinks but they did their best. Food was plenty and good, lots of variety but again the buffet was a bit small for the amount of tourist were there, if you went early you were ok. A day before our return our beach towels were stolen, we left them out around 6:45 a.m. went for breakfast and came back around 8:00 a.m. (note that we followed what we saw is the practice with reserving your spot, even though the hotel says not to do it, if you did not reserve by 7:15 a.m. most seats were gone at the beach, they had spots at the pool until about 8:00 a.m.). Anyway we went to investigate as we also had personal items (some headbands) on each seat. Apparently it was not removed by security as they would return the towels to the towel place and then notify reception how many towels they collected. It was removed by a tourist as later in the day my niece saw one group was leaving and were short on towels and then another tourist walk over to them and offered them towels as he had extra towels... interesting... well his extra towels cost me US$40 in fine but whatever, I wish in the future will only have this much of "damage" on all our vacations. I would recommend this hotel/place for its beach/ocean for sure.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Good average resort

Pool and beach were great. Buffet decent. Gourmet and Brazilian alacstres good. Drinks are generic and should include more for the price. Rooms clean and spacious. Spa disappointing as they didn’t accept the offer posted in lobby. So take a picture of all offers to show them. So they can’t cheat you Staff very good.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beautiful views

The hotel was very clean, beautiful and large. The layout was a bit confusing at first but original and this is what it makes the beauty of it. The staff was very attentive and professional, everybody with the smile. The villas situated on the beach level have nice views but you have to be ready to climb 70 stairs back and forth to get to the swimming pool, reception and buffet. So it is not for everybody. The resort is laid out vertically not horizontally. The views from different layers are a [... read more]mazing. the downside is you can not take a walk anywhere except it climbing or descending the multiple stairs. The food at the buffet was amazing: plenty of fish, vegetables, paella, all sorts of combinations of steamed or grilles vegetables. a lot of variety. the only disadvantage is we ate too much (haha). The beach is very small and not particularly nice. there are some stones in the water. plenty of shade though. The pool is amazing and large enough for a medium number of tourists. The entertainment staff did a good job. There are spanish classes with Shel Liana who is funny and teaches you well. The evening entertainment consisted of themes where guests participate which was a lot of fun. I particularly likes the couples contests where the guy has to do push ups with wife on top and say yo soy macho..that was hilarious ! there was also karaoke very good. averall a very pleasant stay.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Great Resort

The hotel was great with wonderful views. We had a room with city and bay view and it was one of the best views we have had in all our travels (being docked at St Marteen with a balcony looking at the city was close lol). People are all friendly and they do try to speak English as best they can. Food was great with lots to choose from. Beach was good and the ocean was nice and warm at this time of year. They keep it clean and lots of loungers to use with shade. We had an incident when we [... read more] were going to get a message at the Spa (fire next door) and we had to be cancelled. they gave us a 30 minute free massage 2 days later to make it up to us, which we can't really complain about as the incident was not their fault. We would go back to this resort if the price is right for sure.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Amazing place

Very nice place customer service is great took care of my needs there was a problem with wifi in my room they switched my room and gave me a voucher also offered me bottle of wine I do not drink so they gave another formal dinner to a restaurant

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Not for Couples that want to Relax (Standards have gone Down)

We love the Bahia Principe Chains and don't mind paying a little more for the BP standard that they have shown. The staff was very friendly but the lack of staff was evident in every aspect. The food was sub-standard and very salty and for the first time we thought the food was better in Cuba. We go there to relax and would have preferred going to the BP Luxury Samana but it was closed. We made our way to the relaxing quiet pool where the rules were not enforced and kids were yelling and a g [... read more]roup of people brought a big sound system. We just got up and left. The night time shows were different singers signing the same playlist. No Shows. If you're a group and do not care about the food or service it's a great resort. But if your a couple going to relax, maybe find something else. However, the price was not worth the service you get.

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Everything we’d hoped

Firstly, we’re an easily pleased couple, within reason; and the price all in for this trip was so right it set the bar low — we were hopeful but not expecting greatness. Our aims were to disconnect, and to relax and be active in equal measures, and that’s exactly what we did. The place was pretty quiet, which we loved; and no kids of course….!!! Our room was so close / closest to the beach relative to others, with a partial ocean view from the balcony. Location was well worth the m [... read more]inor maintenance issues. -comfortable king-sized bed - coffee maker with coffee, and mini fridge with pop, beer and water (both not always stocked in spite of tipping, maybe would need to ask) -big bathroom and shower (water temp not great, limited opportunity in the evening for a hot shower with pressure; bathroom door didn’t latch; one light flickered until dead on the second day). -housekeeping very friendly and pleasant, just not consistent with small things (missing coffee cups, face towels, teaspoons and creamer for coffee etc) Food was delicious and highly varied at the main buffet on most days, we either really loved a given dish or didn’t like. -no need for restaurant reservations, but be sure to get in early on busier days (weds to sat) -Fusion restaurant was super delicious, went twice (the salmon..!!) -desserts were mostly a miss, but surprisingly great ice cream and delicious fresh fruit - ate and drank everything (except tap water) without hesitation, no significant issues - room service not recommended… - drinks from the ‘hip’ bar were worlds better than beach bar drinks, but pretty inconsistent at both. branded liquors available at both - some drinks like daiquiri, pina colada (so good), mamajuana not on the menu but could order Staff throughout the resort were very pleasant, everyone in general seemed relaxed and happy. -late-night check-in was easy and friendly, allowed guests to eat first and check-in after -bar and restaurant staff were mostly lovely and otherwise seemed neutral -virtually no salespeople except for one pushy attempt at timeshare selling -animation team were awesome Beach and pool were serene. - not a white-sand beach and didn’t expect that, but the water was clear and beautiful. some seaweed on some days but nothing unexpected there for us…it’s a beach. -good waves on most days for body-boarding or kayaking in and out - shoreline made for a beautiful and lengthy walk in either direction with some nice surprises along the way -no pool bar, again a plus for us. meant the pool was usually quiet in the day with guests lounging around or swimming. clean, spacious, relaxing. Gym was OK, great they have it and very useable but could do with updated or better maintained equipment. Activities were fun!! -again, animation team were above and beyond — daytime engagement was varied and fun, and nightly entertainment was exceptional almost every night. -Archery got competitive in a great way -Snorkelling a no-go, nothing to see, though there were excursions available. -We would not again take an excursion involving ‘bacardi’ or cayo island. No wifi except in the room as far as we cared to check. Limited access worked in our favour. Friendly and adorable stray cats and a couple of dogs visited frequently…and we could not have been happier for it. We’d go back for certain, especially if booking through TripCentral.

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Unique

Loved the location of the hotel. It definitely has lots of character & is very comfortable and clean. The scenery is very lushuous and green. The ocean is right in front of you. Loved hearing the sound of the waves every night. The staff we're very professional & friendly. The food & drinks we're delicious! I would highly recommend this place as your stay for the week. Very beautiful!! 🥰

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Good Resort

Overall just good, not great. Buffet was good, not great. A decent beach area but smaller in size. Lots of locals on the beach(they are public). Nightly enertainment was not good some nights(average to poor overall) they play bingo at 9pm in the enertainment area. Who wants to play bingo over watching a show and music at 9pm. Workers are great Jose at the beach bar was great and Maxwell was in a supervisor role but was awsome he was always making drinks at the pool bar or the beach bar. H [... read more]ad a ocean view room and the view was Amazing!! Exactly what you get for a 4 star resort. Cant ask for much more. Great trip.

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Very strong 3.5

The rooms were clean and bed comfortable. Food at the specialty restaurants were very good especially at the Fusion. I would recommend the cream of pistachio soup and grilled salmon. Unfortunately, the food especially at the Buffet gets cold quickly and the variety is limited. However, you will not starve. The fried chicken at the Mediterranean for lunch is comparable to KFC. Very good. The staff are hard working and pleasant. As well, the animation team is very active to keep you entertained.  [... read more]Beautiful beach that you can walk for miles. The AC in the Fusion and Seafood restaurants could be improved. It gets very warm. I would also recommend that a dedicated computer and printer be available to assist visitors in completing their Exit Visas 72 hours prior leaving the resort.

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Great resort

Great staff, beach, pool, activities and good selection of food..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... [... read more].............

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Amazing

Very good service ,food was good.I would go there again.we had a great time there enjoy every single day. Good experience, wish we knew Spanish so we can communicate more with people there.we were there to celebrate our 25th anniversary Loved it thank you

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Resort was ok

Rooms were outdated , new pool , new sports bar and new dining room were very good staff was excellent .beach very good. But beer and liquor was late 3days,they ran out of bailey's cranberry juice,and other mixes. This resort should be down grade a half star . It is no longer a 5 star.