Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda

January 13th-20th 2018 Traveled with my now husband, our parents and sisters, 8 of us total. First time for all of us to Punta Cana, let alone an all-inclusive resort. Mini backstory: I won the trip from 103.1 Fresh Radio for myself and a guest, flight and stay as well as a basic wedding package. Arrival in Punta Cana: We departed the plane on the tarmac, boarded a really packed bus to shuttle us a short 2 minute drive to the airport. We stood in a very long line, about two hour wait [... read more]. We were given tourist cards on the flight where later asked to give to an attendant where they kept bringing to a booth to re-sell right behind us which I found bizarre. We finally reached a counter to get our passports checked. It was confusion from then on, putting belongings through security, random staff trying to take your luggage for you in a hurry, and taking you out to the busy, unorganized parking lot to find your shuttle to the resort, about a 30min drive. Arrival at Bahia Principe main lobby Punta Cana: We got off our coach bus at the bigger main lobby where we had to place our luggage on smaller carts that fit 8 people at a time. We rode minutes away to Esmeralda. Because we were a large group (of other trip winners, radio staff, etc) they had us wait in the lobby, gave only a few people tiny welcome drinks, check-in felt unorganized. We were given our room key cards and told our luggage would arrive in our rooms. It felt like awhile. Overall Experience: Everything made up for that rocky start. Amazing friendly, helpful staff, service, clean rooms and grounds. We were so impressed by our room and butler Meldy who was always at our service, bringing us scented pillows every night. The safe was excellent to use. We had surprises in our room on our wedding night and next day. Mini bar always stocked. We mostly ate at buffet's for all meals as it was hard to reserve 8 people at a decent time at a la carts. I was worried my mother with a servere sea food allergy would have a hard time eating but she did not at all. There were lots of fun shows at the pool and lobby areas almost every day as well as dancing on the beach. Ricardo was so patient with serving our large group with drinks on the beach. We could openly explore neighbouring resorts on foot and by cart except Fantasia was private. Next time: I'd save spots by the pool and/or beach early in the morning. Hard to get 8 seats together. Bring large tumblers or insulated cups. Towel clips for lawn chairs. Bring my own inflatable pool floaties. Only things I did not like: On the first day we were suckered into paying to take photos with parrots, monkeys and iguanas for $10ea on the beach. Did not realize you could negotiate that. Also we were drawn into the BP Priviledge Club "tour", which is not a 1 hr tour of the resorts as they claim, but a 2.5 hr boring speech to get you to buy weeks of their club. Manager was very rude. Waste of time but gave us a few freebies for thr trouble. If anyone would like further reviews on our wedding day don't hesitate to ask. We dealt with Lesly with the wedding dept at Bahia Principe and Jul and Pablo from Tropic One Studio Photography.

Excellent resort!

The service in this hotel is second to none. Many employees make an effort to remember guests and their preferences and we never waited for either food or drinks in any of the buffets in Esmeralda...although the buffet at the main lobby was a bit of a different story. The pools are immaculate and the groundskeepers work very hard to ensure everything looks pristine. The room was spacious and well stocked and the housekeeping staff took very good care of us. We did not eat at any a la carte r [... read more]estaurants because the quality and variety of foods at the buffets were awesome! The only drawback is that it is not right in town so we were not able to venture off the resort other than an excursion which did not allow much interaction with the local people.

Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda

My husband and I took a trip together in January 2018. Hotel grounds and pools are beautiful! The staff is very helpful. Our butler Ruth went out of her way to make our stay more enjoyable. She was fantastic, friendly and wanted to help us in any way possible. Our main complaint would be the size of the resort. It was far too big and overwhelming. Requiring to jump on a trolley to get to the main lobby only stopped us from going more often. The beach was so packed we couldn't even enjoy  [... read more]any chairs close to the water. My recommendation would be to stay at Ambar Blue if travelling without kids. We booked most of our A La Carte restaurants there. Found the food and atmosphere more to our liking.

Very nice resort

The hotel is very well maintained. The pool was clean the pool bar service was great. The food was decent. The staff were friendly. The entertainment was ok. The hotel shuttle services were very good.

Beautiful Large Resort

We stayed at this resort for Christmas 2017. It is a HUGE complex. When we booked, we were advised that we would be allowed to visit any of the multiple resorts within this complex. We liked the idea of the variety. Upon arrival, we were advised that there were many places that we could not go. There was a resort in the middle of the complex that looked amazing with a waterpark for the kids and castles; we were not allowed in. And there were guards at all gates making sure of this. The beach im [... read more]mediately in front of our rooms was blocked off and we were not allowed to use it. We needed to walk down the beach to a different area far from our room, and join hundreds of other people there. The area of beach that we were allowed to use was so packed and busy, it was difficult to get a beach chair or a section of sand for the kids to play in. There were multiple swimming pools at our resort, the pools were very nice; but also difficult to get a beach chair unless you grab it before breakfast. Unfortunately, all chairs were reserved with towels, but not even half were actually being sat in by anyone. The food was good - good selection - the a la cartes were definitely worth it. Although it was very difficult to get a reservation for one. Together, the complex is massive. There are multiple golf cart trains that can take you all over the complex; it can be a little confusing as to which one takes you where. I would visit this resort again.

Great time at Esmeralda

We loved the location of Esmeralda just steps away from the beach. The buffets were all great and the a la carte restaurants were especially delicious. With that said the whole hotel including the rooms are showing its age and will require a major renovation pretty soon. Besides for that, we had a great trip! The chilled red wine went down very very smoothly :)

Awesome time!

This hotel was amazing. The staff were very nice, everywhere was very well kept and food was awesome. The pool bar was where we spent most of our time to relax as well as the beach. They have servers come up to you on the beach to take drink orders which is very convenient. I would recommend this hotel to families and couples of all ages!

Great resort with a few things that need to be fixed.

Hotel in general: the resort in itself is beautiful. It is very large however the nice thing about the Esmeralda is that you are right on the beach regardless of how far back your room is. The grounds are immaculate and very well kept. The lobby is beautiful and open air. There is a bar right in the lobby and on the side there is a coffee machine with sweets and snacks in the afternoon. Rooms: very nice large rooms. Comfortable beds. We had 2 double beds. One for my wife and I and another for o [... read more]ur 18 year old son. Our mothers came with us. We requested ahead of time rooms in the same building on the second floor with separated beds. These requests were not met. You also won’t get your room until 3pm. Wifi did not work in one room, we complained about this multiple times to the front desk and our concierge however this was never fixed. The rooms are quite large and we never felt crowded with 3 people in the room. Beach: beach is nice, however if you’re expecting clear, calm water, you won’t get that. The beach in punta cana is rough and goes deep very quickly. The water is not clear, so forget about snorkeling. We had to get up early (8am) to get beach chairs in around the third row so that we could see the beach from our loungers. However if you wake up later, you can always find loungers further back. Lots of palapas and chairs towards the left of the beach area, close to the Fantasia area. Pool: 3 pools, 2 large pools and an adult only pool. There aren’t enough loungers in the pool area. They get reserved very early. My opinion is that there is a lot of room to add more loungers. Food: this is where I have mixed reviews. I haven’t been in punta cana in 10 years. Last trips there were in the Luxury Ambar and Riu Palace. In the past 10 years I have been going mainly to Maya Riviera and other islands. Although it seems that in all the buffets and restaurants, there is ample variety and every food you would want: seafood, meats, vegetables, etc.. The food for the most part in the buffet was cold to luck warm. The food was either salty or bland. I found the food to be much tastier in the resorts in Mexico. They need to drastically improve in this area. Also for specialty coffees, there are all machine made, no real expresso machine. The desserts were amazing, kudos to the pastry chef. But they need to improve the temperature in the buffet and hire better chefs. Having said that you won’t go hungry. Tons of restaurants and choices in the buffets. We did 3 a la carte, Italian in the Ambar (very good), Brazilian in the Esmeralda (very good), meditarrean: Bahia Punta Cana (average). On the positive side, we were a group of 5 and nobody got sick. On the topic of getting sick, I have been fighting a cold since I landed in punta cana and despite the warm weather, I got really congested towards the 6th day. I went to the pharmacy (in the ambar) and even walked to the pharmacy in the Riu complex. Very hard to find cold medicine and when I finally found it, it was US$10 for 6 pills (cold remedy). Lesson to learn, take all your medicine with you. Entertainment: aside from the standard shows in the main theatres which I never attended, I’ve seen them too many times in others resorts, there is local entertainment in every hotel lobby. There is a theme every night, Latin band, Karaoke, Tropical nights (dancers) etc… These are all held in the lobby and they rotate to the different lobbies. There is also entertainment in the main Plaza (south of the Punta cana) where they have a band at night (10:30), a night club, a bar and casino. We went to the club a couple of times, it was fun and it is oriented for the younger crowd but you would find people of all ages. One negative aspect is that it was difficult for my 18 year old son to connect with other teens except at night at the disco. They should have a pool table and a ping pong table in the main lobby or somewhere around the pool. This is great for the teens to congregate and meet. They have this in every other resort I’ve been to except here. There are also lots of daily activities led by the staff, Zumba classes, yoga, games etc…What we would do most nights is stay at our lobby until 9pm then take the trolley to the punta cana lobby, it is more lively there, then around 10:30 walk over to the main plaza. By the way, walking from the main plaza which is all the way at the end of the complex to the Esmeralda took about 15 minutes (we are fast walkers). In general, we found things to do but my teenage son found the resort too big to connect to other teens and told me he would have preferred a smaller resort. Having said that he went out every night to the club and made friends staying out until 3 am on a nightly basis. So nights were fun for him but was bored during the day. Overall impression, it was a nice resort but for they need to work on a few things. Most staff members were pretty friendly but we came across some staff with attitude and both my wife and I speak Spanish fluently. We find that in general hotel staff are much friendlier in Mexico. Wifi was spotty and never worked in our room. A pool and ping pong table in the resort is a must. Improve on the food quality. We also did one activity that we purchased in the resort. We went on a dune buddy activity that was a lot of fun.

Great place for family vacation

We had adjoining junior suites at the Esmeralda Hotel , large, clean ,beautiful , spacious well decorated rooms, large bathrooms, and well stocked mini fridge. The pools are great, but pool chairs were always reserved with towels, but no guests ever actually using these reserved chairs. Fantastic beach and water was close to the hotel, but again chairs reserved and unused by those reserving them. Children's water park was great for the little ones, and the play area near the hotel was fun for [... read more] the kids. Buffet meals became boring after 3 days. It was difficult to impossible to get reservations at the specialty restaurants, so don't be attracted to that option, as it probably won't be available. The Italian restaurant which we finally got to, was not worth it, as the food was poor quality. The Asian restaurant was really good.

Beautiful grounds

Grounds lovely, not many staff spoke English. No elevators so we had to move to 1st floor. This was disappointing but first floor room in better condition. Drapes on 3rd floor room off hooks in places. Food was adequate.

Un hotel... plusieurs niveaux de services

Nous avons séjourné au Bahia Principe Punta Cana à trois reprises, dans un intervalle de temps de 11 ans (deux fois au Bavaro et une fois au Esmeralda). Les trois expériences ont été somme toutes agréables. Les points forts de cet hôtel sont la plage et la propriété des lieux communs. Les points faibles sont la présence d'embarcation motorisée (pollution sonore et écologique) et le fait que l'hôtel cultive une culture de différentiation entre les clients. Même en payant le gros  [... read more]prix, nous n'avions pas eu accès à tous les services offerts au Bahia Principe. Nous ne pouvions pas aller au Fantasia, ni dans la section Ambar, ni souper en famille dans les restaurants gourmets du site (interdits aux moins de 18 ans), ni aller dans les sections réservées au Club. L'hotel Esmeralda devrait avoir ses propres restaurants gourmets. Autres points à surveiller : la qualité de la nouriture et du service dans les restaurants (inégale d'un endroit à l'autre).

Vacation with my teenagers...

Hotel was clearly a 5-Star. Staff and common area was luxury. Air Canada representative (Aldo) was very approachable. Tripcentral agent (Jack) was helpful. Air Canada Rouge was also a quality experience. Appreciated not having to pay the entry/exit tax.

Esmerela : I love it!

Spotless grounds, fabulous professional service even at the beach. Food at the buffet was good, but so much better in the al-a cart. Exception is Dominican restaurant outside :had mosquitos..food bland. Drinks all top quality. Taxi service promt. Rooms great but bed a bit hard and pillows were a 3 out of 10 Beach clean, activities good. Esmerelda is the best spot in the resort. Loved it. 3rd visit for us.

Excellent Service... Excellent Property!

Everything was impressive. The service, the butler service, the concierge service. The only negative would be one that is an issue at many resorts... temperature food. Hot food is barely warm on many occasions and is a serious risk to cause sickness (I was sick from day 3 on). Even when arriving to buffet as soon as they open makes no difference... the food is not kept at proper temps. Aside from that, everything was perfect. The grounds are immaculate and worth a tour and there are plen [... read more]ty of beach palapas for everyone!

Beautiful, clean resort

The Bahia Principe is a BIG resort, the Esmeralda is set right beside the beach with beautiful white sands and terquoise sea. We went just after hurricane season subsequently, that brings in a fair bit of seaweed which the hotel did its best to clear every day. 90% of our time was on the beach, swimming in the sea was amazing. The grounds were kept exceptionally clean and the staff are very very friendly. A great place for holidaying families, friends and couples 😃

Great Resort

Just returned from another great vacation at our favorite resort. Everything was great food ,room,pools,ocean,. We will be returning again in February for two weeks and can't wait. This will be our 7 th time at the Esmeralda . This was the first time we have gone at this time of year and it was extremely hot . But still great!

Beautiful Hotel but will not be returning

The hotel is gorgeous. The grounds are beautiful. We went there to relax and enjoy our family time. But we are constantly being pressured to buy something. Jewellery an excursion a membership. I can understand the occasional sale push but it was constant. The knowledge of the drinks were inconsistent with the different bars so we actually wound up going to the one bar that knew what they were doing. And when you would try and explain it to the bartender they would look at you as if you were n [... read more]othing. Needless to say my family will not be returning to Bahia Principe for our future holidays. The folks at trip central were amazing. Their constant care and consistently was incredible and we will be booking with them again

Overall A Great Resort

The resort is small, however the complex is huge. You can stay in your resort all week, however if you book certain restaurants, or you like to go to the Casino, or visit the shopping area you need to take the resort bus. The resort is clean and really well taken care of. The pools are nice, however if you want a good lounger at the pool you need to wake up really early to reserve your spot. If you want a pool cabana you need to wake up even earlier. Here is a small tip, some people will leave t [... read more]heir towels on loungers all night so if you go down early in the morning and find towels on loungers check if they are soaked. If they are just remove them and put your towel there. There are signs all over the resort that reserving chairs is strictly prohibited so leaving towels on a lounger overnight is someones stupidity and your ultimate gain. The beach is OK. Very busy, however you will always find a lounger. If you want a lounger that is closer to the beach however the same reservation rules apply. Wake up early and reserve. The water at the beach is not great. It gets deep really quickly and the water is full of weeds. If you think you are getting a beach like in Cuba or Jamaica you're out of luck. The food is amazing especially at the a la carte restaurants. Putting on a few pounds is defiantly easily accomplished at this place. The rooms are nice as well. Very spacious and clean. Overall its a very nice resort and you won't be disappointed, however if you enjoy a quiet vacation with minimal noise and interruptions this is not the resort for you.

Ok resort!

Hotel was nice, I'm a food guy and food here was not up to par... complex is huge and takes forever to get anywhere! Beach was not the best, tons of seaweed all over the beach!! Services was ok Just my opinion

Great resort

The location was great. Resort is large with 8 hotels. We stayed at the Esmeralda which is great because it's the closest to the beach if you have kids. The food was very good. The rooms were clean and provided everything we need. There was quite a bit of seaweed on the beach but they were always cleaning it. This depends on the rain and season. There is always cabanas for shade. I would definitely come back to this resort . 5 star for sure! Highly recommend.