Everything we were hoping for!

The hotel was awesome. - Best food we've ever had at an all inclusive. We enjoyed all 4 all a carte restaurants, as well as the buffet. - Very organized resort and the staff were friendly/helpful. The check in process was superb. They had you your key the minute you walked off the bus. No need to wait in line at the front desk. - Rooms were nice and very clean. Bed was fairly comfortable, at least by hotel standards. - Beach was amazing, you could walk forever in either direction. Only d [... read more]rawback is there's lots of people selling things on the beach. They're not pushy, but be prepared to say 'no thank you' every 20 minutes. - We liked the pools, although didn't spend much time at either - Older ground, most people we're 50+. Definitely not a party atmosphere, if that's what you're in too. We just wanted to relax, so that was fine by us Overall a great hotel, and would go back in a heart beat.

Beach Perfect

Awesome beach walk for miles, crystal clear water. Good food clean rooms. Don't waste your time in Les Terranas although it's a nice walk along the beach from the resort. No ocean view rooms at this resort as the restaurants all face the beach. Nice resort not to big. I would go back but wouldn't pay for the Royal Golden package as an upgrade next time. a la carte should be used Rodizio interesting, French very nice. Buffet was also good.

Grand Bahia- El Portillo

Trip Central was able to help facilitate a great trip to El Portillo. There was a fine rep onsite daily to answer any queries. El Portillo was everything we expected and the staff were genuine with wonderful DR virtues. Thank-you Trip Central.

Fabulous Resort

We have travelled to the Dominican several times, but first time to Samana, and first time staying at a Bahia Principe resort. The resort did not disappoint.... it was everything we had hoped for. The beach was amazing, you could walk for miles, do some snorkelling along the way. The resort itself was very clean, and always saw staff sweeping, dusting, etc. The staff is amazing, and always willing to help and always with a smile. The resort is very compact, which is nice for anyone with mobilit [... read more]y issues. There is nothing that is more than a few minute walk. The buffet and the buffet beach bar( lunch only) had a great selection. We ate at 3 of the specialty restaurants( Italian, French, and Brazilian) all were very good. The Brazilian probably being my fav, but my husband loved the French. The lobby bar is very nice, with s great selection of drinks, unfortunately it closes at 11:00, then you have to go to the disco to get a drink. Too loud if you just wanted to sit and socialize, but great if you wanted to get in a little more partying. All in all a great resort that has everything to offer. Would definitely go back!

Great resort!

Overall the resort was great, friendly staff and entertainers. The food was really great except the Oriental night, the meat and vegetable was drenched in sweet sauce and food was not appealing at all. Every other night was great. The water park eatery only had hot dogs and popcorn, perhaps some fruits and veggies would make the parents happy =) The maintenance crew starts cutting the grass/trimming leaves as early as 9:00am which woke us up on our 2nd day. When we arrived at the hotel, we had  [... read more]to fill out a form with our name, DOB and address (I think!). Shouldn't the hotel have all our info already instead of making us fill out a form after a long day of travelling? Which by the way, I never received my hotel voucher via email from Trip Advisor which delayed my check-in at the resort and the man that was at front desk was no help at all. He told me to wait, I waited for him to put on the resort bracelet on every person that was on our bus and then he proceeded to tell me that I needed to print the hotel voucher out (for the 2nd time). First off I never received a voucher via email (I checked my sent, deleted and inbox) and second of all in this day in age, who prints anymore? Lastly, the Air Canada rep should've gave us the hotel form to fill out while we were on the bus. My in laws arrived few days later and had the opportunity to fill out their checkin form on the bus. On our way to the resort, our Air Canada rep asked the driver to drop him off at his home 30 mins into the ride and left the bus to fend for ourselves when we arrived at the resort. On the way back to airport, the Air Canada rep should've had all the airport forms ready to go on the bus so we can fill it out to make our checkin seamless when we got to the airport. My brother in law had email the hotel before we arrived to inquire if our rooms could be close together. We never received a reply and when we asked at front desk, they told us to wait. we never ended up getting rooms close together. Half of The kids movie at night were in Spanish which was a bit of a bummer. Actually this is the first resort I've been to where there were many non English speaking staff. That didn't bother me much though! To end on a positive note, everything was really close, the beach, pool and resort which made it easy when travelling with kids. Overall the trip was great, but there are few areas that could be improved.

Delightful visit to the dR

Everything was in place to make this a wonderful respite from old man winter. Resort was wonderfully small yet well appointed with everything we needed. Didn't have that "city" feel when there just too many guests for the size of beach and restau etc. Whale watching was best ever.

Warmth and sunshine!

The resort is well maintained and very beautiful. There is only one building with ocean view and unfortunately we weren't in it. The beach area was clean and raking was done throughout the day to get anything like seaweed that washed ashore. Snorkelling wasn't great, but we did see a few fish. The rooms were large with lots of space to put your clothes. The bathroom was also large with a walk in shower and a jet tub. It was a bit dated and slightly dirty (walls), but again lots of space wi [... read more]th 2 sinks. The food wasn't great and very repetitive and the service was slow. Some days we were over half way done our meal before drinks or coffee arrived. I did notice that French speaking people were served better, I am assuming it was because resort staff speaks Spanish and French. The restaurants were okay, but again the service was slow. The Brazilian Restaurant was the best food by far and best service. The entertainment was awful and there was nothing to do past 7pm until it started at 9:30. There is no hot tub and the pool is closed at 7. No lights on the tennis courts or area with pool table and the attendant leaves at 7 so you can't get the equipment anyway.

Good resort

nice resort, luck of variety of drinks, the room 27310 to far from the beach and playground, but over all it is a good resort for the money, stuff was good ... will recommend this resort to our friends

We love it here! We've gone twice now!

We have gone twice now and are going again next year and taking our kids -16 & 18 years because they will absolutely love it too. Food was even better this time, drinks were great, beach is beautiful and you can snorkel while still standing ten feet off shore. Love, love, love. We've also recommended this place to friends who have also all loved it!

Beautiful Resort!

The grounds were absolutely beautiful and well maintained by a smiling, friendly and welcoming staff. Everyone we spoke with or interacted with was generous, willing to help or simply warm and friendly. The beach is beautiful and offers a unique opportunity to view fish at a reef just off shore in a safe and family friendly atmosphere.

Amazing family style resort

Everything was great, food was incredible, we stayed one week and we tried the Brazilian and Italian restaurantes, but sincerely, you will be amazed of the variety and quality of their buffet food, the beach was clean and had enough umbrellas for everyone, very clean and spacious rooms.

Overall great resort.

Xmas Buffet was a disaster avoid if at all possible. Very frustrating & confusing. Fighting for seats & food. Crazy!!! The staff & service was good. Check-in was great no line ups. Rainy weather but not to worry sun comes out quickly.

Another great time

Beautifull suite , amazing grounds and great staff made our 5th trip to the resort the best again .felt safe leaving resort all 5 times and enjoyed going on zip line a few time.beach pedlars are also polite .

Amazing resort!!!

Amazing people, amazing food and facilities!!!! All personel including Air canada staff were amazing. Best all inclusive ever. Respectful and friendly guests too :) amazing service. Thank- you Jennifer for recommending Samana and the Bahia principe el portillo!

Amazing resort!

This is the best hotel I ever been for winter holidays! The beach of the hotel is great. Of course if you just want to swim and walk, it is just like other beaches. But the best part is snorkling. We spent all the time snorkling in the sea and it just steps away from the beach! Food was great! Highly recommend Brazial and French restaurents. Buffet is good enough too. Rooms are huge and clean. Air conditions works well. Although we experienced some leaking problem it was fixed right away. So  [... read more]the room service is fine. Safe box is free to use, but a bit complicate to know how to set password. Bathroom is big and bright. Day trips hosted by hotel is reasonable priced. We had a lot of fun! Highly recommend National Park day trip and Zipline. Zip line is so exciting~

Great deal, hidden gem

Best thing about this hotel is probably the food. Overall very good. Lots of quality buffet selections, à la cartes are all great, Brazilian was our fave. Some of the best beef and chicken we've ever had anywhere. Beach is nice, coral just feet off shore makes for some fun snorkeling. Small pool but we aren't pool people. Overall great place, a hidden gem. Friendly stray beach dogs are fun to play with, they stay off the resort beach

Fantastic Resort!

The resort itself was first class. Everything you want in an all inclusive resort. Great food (each of the A La Cartes and the snack bar and buffet), beautiful beach, very clean rooms and buildings, genuine and helpful staff and lots of things to do to keep you busy and entertained. The best feature for us was the great people that were working while we were at the resort. Everyone was very nice and quick to help with anything. The beach is more of a Snorkelling beach than anything as there is a [... read more] natural reef about 20-50 feet out depending on the part of the beach you're on. Lots of chair availablility on the beach and lots of sun and shade to go around. Outside of the resort, there are two warnings I have to give.. 1) make sure to fly into Samana, if not, be prepared for a 3+ hour drive to the resort from Puerto Plata. 2) We noticed that the area around the resort is quite dirty and found our excursion destinations very polluted and not exactly what we expected. Be especially aware of the Horseback Ride and Hike to the waterfall El Limon. You may end up on a donkey and the routes were very treacherous and my girlfriend and I felt uncomfortable and unprepared for the trip and we both ride here in Canada. Just a heads up so you're aware if you choose this excursion. In conclusion, we couldn't have been happier with the resort itself. What an incredible place to spend a week out of the snow!! Thank you!!

Nice get away

Overall, the hotel was clean and well kept - the grounds, the rooms, the public areas. The beach was gorgeous - many reefs and fish to see, snorkeler's paradise. The staff were all friendly and efficient. The food was good, always something to choose from. We tried the Gourmet, Italian and Brazilian restaurants. All were quite good, with the Brazilian being our favourite.

Samana

The Hotel was beautiful with well manicured grounds. The food was very good and with a good assortment of foods. Also, the staff was very pleasant but needed to speak better English. Hard to communicate with restaurant staff. A few things I was not impressed with were:We were told we'd have an oceonfront view and this was not possible as only one building had this and of course it was already booked. This Hotel has quiet time at 11:00pm. which was a shock to us. Sitting in the lobby and all of [... read more] a sudden the lights go out was a bit disturbing. The bar also closes at that time which I realize we are seniors but on vacation I am not ready for bed this early. The shuttle which takes you to your room also stops at 11:00pm. so we had no ride in the rain. Our room looked over the pool which we thought was great until we were told to keep the laughter down as it was "the quiet pool" I am a Rye drinker and they had none. I was told to drink Scotch which I'm sorry is not even close to the taste of Whiskey. Also, on the last two days they ran out of Vodka. Not a happy tourist!!! I believe our Travel Rep should have advised us of the early to bed rule.

The resort was very nice

The hotel was very clean, rooms spacious, good service and food. The staff was great. Their bar is very limited with domestic brands and the wine was fair. Things like Canadian Club, Baileys, Grand Marnier, Scotch, etc. you had to pay for as well as they sold better bottled wine on the resort. I didn't find the Atlantic side to be so inviting and we were on the tail end of a Hurricane so there was a lot of debris on the beach. There are massages on the beach for $20 US so that was awesome.