Sliding Down a Slippery Slope

THE GOOD: Grounds: Exemplary Staff: Exceptional Housekeeping: Hit and Miss Butler Service: Amazing Animation Team/Activities/Shows: Awesome Conceirge: Bang On Check In: Friendly and Efficient Gym: Modern facility and equipment with helpful staff NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: Building/Rooms: Needs a face lift - beginning to show its age Pool: Algae evident - needs a thorough cleaning on the deck and water line Food: Quality has declined over the years with poorer cuts of meat and predictable  [... read more]menu items New Restaurant at ocean end of Villa 90 poorly located - every pre-lunch hour the smoke from the kitchen (bbq?) drifted over guests poolside

Very good resort !

Very beautiful resort and well maintained. Staff is very helpuful and friendly. The food is also very good. The only down is that even is that even if ita forbidden in theorie, they let people "reserve" long chair making it hard to find a free spot in the shade (people put towel down as early as 7am and dont actually show up until late afternoon while you will be roasting in the sun cause all taken !!!!)

Fantastic resort

The hotel truly is Luxury. All facilities are great, the beach, the main buffet places, all the lacarte, the pools, The waiters, bartenders, cleaning ladies, guest service and front desk. All the other Bahias were beautiful and the trolleys service were excellent. Will definitely go again.

Bahia Resort

Very nice beach, ordinary food (bad at lunc&dinner),meiocre restaurants a la carte, bad quality alcohol,unequal service, noisy air conditioner, things to be fixed in room, mediocre performance for the show,

Worth the money

This resort was very nice, very good service. Lots of workers always around to help you out. Always a maid on our floor for an extra towel, toilet paper or water bottle. Whatever you need. Food was good. Lots of selection. The resort was packed full of ppl though. They never have a low season. Hard to find a chair by the pool or the beach. Beach was nice. Varying amounts of seaweed depending on the day but they are always cleaning it up on the beach. Rooms are clean and big. I liked the double  [... read more]sinks. At the 5 star you have access to more a la cartes. They were good.

Huge resort, great beach,pool and food!

It was a great hotel, lots of staff, very friendly. The resort itself is huge, the food is great, especially the Brazilian restaurant. They have a great aquatic park for the kids. The service was good, the rooms are not really quiet, as we had a small child it was a bit noisy on the main floor some nights. There is a lot to do, but relaxing and comfortable and clean. My only peeve is having all the chairs "reserved" with beach towels by 7:30 and then no one being there most of the day..that's th [... read more]e same at most resorts I think.

Beautiful Resort Luxury Bahia Principe AMBAR Adults only

I was originally booked for the Esmeralda as it had turned it to an Adults only resort from Jan 2017 to May 1st 2017 and then they turned it back into a Family resort, so I cannot add anything about Esmeralda except that I went to the Bella Italia Restaurant and it was very good. I stayed at the AMBAR Blue 2 years in a row now and this is an excellent resort if you are looking for Adults only resort. Food is fantastic and entertainment is wonderful, I loved the pool and the beach as well. Sho [... read more]ut out to Carlos part of the Entertainment team who made our vacation enjoyable and lots of fun. Will be back again

Wow Amazing

The resort was amazing, the food delicious and no compliments about any of the restaurants. We were fortunate enough to have a room ground floor next to the pool and ten steps from the beach. Wonderful for us. Only black mark against resort was the "beach towel" issue, they never had enough towels. We only got dry or clean towels twice in two weeks. They need a little flag or something to let people know when towels are available, people show up at the towel house only to hear "no towels" e [... read more]very day same thing. Just let people know somehow, like a flag, clean towels, no flag, no towels. The staff goes over and above in all depts. People so friendly, entertainment good each evening. Everywhere very clean. Trolly service excellent.

Ambar Blue

First I will get the negative out of the way. We stayed at this resort for two weeks We had visited it about 5 years ago. The biggest issue with this resort was the construction next door. On some nights they were pouring cement and making noise all night. Definitely would recommend a room away from the construction. We tried to move but could only get a room on the ground floor which we did not want. We gave up trying to move as everyone on the construction side was trying to move and we ac [... read more]tually felt sorry for the desk staff. The only other issue we had was exchanging beach towels. We would try 3-4 times a day and they were always out of towels. The rooms are nice and they are clean. What you would expect. The staff were friendly and helpful. Yes some couldn't speak much English but that is to be expected and they tried hard. We did not spend much time at the pool as the beach was awesome. You had to get up very early, before 6am if you wanted seats in the first two rows. There were lots of seats further back. We had no issues with the food. The buffet had lots of choices and most of the restaurants were very good. The only exception was the oriental one at the Ambar Green. It was to hot to enjoy the meal. Overall we enjoyed our stay and would consider returning in the future.

Amazing Resort

This was the second time we stayed at this resort. It was again amazing! The grounds are immaculate, the people are friendly, the food is amazing and the beach is spectacular. We love this resort and looking forward to our next stay here.

Beautiful Resort!

The grounds are perfectly manicured, the public areas are cozy, clean, and peppered throughout, the rooms are a decent size with all the amenities necessary. The food was amazing at all the a la carts. (We went to 7 of them) The beach at the Esmerelda is a bit crowded but we swam at the Ambar which was lovely.

Excellent family vacation

This was mine and my wife's 3rd stay at the Bahia Principe at 3 different section . Once at the Bavaro Golden, once at the Ambar green and this time at the Esmeralda. As with the other two stays the entire resort is beautiful and we'll maintained.Thid trip we traveled with our Daughter who has been here once before, as well as our niece , nephew and his girl friend all on there first time to down south. The buffets for breakfast and lunch and supper had a variety of food for everyone to enjoy.  [... read more]During this Visit we ate at 4 A la Carte resteruants all were excellent , and all the staff were a pleasure to deal ....with a special thanks to Johnny who accommodated all 6 off us with the in pool scuba lesson and Louis with setting up our buggy excursion that took us through the back roads and a refreshing dip in a cenote.....in short we had a great trip well organized for us by Tanya Smith at Trip Central and would recommend both the hotel and will be dealing with Tanya and Trip Central for our next vacation.....PS as with many resorts the only issue was the sand fleas

Esmerelda!

My 5th stay at Esmerlda. Unfortunately this year the "atmosphere" was different with adult-only...missed the family oriented focus. Am very happy to hear the resort is reverting back as of May. This year I found lack of waiter service in the lobby bar, room fridge was not restocked daily, coffee pot never cleaned out, rooms are getting In need of an overall upgrade. These negatives did not ruin my holiday...just some observations. Met butler first day but not seen after that...not a persona [... read more]l priority for me. The resort grounds are lovely and well maintained. Love the resort layout...easy & quick access to beach and restaurants.

2nd Time Here, Will be a Third!

This is my second trip to the Esmeralda with my son. A great resort if you are traveling solo, with older offspring, and now it looks like it will be for the younger ones also. I can't say enough about this resort other than, if you do not enjoy this place, I do not know where you will go to find nicer staff, great food, incredible beach, and beautiful surroundings at such a reasonable price. My son and I both had a great time. You can relax, or have a good party time. It is up to you. For yo [... read more]u early birds, it is quiet at night. and for the night owls you can go to the disco, or sports bar etc. I can not say enough. Special thanks goes to Rosa and Pedro would made my breakfasts special. Nothing like a smile and a hug to start your day. And Enrique at the pool bar, who was so happy to see us the second time! He actually remembered us. Wow. Can't wait to go back!. .

Excellent Resort, people, service, facilities, beach and food!!!!

We've been to Cuba and Mexico, and this surpassed both!!! I was extremely pleased with the resort. My wife and I will be back and likely more than once in the future. I have never experienced such good service, and the place was excellent. we did not venture far form the Esmeralda since we like things close. the beach was great and the service and food was impeccable. A 5+ for us. Language was a slight issue but I learned beaucoup d'espagniol at our stay so that's on us as much as on them :)

Perfect in Paradise 😎

Amazing resort the Bahia Principle Esmeralda...we could not have asked for more...the friendly staff...great food...cleanliness all over the resort...constant grooming...beautiful surroundings...the cleanest pools ever in 10 trips the D.R.Thank you Tanya Smith for the wonderful recommendation...You are a great agent...we look forward to talking to you when we book again😎

Beautiful resort

Just returned from a week stay at the beautiful Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda resort. This resort is a luxury by far, with extremely pleasant butlers, waiters - everyone was so kind and always greeted us with a smile. All the facilities were kept immaculate. We had a wonderful time and would definitely return.

Excellent vacation!

Beautiful resort, great staff, great food, rooms a bit dated but still very clean, beautiful beach and pools - no complaints whatsoever other than a bit of rain but rain is better than snow - would go back in a heartbeat!!

Absolutely Incredible Resort!!!

This accommodation has it all!! The beaches, the pool, the food, the service, hard to beat anywhere you go. We will go back in a heartbeat. The only negative i have is the entertainment at night ended to early. If your thinking of going to this resort you will not be disappointed!!!

Mostly a Wonderful resort

We spent a week at this resort in March 2017. The weather was fantastic with only a few drops of rain on the last day. The resort is beautifully manicured and very clean. The food was ok. Some of the a la carte restaurants were above average ( the don Pablo was the worst service we have ever received). Bring your own wash clothes as this 5 star resort can't supply them and also bring a converter if you plan to plug anything.