Great family vacation

Excellent resort for families with little guys. Room was spacious and modern. Large private beach with hard packed sand nice for walking. Grounds and buildings were well maintained. Only complaint is the hotel supplied cribs were unsafe & rickety at best. Bring a playpack if you have children, everything else was great!

Great resort.

Grounds and main pool area are wery well kept. Beach is close to anywhere you are staying in the resort. Buffet was extremly good with large variety of foods. A la Carte restaurants were also very good.

Beautiful

The resort exceeded my expectations The food was excellent with a vast variety of dishes from all over the world..Very helpful and friendly staff.Get the suite if you can it`s well worth the additional cost.I would defiantly come here again.

Excellent Resort

Hotel facilities were beautiful! The food at at the Buffet was excellent and there were always variety. The service was excellent! We were there during a storm and got flooded but they still moved our room. The beach was not very nice though. It was brown. It was private though.

Beautiful resort!!

Relaxing, peaceful resort - very large resort with a cozy feel. You can walk for miles and enjoy the markets on the beach o en th shops at the strip mall. Food was amazing and staff make you feel at home.

Wonderful service

Wonderful service the rooms were so clean and well kept The staff were very gracious We would go back in a heartbeat!! Thank you for the wonderful memories we will recommend this resort to all our friends!

Great place, on the quite side and isolated.

The resort is very isolated so if you're looking for adventure away from it, then you should probably look elsewhere. The nearest town is a $25 US cab ride (one way) and we were told that there really isn't much there anyway. The place is spotless, rooms are great and overall, an excellent place. Pretty much everything shuts down at 11pm with the exception of the small disco and casino which is a short walk from the main lobby. My only complaint would be the biting bugs. They are so small that y [... read more]ou can't even see them and in spite of the fact that they frequently spray the grounds, almost everyone was well nibbled on - and they itch. Stupid bugs.

Great Resort for the price!

Good rooms - slightly outdated decor, but everything you need, good food - general buffet has lots of options + a la carte restaurants are amazing, great service - this is what sets the resort apart, ask and you shall receive!

Awesome time at this resort!

The resort was great. Food was really good and all walkways were scrubbed clean every morning. Staff were terrific and would do anything for us. The only bad thing were the sand fleas everywhere and our insect repellent did not repel them. Overall I would recommend this resort to anyone who wishes to go.

Awesome resort

Grounds were immaculate, food choices at buffet exceeded expectation, room clean and updated, staff friendly and helpful. Beach.... very nice,3 pool to choose from, absolutely no complaints. I would highly recommend this resort.

A very large resort

Much to be said about Bahia Principe, both good and bad. The resort is huge, with over 900 rooms in buildings with 8 rooms in each. It is no doubt a very good resort for families with kids and groups of friends, but definitely not ideal for a single person. The beaches are kept free of sea weeds by an army of cleaners and with scuba diving, kayak, small sailing crafts and paddle boards available at a price, there is something to do, aside from just laying around the beach, getting tanned, going [... read more] swimming in the ocean or anyone of three swimming pools. Several beach bars,- and yes, the drinks are free, since it is an all inclusive resort, and a couple of snack bars are present. The rooms are clean,and in the case of my room, very basic, but OK, all except for the mattress, which would make a slab of concrete jealous. Entertainment take place at the main pool, anything from Yoga, to dance lessons and in or out of the pool exercises, all carried out to the rhythm of incredible loud music, much to the annoyance of many people, who would rather listen to it at a vastly reduced volume. There is bingo,mini-golf, massage therapy, basket ball court and several other things to do. Each night between 9:30 and 11:00, a show is put on at the theater by the main pool. Each night, a different show is put on, but again, much, much too loud. After 11:00 PM, the night club and Casino are open, just a short walk from the main lobby and dancing (disco type) is popular. The main pool bar and the lobby are popular hangout, with free WI FI in the lobby and drinks served at the bar or from the mobile bar are generous and free. There are three restaurants where dining is also free, although a reservation must be made in the main lobby. The food in these and in the main buffet style-help yourself restaurant is excellent, all depending on individual taste. The choices in the buffet style restaurant are so huge that there is something for every taste, an important aspect since visitors come from all over Europe, Canada and USA. The staff is extremely polite and very helpful, always smiling. A number of tours to see various attractions within a two hour drive from the resort are available. Many take advantage of these. All in all, I would not recommend staying more than a week at the resort, but one week can be a very good experience for families and groups of friends.

Good resort

Good hotel looks like there working on it. The resort got the potential to be great just needs a little more work on the little things like the beach bar and some pool area no music no bar close too pool. But food is good and staff are great so all was good at the end.

Great Family Resort

Beautiful rooms, good food, nice grounds, great pools and ocean. Suites are great as family rooms with 2 bathrooms and lots of space. Recently renovated hotel. Family oriented but don't go if you are looking for a place to party all night long as bars close at 11pm.

Friendly Resort, Good Service, Spanish, Ok Beach

I was travelling alone & met a few nice people at Grand Bahia Principe in Rio San Juan, Dominican. The resort is pretty far removed & you can't rent a car there so make travel arrangements beforehand if you want to take a private road trip. Cabs are expensive ~ somewhere around $100 US for a ride & back to Cabarete (which you definitely want to visit if you're in Rio San Juan). Food at the resort is quite good. Typical Dominican buffet style but some high-quality items as the week goes on. Look  [... read more]for the fresh Prosciutto, Chorizo and make sure the bread isn't hard before you put it on your plate. Add a bit of Gouda cheese and some olives & you've got a nice Antipasto! Fresh fruit is always really good in The Dominican. The A-La-Carte restaurants were quite good (although I heard the "Chinese" wasn't so good).. Try the Duck at The Mediterranean and the Lasagna at the Italian a-la-cartes. The desserts at the Mediterranean were good. Other than that, I only recommend the desserts at the buffet. On the last day I was there they had fresh doughnuts which were good! Very friendly staff & I never had any issue with trust. Make sure to leave a couple dollars on the bed each day you want the room cleaned and your fridge will get stocked, as well. Tipping, in general, greatly improved already good service! Plus, you are helping people a lot less fortunate than us Canadians etc.. Grounds were kept quite well. The beach I'd give a 2 1/2 out of 5. Very murky water on rougher days and only 1 day out of 7 the eastern shore was clear. I'm usually in the ocean everyday on vacation but I kept to the pools for the most part. I could only bring myself to swim in the ocean the first day I was there. There are man-made barricades but they don't help to keep the beach debris-free. I'm not sure the cure to this but the water was very murky first week of January. Pools were kept pretty clean and if you couldn't find a beach chair at the main pool there are 2 other smaller pools to choose from. At the main pool, there is actually a lot of seating though as long as you don't mind not having a lay down beach chair. Careful, the sun is very hot and can burn quickly. Wear your 30 sunblock and have lipgloss or protect... And jump in the pool often! For the most part, a pretty good stay and the nightly shows were good. Be sure to ask for the dark rum if you're drinking Pina Colada's! Much fuller taste... And the Presidente beer is always good to quench thirst.. But be sure to also drink your fair share of filtered or bottled water to take the edge of the super sweet heat. I recommend this resort if you are looking for a real "get-away" but if you want the city life of Sosua or Cabarete make sure you make rental car arrangements before you go. Everyone around the resort you encounter will probably be quick to try say hello & to help you! Just be weary of the vendors on the beach trying to sell you stuff for higher than in the Gift Shop (front lobby across from Check-In). Visit the Gift Store first than you can barter with them from there! Enjoy your trip!

Lots of fun

We traveled as a group, two families. We enjoyed the ocean suites. The two bathrooms was terrific with a large family. I buffet was on of th best we have been too. Food overall was very good. Could of used pool side bar service. Only complaint.

Very nice and clean resort

Lots of good food,great people, and entertainment! Love the Pina Coladas and Banana Mammas :) We had a very nice stay here! The only bad experience was the satalite kept going out and our ride to the airport did not show up, other than that we'd be happy to visit again! :)

Nice staff, had fun, but beware the sand fleas!

Stayed at the resort from 12/12/2015 for a week, I was advised the place was recently renovated. I couldn't really tell, I believe they just painted everything white? My room: -It was very close to the main lobby and buffet restaurant. A nice room on the 2nd level with a few palm trees blocking my view from the ocean. -shower pressure weaker than a drinking fountain horrible unless you shower at 3am (this is pressure is normal apparently when conversing with my friends in 4 other separate rooms  [... read more]across the resort). When the staff called to ask me about how the room was, I advised them the shower pressure was horrible. They advised me it will be looked at in the future. (probably just working out the kinks after the renovation) -FYI. Toilets get easily clogged. so flush constantly :) -TV works but has only 1 channel, you have to do a channel scan and maybe you'll get about 10 channels. (i learned this from some random people at the resort I spoke with) -mini fridge was stacked with beer, pop, and 1 large bottle of water daily. this was very useful. Restaurants: The main buffet - open during the normal meal times. Becomes the late night snack bar at 11pm. Note: my flight arrived at 9:30pm, takes 1 hr to get from POP airport to this resort. We arrived at 10:30pm starving, apparently no food was open, no one at the snack bar restaurant spoke any English, the reception kept pointing us that way and not telling me that it wont open until 11pm (which they actually opened late at around 11:30pm that Saturday night) leaving us frustrated and annoyed. Late night snack bar only had burgers, hot dogs and nachos. only later to find out in the week, they can fry you some bacon, make grilled cheese and ham sandwiches only if you ask. Mediterranean restaurant - A very nice indoor restaurant, tiny portioned food, but very good in quality. No complaints here (Although I went to the buffet to eat a little more afterwards as I was not full.) Japanese Restaurant - The food menu was okay, Sushi quality was about the "all you can eat standard", the duck was the same taste as the Mediterranean restaurant, nothing really stood out here. This restaurant is outdoors, so beware the bugs at night Italian restaurant - I have to recommend the lasagna as your entree and have some pizzas to share as an appetizers as I was in a large group. The pizza quality is definitely better than the buffet pizzas. the mini appetizer buffet there was good quality as well. I wish we could go there twice. Daytime Snack bar - This place is very far on the west side of the resort. (where all the some of the sand fleas are) and where all the flies land on the open food. this is the only place you are allowed to get food if you are still wet from the pool. Otherwise you have to change into dry clothing to get into the buffet. Amenities: Tennis/basketball courts/Mini golf - TONS of tiny micro sized SAND FLEAS, stay away. On top of that, the staff in that area always wants to play basketball with you (more than do his job). Which was nice if we had an odd number of players, but I felt bad for the families trying to get equipment for mini putt or tennis. Gym - No treadmill surprisingly. Just weights, bikes and ellipticals, very old and run down, smells like B.O. I just went for a run around the resort instead. I don't think they renovated that area yet as there were some construction guys just outside as I was working out. Pools - The main pool is very big no issues there, the two small pools have a good amount of sand fleas but once you're in the pool, they wont bother you. Casino - Get an air-conditioner in there please. The room was hotter than outdoors due to all the slot machines. No one played in there because of the heat. (Bad move as I went in there to play, won money, and left within 5 mins due to the heat) Otherwise I would have stayed and probably lost my winnings. Shows - The magic show and the dancing group from the city were good. All the other shows I had no idea what was going on. The lip syncing parts every day just hurt until it became funny as how bad they were. (their dancing skills are top notch on all the shows though) WiFi - I paid $70USD for the week, it works everywhere except the disco and karaoke. Speeds were about 300kbs, not spectacular, but good enough for video calling through we-chat or face time/google hangout. main lobby has free wifi for 1 hour Beach - stacked with sand fleas. they get bloodthirsty around 6am to 9am, and 4pm to 6pm, so stay away during those times. otherwise they are manageable throughout the day. The Ocean water is greyish green, not clear anywhere unless you drive out on a tour. the beach is tough and dirty, the ocean water is nice and warm during the day. they definitely need to spray something on the beach to kill these fleas, my legs have about 50 bites a leg. the mosquitoes didn't even bite me more than 10 times all over. Drinks: -The only place to get liquor after 11pm is the disco and karaoke area (side by side) -after about 2:30am, the only place to get wine or beer only is the late night buffet snack bar area. All in all this is a nice place to meet and mingle with strangers and was very relaxing. if that is all that you are looking for. Excursions are too far away, maybe the only excursion which I heard mixed reviews on was the $75 jungle bus tour. Most of them good, some bad.

Very Clean

Overall the food was good, staff very helpful & friendly. The food areas very clean, no birds on the tables nor near food areas, because the staff kept things very clean. The bad part was the "sand fleas", on the beach & at the "patio areas" at night.

Great resort

A beautiful clean resort. If you are looking for white sand beaches you wont find them here. What you will find is hard working staff who really do their best to make your stay enjoyable. The food was very good, and they change up the buffet theme every day.

Great resort!

Goods: Newly renovated Lots of lush vegetation Buffet food was great. Enjoyed it more then the Italian a la carte Staff very helpful and friendly (speaking even alittle spanish goes a long way with them) Great drinks Night entertainment was great 4 out of 7 nights Bads: Beach- dark sand and murky water doesn't seem inviting Biting bugs- mosquitoes, no see-ums, sand fleas everywhere Beach merchants- hassle hard. Strongly suggest to price check Pueblo and gift shop first before speaking with any o [... read more]f them.