Awesome Resort for families and couples

Grounds keeping was top notch. the gardens are always spectacular and always being worked on. Pool - we spent our time at the Ambar Pool - part of the Don Paublo Collection adults only section. the Esmerelda pool is clean and large but we wanted to be away from all the children. A La Cartes - excellent, plentiful with attentive staff Buffet - Esmerelda has 2 to choose from both were great with lots of choices for any palet. Bars - plentiful, friendly, entertaining

Best one yet.

This is the first resort on 15 years of travel that we would consider returning to. The staff were always friendly and helpful and really went out of their way to make your stay a wonderful experience. The resort and grounds were really well kept and clean and of course the beach was amazing.

Great value - esmeralda

Overall, it was great resort for the money we paid and were generally happy with everything, and would recommend to friends/family. Pros: - beach (Esmeralda area of the resort was very close to the beach) - rooms were nice, clean, accessible (every room at esmeralda is the same so you don't need to try and change your room) - food was generally good - service (everyone at the hotel is very friendly, helpful, attentive, etc.) - golf (golf course next door was great and good value for the money)  [... read more] Cons: - for some reason, the pools were warm - Italian restaurant was not very good (would recommend the asian and steak restaurants) - wish they had better evening entertainment at the Esmeralda (more bands/singers, or just more background music to liven up the atmosphere) - tennis courts need re-surfacing, but still playable

Amazing

The resort was beautiful and the service was fantastic! Grounds were well maintained and staff were always friendly and helpful. Cleanliness of whole resort was superb. Looking forward to returning soon.

Beautiful and amazing resort

This resort is truly a 5 star facility. The grounds are beautiful and the staff are amazing. The food is typical of any all inclusive, but the a la carte restaurants make up for that. The junior suite was a nice touch with a separate sitting area. The only thing lacking was entertainment during the day. There was absolutely nothing going on at the pool during the day, which I found totally different from any all inclusive I have been to. The complex was huge. The Esmeralda is only one of the hot [... read more]els on this property, but they did have a great transportation system, so if you don't want to walk - just hop on the tram. All in all - we had a GREAT time and I would definitely go back to this resort.

Fantastic Vacation!!

Immaculate grounds, beautiful surroundings, good variety of food, friendly helpful staff, ala carte restaurants book up quickly, limited lounge chairs poolside, need to reserve by 8:30am for shade, beautiful beach, market shopping available at the beach 20 - 30 mins walk down along beach, tennis courts, mini golf, waterpark all on premise, entertainment needs updating,

Beautiful grounds and friendly staff

We just returned home from a week at the Esmeralda. The staff is very friendly and accommodating, the grounds are lovely and the beach is one of the nicest I have seen. I would recommend this hotel to anyone who is looking for an all inclusive resort that caters to families and couples.

Great hotel

The Hotel was always kept in amazing condition and the beach and pool area where always cleaned. The Hotel staff was very attentive and friendly. There where always activity's around the pool and the beach like yoga , exercises and dance lessons and the people seemed to have really enjoyed the lessons.

Great Resort

Pool was great. Love having the different sections (Adult Only). A la Cartes were not as good as other resorts. The beach had quite a bit of seaweed which wasn't picked up. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Good resort for the money!

Good Bang for the Buck

Close to the beach, dinning room, pools ect. If yois only do not like kids this not the section for you. Lots of kids in the dinning room ect. The room is beautiful. The hotel is very organized. If you want to dine in different buffets the resort is huge so you can go to the different areas. I would return but go to the Amber section as we are a couple without kids so the kids are cute until they put their hands in the food at the buffet. The beach is crowded so it is difficult to get shade. Th [... read more]e beach is nice.Be prepared to pay for wifi. It Is only available in the lobby for 5 minutes at a time.

Great resort

The resort is perfect for people that want options. We love it because it's a small so everything is in walking distance, this property is closest to the beach and if you want action at night just hop on the trolley to the Peuble Principe where you can catch a second show or gamble at the casino or party away at the casino. Beach is great!! hotel is beautiful, clean and staff is so nice. The only down side is the food which isn't that bad at all!!. I definitely recommend it!!

Great Place

First Time at Bahia Principe Esmeralda, the size of the resort is a fraction of the size of the Bahia Principe Punta Cana next door. It was very clean, not very big, beach was excellent and great for little kids, Food was excellent, Staff was very friendly and great with most of them speaking english, pools were very warm (toowarm) Resturant booking is the biggest down side here. The room we had needed to be updated as it was a bit dated. If you want a lounger in a preferred spot get up early (i [... read more] was up at the beach by 6:30am and alot already resvered in the front rows) all in all it was a great place with a great guest atmosphere. I would recommend this place to Friends and family.

This resort lives up to its accolades.

My husband, teenage son & I went to the Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda for the second week of April arriving on the Easter weekend. We’ve been to the Grand Bahia Principe in the Riviera Maya so we were familiar with the quality that this resort chain offers its customers. We were not disappointed. Our stay was nothing less than magical. It helped a great deal that the ocean & sand in Punta Cana along this stretch is some of the nicest beach & swimmable ocean we’ve ever seen. There was a yel [... read more]low flag for the waves all week which I was fine with. My husband & son would have like the waves to have a bit more punch, but I prefer the ocean calmer. Many have complained about seaweed washing ashore. It’s the ocean…that’s what it does. All of the resorts along the stretch of Punta Cana that we walked (we walked for at least 3 miles either direction exploring the beautiful sight) rake up the seaweed first thing in the morning. By the time most people are at the beach, the resort staff is removing the last of the seaweed. We were a bit apprehensive with our weather forecast for the week we were there, because it looked like it called for rain every day. For our first trip to the Dominican Republic, we were pleasantly surprised that the rain came first thing in the morning or overnight & lasted less than 20 minutes. Another thing we were apprehensive about was that we would be arriving to a less than fully staffed resort due to it being holy week. I know the Dominican people are devout Christians. Rest assured, the resort was appropriately staffed, & we never noticed any absence in services. Arrival: The Punta Cana airport is quite nice. It’s constructed to resemble a giant tiki hut. It wasn’t overly busy but we still seemed to get quite bogged down going through customs. Once we were through, everything else was quite expedited. We flew with Air Transat & were directed to our bus without any difficulty. Booking with Air Transat for Luxury Esmeralda, there was no direct transfer mentioned to the hotel. We had that with the Royal Golden option when we visited the GBP Riviera Maya. The bus was a direct transfer to the resort…probably about a 25 minute drive. Check-in: The check-in was seamless. Most of our bus went to the Punta Cana section or Ambar section. There was only one other couple checking in at Esmeralda. We were hoping for a pool view but unfortunately could not be accommodated as the resort was a full occupancy. Santos at the front desk was helpful though & suggested we check with them the following day to see if any rooms became available. The following day, Oscar at the front desk managed to accommodate us closer to what we had requested. We appreciated Oscar’s efforts. Grounds: No one can argue that the Bahia resort chain maintains some of the most beautiful grounds of any resort. The staff are constantly manicuring, raking, watering & otherwise tending to the grounds to maintain them in an almost fairy tale like state. The Esmeralda section feels like its own little resort within the massive complex that encompasses the rest of the resort. The thing we most enjoy about the Bahia resorts is this aspect. The resorts are as big as a small city, but the different section has their own personalities. If you not into exploring, walking, trolleying etc, you can stay in your own section. You are free however to explore the whole resort & utilize all of the pools (except no kids at Ambar pool). Pools: In Esmeralda alone there are three pools. Two have swim up pools bars & one has a pool bar you have to walk up to. The one you walk up to is for adults only & resembles more a giant hot tub with very shallow sections to lie in and sunbathe. There are several pools dotting the different sections of the resort, all available to the Esmeralda guest except no kids in the Ambar pool. The pools are all meticulously maintained. The water feels fresh in the morning, but can get quite warm later in the day. I found going for a swim in the ocean (which was warm itself) made the pool dip afterwards feel even warmer. The Esmeralda pool nearest the beach has a gated area for children to swim in very shallow water. This area seemed to be mostly for very young children or babies with their parents. Next to the gated area is a beach style graded pool entry for kids & adults alike. It was nice to lounge in this area. The pools were never crowded & very much oriented towards a family atmosphere. I much prefer that to the rowdiness in the pool & the pool bar littered with guests drinking all day long but never leaving the pool to use the bathroom. Loungers & Umbrellas: The towel game is alive & well and in full effect at this resort. If you go down in the morning any later than 7:00am, most of the umbrellas & shaded areas were “reserved” with one or two towels draped across 3-4 loungers. During our stay, the staff took the unprecedented step of removing unoccupied towels from loungers & placing personal items on the ground next to the loungers. One couple near us mentioned they’ve been coming to Esmeralda for five years & never saw this happen before. I guess the complaints the resort was getting pushed them to try to curb the “towel gaming”. I’d seen staff the previous day recording the number of unoccupied loungers covered with towels several times during the day. The reactions some people had to the staff doing this was unbelievable. Marching over to the towel hut & tearing a strip off the poor staff member stuck there. I felt so sorry for the abuse the staff had to endure over their efforts to be fair to “all of their paying guests”. Anyone who went to the towel hut & squawked was given a new set of towels (contrary to the resorts policy) after being cautiously re-informed of the resorts policy regarding reserving loungers. After getting their new towels, for the most part all of the guests re-reserved what loungers were still left & then disappeared to return when they felt like it. Enough of my rant on the towel game. This is a guest issue, not the resorts fault. The resorts cannot win this fight. Beach Loungers: Towel game here too, but there are so many chairs to choose from. The ones in front get taken first, but I preferred the ones in behind that are shaded by an abundance of trees. It’s just gorgeous. The Beach: I already spoke to it above. Just beautiful…what’s more to say? The Rooms: No complaints here. Clean & tidy with the necessary amenities. This resort was the first time I noticed that the AC could manage to keep the room cool & reduce the humidity. In fact, on several occasions were turned it down a notch because the room was turning into a meat locker otherwise. Food: The food in general was of a high quality. On occasion it needed to be warmer at the buffets. There was something for everyone. If I had any complaint, it would be the desserts. I’m not a big sweet tooth, but my husband & son are. They said that the desserts had no flavour, no taste whatsoever for the most part. It was suggested on the forums that we go to the buffet on the Tuesday seafood theme night. It was good, but no better than the other theme nights. The A la Cartes were very good, except for the desserts again. The desserts were buffet style. I prefer no buffet options at the A la Cartes, but that’s just me. We ate at Le Pescadore, Bella Italia, Takara, & the Garden Grill. Don Pablo was adults only & Le Gourmet was under renovations. We enjoyed all of the A la Cartes, but Le Pescadore & the Garden Grill was our favourite. If I can give an advice on the A la Cartes…..ask questions about the different dishes or you may be disappointed. At Bella Italia, my husband went with the classic spaghetti with tomato sauce…nice & simple…& he was happy. I chose a prawn & lobster linguini & my dinner arrived with a giant portion of the lobster (body part – no tail & no claws) with its beety eyes still intact staring at me. I was expecting cut up lobster in my pasta, not a battle to remove it from the shell. Had I asked I would have been told what I was getting. Another piece of advice is if possible, the more straight forward dishes will be better. The less complex the better. Entertainment: We did not take advantage of the resorts entertainment nights, but heard they were well done. Just don’t expect broadway. Drinks: Some people complain about the drinks being watered down. My husband & I found them to be just right. No complaints here. Staff extremely attentive to our needs. We were politely declining refills from pool serving staff; they were so efficient….otherwise we would have been loaded. Wifi: Free in the lobby. We opted for the total resort coverage for $49 for the week. It was well worth it for our son. He found the internet signal strength strong. We used it occasionally & found it quite fast. Timeshare Staff: Pushy, but they stayed around their desk in the lobby & were easily avoided. Staff: Awesome. The Dominican people are delightful. Occasionally found a bit of a language barrier speaking English, but if you know French, that appears to be the second spoken language there. A few shout-outs to some of the exceptional staff we experienced while on our holidays. Wait Staff Victor from the Garden Grill. Wait Staff Victor, Hector & Carols from the Los Geranios buffet. Victor was like “The Flash”. He was always on the move tending to the guests needs. Wait Staff Juana from the Jasmine buffet Front Desk staff Santos & Oscar Wait Staff Luis from Le Pescadore Esmeralda Pool Bartender Maximo Esmeralda Pool Wait Staff Robert – such a nice young man. ……And our favourite most memorable staff member was our Esmeralda Pool wait staff member Josefina. She was so endearing, funny & attentive. Ask her for her special cocktail……my husband loved it. We will definitely be returning to Esmeralda.

Beautiful resort

We had a very good overall experience. When we arrived at Esmeralda we were immediately upgraded to Ambar. The food was excellent. There was a theme night every night at the buffet. Dinner on Easter there was so much chocolate, yum. The staff are fantastic, pool and beach very nice. This was a very clean resort. The only negative was that you had to get up at 6:00 to reserve a chair at the pool or beach which I said I would never do but here you had to.

Excellent resort

We enjoyed our stay immensely. Very well maintained. Food is great, a wide variety of food. Rooms are beautiful and spacious. Staff is very helpful and courteous. There is always someone around to help.

Immaculate Resort - Great People

The grounds were immaculate. The rooms were extremely well kept. It is a very large resort but very well organized. They made a special effort for our anniversary. The restaurant at the beach was absolutely amazing.

Amazing vacation

We just spent 1 week here. Our room was super clean and beautiful. It was very spacious. The food was good and there was lots of selection. My 10 year old loved it. The staff was very helpful and friendly. We have no complaints.

Excellent Resort

This is the second time at this resort, we went back because we were very impressed the first time. This trip was better then the first time, and for those who have food allergies they will accommodate and the chef will at the buffet will walk you through and let you know what you can and can not eat. The Guest Services will write you a note to talk with you to the "a la carte" so that they could prepare your meal for you. The Resort is clean the pools are clean and the beach is the best.

Three Thumbs Up

This was our second stay at the Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Our last stay was two years ago. i brought my three children with me and we all enjoyed what the resort had to offer, from the gorgeous grounds, to the evening shows to the beautiful beach, the clean pools, the mini kids ping pong tournament, the free WiFi in the relaxing Lobby and most of all the friendly service from the staff at the resort. My children are still young but my oldest is at the age [... read more] where I was able to give him the freedom to go out on his own. I felt the resort was safe enough to do that and that gave me incredible peace of mind. Thank you Luxury Bahia Principe Esmerelda for another incredible memory. We are giving you "Three Thumbs Up"!

Great resort for cost

Hotel grounds and amenities are beautiful. Lots to do as its a huge resort complex. Rooms and staff are very nice. Only reason not a 5 Star is that the food is just "OK", nothing fantastic. Beach is a bit rough for swimming but great to look at! TripCentral was great to deal with for booking. For what we paid - we were very happy with our entire experience.