Disappointing Speciality Restaurants

The hotel was very nice--the rooms were spacious and very clean. Overall it was a lovely hotel. Staff were friendly and the grounds were well kept. The only drawback was the booking of the speciality restaurants. We were a group of 10 on our last family vacation with my mother who is 91. My mother can't participate in many activities--but she enjoys dinner with her family in the speciality restaurants. We were totally shocked to find when we went to book the restaurants on the first day of our s [... read more]tay that all of our choices were unavailable. We were never told that you could book your speciality on line three weeks in advance. Every year we travel to a different resort and this is the first time we have hear of this policy. When we booked this resort--we should have been informed of this policy. My mother was disappointed in the restaurants, and it spoiled the holiday for her.

Vacation in Paradise

We had a fantastic stay at the Esmeralda. The weather was awesome, the resort is clean and well maintained. The staff were friendly with top notch customer service. We would definitely recommend staying here!

Very nice resort.

Beautifull property, nice beach with lots of room. Friendly staff with good bar service at the beach and pool. Only dissappointment was with the room, we requested upper floor , pool view, with 1 king bed. We were given a ground floor , garden view with 2 double beds and a connecting door to the adjacent room where a baby cried most of the first night. In fairness we had booked last minute and they moved us to an upper floor, pool view after 3 nights. Try to get a room without the connecting doo [... read more]r if possible

Great Family Resort!!!!

My family and I (including my boys 9 & 8) loved our recent visit to the Esmeralda Feb. 25 - Mar. 4). The whole Bahia Principe resort is massive, but the trolley service allows you easy and quick access to entire resort . The Esmeralda grounds and beach are immaculate, and all staff and servers were friendly an accommodating. Buffets were good with reasonable selection and variety. I am a picky eater so that goes a long way. A-la-carte restaurants were ok, usually buffet starters and menu main co [... read more]urses. Book as soon as you can on arrival as slots fill quickly. We like the Bella Italia and Mikada Japaneese the best. You cannot reserve ahead online as you were apparently able to do in the past. Rooms were clean and spacious. Beds were very comfortable (best mattress I've ever had) and mini bar stocked with bottled water, beer and liquor (we tipped every day and was able to communicate that we preferred the rum and vodka). After that we got all we needed. The fridge keeps things cool at best and depending on the time your room is cleaned fridge contents may be on the warm side. A good trick is to bring a large drink container with you so you can fill up with ice at the pool bar before you head back to your room. Beach and pool were good but be warned that even though there are signs stating that you cannot reserve loungers and cabanas that everyone does and there is no enforcement. Lots of shade available so get up early (before 7am) to get something where you want. The beach has ample lounges but the ones beachside again were always "taken" early. Overall the Esmeralda section was wonderful although we can't speak for the rest of the resort as we spent most of our time at Esmeralda. Frankly, you probably wouldn't want to anyhow. Since we had our boys with us the Ambar section was off limits but adults do have access to the Ambar section if you chose. Understand that Dominicans are hard working friendly people who work long hours for very little pay. We found that giving tips (2 dollars) went a long way and tended to get quicker service and more attention but that's just our approach. Please take into consideration any reviews posted and realize everything is service and time related and individual experiences seem to differ greatly. We were shocked to see negative reviews in areas we found to be great and vice versa. Wonderful vacation and would recommend it!!!

Wonderful Resort. Part of Bahia Principe Complex

Very pleased with our stay at the Esmeralda. Very friendly Staff, beautiful clean pools and grounds, lovely sand beach, great food, gorgeous clean restaurants and room with modern bath. All terrific. Special care given to us by Julio! Loved the fact they sanitized hands as you enter food services. Nothing negative to report from me!

Awesome trip!

This resort was fantastic! The food was of good quality (although the buffets did get a little repetitive), the two a la cartes that we did (Bella and Maiko) were excellent. Top quality service. The resort, including our room was super clean. The beach and pools were awesome. Yes, there was a little seaweed but the staff were always cleaning it up. There were some language issues, particularly with the beach serving staff, but no big deal. As a family of four with two kids aged 9 and 11 we would [... read more] highly recommend this resort. There was plenty to keep us busy and we look forward to going back.

Wonderful Family Vacation!

The Luxury Bahia Principe Esmerelda was the perfect resort for our family of four. The pools have shallow areas for small children, clear, warm water for swimming, as well as swim up bars and friendly serving staff. The beach has soft, yellow-white sand and most days the yellow or green flag was up for swimming in the ocean. Staying at Esmerlda gives you access to all facilities at the other sections of the resort. The resort is very large, but the trolley system they have in place is quick and  [... read more]easy to use. The kids mini waterpark was lots of fun for our kids and had life guards and a snack counter/bar for refreshment. The staff was vey friendly, especially especially to our children (5&7 years old). We would definitely return.

Fabulous resort with excellent staff

This is our fourth visit to the Esmeralda. The grounds are beautiful. The rooms are spacious. The dining is very good with very nice, friendly staff at each dining experience. The beach is lovely, but very crowded. There are many families with children all enjoying themselves.

Fantastic Esmeralda!!

The rooms, the grounds, the staff, the beach, the pools, and the food (except the desserts) were all fantastic. The Esmeralda has a very hard working and friendly team who worked long hours to make our vacation wonderful! The beach snack bar (which is really a great buffet) at the beach has fantastic food and a staff (William, Orlando, and others) who really seem to enjoy their work and are super welcoming. Santos at the front desk also did a great job!!

Awesome Resort!!1

Food is great!!! Beach is awesome. Great Family resort, a water park for the kids, mini-putt and so much more.So much to see and do at the resort. We were soooo excited that they had a Super Bowl Party.... Would go back....

Great resort!

Although we stayed at the Gr.Esmeralda section of Bahia Principe, we had access to all amenities of the other 4 sections (Turquesa, Bavaro, Punta Cana, Ambar). This was great as we were able to use the pools, bars, and all restaurants. Guests from Ambar (adults only) and GrEsmer. Have full access....so worth the extra $. The grounds were impeccable! Hard working staff. rooms very nice, large, clean. Food and drink available always.

Excellent resort

Huge resort that is well maintained. Excellent service from very friendly staff. Many a la cartes to choose from. The buffets had lots of different choices and the food was OK. No problem getting a lounge at the pool or beach. Beach had a lot of seaweed wash up this week which isn't normal.

Excellent resort

I found this resort to be very clean and top notch as far as staff was concerned. You could not ask for better. The food was really tasty , Avoid a couple things for sure, if it looks suspect then stay away , if it has been sitting out too long stay away . and the late night bar by the beach between Ambar and Esmeralda. I would not trust the food there at all. other then that the a la cartes are very good. and the food in the buffets are good. I only had 1 bad experience , with something from th [... read more]e buffet and it is just starting to not affect me a week later. The same can be said for 2 of our friends.. Lots of kids at this resort. it would be nice to see some more established and enforced Adults Only areas Checkout day and Wifi Access are the 2 worst things on this resort any 5 star has good wifi, not here it is garbage unless you want to pay . When you checkout at noon if you have a late flight , all of your stuff stays in the lobby all day . People lose luggague or it has been sent to the wrong flight , plus you also have to be responsible to carry around what ever passports and ID and change of clothes you need all day long. This is not 5 star service I got better treatment for that from a 3 star in Mexico. So there is room for improvement, Overall bang for buck I paid $1630 for 7 days per person I would not pay more then $1400 for the same experience unless they addressed some of these issues.

Fantastic Resort

My husband and I both had an excellent time at this resort! We were a 5 minute walk to the beach. The beach itself was gorgeous with soft, white sand, countless palm trees, and of course the gorgeous turquoise water the Caribbean is know for. The food was excellent, and must better than other resorts we have travelled to. We really enjoyed all the fresh fruits and fresh salad bar. Drinks were fantastic, and they really had a lot of top shelf liquor available. The resort was in immaculate conditi [... read more]on. The only downside we noticed was the aggressive timeshare sales people.

Great Week at the Esmeralda

As return guests to the Esmeralda, we were looking forward to a great week, and were not disappointed. The clean,beautiful grounds,and well kept rooms were great. A la carte restaurants had fantastic food, with wide variety for everyone. Travelled with 3 other couples, and all had a very relaxing and enjoyable week. Staff was friendly and helpful, and would definately consider another return visit.

The Resort was Okay!

We have been to this Resort 3 times & it needs some help as far as the safety, maintenance, rooms need a refresher looking dated & worn. Food was ok at the A-La-Carte's Buffets all the same Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Bland & Boring!

Amazing Resort

All areas were very clean, grounds very nice. Awesome service . Rooms cleaned, towels supplied and Refrigeraters stocked daily. Public wasrooms very clean. Beach service for the bar was awesome. I will return.

Caribbean Paradise

My seventh trip to this resort since 2010 and again it did not disappoint! Following a quick getaway at the airport we were able to enjoy a most enjoyable 7 day stay in Paradise. This resort continues to outdo itself in its splendid natural beauty and its well laid out and easily accessible, well kept villas. The grounds are always well maintained, litter is as rare as sightings of the dodo bird and the grounds staff is both friendly and accommodating. Housekeeping is top notch, quickly cleaning [... read more] rooms and never disappointing with spectacular towel and flower arrangements throughout the room. Fine dining got its name here, as both the quantity and the quality of food is exceptional, topped only by the customer service excellence of the staff. The staff always greet you with their warm, caring smiles! They are passionate in ensuring that you enjoy every meal to the fullest. The management team is there to serve you, and is fully committed to doing just that- they were visible and helpful throughout our week - they talk the talk and walk the walk!

Great Family Resort

Tropical gardens with lush foliage, rooms are spacious and clean, buffet has many options for adults and kids alike. The beach area is a little tight for space, so if you are looking for peace and quiet without children, book an adults-only resort.

Good Resort - Good Value For the Money

We visited Dec 12-19 2014 - stayed at Esmerelda (2 adults 2 teenagers) What we liked: - grounds well kept up(garden & landscaping beautiful, staff attentive to making sure any litter was immediately picked up, easy to get around the resort either on foot or via mini-shuttles) - rooms were spacious, bathrooms modern, bed and sitting areas nicely appointed - lobby at Esmerelda is open, airy, access to wifi for your teenagers, and lots of cafe, drink space inside and outside - restaurants had good  [... read more]to better than normal down south food, would say much better food quality than in mexico or cuba, but don't expect 5 star New York, LA, Toronto food you are down south remember :) - beach and water were nice, Esmerelda has a specific section which makes getting a spot easier (yes you need to get there early on those sunny days) - plenty of room for quite a few people, so you may not get first row, but plenty of space at the beach; drink service at the beach was very good - tip or no tips, sand was soft and clean - daytime lunch spot near the beach was perfect/ideal for moving between beach and snacks/meals - pools were ok - 2 open to all ages, 1 soaker pool for adults only, fewer spots here, so you need to get there early, (a few more loungers would help solve that problem, but understand a few less loungers means less clutter and less people right on top of you) - service was generally good to above average, servers were around regularly offering drinks, liquors, snacks, coffee, attentive and pleasant, again i noticed no difference whether i tipped or not What we didn't like: - booking restaurants, we tried first day, and 1st choices were either booked and 2nd choices were very late sitting (20:45 or 21:00) - almost felt like you needed to "work$" the system to get prime booking, reminded me of getting concert tickets - where everything is mysteriously sold out unless you know someone - need a better system in place for this In summary - good to very good resort, alot of Canucks, Latin Americans & Europeans made for a friendly atmosphere and good time.