Wonderful Getaway!

The resort is beautiful! The rooms and balcony are a great size and very clean. I was scared at first because of all the reviews, but was pleasantly surprised. I stayed at iberostar last time, and although I enjoyed it there too, this place was way better. The resort is massive, and we'll maintained overall. If you can't get over seeing a cracked tile and have the urge to give a bad review because of that, you shouldn't be going to a giant resort. The food is great, the Spanish restaurant is ve [... read more]ry good. The buffet is massive, it always has some great options, I never left unsatisfied. Garrick at the far pool bar is great. We were never without a drink! The pool is much better down there, it's away from the entertainment area of the pool and there's decent music playing. We took wonderful pictures with the photography center, definitely worth it. This hotel is a great getaway and I would definitely go again! Take a private taxi and go to either sharkys or scotchys for dinner one night! There was tons of maintenance staff around ensuring the property was well maintained. I saw gardeners, painters, and everyone is very friendly. The cleaning staff were also very friendly, one day she didn't have towels to give us when she cleaned our room, so some were brought to us when they became available. Please tip the staff, an extra $100 total for your vacation will really make a big difference in your experience. They are not rude if you do not tip, but it's just like back home. It's all inclusive, but that's not inclusive of the service, so if you'd like that extra care, make sure you tip for it.

Wonderful Resort!

The Grand Bahia was the perfect Resort for our family. The rooms were spacious and comfortable with a lovely balcony. The food was delicious and the variety at the buffets was endless. We had an incredible waiter named Rishidi at our evening buffets. He had such a wonderful personality and was so accommodating with our family including an infant and child. I believe we had much better male servers than female. My granddaughter loved the water slide park and spent hours between there and th [... read more]e pool. The grounds were beautifully manicured and it was a pleasure walking around the resort. We dined at Don Pablo and the Steak Grill which were outstanding. We dined at the Japanese Restaurant, but we were somewhat disappointed with the meal. The lunch buffet by the water served amazing bbq chicken with jerk sauce. The evening entertainment for the kids was pretty good. The only suggestion I would make is that they light their hallways and staircases in the hotel. It was too dark and difficult to see. Overall I would rate this as a 4 out of 5 and would highly recommend for families.

Disgusting smell of sewer in the room when the air conditioning was on

There was a disgusting smell of sewer like poop coming from the air conditioning duct. We couldn't use the air conditioning. The washroom had no exhaust and smelled like poop all the time. We complained, the maintenance guy came to check the room and he said that he can't do anything. We paid $7,800 dollars for this vacation and we got the worst room ever. Many other people were complaining about their rooms. We will never go to another Bahia resort. This was our fifth time in Jamaica. The last  [... read more]four times in Jamaica we stayed at Riu and Iberostar resorts and the experience was great. Unfortunately, Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica was a waste of money. The food is very salty and the ingredients are cheap. There is no air conditioning at the buffet. They had no reservations available for restaurants so we don't know how was the food at the restaurants. The overall service is a 2 star because they don't have enough staff. The drinks are cheap and the entertainment is way too loud.

Nice family vacation

My wife, two daughters and I spent a week over Christmas at the resort for the first time. It was a good fit for us. Our teenage girls met a good group of friends and spent much of their time involved in the daily activities. My wife and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach and around the pool. Food and beverage was done well, two good buffets with offsetting hours along with 5 specially restaurants. It was hard to look at the scales when we got home. The majority of the staff was genuinely nic [... read more]e and helpful, although we did run into a few that seemed like they’d rather be somewhere else, I do find that’s pretty normal in the service business especially at a big resort. I did find the rooms above average for what we paid and the cleanliness was quite good. Our daughter’s are already asking about a trip back to the same resort next year and that sounds good to my wife and I.

Very nice resort

hotel a little dated but very clean. jerk chicken every day for lunch was so good. too many stairs to terrace but good exercise. kids water park perfect. beach great for kids and adults so clear and not to deep. Japanese rest very good also don pedro good. Christmas eve gala good good food lobster tails excellent. had agreat time with family of nine.

Loved it!

Beautiful resort, great food, nice rooms and tons of relaxation and fun! No negative comments from my group! Would definitely come back again. Thanks to Air Canada would have free safes and special extras!!!

Beautiful Resort

We arrived Dec 19 and After reading some reviews I was nervous about our stay. However, I am pleased to say that this resort was really well kept and maintained. Our room was on the 5th floor, beautiful view, loved our room! Food was amazing... tons of variety, nobody left hungry. Jerk chicken was so good! They had a Christmas Eve gala and the spread was incredible... well done Grand Bahia! Lots of beaches, lots of chairs available, very spacious resort. Loved the main lobby areas always some en [... read more]tertainment. Very nice way to spend Christmas with our family!!

A nice resort

The resort had one of the best ocean views we've ever had and it seems most rooms 4th floor up, have this view. Rooms were very clean and any minor issues we seen to in a very rapid manner. The food was very good in all restaurants so it's not hard to put on a few pounds. It was a very pleasant stay.

Enjoyed the Resort

Facility was great, large which requires allot of walking. Pool area was nice with many activities, beach area was a bit disappointing, great scenery but not great for swimming, this is what too expect from the Runaway Bay area. Staff for the most part was fantastic with the exception of the front desk. The front desk seemed cold, uninterested and needed an attitude adjustment. Nightly entertainment was just that entertaining. Overall a good experience.

Very good overall

The hotel was beautiful. By far the most modern and current style. It was much better than the junky hotel we stayed at in Toronto when we did the park, sleep and go. The beach was nice. Shallow but decent. You can walk further from the resort and go into other beaches including nude beaches. Just keep on walking and you'll find it. The food was great. Entertainment at night was decent. No fun activities on the beach like we experienced in the Dominican. All of the fun stuff was done by the pool [... read more], which we did not spend much time there. The pools were clean and nice, but we can swim in the pool here in Canada. So we didn't waste our time at the pool. Still nice to look at though. Not really anything bad to say about this place. The only reason I didn't give this place five stars is that the beach was not deep enough for me. Also I was expecting some fun entertainment at the beach. There wasn't any. As much as I like to lay down and relax, I missed the entertainment aspect on the beach. I've been to 3 star resorts, and would go back because of the entertainment value the staff provided. That was lacking a bit on this trip. But still good.

Amazing resort

The hotel was excellent,room good size with big balcony,no mold smell.Dining exellent very good food and people very polite.One thing i didn't like was that there was no mony exchange in the hotel,and west jet was asking for 15 dollars American per person to get ride to the shops,so i didn't bye anything.Overal our stay there was very plesent.Thenk you Rick and travel central.

Great place to stay

As the title says, this is a great place to stay. The resort is big and beautiful with lots to do. The staff is great and the rooms are nice. The best part of the resort is by far the beach. This resort is the best value by far.

Great resort

The resort was beautiful. The food was great. The beach was nice. I enjoyed everything except the fact one of the maids stole money from my wallet. 100$ us to be exact. I would recommend ppl go there. But not leave anything valuable in there rooms

Great family vacation resort!

Our rooms were comfortable and clean. The food was good and tons of options! Lots for the kids to eat and try, food was readily available and lots of to choose from. Specialty restaurants were good but the Japanese restaurant was amazing!! The water park was great for kids to play and meet up with others and the beach was easily accessible and visible from the water park. Seaweed was at a minimal and there were even fish swimming around you! Staff were friendly and welcoming but don't expect the [... read more] lifeguards to be overly attentive - cuz their priority is to chat amongst themselves. Security was around and visible but not intrusive. The kids club was okay, not really publicized but once we made an effort to go to find it and seek out what activities were offered, my kids enjoyed it. Babysitting services were good for families in need. Our "Jamaican momma", our Westjet Representative was informative and a great support! Great time had by all and we will be back to Jamaica for sure!!

Grande Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Jamaica

It was a very large resort the whole area was kept very clean. Staff was very friendly. They went out of their way to assist you with any problems you might have. Very polite too Food was awesome. Nightly shows were done to reflect there culture. It had a few downs like no AC in the hallways slow elevators. Beach was very nice beautiful waters crystal clear If you wanted to snorkel lots to see and do. Good place for a wedding too. They drive like the British do on the left side. I didn't like t [... read more]hose people harassing you for luxury rooms. The available attractions were but rather pricy. If you had a family with kids very nice play area, of course dam good beer and jerk Chicken.

Good resort

Generally good resort. Management was very reluctant to move us to another room when ceiling in our room began to drip water in the middle of the night, likely because of a burst air conditioning pipe.

Don't judge a book by its cover

The resort looks stunning but is in dire need of repair and the staff need a lot of training. The food was quite good with a large selection but the wait staff were slow to respond to requests of beverages, cutlery, etc., if they responded at all. We were with a large group and every one of us had some sort of problem. Rooms already occupied when first getting to the room, flooding from balconies into the rooms, being displaced in the middle of the night with no room to go to, water leaking from [... read more] the bathroom lights, waiting 5 hours for toilet paper because the housekeeper didn't leave any. If you have any problem whatsoever don't tell a server, a housekeeper, etc. They can't or won't do anything, you must go to management or a supervisor. Exhaust fans in steak house grill broke and the smoke was overwhelming and choking. The cooks kept cooking and the fire kept making more smoke, the alarms wailed and this lasted for over 30 minutes. They just kept accepting more guests without opening windows. Quite the fiasco and very unsafe. A broken toilet in one restaurant was repaired with string and would not flush. The ladies had to use the men's washroom.

No, just no. Trust me

I’ve renamed this resort Mosquito Roach-ipe. Please don’t go. Save yourself time and money. If you don’t travel much or you get sick drunk then maybe this would seem like a great place but it’s only because you haven’t experienced better treatment or you’re too wasted to comprehend that you’re being treated poorly. They have roaches and I heard rats! The place isn’t clean. Mold, mildew, light fixtures that don’t work -and nobody to care whether it gets fixed or not. Blood  [... read more]in hallway wasn’t cleaned up for hours. I thought I was in an episode of CSI. Staff appears unhappy and they lack enthusiasm. A la carte restaurants are so slow— be grateful if you can even get a drink of water after an hour. The gym is full of mosquitos and smells like sewer water. Machines are rusty. Make sure you’ve got your shots. Don’t even think of trying to get a sufficient amount of towels. Heck, bring your own. The beach is tiny. No one seems to know what’s going on for entertainment and don’t bother using the app. It doesn’t match up. That goes for trying to book the restaurants also. Don’t trust it. Overall, one of my worst vacations ever. If it wasn’t for the beautiful sun and the three new friends I made, this would have been a complete wash. Please don’t go. Believe the negative reviews on trip advisor. They’re true.

VERY disappointing

Our stay was disappointing we heard so much good things about the resort but didn't live up to it in some categories the room we first had was infested with mosquitoes my self got aleast 100 bites on the bottom of my legs my grandchildren also got laden with many bites from their room as well the bites made my last 3 days there very unpleasant when they finally got us a room change they called us at 2am and were upset that we aren't ready for the room unbelievable 3days in a row I had to  [... read more]call after 5pm had to call down as our Room had not been cleaned or stalked with new towels pretty bad when it came to booking our a la cartes they said the restaraunts we had chose were booked but when some of our family went as we were down there for my sons wedding there were many empty tables that pissed me off so another disappointment We always had trouble with our keys had to get new keys at least 6 times very annoying the day of the wedding we lost power on our room had to wait for maintenance which put us behind for the wedding We were so looking forward to our holiday for our sons wedding it came home very disappointed The pool area and beach area were beautiful other than that We would not recommend it

Surprisingly disappointed

The overall hotel wasn't bad, there were a lot of grounds crew keeping the resort clean the duration of the stay. But, the positives quickly start to disappear after that. Service wasn't good, in fact it was close to the worst overall service I've had, unless you were holding money in your hand. You shouldn't have to pay $5 every time for good service. The food was also terrible. For my first resort experience I sure was not expecting hot dogs and boiled plantains as main buffet courses. Snack b [... read more]ar was pretty good however. Most of our group also stayed on the ground floor which was infested with mosquitoes causing most people to have to change rooms. Beaches were alright, swim to bar was the highlight. Shout out to Gerrick the swim-to bartender, only good service all week. NOT A 5 STAR!!! Not even close.