Top Notch

This is my fourth time back to Gran Ambar. Fantastic value for the money spent. Staff is super friendly and rooms are modern and very clean. I have been to Dominican Republic over twenty times and in my opinion this resort rates as the top one for me. Special props to my Amigos at the lobby bar . William and Carlos (Rigoberto was away on vacation) who do a great job of taking care of you. The maids and room service were also super accommodating as were all the pool bar staff and the anima [... read more]tion teams. I would highly recommend this resort. K lo K !!!!

Imagined it to be much better

Me and my husband had been to the Mexican Resort of Bahia Principe and loved it, our expectations were so high that we were expecting the same or similar experience. The food was not great. Service was excellent if you paid for it (tip). I dont like that. Im not stingy. If I receive good service right off the bat I will tip you. If you expect or get pissed bc I dont. No tip. Other than that, room was amazing, pools were amazing, beach was amazing. By staying at the Ambar you can go to all th [... read more]e hotels and experience all activities.

Wonderful resort

This was our third stay at the Luxury Grand Bahia Principle Ambar resort. We love all things about this resort. The food. Rooms and grounds are all great. The staff are friendly and very helpful. Our pool waitresses Bianca Ana and Marlene remembered us. They helped celebrate my husband's birthday at the pool with balloons and sang Happy Birthday. This was really appreciated. They were always friendly and kind. We can't wait to return. It always feels like returning home. Highly re [... read more]commend this resort.

Excellent resort!

The general staff were very friendly, courteous and accommodating. We felt very comfortable with them. Beach was superb, beautiful white sand and inviting waves. Rooms was very adequate and maid service was excellent. Dining staff in the buffet were attentive, prompt and professional yet so cheerful. The food was more that we expected in terms of quality and quantity. Grounds were well kept and mobility around this huge complex was never an issue. There was mosquito control but it needs some im [... read more]provement especially with the current Zika scare. Overall, my wife and I had a very wonderful and memorable time. We are planning to return in the near future.

Excellent adult-only resort!

We enjoyed very much our stay in this amazing resort. Clean white sand beach, good food, and interesting activities. We were impressed with the warm reception upon our arrival. Internet service is ok! We might return again.

A bit of a let down

The room we stayed in was very dated and had a foul odour. However it was centrally located on the resort and there are other updated rooms. The grounds of the resort were exceptional. Beautifully landscaped and very clean. The pools were awesome, as were the pool bars! The beach was nice but there was a lot of seaweed on the beach and along the shore. It was not what I was hoping for. The Riu was close by and they had people on the beach raking the seaweed up so their guest would have a clean b [... read more]each to swim and walk in and on. The food at this resort is what kept this holiday on the plus side. The buffets were great! And the a la carts were fantastic. ( maybe avoid the portofino resturant). We paid just under $1000 pp. I can honestly say I woundn't spend anymore than that to go. It's a 5 star resort but I would give it 4-4.5 stars at best. Just my opinion. I would still recommend it if you can get a deal. One other thing if you are looking for any sort of night life on the resort... good luck they close everything up quite early at this place. Surprising for an adults only resort.

Great resort

First of all I would be remiss in not including the start of our holiday. As a group of 12 on this trip we new going down that our travel agent Lawrence Solomon from Trip Central had our requests all looked after. Our rooms and location and being repeat guests were well documented. We also new that when we were delayed on our return flight due to mechanical issues on the flight with Air Canada Rouge that if we needed support we had a travel agent who could assist us as well as the reputation [... read more] of a travel company to work with. A big thank you. This adults only resort is part of a huge complex. There are two parts to the Amber-Blue-oldest and Green-being newer . Blue rooms could use an update but are about the same layout as green. Blue rooms are closer to the beach and one swim up pool. Green has 3 pools with one being a swim up. Green has a beautiful larger lobby area. All the grounds are perfect. There is only one gym that is definitely in need of updating and more equipment in working order. We were very disappointed in this amenity compared to other Gran Bahia 5* and other 5* adults only. I am surprised when they built the green Amber that they didn't build a new one. There are lots of al a carte restaurants on the adult side that we were for the most part pleased with service, ambience and quality of food. The Portifino Italian was OK for food but not hot. The other oddity is that the ala carte on the Ambar green side is the same menu as the Ambar 1 side. You would think that the menu would be different. The seating at the ocean is competitive as it is an other adults only-early birds save the chairs by 6:00 am but there was still chairs to be had throughout the day. We were a group of 12 and we had to pull chairs together under the payload huts but it was still manageable in the morning. The water was warm and wavy and clear. Seaweed varied from non existent to some that was cleaned up daily-determined by tide and wave action that day. One area that this resort exceeds at is the staff in most areas-especially the wait staff in the buffet-thank you Hector and restaurants. Our table for 12 every morning after the first day was set and ready for us. So appreciated. Also our customer guest services rep-Amber was amazing at helping us with special requests and late check out. We celebrated anniversaries and birthdays during the week. The hotel does have areas of non smoking but the smokers don't appear to care. The hotel staff should be able to approach the guests and ask them to relocate or stop smoking especially when others are eating or you are enjoying the outside lobby with drinks and you cannot avoid the smell. This is the worst hotel experience to date we have had with a 5* adults only. We have been to the Bahia chain 11 times as well as Excellance, Secrets and Palace's. Would we go back. Definitely if changes to gym and smoking policy and pricing.

Vacation at Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar

Vacation was very nice with no complaints! Stay in Ambar 1 which is the older section. This section is very convenient to beach pool, beach, lobby and restaurants. Although older, it was still very nice and everything in the room was functioning. Food and drinks were good. We had reservations at the a la carte restaurants so cannot comment on the dinner buffet. Lots of lounges at both the beach and pools. For the beach, people were getting up early to reserve chairs. Beach is nic [... read more]e. The ocean is typically wavy and often sea weed would come when the water got rougher. Liked the ocean better than the pool as the pool was too warm and was not very refreshing. The staff were wonderful. Very accommodating and very friendly.

About our stay

This resort was okay, I wouldn't say it's the best I've been. Due to some issues. Our AC stopped working on our second night there. We had to pull teeth for something to change, the receptionist said this is a "general problem" and the whole resort was down. Which was a lie because we had friends staying at another room on the same floor and their ac was working. So we had to down grade our room from a queen suite to a regular room with two doubles. It was very uncomfortable sleeping in a double [... read more] with me and my fiancé(lack of space) I didn't think this was fair to down grade. But I'm assuming that's all they had left. We also weren't happy about our new room because every night we ended up being locked out of our room. First night they had to change the batteries on our lock. And the rest of the nights our keys ended up not working, the resort was so big so we ended up walking back and forth to the lobby late at night. We were very annoyed with this matter, I don't think it's right to stress about something like this while I'm on vacation. If it was a one time thing okay... But it happened three nights in a row. On a better note. I enjoyed the beach and entertainment and the food. But the service for our room wasn't the greatest considering we were in the ambar (5star) like I said... It was not the best resort I've been to and it's not somewhere I would recommend for someone else and I don't think I would be coming back.

Beautiful getaway

Beautiful beach and pool area. Always lots of chairs available at the beach. There's always music and dancing at the pool area. Friendly staff, good food. Definitely recommend the lobster at Don Pablo. Do not order room service! We ordered breakfast at 10 am and by 11:40am, it still hadn't arrived. So we had to cancel the order.The resort is a little too big for my liking, but there's carts that take you where you need to go (such as different restaurants, the theatre, the disco). We also found [... read more] a cockroach in our room which was quite disturbing, but other than that, we had a beautiful time. Definitely a couples resort. Also, since it's adults only, they shouldnt stop serving alcohol at 11pm.

Absolute Paradise in Punta Cana!!

The Luxury Bahia Príncipe Ambar is a beautiful, pristine, clean and wonderfully large resort. The staff is friendly and sincere, service is quick and efficient, and the food is amazing and varied with more than enough restaurants to choose from. The beach area was also beautiful with plenty of chairs and umbrellas and bar service. As repeat guests we were treated like VIP and any requests were immediately addressed...very impressed!! Definitely going back...everything was EXCELLENTE!!

"A Wonderful Place to Be"

This is the second time my wife and I have stayed at this resort. We went with our close friends two years ago and unfortunately both my wife and I were sick during the whole trip. So naturally my wife and I were apprehensive about this trip from the the get go but decided to give it a second chance anyways. We were so glad we did! We had a great holiday and amazing time plus met with some wonderful Canadian couples living in the Greater Toronto areas. First day we arrived the flight was  [... read more]delayed and on top of that we had a major downpour so the first day was a write off. From the second day on, we had a perfect beach weather and we enjoyed every moment of it. Room/Villa: We stayed at the Amber 1 because we wanted to be close to the beach area. The first room was in Villa no. 64 and a lot of things were not working in the room such as AC, ceiling fan and bathroom door etc. When I called the concierge and right away offered us another room and we ended up with a corner and larger room in Villa no. 62. We had to wait a bit for a room change but we were moved promptly. The second room was much better but still had some issues e.g, shower glass door did not work properly etc. I must say the villas in the Amber 1 is in need of renovation. The smell in the shower area was not always pleasant and we used our air freshner but the smell did not improve. We found mosquitos in the room so make sure to bring a strong repellent. Cleanliness was not the best but there was no major issues. The housekeeping was very helpful whenever I asked for more things in the room. e.g., bottled water. Mini bar was restocked daily but we did not get all the items consistently. Bring your travel size power bar as we did not find enough outlets to charge our phones and laptops. We kept all our valuables in the safe in the room and had no problems. Next time we may consider Amber 2 hopefully to avoid some of these room issues but I must say it is a lot convenient to stay at Amber 1 as it short walk to the beach, pool and main lobby and buffet restaurant. Beach/Pool: I must say the beach area was just clean and perfect. We did not have any major seaweed issues. There are plenty of sunbeds available but I find that if you want to get a sunbed close to the beach you need to go early. I always brought bottled water to rinse my mouth after ocean swim but staff were always walking around asking if they could grab you a drink. The beach bar is also very close by and you can always get yourself a cold drink. This resort does not supply sunscreen lotions so bring your own to the beach area. You can exchange towels as many times as you need. With nice ocean breeze, we found the beach area to be the perfect place for napping, reading and surfing on the net. The Wifi is free everywhere at this resort. We found the Amber 1 pool to be a bit rowdy in the afternoon with loud music and activities and dances. The Amber 2 pool is a lot quiter but we did not spent a lots of time there. We would prefer the beach to the pool areas Anytime! Food/Drinks: They had plenty of options for everyone. Plenty of desert options as well. Different themes (Mexican, Gala, Asian etc) every night in the buffet restaurant in Amber 1. The Gala dinner has a lot of seafood options including lobsters. On this trip, we only tried two Al a Carte restaurants, the Don Pablo restaurant and Takara and we highly recommend Don Pablo restaurant-Great service and food! Goat cheese appetizer and Chef's special steak (medium well done) were very nicely done! We really liked the buffet options at Takara restaurant. We found their Teppanyaki style Al a Carte meals were a bit salty. We actually ended up cancelling our other reservations and had dinners at the buffet restaurant for the rest of our stays. On the last day we got together with two Canadian couples we met during this trip and had a wonderful dinner at the buffet restaurant. We had a great time! In terms of food, the only thing that we really watched out for was water. We made sure that we used bottled water for many things we normally use tap water here at home. We enjoyed the good food and great service at the Luxury Bahia Principe!!! We tipped generously everywhere we went but staff at this resort genuinely very courteous and work very hard to make sure that you have a great experience at the resort. Not all the staff spoke English well but we did not mind that at all as it gave us a chance to practice our broken Spanish. Staff seemed to appreciated our efforts! We had a great service and wonderful treatment at the resort. There are so many other good things at the resort that we did not have a chance to enjoy but we surely will take advantage of them next time. e.g., entertainment, water sports so on. Overall I would highly recommend this place to anyone as long as you do not expect 5 star services for everything. We loved the people, food and place and we had a lots of fun and we would definitely go back again and hopefully in the near future.

Mediocre honeymoon

- Food and restaurants were poor: very disappointing given that this is a 5*. - Service was lacking in some areas: We had issues with the key-card swipe on our front door and we had to ask three times for assistance and they still didn't fix the problem. Room service was skimpy with the fridge refills and not very accommodating when we asked for for things. At one point, I left a note asking for an extra Kleenex box since my husband caught a cold during our stay... They threw the note out  [... read more]and didn't leave us ANY Kleenex that day in response. Meal service staff was often abrupt and seemed angry... Getting a drink refill during your meal was not a regular occurrence. - On the plus side: the beach was stunning! Well maintained with plenty of palm trees, huts, and chairs. They even had a guy going by sweeping sand off your chair! The beach bar servers were excellent and also very nice! The bar staff all throughout the resort were great actually... They seemed a lot happier and much more pleasant and accommodating. - also, our concierge did try to make our honeymoon special by offering sparkling wine and decorating the room with balloons... But overall, we were quite let down with this resort as a 5*... I'd give it a 3-4* and not recommend this resort for a special occasion like a honeymoon.

Amazing Resort

The resort was a great place to relax and have fun. The room was excellent. The service was amazing. The shows were great. The buffet had a great selection of food for everyone. I would go back in a heart beat.

Beautiful resort but some problems

Pros: The grounds were beautifully maintained, the pools were nice, the beach although some seaweed was great; always found a chair. The staff were friendly. The bartenders were great, I tipped sometimes and sometimes not but got good service either way. Cons: did not get our room choice, was travelling with our adult children and requested a room with 2 beds for them, we didn't get it--my son had to sleep on the sofa for the first night and they didn't get moved to the right room until 4 th [... read more]e next day. In their new room the shower didn't work, they had to use ours, took 2 days and 2 complaints to get it fixed. Room service is a joke, selection is poor, takes for ever (close to 2hrs one time), orders are wrong (arrived late the first day, buffets closed and room service brought everyone's food except mine, complained- told it was on its way but it never came- I had no diner on my first day). Our fridge never worked, complained - took 2 days for someone to come - said it was fixed but it wasn't, complained again seemed to be fixed but died again- we gave up. The stocking of the mini fridge was inconsistent never had all the items they listed on the info book in the room but everything was warm so it didn't really matter. Our room got hotter as the week went on, had to sleep with a cold wet towel one night, I was so desperate; complained and I think someone tried to do something, it was slightly colder but the room smelled like a sewer. Not much to do at night, everything closes down pretty early, only the disco and casino are open later, would be good if they had a lounge that was open later at least till 1 where you could get a drink and snacks

Beautiful resort

This resort has two sections Ambar 1 which is at beach area and is an older part, Ambar 2 which is further from the beach and is newer so therefore the rooms are a little nicer. If you stay in 2, it is a straight 8-10 minute walk to the beach or you can take one of their efficient shuttles, (not a big deal). The restaurants can be booked by email 2 weeks prior to departure. I would suggest that you do this as you can change them when there. #1 Bella Italia at Esmeralda, #2 Don Pablo, #3 Ro [... read more]dizio. Would not recommend Portofino or either Japanese rest. Breakfast and lunch foods 9/10, a little above most typical DR 5 stars. Entertainment- the usual shows everynight, fun if this is your first time seeing them. At ambar 1 they have a live entertainer 8-10:30, good for relaxing or dancing. Overall good resort!

Nice Resort But Not a 5-star!

The resort's grounds are beautiful and well kept;however the rooms are outdated especially in the adult only section Ambar 1 the lobby was gorgeous but the minute we entered the room it was outdated...the bathroom was terrible(rust on mirrors , broken ceramic tiles, and not cleaned properly).We had requested 2nd or 3rd floor and they placed us in ground level floor. The rooms don't face the ocean either. We were there to celebrate our anniversary which they were aware about and we didn't get any [... read more]thing special and other rooms we noticed had something special done. The staff was nice however the staff behind counter in lobby always looked bothered and not very approachable. Food was good. The à-la-carte restaurants were good... Except the Takara(Asian) ...terrible service and food seemed like it was sitting there for a while(although we had our reservations at 9pm ..food should always be fresh). The one thing that bothered us the most was being given a privileged card and then you waste an hour of your time to go to the Esmeralda hotel where there are a bunch of salesman trying to show you the suites and everything and then very insistent on trying to sell you vacations (almost like time -sharing concept) and they are nice and everything until you have to tell them more than once you're not interested and then you notice their change of attitudes. Oh and if you want a spot on the beach ( closest to the sand where u can actually see the ocean) then you better wake up at 6 a.m to go reserve your beach chairs. It was overall ok ...would I return to this hotel? ...probably not.

Amazing resort,home away from home.

We like this hotel,that is why we go there 3 to 4 times per year. The ground amazing,clean and green it is looks like paradise, the food excellent You can find what to eat even if You on special diet or simple have a vierd taste. The people that serves You very friendly every stap You hear"Hi,Haw are You?Haw we can help?What do You need?"Anything You need,Just ask and they will get it for You.Everything in the resort clean and fresh,people working around the clock to make You comfortable.

Absolutely beautiful!

I would recommend this resort to friends and family. The ocean is amazing and the pool was great the people you meet the employees, all wonderful! I have only one complaint and that was Mother Nature forgot to tell me about the mosquito's, remember to bring repellent. Oh and the food, well there was always something good to eat! This was a great vacation.

Good but not a true 5*

Rooms was beautiful. Food was okay. The Italian at the hotel was not good, but at the Esmerald was very very good. The service was not the best and everything you asked was a no at first until you argue with them.