Not a Luxury 5 Star 0r "Hidden Jem"

Although my wife and I very much enjoyed our two week vacation, weather was great and the view for the room is beyond description... A few annoyances and misses that made us not love this resort. Food - Buffet was ok, but not 5 star worthy, also ventilation in the cooking area was poor and very hot and smoke filled. A La Carte restaurant - although they have 3 listed only one was open daily and due to privet events and resort capacity, we were stuck may times at the buffet for dinner. This  [... read more]is not a 5 Star experience. Rooms are comfortable but dated and in need of renovation. Although the resort itself is vey quiet, it backs onto the main road and you can hear the occasional motorcycle late at night. The Beach, quiet and private... but not as advertised in this picture. The boardwalk and ocean break wall shown in the picture are washed out. Overall... Not a 5 Star and not worth the extra money spent.

Did not exceed our expectations

The Hotel was clean and grounds are very beautiful, Stuff is very friendly and accommodating , But the reservations for a La Carte Restaurants are not possible to get. It was very disappointing not to be able to get a table at Don Pablo French restaurant. If I am paying for Luxury Resort, I am expecting to get the everything that the place is advertising as All inclusive. Food at the buffet was alright, but nothing to brag about. No shrimp /crab legs or seafood in general except for fish, and  [... read more]calamaries we had The beach and pool grounds are nice , enough space for everyone to enjoy. Overall is good Resort but not a Luxury resort

Dominican Republic bliss

I would highly recommend this hotel as the people working there certainly make the difference. I would not recommend booking it through air canada as the rep lied to us. Flight was excellent but the rep was dishonest

A keeper!!!!

This was our 5th trip to a GBP Resort and our First to Luxury Samana. As was mentioned in other reviews for other travelers this is a small resort which we love. It has a lot of stairs. Not the typical flat resort. The resort, staff and location is fantastic. Private beach and no other resorts around. What else could you ask for!!! Add great food at the buffet and restaurants and all the drinks you would need. We have to mention Jen Black at Trip Central who did a wonderful job with emails  [... read more]and follow ups. Air Transit was perfect. Clean plane that left on time and landed before scheduled time. A flawless vacation.!!!!!

Relaxing vacation!

Very relaxing one week stay. Staff all very friendly and accommodating. Buffet and a la cartes all excellent. accommodations were excellent. entertainment excellent. shout out to Nerfri for leading all the fun activities!

Not sure it’s a five star!

Although our room was beautiful and the grounds were lovely, there are some other issues we discovered during our time there — 1) no WiFi for first 3 days 2) fridge in room did not work 3) communications were difficult as very few people spoke English 4) beach nice but small and no accessories/floats or anything available

Amazing Resort

Luxury Bahia Principe Samana was exceptional. The staff were amazing professionals, always smiling and doing whatever they could to make our stay memorable. The grounds were well maintained and very clean. There was an error made with our room type which was rectified the following day Kudos to Fenando at reception, Watkin our butler, Jose, William, Johnny, Fernando, Ramon our waiters. Best holiday ever

Beautiful resort!

This was our first time in Samana but we have been to other areas in DR. Absolutely beautiful hotel. Breathtaking setting. Smaller but just what we wanted. We upgraded to ocean view and it was worth it! Elegant, clean rooms. Lovely staff, very friendly. Great food - nice variety. We will definitely go back.

Fantastic Resort

BP Luxury Samana, is a wonderful Adults only resort. The buffet & a la carts were great. The service was all top notch. The staff were wonderful & accomadating. Would not hesitate to recommend or return.

Great Resort

Enjoyed our stay at the resort. One thijg though. Upon arrival the room only had one king bed for 2 guys when we were expecting 2 beds. I approached staff who switched us 2 a correct room with 2 beds but charged us 5 Dollars US extra per nite 4 6 nites. I asked for that 2 be waived informing staff that this was my 5th or 6th visit to the Bahia chain of hotels. After confering with his manager I was told nothing could be done. I was disappointed .

Great resort!

Room service needs improvement as in response time. 2 orders were not even delivered to our room. A la carte restaurants need lots of advace booking as there is only one open restaurant per evening. Very difficult to find a spot at the pool or beach unless reserved with a towel by 7 am. Shower in room also only had a half wall which allows for water all over the bathroom floor which also has no exhaust fans in the suite bathrooms.

Great, quiet, small resort

The staff at this resort are outstanding. Very friendly and helpful. A great place to relax and read on the beach. Good food. Close to El Catey airport. Not a lot of space for walking. A lot of stairs to climb.

Beautiful Gem!

We spent the most relaxing week at this resort. All our expectations were fulfilled and some more! We were impressed of the quality of the service provided, from cleaners to reception. We will definitely go back to enjoy it over again.

Luxury Bahia Principe Samana

This was our first time to the Dominican Republic and it won't be our last. Upon arrival we were checked in and in our room in no time at all. The room was absolutely beautiful with a view of Samana Bay. The grounds were very well kept and the resort was super clean and beautiful. Food was good especially the a la cartes. The staff were super friendly and helpful and made us feel welcome. For those who love to party, this is not the place for you. It is a quiet resort with a small beach and [... read more] crystal clear waters. They had some activities both day and in the evening. For people with mobility problems this resort has a lot of steps so it may not be for you either. Overall we had a great time and are considering returning next May. See you all there!!!

Wonderful hidden gem

This resort was pretty much perfect in all regards, and I have stayed at many others. The hotel is small with 149 rooms so it feels intimate. You get to know the staff who are very happy and seem to be enjoying their jobs whether it be Samuel serving with a smile in the buffet or Savielle dancing up a storm in the evening entertainment or Ramone bartending at the pool bar. You feel like a valued person here not just another guest to deal with. We even made friends with other guests whom we saw o [... read more]ften due to the intimate nature of a small resort. The food is outstanding from the buffets to the a la cartes. A variety of healthy options in the buffet offered lots of choice, and the service was impeccable. The beach is small but offers plenty of room to guests who want to enjoy the warm and relatively calm ocean without thousands of guests from other resorts walking in front of you obstructing the beautiful view. The entertainment is not what the huge resorts offer but we preferred the dancing and music over Hollywood style productions. The work put into the evening entertainment is obvious. The staff work hard to please. Nearby Samana is worth spending a day waundering (but not when a cruise ship is in the port) as is the beach at Bahia Levantado which we got a free boat ride to since our resort was a sister resort right across the ocean from the island it is on. Beautiful beaches there. All in all this was an outstanding week at Luxury Bahia and I can't wait to go again soon which is something I've never said about previous resorts. Definitely a resort to relax and rejuvenate in its calmness. A hidden gem!.

Nice and relaxing but beware of food

Summary: Pros: Small boutique hotel with good service and variety of wellness activities. Cons: Beware of buffet food, had food poisoning which tainted our vacation (hence 3/5 rating). Details: We stayed there at the end of August for one full week. We chose this hotel because of its small size and the fitness programs they offered. In general we enjoyed our stay. The hotel's occupancy was apparently at 40%. The benefits were that there were plenty of unoccupied beach and pool chairs. You  [... read more]often had the pool to yourself which we enjoyed. However their activity programs and restaurants were also understandably operating with reduced offerings. The beach itself is pretty and essentially private but rather small (not suitable for long walks along the beach). The team responsible for the fitness activities were very friendly and passionate. We enjoyed all their activities (yoga, paddle board yoga, paddle board aquafit, tai chi, functional training, GAP, martial fit, ...). The people who stood out from the team were Freddy and Nerfri. Their fitness facilities even had a punching bag, kettlebells, and pairs of fitness equipment (ellipticals, treadmills, bikes,...) to allow working out with your significant other. Ramon who worked at the pool bar and José who worked at the restaurants stood out. Their attitude, friendliness, and attentiveness were remarkable. My wife and I are vegetarians so the food selection at times was limited especially when it comes to getting some protein rich foods. However, the staff were usually accommodating about it. I did get food poisoning (in the middle of our vacation) after one of the buffet dinners. It was rather unpleasant and I had to spend a day confined to our room. The vacation wasn't the same afterwards but we tried to make the most out of it. The staff was shocked about the food poisoning incident but accommodated our requests for rather simple food to help with the recovery. Overall it took about two weeks to fully recover from it. A lot of the staff who were aware of it did ask about my well being several times which was nice and thoughtful. Anyway, the hotel and staff generally deserve their 5-star rating. The food poisoning was an unfortunate event and didn't allow us to take full advantage of our vacation. Overall it was a positive experience at Luxury Bahia Principe Samana, but the food poisoning and lengthy recovery only allow us to give it a 3/5 rating.

Excellent resort

Resort was excellent. Service was great, staff amazing, food outstanding. Staff very attentive to the guests. Your wine glass is never empty, a server is there asking if you would like more before you take last sip. Food was outstanding. The best I have had at any resort. The Rodizio restaurant (Brazillian BBQ) was fantastic. Buffet was also fantastic. Lots of seafood and cooked perfectly. Beach was smaller, but very clean with clean water. No issue finding lounge chair with umbrella. No wait [... read more] at beach bar. Rooms were very nice and well kept. Nightly entertainment was good - usually dancers or music around pool or in lobby. This is a small, quieter resort. There were no long lines to wait in for food, drink or anything else. We would definitely come here again.

Nice but noisy

The hotel is lovely but because it is small you can hear the entertainment in your room. Really loud in fact. If you don’t enjoy watching it and like to go to sleep before 11:30 this is not the place. The beach and pool areas were not crowded The food was good Took four hours on a bus to get there

Beautiful resort

The resort is small, but very beautiful everything is close by, only problem is there is alot of stairs to go to the beach, the restaurants the pool, you can't avoided,but that's how the resort is built, great for people with no health problems,while we were there on our third day l got very sick, from something l ate, it was terrible, we have been going away every year for 12 years, and never gotten sick,3 days later l had to see the doctor since l couldn't eat or drink much,and right awayl was [... read more] told there was going to be a extra charge, if it was their food that l ate, why did l have to pay,good thing we always travel with insurance other wise the doctor would not treat me, that's something they need to improve on, taking care of their clients should be top priority especially if the're at fault.

COUPLES RETREAT WITH LUXURY

This hotel is small only 149 rooms so if you want to reconnect decompress be treated and pampered this is a place for you. Food was great the hotel was beautiful. Recommend the junior suite ocean view.