Clean and very well maintained but...

I went to the Grand Bahia Principe in Jamaica with my 18 year old son. Overall we had a great trip, and enjoyed our stay. Pros: The al a carte restaurants were all good, I particularly enjoyed the Gourmet, my son the Japanese, and the buffet was fine. The place was very clean and clearly well maintained, and the staff all very courteous and kind. The free catamaran was awesome, my son learned how to sail and loved it. Neither of us are beach bunnies so I can't speak to the quality of the  [... read more]beach or swimming, but we both enjoyed beach volleyball in an area not by the water. The mini-casino has 2 very nice Black Jack machines which seat multiple players and actually seemed to play legit. My son really enjoyed learning how to play Black Jack - properly! Lastly, like all resorts in Jamaica (at least all those on the national water supply), you CAN drink the water no need to brush your teeth using bottled water and no more concerns about the fruits and veggie or cocktails. The resort wasn't responsible for it but they recommended and booked for us, and we very much enjoyed a half-day trip on the party catamaran which takes you to Dunns Falls where you can climb up the falls (more like rapids to be honest but lovely just the same), have a jerk chicken lunch at Margaretville, and then sail back with dancing and drinks. Great value at $103 USd each. Cons: The buffet hours were not particularly accommodating - closing at 10AM and not opening until 1PM for lunch meant if we wanted to enjoy a nice breakfast we would have to get up "early". We're on vacation MON!!! There is another Bar & Grill style place that opens at 11AM but it is not a breakfast place. As my son pointed out there is actually 1 hour when you can't get food anywhere. Our package also included free room service which I thought was awesome until I read the Room Service Menu - forget it. If you decide to try your luck in the mini-casino count your cash when you turn in your receipt from the Black Jack machine. The morning after I collected my money I noticed I seemed to be short $20 but I wasn't %100 sure. The 2nd night I cashed out I counted it in front of her and sure enough I was $20 short!! Another complaint would be the scarcity of bars, especially with the central bar poolside (including the swim up bar) closing at 5:30. What's up with that? In short, being an all-inclusive loses a lot of its lustre if you have to work around their hours, and plan when to grab drinks in order not to have to walk for 5 min each way to get another round. Lastly, our package was supposed to include 4 al a carte restaurants. Despite the hotel pre-booking the gourmet and Japanese, and going on-line as soon as I got in our room, I was unable to book a night at the Italian restaurant. Despite calling and asking for assistance not once but twice over our stay and being told they would look into it and call me back, neither time did we get a call back. We were supposed to get 4 al la carte dinner nights and we only got 3 and nobody we spoke to gave a damn - very very poor customer service!! We had a look in the Italian place a couple of times and they were never full - I don't get it.

Fabulous vacation!!

This resort is the best out of 3 trips I have made. Very luxurious, very well maintained, beautiful pools and beach!! Food was excellent and varied. The service was very good as were all the people we met!! We will for sure book this resort again!!! 😎🌴🇯🇲

Fell short of expectations

I have stayed at less "Gran" resorts for a lot less money and been far more impressed. The situation of the resort, the grounds, the view from the rooms were all stunning. However, the condition of the rooms and the halls was considerably run-down. We had trouble with the safe, the tv and the sliding door to the balcony did not lock properly. We spent a considerable amount of time and frustration getting these problems dealt with. I did find the staff responded to my concerns professionally, I j [... read more]ust think that when you are spending thousands for two rooms (my husband and I had my elderly father with us) you shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of hassles. I found the quality of the food and the selection great but the only time you got hot food was when you were lucky enough to be standing by when something was brought out of the kitchen. The servers varied widely in their abilities and also in their attitude. Some were lovely and really on top of things. Others, not so much. All in all, we still had a lovely time but as I say, in my opinion, this resort is over-rated and over-priced.

Disappointed with this Bahia

We have stayed at all Bahia properties in the DR and the Sian Ka'an in the Mayan and can't even compare the service we received at the other properties as opposed to the non existent service at the Bahia in Jamaica. We are probably the least picky travellers you could come across and don't sweat the small stuff, however, am I disappointed....yes....did it ruin my holiday.....no....We learned to overlook the lack of attention over the 10 days we were there and just sat back and enjoyed our ti [... read more]me as a family. At the end of the day, the property itself compares well, we had no issues with towels, sun loungers (we are early risers), the food was good (when you could find a plate), the sun was hot and the beer was cold. Would we go back.....no Would I recommend this property....not likely Did we have fun despite the short comings......yes, it's all in what you make it

Disappointing Experience

My mother and I traveled to Jamaica for my cousins wedding during December 3rd-December 11th, 2016 as part of a group of ~60 individuals. We stayed at the Grand Bahia Principle Jamaica in Runaway Bay and we are extremely dissatisfied with our vacation stay for many reasons. First, throughout the week there were consistent problems with the utilities. There were power outages throughout the week, and there was one day and morning that we were without water. As well, for a large portion of the  [... read more]week we did not have air conditioning or warm water in the room to shower with. We also got stuck in the hotel elevator, which was happening throughout the week so we began to avoid the elevators. We understand that things happen; however, it was disappointing that these issues were not resolved during our stay and that there was no communication from the hotel at all with their guests. We were given no explanation for the reasons there were issues with the utilities, no explanation as to how these issues were being reconciled, and we were not offered anything in lieu of the situation (e.g., candles/flashlights). For example, one evening the power was out in the dining hall and there were no candles or signs put out by the food. Guests were walking around trying to use their cell phones to figure out what the foods were and to see what they were taking. The only explanation I was given was that they were in the advanced stages of fixing the problems; yet, these problems persisted all week. Although some of the power came back in certain areas of the hotel, there were still areas that were out of power. The only emergency lights were in the hallways and so other areas that were out of power were completely dark; we felt unsafe using these areas (e.g., bathrooms on the resort). We felt unsafe due to the behaviour of the security guards in the evening. The security guards often made gestures, inappropriate comments, or sometimes followed us. Some of my cousins had similar experiences, particularly the bride-to-be. This made us feel extremely uncomfortable, particularly in areas of the resorts where the power was not restored. As well, there was an odd situation that happened to my mother on my cousin’s wedding day. My mother was relaxing in our room between the wedding ceremony and reception when there was a knock on the door. My mother did not answer the door because she was not dressed and did not know who was at the door. A man entered and seemed surprised that she was there stating, “Oh what are you doing home?”. My mom was frantically trying to cover herself and she could only make out that the man said something about checking the bathroom. He did not check the bathroom and he left. We filed a security report with the hotel, for which we were never followed up as promised by a staff member. In addition, the hotel was not stocked with the basic necessities or items that you would expect to be available as part of an all-inclusive vacation. The bathrooms by the pool and beach were often not re-stocked with soap or toilet paper. On one occasion, the bathroom by the beach was not stocked with soap or toilet paper first thing in the morning. We asked throughout the day for the bathroom to be stocked since we were spending the day at the beach, and by the end of the day no one had come to re-stock the bathroom. As well throughout the week, the bars around the resort would not have the ingredients needed to make the drink you requested. We were usually settling for alternative drinks that we did not really want. As well, one full day by the pool and beach bar the hotel was out of cups. We were unable to even get a drink of water during the day in the sun. Another day at 10 am when the pool bar opened they were also out of cups and ingredients for many drinks. My birthday was during our stay and my mother planned a surprise birthday party for me on December 6th. My mother ordered a cake from the hotel on the Sunday and she was told that the order was put through for $20 US and she could come back to pay. When she returned, she was told the cost of the cake was $38 US. In addition to the inconsistent pricing, the cake that she had paid for in advance was never made. During our dinner, my mother had to secretly try to get our family to stay while she tried to find out for over an hour what was happening with the cake. She finally demanded for a manager and we received Rudolph. His customer service was exceptional, but unfortunately it was a little too late, as he informed us that the cake was never made. We understand that the power had been going out that day, but we would expect the hotel to inform us that the request could not be made, rather than us having to chase someone down for an extended amount of time. Overall, this was a very disappointing experience. While some of the hotel staff was considerate, many of the hotel staff were very rude. It made the whole experience even worse on top of the above issues I have mentioned. We understand that many of the guests might have been taking out their anger on the staff, which we did witness and we agree is unfair, but we did not feel that anything was being done to better our experience, especially considering the circumstances with the power and water outages. Unfortunately, we are disappointed because we do not feel that we received a 5-star experience worth the $3279.44 that we paid for our vacation. We feel that the quality and reputation of this hotel and this travel package was misrepresented. We travel often down south every year and we have never had even close to such an experience as we had this week, even in hotels with a lower star status.

Big resort

The food, rooms, grounds, pools all very, very good! The staff wonderful. My only complaint for me is it was too big. Would I recommend this resort, yes but I would mention the size. Everyone is different and may not mind the size.

Nice Resort - had some issues

Beach and Pools were nice and clean. The staff were all really friendly and helpful. Food was not amazing it was average. For a 5-Star resort I was expecting better food at the buffet and more selection. The hotel pre-booked our A Le Carte's and booked us on the same day as the wedding. We were promised four A Le Carte's but only received 1. They wouldn't do anything for the pre bookings so I was disappointed by that. We also lost power for multiple days which was a bit annoying. I wo [... read more]uld have felt better if the hotel management would have let us know what was going on, why the power was out, and what they were doing to fix it. Instead we were left in the dark...literally. Thank goodness we were down there with a good group of people. We definitely did not have a 5-star experience but enjoyed the weather and the company of each other none the less.

The good and bad

We went to this resort with 19 people and had a great time. The pool area was great jerk chicken fabulous, lots of pool chairs, and we had no issues with power outages while we were there. This hotel is not rated properly and I would consider it to be no more than a 3 star hotel for the following reasons: the hallway carpets are extremely dirty and need to be replaced, the a la carte restaurants are fully booked at at all times and you cannot make reservations in advance for a large group ce [... read more]lebrating a special event (not even for 1 night), the beach is rocky and small, rooms were often not made up and typical services (towels) had to be asked for repeatedly.

Great resort!

The grounds were kept neat and tidy. The rooms were always clean and large. Lots of room for a king size bed , a desk area with a couch, and a beautiful view on the balcony. They are working on changing the carpet in the hallways. They need it. And I find that there is a charge for the room safe. I did not like that part of my stay. I think the safe should be included. Other than that we had a really good time and all of the staff were friendly.

Overall, Great Experience!

We arrived at the hotel at 10:30 pm, the hotel had just experienced a massive storm. Our acceptance was welcoming however they were experiencing issues with food at that time because they had had no power all day. We arrived at our room which was delightful, beautiful view, very clean large king size bed, absolutely no complaints there. We had 2 al a cart dinners which were both outstanding at the Don Pablo and Mikado. And the buffet everyday was consistently changing the options and pro [... read more]viding excellent meals. The beaches and pools are stunning, beautiful sands and lots of space. While there were many weddings going on this week there was always a chair by the pool or beach and you never felt the need to have to try to reserve a space. We attended with a group of about 54 people and nevery struggled to sit with a large group by the pool or beach. The hotel did have some issues as a result of the storm just prior to our arrival with rolling blackouts and water loss perodically throughout the entirety of our trip. With this being said we feel they made the best of it and did all they could to ensure we still had a good time. We ate a candlelit dinner at the buffet one night as a result of the power loss, but they always had food available. We also experienced loss of ac when the power was out but it was never uncomfortable. We had a wondeful time at this resort attending our friends beautiful wedding. While there were some hiccups along the way it was overall a great experience.

Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica

Nice staff and grounds, beautiful pool and nice restaurants. Bad experience overall due to frequent power outages causing no a/c , no water for shower or toilet. Also no windsurfing equipment available.

We were ripped off!

We paid for an all inclusive trip but we didn't get that. The power was out all week from Saturday Dec 3 when we arrived right up until the last day Dec 10 when we left. Water wouldn't turn on, toilets wouldn't flush, couldn't take the elevator and he stairs were death traps at night as they were pitch black. No I wouldn't recommend this resort to my worst enemy. Oh ya and a security guard called me a piece of shit and pulled his baton on me for fishing in the ocean.

Great Time

The resort was dated and the power outages/no water for a few days was super inconvenient and irritating. Not impressed with that but the sun was shining and the drinks were cold, which made for a great week.

Huge resort

I Brenda, found the resort to be very large(as I have a disability)but overall was very nice. Had a few days of mishaps, no AC for 2 days, and 1 day no hydro. There should be some generator backup, had to walk up 4 flights of stairs Food was good but restaurants where way to warm (complaint by most). Great beds.

Amazing resort with some hiccup's

The resort itself is beautiful, the staff are very friendly and accommodating. However, our week didn't go without a few hiccup's. When we arrived we needed to move to a different room with working air and one bed instead of two doubles. We were in our new room within 24 hours. The second and bigger hiccup was that we were without power for three days. One of the days turned out to be a rain day so we were left very limited activity options, the staff set up games in the lobby etc.though. The bi [... read more]ggest issue with no power for this long is washrooms and food. Washroom were not working and began to smell, and food was very limited. This was our second time to this resort and we had an amazing time and will go back again, as long as the power issues get sorted out.

Beautiful resort, but some issues

The grounds were nicely kept and well maintained. The 2 coves closer to hotel offer little beach area or swim area. The one further away (8 minute walk) had larger beach and swim area. If your looking for waves, this is not the place. Staff were friendly and evening entertainment was okay. Nothing to exciting going on. But that was okay, cause after a day of sun and swimming your pretty tired. There is an issue however with the power. Went out couple times. Then out for a full day. Was not grea [... read more]t. Often run out of cups at swim up bar too. Bring a bubba. My friends stayed an extra week and power was out 2 full days. Was only the resort, not the island. This is my 4th time with this chain at different locations, and depending on your desires it may suit you. To large for me though.

Great time!!

We stayed November 19-26 in block 18 on the 3rd floor. The rooms were excellent and very clean. Food was great and plenty of options. Although we got stuck with clouds and rain all week we still had an amazing time and would highly recommend this resort.

Friendly clean beautiful atmosphere

The staff were terrific. Bright clean resort. Very accommodating. Everyone was willing and happy to assist you. Food and entertainment was outstanding. I love the swim up sushi bar. The ocean swim area was good, with little fish swimming at your feet, that was different. I would go back and have recommended to many people already. You can relax join in the fun and games, whichever you wish no pressure. Great vacation resort.

Great resort and beaches!

This was our 2nd time to Gran Bahia and it didn't disappoint. The water is so clear and beautiful on each of the beaches. Unlike other resorts I've visited, there was ample lounge chairs at the pool and all beaches so you didn't have to wake up early to secure chairs. The food was standard for a resort, but we liked that there was always some Jamaican varieties at every meal. We tried 2 a la carte restaurants, both of which were very tasty. Mid stay we were upgraded to Gold club, which came wit [... read more]h a better view, room service, etc. The only criticism is that some interior corridors need their carpets replaced. Otherwise the resort and staff were all great and cater to your every need!

Simply Paradise

Prior to our trip I sent an email directly to the hotel requesting something special for my friends 50th birthday celebration, they did not disappoint. We arrived to receive VIP check in, robes and slippers & pool towels in our room and al a carte reservations already booked! The resort was breathtaking, every square inch of it!! The food was incredible, our favorite was the Don Pablo (you have to have the Chateaubriand). The Jamaican people are all so attentive and friendly, they are willing  [... read more]to do anything for you. Kevon (pool entertainment), Evrad & Winston (lobby bar), Gilly (watersports), and Maycelinne (housekeeping) were amazing; the hotel should be proud to have such amazing people in their employ. I would recommend this hotel to everyone, it was a relaxing & fantastic place.