Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Beautiful resort and a nice stay but only 4 stars

My wife and I stayed at this resort from Feb. 22 to Mar. 1, 2015. We had a really late check in (12h30 am) since our plane was late coming in from Toronto. The check in went really smoothly and we had our room in short order. We did request a room change however since our room didn't have a real shower, just a hand-held in the Jacuzzi tub. We got transferred to another room on the 3rd floor (#51218) without any hassle at all. Rooms are spacious and clean. Maids are friendly...as are most of th [... read more]e staff. The grounds are just beautiful and kudos go out to the staff for such great work!! We spent a lot of time at the beach however did not go swimming because the water was not appealing (brownish) and there are jellyfish...both of which we knew ahead of time. There are plenty of palapas at the beach and we never had any problems getting loungers there...in the afternoon, we would migrate to the pool area..a bit harder to find a spot in the shade for me.. Premium drinks were available, just not all the time...for example, I drink Crown Royal and it was available only 3 separate days. Not a big selection of drinks available at the pool bars. The food at the buffet was good but a lot of the previous comments are accurate....because of these comments,we were careful to take food that had recently been taken out, nothing with creamy sauces, or stuff that looked lukewarm...neither my wife or I got sick per say, just a bout of upset stomach for about a day or so..could be the booze or the food (or both)..they give hand sanitizer to everyone entering the restaurants/buffets which is a good thing..as long as it's consistent... We ate at three à la carte restaurants, the French (Le Gourmet) was by far the best of the three (others were Il Capricio and Garden Grill Steakhouse). We even had some momahuana with our server at Le Gourmet..food was great there, give it a try! We had a good time here and relaxed, which is what we needed...yes the lounge closes at 11pm so if you want nightlife, this is not the place for you...you can go next door to the other side of the resort.

Bahia Principe Explore La Romana: Spend a little more and go somewhere else!

The grounds at this resort are immaculate. In my opinion the resort is under staffed which sometimes makes them a little cranky. The buffett and the pool/swim up bar seem to be under staffed the whole time we were there. The buffett food was the same every day. If I didn't know better I would have thought I was in Cuba. The food was of poor quality(worse than What I've had in Cuba). Several times the same dishes could be seen at breakfast, lunch and diner. The animation team did a great job day  [... read more]and night and if you didn't want to participate they didn't push you. The ocean is very murky and you couldn't see 6 inches into the water. Yes there are jelly fish in the water everywhere you go. One day I walked along the beach and counted more than 30 jellyfish swimming near the waters edge. Several of them washed on shore and you really had to watch were you walked. As for the beach, well we sat on the beach for one day and I counted close to 50 sandflee bites on one leg. During the week I noticed several people with there legs covered in bites. The beach is infested with flees. We spent the rest of the week by the pool. I will say this there are more than enough loungers and you don't have to get up at 7am to save them. Overall I would not recommend this resort because of the sand flees, the ocean and the quality of food. I have been going to the Caribbean for more than 15 years now and this was the worst resort I have been to. We travelled February 23 to March 01 2015. During this time there were several people getting sick and at least one taken to hospital . Don't know the cause but my educated guess would be the food. Prior to leaving for the D.R. I too an over the counter med called ProKPlus. We had no sickness but watched what we ate.

Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach: Underrated and Underappreciated

We returned from the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach 4 days ago and I wish I was still there. This property is rated 3.5stars, but it is more of a 4 star. We were scared when we got to the lobby expecting a Grandiose area of congregation. The VWDB lobby is for checking wifi and coming and going. That's all. The resort opens up from there with great areas to hangout night and day. The beach is Amazing! White sand turquoise clear wAter and some large areas of coral in waist deep water teeming with fi [... read more]sh and amazing for snorkelling. 3/4 pools are beautiful with bars close at hand. There is a trapeze which is also included. And children 4-12 can use from 9-11. And adults 4-6. The standard room is just that "standard" and doesn't even have a fridge. But before you book look to see if there is a superior room available. Usually they are not much more. There also is bungalows that are stone buildings with thatched roofs. These are great and are closest to the beach. I reccomended these! The food at the main buffet is typical-really good buffet food. Nothing that blew me away but I was content every meal there. The a al carte restaurants were also very good. The Mexican restaurant was actually amazing. You can book into these every night so get into guest services and do it. The animation team were wonderful! It is a very multicultural hotel. And almost everyone speaks some-decent English. There are a lot of Italians at the resort so don't be offended if they don't speak English first. The animation team is made up of people from all over the world. Italy, Scotland, Brazil, Slovakia and Dominicans. Most can speak 4-5 languages well and they are all fun people and skilled dancers. At around 8:30 there is usually a band or music in the main courtyard and the animation staff is ever present to teach merengue or bachata. At 9:45 the show starts and was the best shows I've seen at a resort. Except the comedy show. Book a late dinner that day. Following the show there is a fun themed danceparty in the courtyard every night until 12:30 when the staff walks everyone interested to the disco. This is a very fun hotel with lots to do at any level of participation. The beach is large and although often packed. There are always loungers to be found. I have already recommended this hotel to friends and will return myself. We travelled with our 2 children 5&7.

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Great Place for a Vacation

Stayed at the BP - Adult only side for 10 days in February. Rooms are very spacious and bright. There is a very good selection of food in the buffet. (Try the southern fried chicken - very yummy). We used room service a couple of times and could not get over how fast it was (joked with the server - 20 minutes or it was free? :) Was very nice to be able to get a chicken sandwich, clubhouse or a hamburger delivered. The beach is beautiful, but yes, the water is murky looking. We swam in the ocean [... read more] almost everyday and did not experience any jelly fish. Staff - the staff are very professional and friendly - cannot do enough for their visitors. We traveled with 2 other couples - would definitely recommend this hotel. We will be visiting again next year.

Sunscape Dominicus La Romana: Great Value for the money!!!!

I cannot say one bad thing about this resort. Great value for the money! They upgraded us from our standard room booking to a deluxe room for no charge. There are always cleaners cleaning, workers maintaining, everything we came across worked. The food whether it was the buffet or restaurants were great, plentiful and the variety I'm sure met all needs ... from the picky to the adventurous. The staff are all polite, we met with Marco the General Manager who took time from his busy day to talk to [... read more] us. The beach is incredible ... one of the nicest we've seen, being beside a National Park enables you to walk forever (or till you get thirsty) without the busyness of a shopping mall at Xmas. I would definitely visit again if given the time and extra money to do it. This is a place that I have no regrets that I booked ... Be Live Canoa .... A Job Well Done!!!!

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Average Resort

The grounds, buildings and rooms were very nice. The hotel lacks in service including the front desk, no bar service around the pool or the beach. The fact that dinners have to be booked on line is not very convenient, in fact, most people required assistance at the front desk in order to use the app. You are only allowed 1 beach towel and required a card to get one. Good resort if you are looking for a resort that is a little less expensive.

Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach: Very nice

The resort itself was beautiful, well maintained and a pleasure to stay at. The staff were very helpful when the airline lost my luggage and were the primary reason that I was able to recover it while at the resort! Thanks for the great memories!

Bahia Principe Explore La Romana: Amazing beach

resor is starting to show its age, but still a good value. The beach is amazing as is the weather and staff treat you like royalty at all times. The aka cart restaurants have a very nice ambience and the buffet is well stocked.

Bahia Principe Explore La Romana: Gran Baha'i Prinicipe La Romana - bewarE

My husband and I returned from one week at the Gran Baha’i Principe, La Romana on Feb 18th. Having travelled to several destinations in the Caribbean staying at different resorts, we were well prepared. We had read Trip Advisor and done lots of research and knew that some people were getting ill at this resort but felt that they were not being sensible, maybe drinking too much, drinking the tap water or eating off site. We therefore were going to abide by all the rules for Caribbean travel. W [... read more]e arrived mid afternoon on Wednesday to a beautiful resort – sun was shining, check in was easy and smooth and we got one of the buildings we had requested – Villa 26. The balcony had a lovely ocean view and it was only a few steps to the pool. Lovely!! The grounds are gorgeous, beautiful well kept shrubs and flowers, palm trees etc. The pool had clear blue water and was a great temperature. The room was spacious, well appointed with a hard but comfortable king sized bed, a table and chairs, and a couch. The bathroom was very clean and spacious with double sinks but the shower/tub was small. Eventually we learned that the water from the shower was luke warm only. As other people have reported, the ocean is cloudy and the beach is hard packed brown sand. We are not beach people though and the surroundings are pretty with staff cleaning all the time so it didn’t bother us. The entire resort is a bit tired but very clean and well kept. The staff overall at the resort were polite but not overly friendly or helpful. Free Wifi in the lobby is a nuisance – hard to login and you get 60 consecutive minutes a day… Now to the issues… the food and drinks!! On arrival, we were told to get our lunch before the main buffet closed and to wait for our room to be ready. We were greeted at the restaurant by the Hostess and given hand sanitizer – that perhaps should have been our first clue. The buffet was more than disappointing – all the hot food was cold to warm and the food in general tasted bland. People in the restaurant were talking about the fact that others were ill so be careful what you eat. Honestly, at a resort of this calibre, you should be able to eat everything. The food did not improve at all during the week. On the second day at our Transat Vacations briefing, we were warned not to drink the slushy drinks as they sometimes ‘make people ill’. My husband stuck to beer and pop all week with no ice. I tried my best to stay away from slushy drinks but found that hard as there really aren’t many other options and I don’t drink beer. These resorts interest me for the pina coladas and margaritas etc. In any case, I drank far less that I usually would often drinking bottled water at the pool. However, I always had ice. The A La Carte Restaurants were not much better than the buffet – however the Seafood one was good and my food was actually hot! On Sunday, I came down with something – was extremely ill with diarrhea and severe cramping. I honestly never ate or drank again at the resort except bottled water and was confined to my room and the toilet until mid Tuesday. On Tuesday night, my husband was taken down with diarrhea first and then vomiting. I have not seen him that sick before. We travelled back to Canada popped full of drugs on Wednesday. Neither of us was able to consume food until Thursday/Friday. This should not happen!! When we told the Transat Vacations rep and the staff at the Gran Baha’i, they really didn’t seem to care. At least half the people we spoke to at both sides of this resort had been ill during the week. On the bus to the Punta Cana Airport several people from our resort were ill and one was vomiting on the ride. If you choose to travel to this resort in the DR, bring lots of gravol and immodium and be prepared! I would not recommend coming here until they completely disinfect and do something about the food pre and clean water. There is no water purification plant on site.

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Our experience in la romana

The resort was beautiful,the grounds were amazing and the rooms were very clean. The staf. Was as helpful as they could be and the food and beverages were plentiful. The sun was hot and the beach was welcoming with plenty of shade and loungers.all in all our 7 days flew by. Thanks

Sunscape Dominicus La Romana: Language barrier

Rooms in the new building are very well done. roomy and lots of storage space.. Don't recommend the older building.The grounds are well done with natural wildlife with all kinds or birds, turtles. The food is average to good at buffet. Gourmet, Lobster, and Japanese specialty restaurants are excellent.Our biggest problem was the language barrier, Found all the staff including the front desk don't understand or speak English. Even ordering a drink is difficult. you have to try the "Mamma Juana pa [... read more]ssion". When one of our Friends in our party left her life or death prescription in her luggage that went lost, the medical Doctor on site did not show any concern for her health what so ever, she actually told her to take a taxi into the city to see if she can find it at a pharmacy. Don't trust the staff, one of our neighbors, was robed of all her cash from her safe. All other expensive items were not touched. cash is not traceable. One of the resort dancers and guide was actually selling CD's to people tanning on the beach for $10 claiming all the music on it was the music from their DJ. ENDED UP BEING BLANK when I got back home. will not return.

Catalonia Bayahibe: Satisfied, but will not return

We just came back from two weeks at Catalonia Dominicus (end January begin February 2015). First time there, was ok but we will not return. That was our first all inclusive, so can not compare with others (did backpacking in the past) Mostly European tourists there (Italians, French, Germans, few latinos, Canadians). ARRIVAL: was ok, except our SUNWING representative "Eddie" did not show up for our meeting, which was frustrating.. We did not seek to meet him afterwards, figured we would discove [... read more]r on our own. ROOMS: are livable but kinda falling apart. Our first room ground level had an old basement smell, which we informed the front desk and they gave us another room on 2nd floor, which had not smell. We found hairs on the floor, the normal shower was not working, had to use the alternate shower head, had to hold it while showering. We did not upgrade to Privileged, so cant talk about it. STAFF: extremely helpful and friendly, except for those employees whose task was to sell us tours, they were really bothering us, waiting for us on the way to restaurant / beach / front desk everyday. BEACH: was okay, but Ive seen way better ones all through central america.. It has a steep entry. small waves, not good enough even for body boarding. The spots for shadow on the beach are limited, so there were always people going super early, throwing their stuff on chairs to keep them for themselves all day.. FOOD: The buffet was our breakfast and dinner choice, was pretty good, always found something our taste. The italian one for lunch had yummy pastas and pizzas, always a salad bar, and was quieter. The limited entry dinner restaurants were disappointing, we went twice and did not return, thus did not use our 8 entries. The smoothie bar is GREAT, can get a yummy healthy fruit smoothie all day. DRINKS: were good, except for the beer that seemed to have a 0.5 content alcohol and the wines were nothing I will miss. SPORTS: Volleyball games 2x per day, was great!! Gym with minimal equipment. the pulling machine broke a couple of days after I got there.. bench, treadmills in air conditioned. Tennis court in good condition. SNORKLING: Can get equipment for free, only deposit is required $20. Snorkling next to resort, at the deepest of swimming area was basic (3-4 different types of fish, attracted by artificial construction), some better snorkling about 10 min walk west, few resorts over, where more fish and some corals are to be seen. DIVING: Staff at Diving store at resort will not tell you about the above mentioned place.. they want to sell their diving tours, which are VERY expensive ($60 US per dive, + $ for gas for dives that are far.) I did three dives with them to find out there is another dive shop that offers way better deals. (cant remember name, is on the internet) ENTERTAINMENT: seemed to be ok; shows after dinner, and party until 3-5 am for those wanting to, but we did not take advantage of this. We only went to one show, was great 70s-80s dance interpretation by entertainment staff. SURROUNDINGS: other resorts both ways, nothing to see otherwise, you are pretty much isolated in an artificial resort area. Trips to city are available, which we did not do. Overall was good, but I will not return because I want: -better snorkling, -better diving -something to visit outside the resort

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Do not stay here

The only plus to this resort is the grounds keeping. The food is horrible, always cold, no selection, no themes. Same left over stuff every single day. We had to get our own drinks 90% of the time. There are no napkins on the tables, they bring them over, but of course not all the time. The beach was better on the sister side. Lots of chairs at the beach and pool so that was good. I would never come back here or recommend this place to anyone.

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: maybe a 2 star! not worth the money

Beautiful grounds. Clean hotel. Horrible food - always cold and lousy variety. Horrible service. Basically had to go find our own drinks dduring meals. Staff to busy socializing with eachother than helping guests. Rooms okay. Mattress hard as a rock and maid stole a GUESS shirt of mine! Got sick halfway thru the trip with some bug that was going around. Overall, I would never go back to this resort. What a waste of money.

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Breathtaking Resort

The resort is gorgeous! They do an amazing job maintaining the whole resort. The staff is incredible, they go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable. The food was delicious. The rooms are amazing, the only complaint I have is trying to find a place to sit by the pool. Especially if you want an umbrella. There doesn't seem to be enough going around. We noticed people would put towels on a couple of loungers to claim them and then never even show up the whole day. They should have a rule abo [... read more]ut that, if they don't show up before 12 - take their towels away. Overall we had a great time and I would definitely recommend staying here.

Catalonia Bayahibe: Very nice resort !

Great Beach kids had awesome time plying with waves ...Not too crowdy, we never had a problem to get a beach chair...Food was very good...Worth to pay for privileged room...Excellent resort for families...

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Beautiful Resort

The grounds of the resort were spectacular, well kept, with gardeners working every day. The room was clean, bright and comfortable, ample towels and toiletries. The buffet was very good, not my favorite way to dine because the food is not hot enough for me!

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Amazing Resort

*An hours plus bus ride from Punta Cana but well worth the wait. *Grounds and the buildings are immaculately maintained. *All rooms are very large suites.Ours was on third floor (highly recommend for view), though no elevators ... all stairs. suite with sitting area with couch table and chairs, 4-poster king bed, huge bathroom with jet tub, double sinks, separate shower stall and toilet cubicle, robes and slippers, minibar stocked daily, and free safe. It was my wife's birthday while there so th [... read more]ey had door and room decorated with some banner and balloons and plate of fresh fruit. We had gardenview but could still see the beach and ocean from our balcony due to layout of buildings. *Pool area was very beautiful, spacious with lots of chairs. Didn't have to rush to get one ever. Pool bar great too. *Beach is narrow due to all the palm trees but wider on the Gran Bahia Principe side. Sand is powdery brown. Water is murky in most of the bay due to sediment run-off from river up the coast. Tons of chairs here to pick from. Amazing sunsets though! *Part of Bouganville package is unlimited ala carte dinners. We ate at 4 of 5 .. garden(large steaks!)(very good!), Mediterranean(good), Japanese(okay), and gourmet (very good!).... Italian was the other. *Our buffet was very good!!! Huge selection for every palette. Every night was a theme ie American, Italian, Dominican ...Salads were healthy and crisp! meats, fish, poultry(hot/cold), tons of side dishes (hot/cold). Lots of fruit to choose from and desserts too. *Staff all around were excellent!!!! Friendly if not very friendly! Constant service in the restaurants and pool area. Entertainment a mix of the usual hokey island stuff during the day and evening but fun to get involved! *Executive 9 hole Par 27 golf course just outside the resort. Cost $27.00US which included round, clubs, balls, pull cart. Longest hole is #9 at 218yds. Tees, fairways and greens in pretty good shape! Book and pay at resort and they take you over or get p/u by golf course personnel. There is an 18 hole under construction not ready for another 1-2 yrs. *We did the Catalina island snorkeling excursion. Island was beautiful, snorkeling was good but rough waters on our day. NoliTour price $115.00US. We booked through the Bahia resort tour group at the pool area (bartered the price)and paid $83.00US each for 4. We will definitely go back!!!

Sunscape Dominicus La Romana: Good spot, good times!

We stayed in this hotel from Jan 9/15 to Jan 16/15, and had a good time. This is only my second Caribbean vacation, my first to Dominican. Pros: - The grounds were decent enough - Rooms are spacious and clean - The food was EXCELLENT with selections from every corner of the world - Despite English being probably the least spoken language, they never refused to try (Their staff is multilingual for the most part: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, some English) - The location is nice - The  [... read more]staff don't expect tips or treat you poorly if you don't. Folks are eager to please you and are attentive! - Snorkelling at the rear end of the roped off swimming area is great! they have placed several artificial underwater structures that are now inhabited by fish, urchins, ect. - You can walk along the beach eastward towards the nature reserve for HOURS..lots to see, lots of exposed rock, shells - Gym is well equippped and features a boxing ring, MMA kick bags, treadmills, ellipticals, free weights, benches, machines, water, towel service, scales, smith machine. - No real cons (nothing that negative). Improvements they could make. keep in mind these are MINOR and in the grand scheme of things didn't really impact us negatively to any significant degree: - Better air conditioning. it DID work, but it struggled and often would let the temps rise to uncomfy levels at night, then gradually cool the room again - Better organized at check-in. I got a nice cocktail handed to me, but they could find my reservation - ended up getting shuffled after some searching to the other side of the lobby to a different desk. why have two check-in desks with no indication of which I need to go to? Why have two at all? - More consistency in how drinks are made. Some bars have all drinks, some don't - which isn't that bad, however even how a Mojito is made differs between bars - some crush the lime and mint in front of you, some scoop a big ladle full of pre-made liquid of sorts from a bucket in the freezer as an example - Shops could be more consistent and honest with real pricing. A box of slender medium cigars (8 in the box) started at 50$ USD which is ridiculous, I negotiated to less than half of that price. why not just have fair market? I'm on vacation to relax :) - On excursions, focus on providing trip value to the folks who paid to go, and less on chauffeuring potential buyers around to empty their pockets. despite the tour guides being very nice and accommodating, every stop we made was an opportunity to try and get us to buy something - ANYTHING. Things to note: - They do allow limited nudity on the beach. Several Europeans of varying ages did tan topless, but it wasn't made strange at all which was just fine. - You can smoke almost everywhere in this resort, however at no time are you choking on it which is great since I'm a non smoker. - There is a rock shelf of sorts a couple feet into the water off the beach. it can catch you by surprise and send you for a small harmless tumble, but i did see some elderly folks have an issue getting in and out of the water with the waves coming in. This resort is an hours drive from the Airport in Punta Cana, however the drivers are happy to oblige you with the 45 minute version at 130 Km/h :) In summary, despite the improvement areas I listed above, the overall experience at this resort, and with the entire trip was pleasant enough that i would not hesitate to return again. ~ Happy Trails!

Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville: Overall, a very pleasant 2 weeks

Well kept grounds, exceptionally well kept pool. Wide selection of foods, nicely presented in the specialty restaurants. Breakfast & lunch buffets presented a challenge, if you like your food hot, get your eggs cooked to order. Sea was as advertised, murky. Beach was clean & no shortage of loungers. Room was large & well appointed. The first week housekeeper needed a nudge now & then about towels & restocking the fridge, different housekeeper the second week, completely on the ball. Staff at all [... read more] levels were cheerful & helpful, especially the senior management. Downside for us was the isolation, we like to take a Gua gua or motoconcho into the villages & poke around. Did not seem possible. If you are looking for pure R&R this would be a very good choice.