Beautiful grounds but needs improvement

The resort and views were absolutely breathtaking. I had a suite room on the first floor in a villa. Room and bathroom was nice in size and decor was simple. Bathroom had a tub with jets which was great but our shower had no pressure. We also had no hot water for 3 days, 2 days it was warm, and maybe 2 days it was actually hot. When i mentioned it they said to run the water for awhile but that never worked. We would've asked to switch rooms but didn't want to repack and waste time so we dealt w [... read more]ith it. We were quite far from the main grounds so we had to use the never ending stairs up because we were on a hill or the trolly which was suppose to come every 5min. I found most times it didn't come that often so we started to call the front to ask for one before leaving our room. As the week went on our wait for the trollys were longer and since it was raining on and off 5 out of the 7 days we were there it became annoying. Buffet had lots of varieties and the chicken was always good but i found the food was inconsistent in the taste and the way it was cooked (eg. Potatoes were cooked well one day but the next they weren't). The a la carte restaurants were amazing especially the surf and turf at the Mediterranean one. The a/c was quite high in them though, almost had to bring a cover to stay warm. We had the golden package and got an extra a la carte but when we booked them a day after landing there were none available for us to book a 4th because they were full. Beach was nice water was clean and no seaweed. Pools were nice but cold (could've been because of the rain though), beach water was actually warmer. Staff were nice and very friendly. Even in the pouring rain one staff member continued doing aerobics by the pool, very devoted staff. All in all we still had fun and made the best of it.

Très bien dans l'ensemble

Les point positifs: toujours de la place (chaises) aux piscine ou à la plage. super service aux restaurants et au buffet les 3 restaurants à la carte excellent le mini réfigérateur à la chambre toujours remplis Les viandes et poisson tres bien au buffet toilettes publiques tres propres Les points négatifs: Pas de service de boisson aux cha [... read more]ises (piscine/plage) pas un bon service à la réception quand on a eu des problemes de chambre Buffet un peu sec et pas bien fourni, souvent vide et pas de choix de légume/salade

Very nice!

I liked the grounds although to get from the main hotel to the beach is a long a bit of a walk up and down stairs. Staff and service are friendly. The food is decent, I particularly enjoyed the lunchtime pasta. It would be nice to see a bit more athletic options, maybe a half basketball court or something. The jacuzzi didn't have warm water which seemed weird to me. I booked last minute so the value was amazing. All this being said I usually do cruises instead of resorts but this resort is defin [... read more]itely better than other ones I've stayed in (Cuba).

Great resort, ok food!

The topography and the resort is beautiful. The views are spectacular! It’s built on a cliff so it’s different than other beach resorts. The food is average but the French restaurant is great. Breakfast buffet is also good with lots of variety - fresh juices, fruits, egg station, etc. You will find something to eat for sure for all 3 meals!!

Love this resort

I absolutely love this resort, food was good, love the beach. The people and service was wonderful! I would definitely revisit this resort with my family and friends. Close to town and loved going shopping in town.

Beautiful

Took my sister to my happy place. I have been here 5 times now. I can’t get enough of the beautiful view from every where you look . The resort is beautiful.. clean and there is always someone to help you if you have any questions. The staff are amazing. The assistant manager Edward was extremely helpful and always available. The restaurant staff are always with a smile and there for your every needs. The buffet manager dady was always helpful and he always is there to assist. The bartenders [... read more] were all very good. In a good mood and awesome at their job . The locals that work beside the beach are amazing and we made several trips to town to support as many businesses as we could. It’s a beautiful place to go. The shuttle service was fantastic. If you love to go in the water it is warm clean and very gentle. The beach is small but kept exceptionally clean by the staff. The bridge that goes into the ocean is lit up at night which makes the scenery at night even more beautiful. Town is a few minute walk and all the houses are built up the hillside so at night it reminds me of Italy . Great entertaining in the evenings as well as their disco. The rooms are situated where there is a beautiful view wherever you are .We have been to many resorts in many places and this is by far the most beautiful scenic resort we have ever seen. I will return again and again . Thank you for all you do to make your guests have an unforgettable holiday ❤️

Great resort.

Food was great and the staff was super nice. Well kept and extremely accommodating. The view was also quite nice. The shows were enjoyable and I would definitely recommend my friends and family to attend in the future.

Amazing location

Beautifully located with a gorgeous view of the bay and islands from the balcony of our room and practically from all other places in the hotel, including the restaurants and the buffet. Nice decor throughout the hotel. Friendly service . If there was a problem it was promptly taken care of. I definitely want to recommend that hotel to anyone.

Amazing view and beautiful resort

The hotel was immaculate. Staff friendly and helpful and courteous. We were surrounded by the ocean and we could see the ocean from our room. The food in the restaurants were very good with great presentation. The food in the buffet was good as well. The entertainment was great and presented in a professional way.

AWESOME Hotel, Staff and Scenery! June 1-8 2019

The 5 STAR reviews we read before we booked were correct! We read about the great staff, the cleanliness, the gorgeous views and they were right! We would definitely go back again. We have told all our friends to go here! The scenery is so lush and beautiful! We could not get over how beautiful the property was. It was like Fantasy Island! The rooms are lovely, we had an ocean front room of the main hotel, which are slightly larger than the standard rooms in the same building. The views from ou [... read more]r balcony were gorgeous of the beach, pool, elevator and the bridge to no where! The rooms have a stocked bar, but only pop, beer and water, which was fine by us. The King beds are very firm, but we loved ours. The room has a safe and large closets, but not many hangers. There is a TV, but we never used it. The bathrooms are roomy and very elegant with a bidet. Our room was cleaned twice a day, as they have a turn down service. Everywhere you looked was clean or being cleaned. We enjoyed a beautiful and very romantic couples Spa treatment. We had a romantic Jacuzzi and then a massage and facial. One of the best ever! The Beaches were well maintained and very clean, especially the big one out front. There were always more than enough chairs and umbrellas or trees to sit under. The water was cool and refreshing and just enough of a wave, not overpowering. The bar was convenient and had a few table and chairs around it along with washrooms. On the other side of the elevator was the sports and equipment area, I never went, but I saw people having fun with the Banana boat rides or equipment they had there. The main pool is beautiful up on the lush cliff and very clean, with a pool bar and access to washrooms. This is where you get your soft large blue beach towels. They have a water fall there and games are played on the pool deck, like Bingo. Lots of lounge chairs and no one saves chairs here or at the beach, so you can always get one. The elevator to the beach was intriguing and we loved the views from the bridge of the elevator. There are windows and its a glass elevator, so you watch the ocean as you ride the elevator. The elevator in the hotel is the same and you watch the pool while you ride it. The nightly entertainment had a great variety and you had a lovely view of Samana while you watched. I have been to resorts where its the same entertainers, but different dancing, this was so much better, with different entertainers every night, like a Circus, or Latin dancing, Karaoke, lounge singers, bands and International dancing. They also bring in some local people to sell their wares. Nothing is forced on you and you are not bothered by the staff to participate in the shows. We loved attending these nightly shows. The breezes were so cool coming off the land and the setting under the tent or on the patio with white wicker furniture was beautiful. The main restaurant closes breakfast at 10:30am so you must go to the Snack Bar, down the hill, which is okay, as the large golf carts were always going back and forth. We never had to wait for one, especially if you asked for someone to call them. The snack bar was beside another pool, more Jacuzzis than pool and some Cabanas and the natural beach and back-bay, which we enjoyed one day chatting with some other Canadians, who also loved the resort. The specialty restaurants - Le Pescadar -seafood, and the Viva Dolce- Italian - were delicious, we had the seafood lasagna and then the seafood saute and we were very pleased each night. The Snack bar had delicious pizza, salad, fruit and hot dogs. The main restaurant was hit or miss, we could always find something to eat, but not everything was great, also we are not in Canada, so we had made to order omeletes for breakfast, stayed away from any meat, and enjoyed the rest of the food. In the restaurants the staff was very attentive and our glasses were never empty. The Staff are awesome and made our trip even better because of their friendliness and big smiles - A shout out to - Front desk - Eduard and Laura, Concierge - Juan Shepherd, Lobby bar - Manuel, Spa - Lairilyn, Elsa, Yively and Sara, Restaurants - Dady, Ramon, Aneury, Junior, Erik, Mercedes and Barbara, Entertainment - Lewis. These people shined very bright and made a difference in our holiday, but ALL the staff were amazing! Only three things happened that may have been an issue anywhere else, but we were so happy with everything we couldn't imagine being upset, beside we aren't in Canada, these things can happen: (1) The A/C didn't work for the first 3 days and when it did it wasn't chilly, but it cooled us off, I enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the beach and the breeze coming in our room these few days: (2) A part of the pool deck needed renovation half way through the week, but the pool was still used and the work was quiet after the few hours one late afternoon, where they had to use a jack hammer, and (3) We didn't have hot water one day, I like cool showers! But again these are one offs and can happen anywhere. I hate to say it again, but we aren't in Canada! FYI - The bridge to nowhere was built many years ago to facilitate the people watching the Canadian Humpback whales that migrate there every mid-January to mid-March and frolic in the bay outside the hotel. I will be back to see that. A shout out to Westjet Premium service on board, we truly enjoyed the experience and the Tapas type of meal, along with the little extras. It also included our baggage fee and seat selection fee, so it was a good deal. A shout out to Luis, the Westjet representative in Samana, he was very helpful as we called him later one night and he helped us, saying call anytime. He always had a smile. He sells the tours at your meet and greet. We really enjoyed our tour with RL Tours - Raffi was our guide and he was awesome. We took the Playa Rancon and Safari tour which we loved. We had children sing their national anthem to us, in their classroom, and then we visited a lovely family farm and ate mango and passion fruit off the trees, bought some cheap local honey, coffee, Mamawhana, rum, cocoa etc. Then a lovely lunch looking over the bay of Rincon Beach. We spent two hours on the beautiful beach, we rented an umbrella and chairs for $8.00USD total, soaking in the crystal green-blue waters on the whitest beach - 6Km- National Geographic says its the 4th best beach in the world, then down the other end of the beach for a dip in the natural fresh water pool. The tour was $90.00USD each and worth it. They had a somewhat professional photographer with us and we were able to get some great shots of us for $60.00CAD prepaid and we got the email with the pictures the next day. They were actually very good of us, but I thought we would also get the pictures of our surroundings, so I am working with them on that. We will always remember this awesome week and the friendly people!

Beautiful scenery

Rooms: clean. The view from the rooms with view on the ocean are breathtaking. Fantastic to hear the sound of the waves from your balcony. Staff : I can see that they are very hardworking people. The problem comes if you don't speak Spanish. Most staff ( buffet staff, resto à la carte ) do not speak English. Maybe because of this language barrier, it appeared to me that staff were not friendly. No smiles. No effort to communicate with tourists. I felt a bit ignored. Of course, there [... read more] are some who make an effort. I can count them on one hand 😞. Food : very good. Overall, I did have a great vacation. I am used to the warmth of mexican people and people from Roatan. I was not expecting their not so friendly ways. Despite this, I would go back because of the landscape and mostly because you can snorkel right from the beach .

10 out of 10

This resort was beautiful ! The staff was very friendly. also, the food was great. Thank you Danielle Friel for suggesting this resort. I highly recommend this vacation resort. This trip was not expensive . It was great value for the dollar.

When can I go back?!!!!

From the moment we booked with Trip Central to the last day of our holiday we could not have been more pleased with the experience. The resort provided amazing service,views,entertainment and food. We had a few issues with room and was happy to see problems resolved immediately. They would always follow up after to ensure we were pleased. If you dont want to do alot of walking or stairs then know the Golden Club and Villas are away from main resort. They do offer shuttles and just a quick call  [... read more]they will come. The resort offered space for quiet pool or Beach to another area with lively pool and beach. The beach area is not large but never a shortage of chairs. Lewis and his entertainment team are one of the best I have seen. The Disco and night life is pretty uneventful. So if u looking for some loud and late night excitment maybe rethink this resort. So pleased with this holiday. Truly cannot think of anything negative. ..

Scenic Resort

Lovely, clean, small resort! Excellent buffet and a la carte restaurants! Very scenic location and not too far from the airport. Entertainment in the Lobby Bar every evening and activities at both the beach and main pool daily. The beach is small but there is no problem finding a lounger. The staff is friendly and works hard to meet your needs. Lots of stairs and walking - challenging for those with mobility issues. A great stay!

Picturesque Resort!

The resort was very clean , grounds well kept. We had a Junior Suite which was very nice and well cleaned everyday. Fridge was stocked everyday . Buffet was good , no complaints and so were the a la cartes as we are not picky eaters. The only down fall was the walking , built on a cliff. So if you are in the Junior Suites a lot of stairs to the main building. They do have cart system available.

Grand Bahia cayacoa

I stayed at this resort with my partner and overall we had a great time. Cons: buffet restaurant and entertainment weren’t the greatest and there are a lot of stairs at this resort. We stayed in a villa which made it much further away from everything but they also have shuttles running if you’re interested. Pros: great a la Carte restaurants, beautiful views, lots to do and many different areas and things to explore at this resort. I would recommend this resort.

Amazing resort. The architect is unbelievable.

I love the resort, up on a mountain. The view was beautiful, my room was over looking at the beach and the ocean was so calm and beautiful with other islands. It was a very different resort than what I stayed at before. I love the views from the pools overlooking the ocean, it was amazing. When I same the elevator to go down to the beach, I thought it was unbelievable beautiful. I enjoyed my stayed and recommended it to some of my coworkers and family. It is a very nice resort. I am gla [... read more]d I choose Samana at the Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa.

Clean resort with attentive staff

This resort is spotlessly clean! Our housekeeper spent about an hour everyday in our room cleaning everything - mopping the floor, wiping down the mirrors, making sure everything worked, etc.The staff were always busy taking care of guests and asking if we needed anything. The grounds were beautiful and well kept. We saw the bellboy polishing the elevator doors til they gleamed.

Beautiful Resort

The resort had the most beautiful views, just breath taking. Staff went above and beyond with their service and kindness. Food is amazing. The resort is spotless. Rooms were beautiful and beds were comfy. Loved it!!!

Great vacation!

We usually go to the Cayo Levantado but wanted to try something a little different this time. We were glad that we did. For the price point, the resort was perfect. Great views, good food, good service. It was a very relaxing holiday and look forward to going back.