Wyndham Alltra Samana: Just what the Doctor ordered

This is a very beautiful, low key, easily assessible resort for all levels of mobility. The food was great, the service was over the top, and my husband and I had a wonderful time. The beach does experience some seaweed most days but the workers attack it with vengence. We were very leary with it being rated a 3 star, and we both often during our stay said we'd rate it a 4 - 4+. Everything far exceed our expectations. Would go back in a heartbeat!

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Very tropical resort but lacked good service

Beautiful and well maintained grounds. Food was excellent and lots of variety. Rooms were nice and staff were pleasant. Only complaint is that resort was overbooked, and there didn't seem to be enough staff to handle the requests. There were long waits at the bar and the buffet. Forget about getting into any of the a la cartes unless you wanted to dine at 9 pm. Also lacked in entertainment; never saw any of the entertainment crew at all.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beatiful Hotel and EXCELLENT STAFF.

The best thing about this hotel is the ANIMATION TEAM and their hospitality. The Bahia Principle had a wonderful buffet and variety for the inclusive package. I recommend the Italian restaurant on site as well, although I personally did not enjoy the others, with a party of (9) we had mixed reviews of the gourmet restaurants on site - but there are 3 to choose from... so something for everyone!

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Truly amazing resort

The hotel; very attractive, and elegant (on the highest elevation and on a cliff) The sea-view from the main hotel building; very romantic (small islands connected with bridges and mountains) The landscaping; beautifully designed with paths to walk even for people with mobility issue. The hotel and surrounding area; always very clean, and appealing. The elevator to the beach ; bonus with a great sea- view through the glass window. The beach ; small with everything you need there. It is also a pu [... read more]blic beach with many local teenagers during their school break. Swimming pools; a few. The main with a pool bar and amazing activities. The restaurants and food; 24 hours available, variety, yummy and delicious. The entertainment; fantastic!! The town of Samana; can see from the hotel, very picturesque. The hotel "service taxi" will take you there and pick you up every hour for free. The travel time 5 minutes. Tours; fantastic!. Thank you Edwardo! (tourist guide) I took catamaran to the Los Haitises National Park and a tour to the Playa Rincon-on the other side of the Samana Peninsula (Atlantic Ocean). I advise to take the "option plus" version. My room was on the fourth floor (407). Make sure to make a sew-view reservation in the main building. Villas have separate swimming pools but no beach and they need to come to the main area. If you are a traveler and not only beach body this resort is a perfect choice for you.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Beautiful scenery

Beautiful tropical resort , very clean but service was not the best ,very slow at the bars either at the pool or lobby . Great place to go for good food and families but not couples . Love children don't get me wrong but this resort was full of them . My drink had more chlorine in it from splashing kids than booze lol

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Great resort!

Lots of greenery, nightly turn down service (with chocolates), great food, good entertainment..only negative was slow service at lobby bar and staff could speak a bit more English..would recommend to family and friends

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Wonderful vacation!!

This resort was amazing. Everyone from the staff were so nice. They always wanted to make sure you were happy. The view, no matter where you were was spectacular. I cannot wait to return to Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa!!

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Beautiful resort!

The resort grounds were beautiful and well maintained. Good variety of food, staff were extremely pleasant and helpful. The beach was amazing - clear water with coral right off the beach for snorkelling. Great resort for kids - kids buffet section, kids club and games. We'll definitely be going back!

Cayo Levantado Resort: Quiet, laid back island vacation

The resort is very secluded, well maintained and perfect for a week of relaxing. The grounds are very lush and well maintained. The island has many hills, some areas steeper than others. The resort is very spread out & never felt crowded. The Rodizio & Don Pablo restaurants were the best for dinner. The buffet at Rodizio for breakfast or lunch was convenient & had decent selection. Drink service around the pools and in the lobby was quick & friendly. The villa room was large with a huge balcony, [... read more] perfect for relaxing on before leading out for the night. Overall, a fantastic, memorable resort.

Wyndham Alltra Samana: great value

great value for the price, the grounds are great and kept up every day, all around super place and the staff are also super friendly with a big thanks to Roberto at the sports bar and Ceasar at the small pool they just made the holiday that much more fun

Wyndham Alltra Samana: Great beach, half of the family got sick.

Hotel was basic and what we expected from a 3.5 star. Our family booked five rooms and had been looking forward to this vacation for years. Everything was to our satisfaction except the big one.......my wife was sick for half of her time there and half of the family also had a couple of sick days.........NOT fun.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Great trip

Food was great. Buffet was better than the specialty restaurants. Beach was great for walking but not good for swimming as there was too much coral. Got sucked into the Bahia Príncipe Privilege Club. We were told that you didn't have to buy anything but that's exactly what it was......a time share.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Nice Beach, Don't go for the Entertainment!

Hotel, Food, Grounds were beautiful and well kept! Staff were friendly and very helpful! But if you are looking for a resort with upbeat evening entertainment I would suggest looking elsewhere. We wanted to have a few drinks after dinner and unless you are French and looking for a totally mellow bar with entertainment that makes you fall asleep, you won't find what you are looking for here! We loved the resort and everything overall just were very disappointed with the lack of quality entertainm [... read more]ent. I would compare it to cheap karaoke most evenings to be honest. Other than that, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay!!

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Beautiful resort!

The staff at Cayacoa were so friendly, there was lots to do, the rooms were spacious and clean. We thought the food was excellent, best Piña Coladas I have ever had! The resort was beautiful and scenic sitting atop the cliff. The elevator down to the beach was a nice feature. Neither the beach nor the pools were ever super crowded. Great resort!

Cayo Levantado Resort: not what we expected

The island is beautiful no doubt. We just we not impressed with the overall lack of severe throughout and the food quality was very poor. We have stayed at the bahia throughout the Dominican and this is the only one we would not spend the money to return too. Spent to much for the trip as it was being 2k each Canadian. We should have had better service and food for that price. Lovely to visit as I said but by day 4 we wanted to leave To each their own I guess P.s do not get any drinks from the p [... read more]ool bar that are mixed from the slushy machines.. full of bacteria. Trust me

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: amazing resort

Beautiful beach, fantastic for families and the resort was clean with friendly staff. Snorkling right off the beach and plenty of natural shade. Lots of different beautiful areas to eat with a good variety of food.

Bahia Principe Grand Samana Roulette: Best Dominican hotel I've stayed at to-date!

I'd only been to Punta Cana, Puerto Plata and La Romana before this, and wasn't sure what to expect. There are apparently only six resorts in Samana, so it's a really big up and coming place for tourists to stay. I did the Roulette, which worked out great. I paid about $200 less than the advertised price this way. Usually you find out around a week before you travel, but because we went during a peak time, we didn't find out which of the two hotels until we landed. I absolutely loved it. The h [... read more]otel was perched on a cliff, so you had the most beautiful view of the city and ocean below. We upgraded for a room with an ocean view and it was 100% worth it. It was so nice to sit on the patio, sun on your face, reading a book or smoking a cigar. We spent more time there than we thought we would, just because of the view. The rooms were okay, pretty standard, a little old looking. The maid didn't really make the bed, but everything else was clean. No issues with the room, but we did have some friends whose toilet broke - the resort fixed it the same day. There were three pools that I knew of, however, I think at peak times non-upgraded travellers aren't allowed to use one of them (it was for VIP guests - way better chairs, we went there anyway). There were always enough chairs, which was nice - you didn't have to wake up at 6 a.m. to reserve your seats. The beach was nice, but pretty small. Again, always chairs available. The elevator takes a long while to go up and down to get you, but you're on vacation, so who cares. There were also stairs leading to and from the beach you could take. The water was nice - lots of fish swimming around even in the shallows. There's free snorkeling and a beautiful little reef just off the shore to swim out to. TONS of starfish and colourful fish there. There was also a bar down at the beach so you didn't have to travel back upwards for drinks. The entertainment wasn't good at all, but I wasn't there for that so I didn't mind. At night there isn't much to do - just get a drink, lounge around and chat with people, play pool or foosball down by the kids area, or gamble at the casino in-house. The food... was disappointing. The last three trips I went to Cuba, so I expected better food from Dominican, based on what I'd experienced previously. The food was Cuban level, if not worse. It was almost always cold, no real good options at all. Breakfast was the best meal of the day, but lunch and dinner were sub-par. I'm not a picky eater at all, but as someone who can't eat red meat, there were very limited options (they only had grilled chicken as an option one of the seven nights I was there for). It was also super bland, whereas usually in Dominican they incorporate spices... or at the very least salt and pepper. You'll basically just eat to get by at this resort. The a la cartes, however, were awesome. Food was definitely restaurant quality there, with tons of great options. The staff was super friendly and helpful. Loved Manuel at the lobby bar - he makes the best drinks BY FAR. We ended up just waiting for him most times. There are a few excursion options here, the typical four wheeling, horse back riding, etc. We saw the national park, which was slightly disappointing (they made it out to seem crazy beautiful, but it was pretty mediocre looking from the boat). We also did the ziplining which was amazing - one of the longest ziplines in the Caribbean. Friends of ours saw the waterfalls and it looked like a great excursion too. Take a trip out to Rincon beach if you can! SO WORTH IT. It's in the top 10 nicest virgin beaches in the world. From the hotel, it's about a 10 minute walk into town. Samana is incredibly safe and super nice to walk around in. A lot of the locals speak English and are helpful. Grab a bite to eat at Antonio's Pizza! One of the best pizzas I've ever had, seriously. The bridge to nowhere was a cool walk, although it was under construction in places. It's pretty close to the airport, about 20 minutes. A downside that travellers should definitely keep in mind are the many, MANY stairs at the resort. As I said, it's on a cliff, so those who can't walk very well or for very long, should avoid this resort. To go anywhere other than the lobby, main pool or beach (so the snack bar, other pools, other beaches, some a la cartes) there are hundreds of stairs to walk up and down. Overall, AMAZING and totally unique trip. I've been to dozens of hotels across the Caribbean, but literally none like this. It felt so peaceful, beautiful and untouched, not built up like typical touristy areas. Definitely recommend!!!

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Fantastic all around!

We found this resort to be very clean, offering excellent service and has wonderful staff, great accommodations and lastly a wonderful beach!! It was a great time for all of us!! The drive took about an hour but it was very scenic. We would definitely go again!!

Wyndham Alltra Samana: GREAT beach.....average resort.....don't go

wonderful place for our extended family...great beach....rooms and food OK....have been to Punta Cana many times and tried this resort for "money" reasons for our group of 13.....most of us had problems with the runs, some badly....the plumbing in the hotel is poor especially around the beach area's and I wonder if the plumbing issues are related to poor management of the kitchen area's....90 minute drive from the airport BUT it is a wonderful scenic drive.....we would NOT go back simply because [... read more] of the intestinal problems.....the staff are great with limited English but that is our fault for not trying to learn their language.....the Bar Manager, Santiago, is a wonderful person

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Nice Resort

Bahia Principe Clubs and Resorts - Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa The Gran Bahia Principe had a very nice setting, along a very hilly waterfront...there is no elevator in these buildings, which did not bother us, but there were also many stairs to climb, so being physically fit is an advantage. There were a variety of pools and two small ocean fronts to lounge or swim. We were initially placed on the ground floor of one of the buildings- 3200...We did not have a good sea view from here plus there  [... read more]was less privacy. We asked to be moved to another floor and staff were very helpful locating a third floor room- offering both privacy and lovely view of the little bay and the ocean to our front. The staff were pleasant but not always attentive to guests at the restaurants. We sometimes had to ask servers to bring us beverages, which seemed odd as this should have been something done automatically, in my opinion. And this was in the more attractive featured restaurants. At the main restaurants in the main building, staff were much more prompt in attending to guests. At the cafe, there was a variety of drinks and cocktails offered but not a big selection of coffees. I also wonder why there was an extra charge for premium drinks when we paid so much up front, as this was supposed to be all inclusive. The alcoholic drinks offered, such as scotch tasted inconsistently different and not of the correct quality, I believe. It all depended on who was pouring. J&B and Johnny Walker Red scotch should taste consistently the same, which was not the case as I think the bar tenders were substituting with cheaper blends. The house wines served at restaurants were inconsistent in taste. One place would have a full bodied red and the next place something different. The white, house wines were also inconsistent in taste; sometimes good and other times vinegary. The food was good but lacked variety. We enjoyed grouper every day, but would have appreciated fresh shrimp and scallops and more types of fish. There was Mahi Mahi or Dorado, I think it is called, but that is too bony for my liking. The suckling pig served at New Year’s was wonderful. There was a small gym which I used twice. It was adequate but nothing special. I used one of the exercise balls for stretching and noted that the ball was dirty. I believe staff should be more attentive to cleaning equipment for guests. I noticed some Maintenance issues. I noted that there was a leak in the roof of the gym room. I saw a slow leak, dripping onto the floor near the larger weight machine. In my building, 3200…during a heavy rain I noted that the eavestrough facing the ocean in the right corner of the building facing to your front, when exiting 3200 was also in need of repair. I feel these issues should be addressed for safety as much as anything. The staff at the front desk were always pleasant and accommodating, my compliments to you, your front end and other staff. Everyone was pleasant, from the groundkeepers to housekeeping. We appreciated the shuttle service whether to our building or to town. We liked our stay and will come again. My suggestions are not meant to be total criticisms, but opportunities for improvement. As a friendly suggestion, send your leaders/managers to Mexican 5 star resorts for a week, so that they can see for themselves what a 5 star resort should look like.