Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar Blue April 30 2018 – May 14, 2018

This is our second time we have been to Ambar Blue and it was just as amazing the second time around as it was the first. The people here are really great and work super hard for you to enjoy your vacation. I won’t go into too much details as many others have explained what the place looks like, what to expect and how good the food is. While it’s true the place is not perfect and there will be some issues, it’s the way the staff handles it and fixes the issues ASAP. For instance we had  [... read more]issues, one with our air conditioner in our room. We spoke to our butler Padro and within 30 minutes a technician was there to try and fix it, unfortunately his efforts didn’t work so we spoke with our Air TransAt rep Gabriel who took us over to the manager right away and explained our problem. Within no time the manager working with Gabriel had us in our new room with very good air conditioning. I’m not one who thinks highly of travel reps as we have had our fair share of very bad and useless ones, but Gabriel was a no non sense type guy who took our concerns seriously and was extremely helpful. Air TransAt should be very happy with employees such as Gabriel. Our second issue was when we opened our safe my tablet was gone, we looked everywhere for it but couldn’t find it. So we went down to customer service where we spoke to a very helpful young man named Joan. He walked us through the paper work and then called security a man named Ramon , together we all went to the room. Now I found this very interesting as both gentlemen asked for permission before coming into the room, they took pictures of the door and swipe lock and then again asked for permission to look into the safe. After a few minutes Ramon produced my tablet. I was shocked and couldn’t figure out how he found it when we couldn’t. What had happened was as we got stuff out the night before we must have moved the tablet on it’s side, now being in a black case against the side wall of the safe which is also black made it almost invisible. We were so happy at getting it back and apologised to both men for not seeing it, but instead of being ticked at us they were super understanding and telling us not to worry as it wasn’t the first time this had happened. Both men were very professional. Other people like Carlos and Michelly at the lobby bar went out of their way to look after us and put a smile on our faces. Carlos is quite the bartender with his flipping of bottles and glasses, he was always in a good mood and quick with jokes. On the beach they have an issue with sea weed but every day you see guys there from first thing in the morning to late in the afternoon raking and taking the sea weed away. These guys work so hard to ensure we have a nice beach to walk along. There are so many others that also helped make our vacation a wonderful time, I just can’t remember their names. I had read in other reviews of how the mini bar was never stocked regularly or properly, this was definitely NOT the case with us, our maid was amazing and kept the room very clean and ensured our mini bar was stocked regularly. She even gave us doubles of some spirits without our asking. Because the property is so big they have trolleys running all the time and even have carts available to take you to where you want to go, just ask the bell boys and they are more than willing to take you where you want to go, kind of a personal taxi ride. All in all this is an excellent property and a good deal for the money, we will certainly be going back as it is very quickly becoming one of our favorite places to go in the DR. Quick tip: if you need to exchange money to get more ones, don’t bother with the front desk go to the bell boys as they have pockets full of ones and are more than willing to exchange money with you.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: AMAZING RESORT

The whole experience at Luxury Grand Bahia Principe Ambar Blue was fantastic. The people working there were all very friendly. The entertainment was great but it should have been until a later time. The food was amazing. The pool and beach were beautiful! Transportation to and from different resorts were very quick. I would definitely go back again.

Grand Sirenis Tropical Suites: It wasn't what we thought for the kids

Food was ok. We found there was not much for the kids. Room was great but staff was rude!! Will never stay there again!! The water park that was advertised was not in the main pool area it was a 20 min walk with no shade or was horrible .staff were rude nothing was explained to us on check in when we left the staff at the desk were very rude. The selection for the food was poor not much for the kids to eat

Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: RESORT THAT CATERS TO ALL!

This was our second time back to Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. First time we stayed at The Ambar (back then it was only one Ambar) was amazing we tended to stay to that resort only. But this trip we stayed at Esmeralda (because our excellent agent made us aware that Ambar is under construction). The Esmeralda was perfect for us. It is a smaller portion of the entire complex that allows you to have all the privacy of 2 pools and a smaller adult pool, with 2 large buffets and 3 specialty restaur [... read more]ants. All the buildings are a short walk to the pools or the beach as this resort is very close to the beach. The food was great especially at Los Geranios buffet, nicer seating & tables, presentation and hotness of food. Service by staff everywhere was top notch. Very friendly people from bar staff to waitresses to maid staff. Shout out to Josephina, she is the best waitress, very friendly and remembered your drinks. OLA JOSEPHINA! Brazilian restaurant was my favorite. The nice thing was you can go to any of the other 6 resorts except Fantasia for anything, specialty restaurants except buffet, you must eat at your own resorts buffet. Do yourself a favour and do a walk or tram ride around the entire 6 resorts on your first or second day to see how much stuff is available to you. The only negatives I will say is some of the rooms are tired and need a refresher, painting and some cracks filled. We were told it is coming after the Ambar renovation. Also the pool bar closest t the beach is understaffed as it took quite a while to get served all week. Overall you cannot go wrong with this resort, well worth the money. Thumbs up to Bahia Pincipe in Punta Canada! lol

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Disappointing

My husband got sand flea bites all over his legs!! The place was huge, have to take a trolley everywhere!! Not always clean, toilet didn’t work in our room and had to go ask to get it fixed twice!! Room keys didn’t work had to get them reprogrammed twice!! Overall disappointing and will not go back been to much better resorts!!

Catalonia Bavaro Resort: Wonderful Time At Catalonia

Catalonia was a wonderful place for our family! We thoroughly enjoyed our villa and our private deck - very cozy! Room was very nice and we had ample hot water. We loved the ducks and their babies and all the other wildlife on our walks to and fro the beach and lobby. Loved all the cozy places you could stop and visit around the grounds. Beautiful landscaped grounds. The Italian Restaurant was exceptional. Amazing food and the waiter who served our table was fantastic. The Seafood Rest [... read more]aurant was average - The food was minimal there and not our best experience. There was ample food at the buffet for all of us and we always had something interesting and new to eat. The beach was breathtaking! We stayed there from early in the morning into suppertime. The bartenders at the bars on the beaches were very customer oriented. Being a privileged customer was a perk. It had many special opportunities which the general customer did not receive. We would definitely ask for that class of service once again. We would love to revisit this Resort in the next couple years. Wonderful memories!

Ocean Blue and Sand: A bit disappointing

1) Immediately on arrival we were warned by numerous guests(around 10 people) that rooms were being broken into and money stolen. We were told safes were being unlocked and items stolen, making it seem like hotel staff were involved. This immediately put us on edge and we were forced to hide our cash in our room and carry it on us as much as possible. 2) The atmosphere was great, resort was absolutely beautiful.. however there were quite a few things that took away from the beauty.. local ven [... read more]dors were EVERYWHERE. They were harassing you to buy excursions as you tried to enjoy a peaceful drink by the pool, they set up a marketplace at night in the main area beside the a la cartes.. they were very aggressive and didn’t let you walk but peacefully even if all you wanted to do was eat supper. I can understand the vendors on the beach trying to sell you stuff.. but on the actual resort was a bit obnoxious. 3) We weren’t there 12 hours before getting roped into a Premium member presentation with the promise of free stuff. They had us inside for 2-3 hours after telling us they would give us a 45 minute presentation and then give us a free welcome gift.. we were naive. 4) The beach... very disappointing in my opinion. It is pretty small but the absolute worst thing is the unbelievable amount of seaweed that you have to swim in. The resort next to us put in a net to keep the seaweed out.. something they should really consider.. the seaweed made swimming at the beach almost unbearable. 5) The food was amazing.. buffet always had great amounts of good food and the a la cartes were fun themed and delicious.. there were however certain times of the day where you were unlucky enough that all of the food places were closed. This is not something that should be acceptable.. the buffet shouldn’t be closed at all in my opinion. All in all not a bad resort.. but for a 5 star resort I was expecting a bit more

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Fun In The Sun ..... GOING BACK !!!!!!

We originally booked the Grand Bahia Principe Punta Cana but we had friends staying at the Grand Bahia Principe Bavaro. The hotel manager was so nice and switched us over at no extra cost when we first got to the resort. The resort was fantastic, the food was great, the A La Carte x 3 was excellent (our favorite was Italian and Steak House) The room were very clean and quiet for the evening. Enjoyed the pools and also the drinks at the pool bar. We will definitely be going back next year [... read more]. Thank You TripCentral and Air Canada.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Ambar Blue is an Amazing Resort

I decided to spend my vacation this year again at the Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar Blue. Last year O stayed at the Ambar Green the sister resort to this one. It is a great Resort as well but farther from the beach. In 2016, I stayed at the Ambar Blue and it was great then. This resort did not disappoint me this year as it is still an excellent resort. Both these resorts are adults only. The beach is fantastic with its 42km of fine white sand with not even a pebble for its entire length. Y [... read more]ou can walk for miles in either direction. The bar service is excellent with all top shelf liquor. The grounds are kept immaculate by the grounds staff. I should also mention the the beach staff kept the beach cleaned of sea weed every day. The staff in the lobby are excellent and very good at their jobs and I I found all staff are very helpful, friendly and always a smile on their faces. The guest services staff booked all my a la carte restaurants quickly and efficiently with the a la Cartes that I requested. I love seafood and they made sure that I knew Tuesday nights were the Gala food nights at the Palymera Buffet restaurant with all the seafood and meat dishes that you would ever want. The bar tenders are very quick and efficient at their jobs. The room cleaning person that I had, Sandra is excellent and very good at her job. My room was cleaned very well and early every day with the exception of one day. I understand on that day a lot of guests left the resort to fly home at the end of their vacations. This put her a bit behind schedule. I did not consider this a big issue. She made sure that I had lots of towels, toliteries and the room cleaned excellent every day. The supervisor Watson ensured that any issues no matter how small were taken care of immediately. I left a good tip every day for room cleaning staff and other staff. I will stay at this resort again in the future. Just a side note. I booked my vacation thru Melissa Alexander and Trip Central and will continue to book my future vacations with this company. Sincerely, Patrick

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Amazing resort

Excellent service, food, drinks, rooms very clean, and the beach is to die for (their staff always keeps it clean and safe). Exceptional room buttler and maid service. They exceeded our expectations on all our requests. Main buffet restaurant staff in general not so friendly as in Cuba. I would recommend this as an opportunity for improvement in this area. The French restaurant has the best personnel as far as meeting and/or exceeding customer satisfaction. They went out of their way to acc [... read more]ommodate us, and that was greatly appreciated by my family!

Riu Republica: Meh...It was an ok resort

Reading previous reviews I sort of knew what I would expect (food not the greatest...kind of a party resort etc). Let me start by saying this was the first Riu we stayed at. For the last 5 years we have been staying mostly at Paradisus resorts in Mexico and Punta Cana which are amazing. We decided to try something different this time. It was our 10 year anniversary and my wife's 40th birthday during the week we were there. The room was nice and clean which was a great start for sure. We [... read more] were in room 3389 facing one of the pools and the waterslide. We didn't check in until 5 or 6 pm. so we dropped our things and headed out for something to eat. Will review food later. The staff were overall great particularly in the restaurants and bars. We found the front desk were not entirely friendly. I found it interesting that they didnt give a printed sheet of the activities going on in the resort at check in or in the room. The grounds were kept in great shape and looked lovely. We saw some entertainment shows which are typical for resorts. nothing mind blowing. the things we enjoyed the most were hosted by the in house "animation" team. They were absolutely amazing and so hard working. Restaurants: they really dont have a la carte restaurants. It seems all the food they serve is pretty much pre-cooked and plated when ordered when the restaurant has table service. Indian Restaurant - appetizer buffet was ok. when the served main course came out (there is no choice just a pre set sampling of different dishes) it was all barely warm so you could tell it was just sitting in a chaffing dish waiting to be scooped out. Steak restaurant - other reviews had this as the best place - I don't agree. Steak was not very good at all. this is where we went for my wife's birthday. I let them know the day before that we were coming and they did put some balloons up at our table which is nice however we seemed to be neglected a heck of a lot. Our Caesar salad was already on the table when we got there but had no dressing on it. We sat for 15 minutes before anyone came by - we had to ask for a different salad as the one on the table had bacon which my wife does not eat. As we sat there another 8 tables came in and had their orders taken all while we were trying to get someones attention to take our order. Long story short...did not enjoy. We tried all the other places except for Ole as there was too much pork on the menu. out of all of them the only one we liked with "culinarium" the food was better than the rest however I caution it appears that all the food was pre-cooked and waiting to be plated. I assume that because the first time there I ordered the steak medium rare and it pretty much came rare and cold. It was obvious it was previously cooked as the outside was not warm from a grill. I went back a second time and changed my order to medium hoping it would come med rare...once again it came as rare. I will be honest...my biggest concern of the resort is the food. the beach was great...lots of pools and more bars then you can shake a stick at. The only other thing I thought was not great...in the sports bar you have to pay to use the pool tables. WTH! The resort had an interesting mix of young and old. The pool bar by the waterslides seem to be the place for the younger folks to party. It is great people watching for sure and as drunk and loud as they got they were all very respectful.

Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort: Had a great time with a few exceptions

We found the resort great we were there for two weeks ,our room was a bit dated , but only slept in it. We spent 95 percent of our time on the beach. Bartender jorjie at the tropical beach bar made the best Lubumba drinks . The Casablanca buffet was the best. Food was always fresh . They had a few special dinner nights that were great the VIP pool party one night , but the welcome party is a must. The real downfalls were the Internet only free at the beach area, the closing of the beac [... read more]h at 6 pm, and the constant pushy time share guys. They learned quick to not bug us again. Oh the entertainment was just ok . And the night snack place was not so great. But all in all we met great people ,shared many drinks and dinners with them . I would return at any time

Bahia Principe Explore Legend: Beautiful Resort

We really enjoyed staying at this resort. The food was good. No complaints. Room was very nice and spacious. During our stay, the power kept going out for approximately 5 minutes at a time, not sure why. We had no face clothes. These are the only 2 downfalls that we experienced. We would most definitely return to this resort. We would rate this resort definitely as a 5.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Think twice if you are looking for a 4 star or better

Based decision on reviews. Resort is run down and service is hit or miss. Food was not great, cooks very accomodating, working with what they have.Some genuinely great staff, many walk around looking miserable. As a woman I found many of the male staff to be unfamiliar with respectful interaction with women, other female guests noticed this also. Weather was great. Punta cana is much better.

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: By far best vacation

The hotel was beautiful exceptional upkeep easy to access everything. Always something to do with amazing staff. Breath taking grounds and environment The food was always great with a huge selection. I certainly would recommend this resort and am planing to go back

Marien Puerto Plata Hotel: Great place to vacation

Be-Live Is a very friendly place to vacation the people that work there are very nice and friendly I will recommend to all To go and have a good time the food in very nice and the pool is great in all 10+ Will see you next year

The Level at Melia Caribe: Amazing Resort

Excellent Resort, all amenities were great, services throughout our stay was outstanding God was well prepared and our assigned rooms were cleaned daily without delay. Looking foreword to visit the Resort in the future.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Beach Resort: Incredible Vacation! Beautiful Resort!

The Majestic Colonial has a special place in my heart. I couldn't bear the thought of going somewhere else in Punta Cana and not be absolutely sure that the quality of service and selection of food would be as fantastic as I have experienced at the Majestic on previous occasions. We arrived this year and was "upgraded" to the Elegance Resort which enabled us to use the facilities of both the Elegance and the Colonial. Long story short, it ended up not being an upgrade, and I had to sort it o [... read more]ut with the front desk. Edwin helped me a lot and arranged for a room change to 2328 which has a lovely view over the pool. The food is incredible at the Majestic. We mainly ate breakfast and lunch at the Flavours Restaurant, and from a vegetarian point of view, you will be amazed at the selection and variety of food available. There was almost always 12+ vege dishes hot and cold, with the “made as you watch” salads being exotic and delicious. And for the meat lovers amongst us, REJOICE! There is so many different types of meats, hot and cold, plain cooked and special dishes, fish, beef, veal, chicken, pork and there was even a roasted shoulder of lamb with gravy one day. The service is incredible throughout the resorts, everyone really seem to love their jobs and take pride in what they do. In particular, Francisca and Manuel in the Parrots Bar, Michael in the Rodeo Restaurant down by the ocean in the Colonial, Juan and Joll in the Flavours buffet and the lady at the towel exchange next to Parrots who helped me practise my Spanish every day . Shout out to Andres who gave us personal 5 star service as our waiter on our last night at the Elegance. We were approached by photographers a couple of times, including the parrot holding guy, but they were never pushy for us to buy anything which was nice. Our Sunwing rep kind of let us down at the end. We had asked him to relay the message to the Colonial side that our pick up should be from the Elegance, but two phone calls later and an annoyed driver later, we discovered that nobody relayed that message at all. Nothing to do with the resort, but just notice that you should triple check anything you get done by Sunwing. Enjoy your stay, I wish I was back there 

TRS Cap Cana Hotel: Good resort, lot of space and nice activities during the week.

As nice as it was there wasn't enough umbrellas. we had to get up early to try and get one. the food was good. Because of the size of the resort I wonder if for new comers that we might have a map or a guide to familiarise us to different aspect and activities

Riu Republica: Best resort experience ever!!!

This hotel was amazing from the moment we landed until the moment we left, the food was amazing and the staff was even better, we were greeted at the entrance of the resort with drinks. Everyone spoke English very well. The whole resort was very clean, there was always someone cleaning or painting. The entertainment was great and there was tons of activities for all ages! Riu republica was amazing, I would highly recommend this resort to anyone!!!