Good Resort could Improve

Going to try and make this short. Stayed June 24th-July1.2017 Travelled with my wife and my 2.5 year old Daughter. Have been to Punta Cana twice prior to this trip. Resort is nice castle and grounds very well kept. This resort connects to two other resorts that you have access to some facilities at beware though no access to any of the other neighboring buffets. So if you don't secure a la carte reservations you will have the choice of two buffets or room service which gets pretty boring when yo [... read more]u eat breakfast and lunch at either or daily. Very hard to get reservations for a la carts at decent time once you check in we were able to secure two one at the Italian and the second at the restaurant by the beach Las Olas. (Another Buffet) not bad but don't like the reservation format they should make it clear how to make reservations before you go. They say to use the app but you can’t use the app until you are checked in and by the time you are checked in there is very few spots left and none at others. Everyone says email the resort prior but no email is listed anywhere I could find to make the reservations. We did get sick off the food, I was sick from the beef at Garden Circus and my wife was sick from the salmon at garden circus. Didn’t get hand food mouth my daughter was fine. As long as you make sure to sanitize your child’s hands before they enter the restaurant or feed them a snack at the pool I think they should be fine. At all the restaurants the staff are waiting with hand sanitizer which I thought was a good thing. Pools were never closed when we were there. Beach had a lot of sea weed but I think that was from recent storm not usually like that. Casino was okay but is at the neighboring hotel, Small in size has a few slots and few tables. Pools were good however the whole thing about reserving the chairs is correct you need to go out before you go to breakfast if you have any hope of getting one in the shade or with an umbrella. If you want the tent ones you probably need to be up at 6am. Free Wi-Fi is good you have to re login every couple of days but service is good. One negative I did have was we went for the family photo session photographer was great pictures were good but prices to buy them were just crazy. If you wanted to by all 50 pictures they took it would have cost $800us and that is just to burn them to a disc. We bought 15 for $150. They won’t barter on the price either. My advice don’t get the photo-shoot that way you won’t want to buy any. We really wanted the photos but I was not going to pay $800 US for 50 photos on a CD. Also almost positive the guy at the pool that convinced us to do the photo shoot said we could buy them all for $150 which is reasonable but that was not the case. I know when we stayed at a different resort we did the photo shoot and bought them all for $150. Also one other thing to mention is don’t worry about brining pool toys beach toys etc. as they have stands that sell some buy the pool and they are priced reasonable. Other negative was they have a sign on the mini bar in the room saying if you want the mini bar refilled more than once a day it is subject to an extra charge, I feel this should not be the case if paid for all inclusive. All in all not bad for a family resort I wouldn’t go as a couple if you don’t have kids.

Great experience

Food, amenities, entertainment were all great. They had activities for all groups and ages. Nightly shows were fairly good. We Enjoyed the Michael Jackson show. Seaweed at beach was a bit of a nuisance. Definetly suggest to explore the alcart restaurants especially the Italian.

Awesome resort

Everything was great! Staff was super friendly and helpful at all times. Hotel grounds were absolutely beautiful and well maintained. As clean as I could imagine a resort being. Food was great, although struggled a bit to find options that were dairy free.. the chefs were very willing to prepare options that were suitable to dietary needs!

Dream wedding!!

First of all I can’t rave more about Geraldy Ramos!! HE IS THE WEDDING PLANNER EVERY WOMAN DREAMS ABOUT!! He made our day absolutely perfect!! Ricardo from the beach bar on the esmeralda beach is honestly the sweetest man you will ever meet!! Lastly Romana our cleaning lady was amazing!!! Love them alll!! The food was delicious, they clean your time twice a day! Everyone was absolutely perfect!

Ok resort

The resort was too big and not enough staff. The beach and water was not clean. I won't go back there. The beach smelled like gasoline. The staff were so lazy. There was a dead cockroch in our batheroom. No good.

Not impressed

Food got progressively worse as the week went on, everything seemed to be recycled and reheated. I did not find the staff overly friendly, constant shake down at the pool by bringing out birds and monkeys for pictures. Then the best part, my 4-year old catches hand foot and mouth disease in the middle of the week. High fever for two days then the breakout for the rest of the week. I realize its not all the resorts fault but read other reviews, many families are having their vacations ruined [... read more] when their kids catch it at this resort. I would have thought the representative at the tripcentral location would have brought this up when we consulted with them but they didn't. Google is your friend so do your research, this place clearly has an issue with hfmd but neither tripcentral or the resort will admit it.

Amazing resort

Great grounds. Went with another couple and our kids. it was awesome. Enderson and Jose at main restaurant are awesome. Butler aritof was great. Didn’t like the Chinese food night. Floors around the pool could be less slippery.

Great resorts for kids

I would give this resort a 4 star because I expected more from a 5 star resort. This resort caters to the kids and it does a really great job. For example, the water park, nightly shows which were all great compared to other resorts I have been to. Also, if you sign up early enough you can sign up your child to be in the show. They always had kids menu for food choices so kids never went hungry. Food: the buffet breakfast, lunch, dinner were pretty much the same everyday. There are a lo [... read more]t of a la carte restaurants that you can dine in as the Fantasia is combined with 5 other Bahia principe resorts but we only tried 2 of them. The first one Italian was a terrible experience, our server was rude from the start, all 12 of us ended up getting up when our dinner came because he was throwing our plates at us. Management saw us leave and followed us to the buffet which was next door. Situation was handled then for the rest of the week all the servers were really attentive to us and being polite. Compare to Cuba, food is a step up but really heaving on the salt so I give it a 4 stars. Rooms - clean and big, had 2 double beds and double size clot plus extra room, the bathroom was big too but no fan in there so every time you bathed and showered the whole bathroom steamed up, drain in shower was clogged, told receptionist but not sure if anyone came because it was still clogged when we showered - 4 stars Beach - lots of huts and chairs no need to play the towel game but they were so close together, felt crowded. About 10 minute walk to beach. Restaurant on the beach and also servers to take drink orders. Unfortunately beach had a lot of seaweed which I heard that it’s an issue for a few years in Punta Cana. So I didn’t go into the ocean as I am used to clear turkiose water. We did witness one of the locals stealing a whole bag off a chair and took off so fast so be careful and don’t leave anything that you need. Overall, I give the beach 4 stars as it had enough chairs for everyone, drink servers, restaurant on beach and washrooms. Would have been perfect if Mother Nature cooperated with no seaweed. Bar service: drinks were good, mojhitoes were better than Cuba, passionfruit juice with rum was my husband’s favourite and I was loving the whiskey sour. Bar service was fast and never waited long Washrooms: lots of them which were convenient when you have kids and they were always clean. Entertainment: 8 pm, kids mini disco, 9 pm theatre show, 10 pm a show projected on the castle that lights up at night, 10:15pm live Latin singing and dancing 11pm lights out, literally to turn off lobby lights, fountain lights and main bar lights. If you want to continue partying, you can go to the other resorts connected. Not sure what activities were during the day as we were always at the water park or pool. Wanted to do some yoga or Zumba but didn’t see it on the activity board Wifi - free pretty good for the Caribbean

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.

Fabulous resort!!!

Our hotel rooms and grounds were kept extremely clean. Room Service was amazing...food was hot and delicious!!(large portions) :) I requested joining rooms and we got them. The entertainment was excellent for young and old. Every night! The kids pool was the BEST I have ever seen! Watersides even for small children and with three lifeguards!!! The snackbar at this pool was great. Lots of goodies to eat and drink. All positives here people!

Great Familly Vacation

Great resort with very nice and helpful staff. The food at the buffets was varied and good. The a la carte restaurants were very good although getting reservations at a decent time wasn't the easiest.

2nd time visit to Fantasía

Being out 2nd visit to this hotel, it continues being a great choice especially for families with kids. That being said, it shows some decline compared to a year ago in terms of buffet variety and a la carte restaurant food quality. Ride from the airport is about 35 mins. The resort is beautiful, very clean throughout, rooms are spacious. Service is great, everyone is very friendly. Food choices are still plenty so you're bound to find at least one thing that caters to your preference. They  [... read more]always have some variety of meat, fish and chicken available. Still a good choice for a relaxed family vacation.

Best suited for families, ideal

Resort very new, all amenities and services excellent, the cleanliness was second to none. We went to attempt to hook up with friends who were at an adjacent resort. As a 60+ couple we found ourselves wishing our grandkids were with us as the resort is the most idyllic place you could ever want to take kids on a southern holday. We were at Jewel Runaway Bay a few years ago and it was the best to that point we had seen for families but this one was 10 times better for families woth children aged [... read more] 1-14. The food for all ages was spectacular, if you can't find something to eat that you enjoy here, you're usual duet must be rocks! We got jammed up with our room first night (no air conditioning and we watched the balance of the week as they continually put people in that room, without repair, which we knew as patio doors were opened in that room throughout niight and day in useless attempt at relief for poor B657688rds) and depsite being a tad cranky with a repack and move the next day the workers were spectaculer and service impeccable. The only other negative is with so many adjoining resorts, it was way toooo large. However with the assurance and diligence of security it's great other resorts can't visit this one, for childrens safety. With a lttery win I'd take our 8 grandchildren here in a heartbeat.

Wonderful family resort

Luxury Bahia Principe Fantasia is a beautiful resort especially for families with young children. As my spouse and I were travelling as a couple we witnessed many families with babies, youth and teenagers having a great time. The grounds on the resort are outstanding and I'm sure remind many of a Disney like atmosphere with the castles. The swimming pool is huge, never a problem getting a chair with shade, a swim up pool bar and lots of beverages for young and old. I did notice some marking c [... read more]hairs but we never had an issue. The food was great and we usually had our breakfast at the Garden circus buffet. We remarked many times about how the resort was made for children, but adults were not over looked for food selection. I must say we didn't spend much time at the pool, most of our time was at the beach. The beach bar & buffet was excellent. Bar service on the beach was great, staff always friendly. Beach chairs were marked as well but we never experienced any issues finding shade or sun. The beach is beautiful, we spent much of our time on the Ambar Blue beach for the first part of our vacation. We also dropped by Ambar Blue pool bar, and Esmeralda pool bar. We were able to travel between all resorts and certainly enjoyed this. I as a grandparent loved the fact that other resort vacationers were not permitted on Fantasia, I'm sure this made families feel secure at this resort. This is a large complex with 7 resorts in all, we had no problem with walking or catching the golf carts to other areas, the beach is approx. a 15 minute walk from the front lobby. Our only complaint is that our first night room had no air conditioning and after a few calls and one service man, the next morning we packed our bags and advised that a room would be advisable by 4 pm so we went to the beach and enjoyed our day, it was a pain to pack and repack, however we didn't let it ruin our trip. I only wish the front desk etc could have apologized for the upheaval. This vacation was really needed in so many ways and worked out perfect for all as we surprised my sister in law & brother in law, and friends by showing up at the Ambar Beach. My spouse and his sister,lost their younger sister suddenly on March 1 and with all of us remembering a family trip to south just 2 short years ago it was pretty emotional for us to show up out of the blue. We have it on video and I'm sure we will all have fond memories of Luxury Bahia Principe for many years. I would like to thank Trip Central and especially Shauna for all her help, she made booking simple. I usually book our vacations on line but I'm sure I will use Shauna for our future travel arrangements.

Absolutely Amazing

Bahia Principe Fantasia was everything it was hyped up to be. We stayed there in early April. The weather was fantastic and the hotel was incredible. Make sure to look for Yason if your sitting by the pool. Best waiter I’ve ever had. Food was amazing rooms were clean pool was fantastic and the beach was amazing!!!

Fantastic Fantasia!

We came with our extended family (ages 4-74 years). We all were very impressed with how friendly and welcoming the staff were, the quality of the food (including the house wine) and the range of activities to keep us all busy. We had a couple of minor glitches with the rooms but our problems were dealt with professionally and helpfully.

NO DISAPPOINTMENTS

Everything was awesome, Only complaints: gym didn't open till 7 am , and had to wake up so early to get spots by pool. Better then expected for everything from room, food, pool, beach, service, restaurants.

Did not disappoint us

This was the second time on this complex, before we had been to the Esmeralda, but this time we chose the Fantasia mostly because it was designed for kids, including its own water park and theater, and because it is new. We found almost everything in the hotel was great, staff was wonderful, food was good, almost no complaints. A few thoughts that could be useful to others: - the new gym between the Esmeralda and the Fantasia is great, with new good quality machines (treadmill, elliptical, s [... read more]pin bikes), weights area and lots of space for floor exercises. There is also a beach volleyball besides the gym. - the beach is good, with an exclusive area for the Fantasia and an exclusive buffet restaurant also for the Fantasia besides it. - access to all restaurants in the 7 hotels in the complex is also great, but be careful not to get reservations on the adult only restaurants at the Ambar hotels if you are travelling with kids. Also I recommend you give preference to the restaurants at the Fantasia, Esmeralda and Ambar, as they are somewhat better than the other ones. Finally, try to send your reservations for the restaurants before you get to the hotel, they will try to accommodate them and have them ready for you when you check in. - bed was harder than we are used to, but they do have a pillow menu to choose from - there is a large window between the bathroom and the room, it does have a curtain, but may be an issue for people sharing the room with their kids. - there is a great teen club (for 13 and over), with pool table, foosball table, video games (xbox, ps4), a gym for teens, etc. Our son loved it. - there is also a kids club (for under 12) with lots of organized activities.

At best average lacking quality

Just back from our trip and thought I would let you know a few facts so other customers hopefully do not have the save experience we did. We had a great flight down arriving at 1215 but then things changed as we sat in the parking lot on our transfer bus for over 2 hours before starting to head to the resort. We arrived at 3:00 pm so that is check in no big deal except we did not get our room until 7:00 pm! When I asked what was going on the idiots could no longer speak English, go figure. [... read more] One small drink was offered. Then there was an issue with my oldest son as he was listed as a adult but they didn’t have the right bracelet. I found our air Transat rep who tried to help but apparently his hands were tied. So day 1 was a right off. The water park is great if your kids are eight and under. Water is only a couple feet deep so bigger kids hit the bottom of the pool The big pool was okay but my boys and I didn’t enjoy trying to swim and play only to watch young mothers breast feeding in the pool or changing diapers poolside or showering dirty bums in pool showers. They wonder why diseases are spreading at this resort, I wonder. Housekeeping or lack thereof. Maids would come around at 9:30 pm (at night) to ask if you needed bathroom towels. One day beds were made but no blankets. One day beds made with only bottom sheet, no top sheet. Food - was just okay. I say this because my spouse is really sick so weak she almost wasn’t allowed on plane. Beach. Very nice. However the Fantasia section was always filled with guests from other resorts who were allowed stay. Which really bothered us considering security asked us to leave our chairs at the beach section for the next Bahia resort which was not adult only The comments made on tripadvisor re hand foot mouth disease are true it’s there and now we are dealing with it despite taking steps to avoid it. Not impressed. I am an early riser but was very disappointed that every morning I woke up to go for a walk only to have walk through smoke everyday as a result of the resort burning their garbage, again ridiculous. Return trip. Left resort at 1000 hrs, Fairly decent except having to sit on the plane on the tarmac from 1:20 pm until 4:00 pm because the plane was missing 20 people. I realize things happen but wow. It didn’t help that my wife and son were very ill as well. All in all I would rate this resort at best 3.5 and we will not go back. There were a few good parts but the bad certainly overshadowed. Sincerely Paul Mayhew.

Amazing resort

very beautiful resort, service was great, the grounds were very well kept, food was excellent! Our room was very spacious, kept clean. we are seriously considering booking this resort again for next March Break.