Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda: In need of coming refurbishment

We went in knowing that Esmeralda has aged and refurbishment is upcoming. As Esmeralda guests we were able to spend time at the Ambar adult section. The service at Ambar was definitely better. Butler took us to our room and we never saw her again. Never got to know our maid and her service needs definite improvement. Air conditioner not working for 5 days. Room phone not working entire stay. We loved the beach except for the towel game of reserving chairs at both beach and pool. Hopefully [... read more] things will improve after the upgrade.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Nice place

We recently spent 9 days at this resort and had a great holiday. The resort was beautiful and the staff were exemplary. I hope this review is helpful to anyone else considering a vacation at the Bahia Principe Luxury Akumal. Beach: The sand was a little rough and not comfortable to walk on with bare feet. There were hard-packed stretches of sand that were comfortable, as most of the sandy areas were quite deep. The staff worked to keep the beach clear of seaweed, but most of the beach area h [... read more]ad seaweed along the shore, and it was rocky in the water. If you're looking to spend a lot of time at the beach on your vacation, Cozumel's sand/water is a lot friendlier. Pools: The pools were great...lots of pools to choose from, and very clean with lots of room to swim/float around. Swim-up bar is a little small for a resort of this size. Infiniti pool is beautiful, but water was really cold - much moreso than the other pools. Service: All of the staff were fantastic at this resort. Lots of staff available, and everyone was happy to answer any questions. Servers in restaurants were particularly friendly and attentive, and confirmed how much the Mexican people are the most hospitable in the world. Food: We ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and occasionally for dinner, and we enjoyed it every time. Tables were always clean, and the food itself was nicely displayed. Most food tasted great at the buffet, although it was often a little on the cool side. The a la carte restaurants offered excellent food (especially the steak house) and fantastic service, as well as beautiful presentation of the food and great drinks. Rooms: Our room was large and comfortable, and we made good use of the balcony. The mini-fridge was stocked with water, beer and chips every day. Housekeeping was a little inconsistent. Some days, the room hadn't been cleaned by 3pm (when we returned from pool for a siesta), so we went without housekeeping on those days. Bathroom had rainfall showerhead and a glass half-door - not my favourite, but there was lots of space around the sink for our toiletries. Value: Although we had a fabulous time at this resort, I feel it was a bit overpriced. We stayed at a much more affordable resort in Cabo last year and that resort's room/food/amenities were just a little better. I wouldn't call this resort "luxury" although it is very nice. There were a few spots where repairs were visible and poorly done (in the shower, for example). I would stay here again if the price was lower, but wouldn't pay what we paid for this resort again. Location: Beautiful waterfront location and lots of lovely views. It's about 90 min from Cancun airport and an hour from Playa del Carmen. Excursions seem to run out of Playa, which made for some long days with the bus ride and picking up/dropping off at other resorts along the way. Other notes: I loved the design of this resort and thought it was well-planned. For example, the rooms are in small apartment complexes that are located away from the pools and common areas that can be noisy. They're also positioned so that from your balcony, you aren't facing anyone else on their balcony - nice for privacy. In front of the lobby, there are 3 levels for golf carts, buses, taxis to pick up and drop off - 1 for on-resort transportation (golf carts), 1 for transportation to other connected resorts, and 1 for outside resort. Smart, and very effective at keeping congestion to a minimum out front. Golf carts are everywhere and it's easy and comfortable to hop on/off without ever having to wait more than a few minutes. There's a central shopping area on the grounds (Hacienda) that has some bars and lots of places to buy souvenirs. Good selection of products, although a little pricey, as expected. The flooring throughout most of the resort is smooth tile. It looks really nice, but is very slippery, and we almost wiped out several times. It's a problem around the pools, mostly, where the tiles are wet, and also on stairs and ramps. I hope they replace this flooring with something more suitable around the pools, and across the entire resort. After a rainfall, just walking through the lobby in everyday flip flops was treacherous. HOWEVER, although I've brought up some less than favourable points, this is a lovely resort where we had a wonderful holiday, and I'm sure anyone who visits here will have a lovely holiday too. I hope this long-winded review is helpful!

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Amazing Place to go

5 stars the staff is extremely friendly especially Miguel in the buffet for breakfast/ Lunch had table ready before we even show up ... rest of all the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. Very friendly entertainment staff had a blast with them all. Will definitely be returning again and again...

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Very pretty resort

This is my 5th time at this resort. This was my first time back after Covid and things have changed quite a bit. We used to have access to the other resorts and now you don’t, house keeping was poor, and did not restock items. Friendly staff and food was still good. Grounds are beautiful and still very well kept. For the price i was just disappointed in the lack of access to other resorts and the lack of extra services we used to get. Beach access is horrible, rocky and small for Coba and the [... read more] bar access is a tiny shack. Very disappointed in the beach area especially since you don’t have access to the other resorts without paying!

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Very nice resort.

The grounds were very clean. Staff were friendly and very accommodating. There was a variety of food at the buffet--too much to choose from-all delicious. Not being close to the beach was disappointing--It would have been nice to be walking distance. Overall, our stay was comfortable and enjoyable. Being a 15 minute bus ride to Tulum was a bonus. We ventured out one day.

Bahia Principe Explore Punta Cana: Don't go

Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana The morning after we arrived the Air Transat rep called our room early in the morning. He informed us that we needed to be in the theater for orientation at 10 am. I told him we did not get a Wi-Fi password the night before and he told me he would give that to us when we met at 10 am. At breakfast we met two ladies that were on the bus with us the night before. They asked if we were going to the 10 am orientation and we told them we were. The four of us arrived [... read more] at the orientation precisely at 10 a.m. where the Air Transat rep told us we were late and that we were told 9:30 am. We explained that wwe were told 10 a.m. and without an apology he informed us that we would have to wait 30 minutes for him. I told him to forget it and walked out, I came for the sun , not to have my time wasted. My husband and I paid a visit to the lobby desk to see if we could pay to be upgraded to their sister resort, The Esmeralda. We visited this property in November 2019 and had quite enjoyed it. I booked the Grand thinking we would have the same enjoyable experience. Unfortunately there were no vacancies at The Esmeralda and we had to remain at The Grand. The Grand is not so grand, it is sad and run down. The rooms are a decent size but they really need a deep cleaning and modernizing. We wanted to be located close to the beach and we were, but that is where the happy ends. It is a 15 minute walk to the main building where the buffet and lobby are located. A trolley ride there was impossible to get so you were better off just to do the 15 minute walk. By the time you had walked there, got a table (which was almost impossible most days), had your meal, then walked back to the room or beach, you had wasted more than an hour. The struggle to get your three meals a day wasted a lot of my sunbaking hours. I like to start my day with a nice cup of coffee but there was nowhere in our end of the resort to get one. We had coffee machines in the room but the coffee tasted like dishwater and the only supplies in the room were sugar. Walking 15 minutes to the main building and 15 back was not an option. The food was for the most part horrible and always cold. The only people who spoke English were the front desk staff, the servers did not speak or understand English at all. It was impossible to get coffee with our breakfast. Servers were invisible and if you were lucky enough to find one they would tell you to wait a minute and you never saw them again. The servers were very unfriendly and of no help if you were in need of condiments, beverages or anything else you might need during your meal. They had a snack bar that opened at our end of the resort for lunch. The food there was equally unpleasant as the dining room. Like the dining room there was no English, no service and no smiles. The staff in this resort are robotic and unhappy. At our end of the resort we had 2 two pool bars and a beach bar. The pool bar closest to the beach had music blaring so loud, perhaps trying to disguise the nasty sound system it was being played on. The bartenders had to read your lips to take your order. Along with this cacophony of sound was DJ who was set on daily repeat. He played the exact same songs every day at the same time, you could quite safely set your watch by the song that was playing. I use the term “song” in a generous way as it was the worst I have heard at any resort . The bartenders were winging it too, order the same drink 3 times and you got 3 different versions. Don’t hurry to be the first in line because they served whoever their eyes landed on. You might be first in the line but the last to have your order taken. The pool bars in our area closed at 6pm and so the first night after dinner we looked for a place to get a glass of wine after we walked back to the room. There was nothing. We would have had to go back to the main building to get a glass. No thanks! On Friday I went back to the room and found that our door would not lock. I waited 40 minutes to get the door fixed and the next day waited over an hour to have it repaired again. It seems the customer is not valued here, I did not spend money to sit in my room. The beach was on a hill and there was very little flat area to put a lounge chair. If the tide came in your belongings got wet. The walkways always had garbage on them, the same garbage every day, it was never cleaned up. The main sidewalk to the main lobby was cleaned but in a very haphazard way . We talked to many different guests and many were dissatisfied with this resort. Some people had water leaking on their belongings and some had no hot water. We had great weather for the week we were there and we will go back to the Dominican and Punta Cana but we will not be going to any Bahia Principe resorts in the future.

Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro: Great Resort

The grounds were beautiful and clean. Rooms were great, comfortable and and clean. Buffet was busy but overall we always found good food. Sometimes hard to find a plate but when requested they brought out pretty quickly. Service was awesome! Pool by the beach was awesome. However, the music and entertainment was fun but repetitive. Would much prefer a list of music sometimes that people can just get up and dance too other than line dancing or exercise dancing. The beach was amazing and goes on  [... read more]forever and great for nice long walks and great for swimming! Thanks for a great trip!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Love this resort!

Where to begin! We absolutely Love this resort! We were there about 5 years ago and wanted to go back but because of the hotel being renovated and Covid, we couldn't until now. Let me just say, the renovations are Beautiful! We had the corner swim up suite and it was amazing! It was nice to have your own private pool to come back to if you wanted a little siesta or some private pool time. The room was stunning, large and decorated beautifully. It was done with a modern flare and very comfor [... read more]table. The only downside I had was that the shower had no privacy and if you're like me, I prefer a solid separation of the bathroom to the rest of the suite. Our maid service was wonderful and we loved Natalia who made it her mission to make sure our stay was as comfortable as it could be. All the staff were very friendly and check in was flawless. We were even taken to a desk to make our dinner reservations right after checking in! The restaurants were also wonderful and we loved MEAT. The restaurant was amazing. You almost forgot you were in a resort as the decor was impeccable and the food delicious!!! We also really enjoyed Tequilla which was in a new building on the beach. We have never been away in January, however it was very comfortable with less humidity then we're use to. We usually go in April or November. If you want to get a good spot on the beach please be aware that you need to get up at the crack of stupid (especially when you're on vacation) to secure a good spot. We are firm believers that if we do so, we'll make a coffee in our room prior to going down to get our spot and stay and enjoy the sunrise, which btw are stunning! We have seen many who must arrive earlier then us, place their items and go back to their rooms! I must say, its a little infuriating but, many do it. The pool is much the same, although we saw that the staff start taking people's towels off the loungers if they didn't stay and so made it fair to others. We love the Bahia Principe resorts whether it's Dominican or Mexico! They are a resort that we have found to never disappoint from food to decor to service! You always feel very pampered! Again, we will be returning to this resort next year for sure!! Thanks to our tripcentral agent Karol Chareza for his great continued service! Trish and Don

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Akumal Luxury

We stayed at villa 56 and it was in need of an upgrade. It was very clean and beds were comfortable but disappointed that there was only two tv stations in English as we liked in the evening to watch some tv

Bahia Principe Escape Runaway Bay: Good and Bad

The Air Transat flight was perfect. PROS: The hotel is beautiful on the outside. The Lobby is beautiful. The grounds are lovely. the pools are immaculate. Staff , food and drinks amazing! Entertainment staff is Vegas quality! CONS: The rooms are dated. The bathrooms were gross. The finishes consisted of caulked, poorly installed marble. The bedding was hard with only a thin blanket provided. I was sold a garden room. It faced a concrete pad and a highway. I complained to the front desk an [... read more]d they only tried to upsell me for 200US to a sea view or ocean view room. I did not get to pick my room or choose my ala cartes via the app. The Bahia App was a pain in the ass. The Sports bar is a joke. They have bands playing Reggae instead of letting you watch or hear games.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: great resort

The resort was nice , very clean . The rooms very dated ,, and certainly not 5 star quality , and the walls seemed paper thin . we heard everything from people being sick, to curtains closing . service was excellent , great hard working staff . The Tropical drinks were too sweet , very syrupy . and watered down , you're a 5 star resort use real fruit in those drinks . The food was good in the buffet , and excellent in the specialty restaurants

Bahia Principe Escape Runaway Bay: Average resort - not bad but not great

We ended up upgrading to a "Seaview" room when we checked in... and we're glad that we did! Our friends that we travelled with didn't upgrade and were quite unhappy with their room - definitely not a garden view! The view from our Seaview room was outstanding though. Cleanliness - our room was very clean but the stairways could be quite dirty at times. Elevator on our end of the building rarely worked which forced us to use the stairs. Not necessarily a bad thing because we got to work off  [... read more]all of the calories from the meals! The food was good. I wouldn't say bad but I wouldn't rave about the meals either. Specialty restaurants were generally better than the buffet. Disappointed that there were no mangos or lobster/crab at any time... unless you went to the Lobster raft and paid $30 US per person. The grounds were kept very clean and the staff worked hard to stay on top of things. Entertainment staff were ALWAYS keeping things hopping. If you're looking for a quiet, restful vacation this is NOT the resort for you. The music at the "party" pool was always VERY loud and the bar was always lively - from sun up to sun down. Seaview rooms in buildings 25 & 26 overlook the party pool - so no afternoon napping unless you bring ear plugs. If you're looking for a fun, lively place this resort is for you. Felt safe walking around the resort - even at night - lots of security discreetly around the property. Overall - I wouldn't say anything bad about the resort. I don't think I'd return though... for the money we could have gotten more for our money in Dominican Republic or Mexico.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Cayacoa

I have nothing negative to report. Everything was first class and the staff were awesome. They made me feel at home. The food was outstanding and the beach and pools were fantastic. I would definitely go back.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: good resort

don’t think it’s keeping standard for a 5 stars. needs update definitly need to be aware of the 3 hour bus ride with our arrival late no major welcome. one bellboy to guide us toward our room. no map tv didn’t work well in room bar has 2 beers and pop only would recommend possibly small wine glasses and wine if spirits can’t be added akumal beach great. clean. snorkeling good despite many zone blocked. staff all professional and efficient food in buffet good and well pr [... read more]esented but would run out of certain items quickly great shuttle service between 4 resort

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Beautiful resort but lacking in nightlife

Resort was big, well kept, rooms spacious and great king size bed. Not beachfront but easily walkable. The beach (for Coba, as it is shared with sister resorts) is lacking. No food, no bathrooms, need water shoes to enter the ocean. The pools are great with swim up bars. Pretty quiet resort after 9pm.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Amazing resort with fabulous staff!

We loved everything about this property and would highly recommend it to couples, families, and friends. Being able to eat at a specialty restaurant every night instead of the buffet was wonderful. It was also great to be able to visit and use all amenities at the other Bahia properties in the complex during our stay. The various beaches, pools, entertainment, and staff made this one of our top vacations ever. Can’t wait to return!

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: wonderful resort

The grounds were very well kept.. Everything about the whole resort was well organized. The food in the dining room was varied every day and there was plenty of it. The people working at the resort were very friendly, clean, and knew what they were doing. they helped whenever help was needed. the doctor came to our room when we needed help and then sent a nurse to check on the patient every day. I have told all my friends about the great service we had and would like to go back another tim [... read more]e.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Great resort! Wonderful time!

We are a family of 5 and we stayed in the resort during the 1st and 2nd week of January. The hotel was more than we expected. The rooms are large and comfortable, food was excellent - probably the best we've ever had in the Caribian. Staff was very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed all the games and activities organized by the entertainment team. We went to snorkeling and horseback riding. We loved both excursions. We would highly recommend this resort. We are planning to go back for the wake wat [... read more]ching.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Just like we remembered.

Sitting by the pool having an americano. Reflecting on our first week here. Slept in a bit and missed yoga. Was a bit tired after golfing that beautiful course. We just store our clubs there and stroll over whenever we play. I have been reading all the posts for a few months now and just wanted to add my two cents worth. It’s perfect for us. I can’t think anything but positive to say about this place. Food is off the charts, staff are amazing, property and facilities are so well kept [... read more]. Never needed to save a chair, wait in line, if we can’t find what we needed someone will walk up to us and ask if we needed anything and help us. Vibe is friendly and relaxed at one pool and fun and games at the other so take your pick. Our room is spectacular. And from the rooftop you can see where the sea meets the sky. Not waves but that thin blue line. The Saturday Lobster in the buffet is just like it was last time. The lamb at Alux and Salmon at Maiko are the best meals I have had. There is one difference from last time, which doesn’t bother us, which is the change in drink offerings. There is an up charge for some premium brands, Grey Goose and Belvedere Vodka for example. We prefer Tanquerey which is available. I attached a photo of the premiums. Honestly you can have a different experience than others anywhere and if your easy going happy go lucky kind of people that appreciate the special attention to detail and good things in life you will love it here. Only things I would suggest is fill the sanitizers you have and add more. We all want Covid to be over and still protecting us from coughs and colds while enjoying our vacation is still important. Didn’t see and safety measures in place anywhere.

Bahia Principe Escape Ambar: Beautiful Resort

Employees went above and beyond for their guests. Fantastic housekeeping staff who would even clean the room twice a day. There were always clean towels and stocked beverages in my room. The grounds of the resort were extremely well kept and always being worked on. The food was excellent throughout the entire resort. My favourite being the Italian restaurant. Overall a great resort and appropriate for adults at any age.