Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Great vacation, great resort

The check-in process was fast. The grounds are well maintained and our room was fine. The room needed a little TLC but nothing major and really nothing I would complain about. The pools were very nice but sometimes a little warm. The beach was nice and calm, clean with some fish visible near the rock/coral while snorkelling. The buffet food was very good with lots of selection. It gets boring after sometime but that happens at all-inclusive buffets. We ate at the Brazilian, Gourmet, Italian and  [... read more]Fish Market ala carte restaurants … No complaints. All very good food and service. The liquor was not brand name but mixed drinks were still good. The lines at some bars were long and slow. More bars or more bartenders would help. The serving glasses are very small … recommend that you bring your own Yeti or similar larger container. The entertainment was ok. The Circus Show and Pirate Show were very good. My 8 year old granddaughter had a great time and liked the water park. My biggest complaint is the number of people smoking everywhere we went (except at the buffet and restaurants). Coming from Canada where smoking is so restricted, it was very unpleasant. They should have designated smoking areas. I would still recommend this resort.

The Eurostars Grand Cayacoa: Very very good!

Everything was very good, delicious food, good service, good room, but a very small beach, I would go back there. The hotel was half full, so there were no problems with the beach,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Viva V Samana by Wyndham: Good except for "Viva Club" Reps

We recently returned from a two week vacation at the Viva V Samana by Wyndham. Overall we enjoyed our our stay at the resort and would rate the resort at 4 star. For us we enjoy a quieter environment and this resort suited us perfectly. If you are looking for a lively environment this resort is not for you. Our room was comfortable and situated away from the lobby and the pool area, therefore we seldom had any noise from these areas. The food was ok, 3+. The buffet was repetitive but we were  [... read more]always able to find something. People with special dietary needs might have problems finding a variety. The Fusion al a carte was very good, the international food al a carte was ok at best and we did not try the sea food restaurant. The beach is excellent and a person could walk for a few miles. There is plenty of shade at the beach and we were always able to get chairs in the shade without getting up early to save a chair. There were also no vendors on the beach which was a nice change. The pool is nice, but shaded chairs around the pool are limited. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. The animation team were great and tried to keep guests involved with various games and shows. The biggest negative for the resort are the reps trying to sell "Viva Club" memberships, which is basically a timeshare. We were pestered at least seven times from one rep alone and he would not quit until I told him I would contact security because of his harassment. We will probably not return to this resort because we enjoy seeing other places. However If you like a quiet environment this resort might suit you.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Amazing Resort - A must visit!

My complete and honest review… Everything about the hotel was exceptional. I have been here twice (once in November 2023 and just recently, February 2024). Location: the hotel is located just outside of Las Terrenas, Samana. Super safe, such a beautiful surrounding atmosphere and fantastic first impression. Taxi into town is $10 usd, one way. The hotel bellman will arrange for you. If you wish to walk along the beach into the town of Las Terrenas, it’s about 1.5 hours (but it doesn’t feel [... read more] like it!). The rooms: if you’re looking for the Ritz Carlton, then look elsewhere. What you will find at El Portillo is exceptional cleanliness, very roomy and airy, very comfortable and has everything you need - Fully stocked mini bar, air conditioning, tv and safe. Food: All la cart restaurants and buffet - FANTASTIC! All are modern in decor. You will not go hungry. They accommodate every palate. The hotel grounds: Very well kept. Lush and green. The workers are always making sure everywhere is clean. The hotel staff: One word, FANTASTIC. The beach: exceptionally beautiful!!! You can walk for miles a miles. The staff do their best to clean the beach. There is a bar on the beach, which is really convenient. If you are an early riser, you will see the most beautiful sunrise every morning over the mountains, simply beautiful. Recommended excursions: without a doubt, the all day buggy to Playa Rincón. You will enjoy a delicious lunch at the top of the mountain, El Monte Azul. Where you will find stunning picturesque views. Lastly, our TripCental travel agent, Wendy. We have been booking travel with Wendy for the past 10 years. She is wonderful, attentive and most importantly it’s always a great pleasure to work with Wendy in making our all travel our experiences AMAZING.

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Peaceful resort

Hotel was lovely lots of steps but we loved it. Beach was small but private and we enjoyed the quietness. Food was fine some food could have been hotter. Perfect views of the ocean and you can watch the whales breach whilst sipping a cocktail.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Great Resort, beautiful beach!

I think for the price, this resort was well worth it. All basic amenities were included. The food was great, lots of variety. The rooms were a good size, outdated but functional. The actual resort was very well kept, constantly clean and had plenty of space and activities. The staff were absolutely amazing. They made the experience at the resort phenomenal. The beach was absolutely gorgeous. A beautiful spot to relax and also enjoy a bit of night life in nature.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Beautiful resort!

Hotel was beautiful. Food was delicious and well presented. Service was poor to fair. We were never offered tea or coffee in the morning and when we did ask, we sometimes did not get it until the end of our meal. Some servers did not understand when we wanted tea instead of coffee. We ended up serving ourselves at the tea and coffee bar so that we had some with our meal. Our small group tipped at every meal even if the service was bad as we were sure that tips are a source of income for p [... read more]eople. We noticed that we were almost the only people that tipped. Was this because the service was bad, or that people were cheap? Not sure. Even though we were constant tippers it did not make a difference in our service. No consistency on who waited on you even though we sat at the same table every time. We ate out at the beach restaurant for lunch everyday. Not once were we offered drinks. When we did order them after stopping a waiter, they only came a couple of times. Beach was fabulous. Great for snorkeling and just hanging out. Did have to go out by 7:30 in order to snag beach chairs. Activities on the beach were good fun. Didn't try a dance class. Our room was in need of a few repairs. Just minor stuff, however, our shower did leak all over the floor. It was always well made up when we returned in the afternoon. Drinks were very good and well appreciated. Bar service very slow. Lobby was beautiful. We spent our last day in the pouring rain and it was nice to see people using the lobby for games We didn't spend much time in the pool as there was no shade. It was a beautiful pool . Grounds were lovely and we enjoyed the cats lying around. We had our favorites. For Air Transat who we booked our trip with, we asked for 3 rooms close together and were in 3 totally separate buildings 2 which were far apart. We booked in October and this request was not filled. People need to know that doing all the computer work that needs to be done by the customer will take a lot of time. We attempted to do our entry into DR on my laptop, it would not take my birthday, so we started over on my husband's phone. His phone would not accept my birthday. So we started over on an i pad. Finally we were in. Then there was booking our seats and booking our ticket. We do not own a printer, so we had to go somewhere else to do all this. It took us 3 hours and a lot of frustration. What exactly are travel agents doing these days? It is not a fun way to start a vacation. When we were leaving, we tried to book our seats for our return flight, got all the way to the end and it would not accept our phone number. We tried all 3 of our phone numbers and none of them worked. So we gave up and waited until we got to the airport. We learned that you have to put a 1 in front of the phone number. How were we to know that? Our biggest shock was being finger printed at customs in DR. Kind of disturbing. Overall, a lovely resort although there was no where to really walk too. We took a taxi into town that was set up by the hotel. Driver spoke no English so was unable to explain anything to us. When we arrived at the "tourist" drop off, a man met us on the sidewalk and explained that the taxi driver worked for him. This lead us to suspect that this man took a good part of the money we paid, the hotel probably got a cut for their advertisement of the taxi service and the taxi driver got what was left over. Had we known all this we would have got to town in another way.

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Amazing resort

This hotel was great place for a vacation, it was clean, great service, staff was great provided everything that we needed with buffet, lunch and supper. The beach was perfect, very private area. Our room had the perfect view of the ocean, sunsets were incredible.

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Peaceful Haven

As we have been here twice i will give you the Pros and cons of this resort Pros Staff, Wendy, Jajihra, Rosa and Ana Quality of drinks Rooms View Small size means less crowds Quiet and safe area of the D.R. Cons (minor) No activites (there was on our first trip) Not much entertainment (there was on our first trip) No al a carte (there was an amazing one on our first trip) This hotel is no longer a 5 star resort but it should not be discounted as a no go resort. If your looking for [... read more] a Quiet, relaxing and peaceful holiday and are not adverse to trying foods with a dominican style then you will be quite happy at this resort

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Beautiful Resort

Hotel very clean Grounds are Imaculate and lush Pool spotless The view is spectacular Staff is so seeet and nice but if you don’t speak Spanish just put your phone on translate they love to learn English too We had our first experience with partially all inclusive The breakfast was great and the lunches ordered on the deck were amazing with fresh fruits and guacamole We missed alacarte because we are used to booking these over the years of our travels and they have closed those restaur [... read more]ants. The buffet was good. Hey we didn’t have to cook You have to sign for drinks everytime which we were a little apprehensive about but if you have a black wrist band don’t worry it’s alli included. My only complaint was the bed was way too firm for us but very clean. The beach and ocean was beautiful small but never overcrowded The life guards are amazing Lots of stairs, if you can’t do them not the resort for you Very quiet relaxing week

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Very relaxing vacation

We had a very relaxing vacation at Samana. Pros: *outstanding views from anywhere on the resort property *nice rooms and great maid service *excellent drinks *small resort with no congestion, lots of chairs and palapas *small beach, but perfect for swimming and lounging *friendly staff *restaurants are located strategically for amazing ocean views *lots of sitting areas with amazing views of the ocean *rela [... read more]xing pool area with nice selection of low key music, plenty of sitting areas Cons: *a lot of stairs; elevator for room levels, but you cannot avoid stairs to the buffet, pool or beach *staff were acommodating when qued, however a little slow to identify people's needs ahead of time; language barrier was an issue *variety of food was limited; buffet for dinner was very repetitive and the only option for dinner *no wine inclusion (only sold by the bottle)

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Disappointing

The room was great, clean and well kept, the service was mediocre to say the least one or two were motivated the rest didn't seem at all interested even though we tipped well at every meal. The resort was very well kept but overrun with cat's, you couldn't eat at the open restaurant's without them walking under your table begging for scraps most of them were pregnant so it's going to get a lot worse, we even had a dog just stroll into the restaurant, none of the staff tried to remove them or cha [... read more]se them out. I would not go back to this resort.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Bahia Principe El Portillo

The beach at this resort is beyond compare with any other resort we have been to.Some of the A LA Carte restaurants are below standard.The buffet food needs to be warmer even the coffee needs warming.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Grand El Portillo Samana

Excellent staff. Beach is awesome . Food is good. Beach bbq awesome . Some restaurants could have improvements. ( fish market) Italian restaurant is a definetly a five star, Alcohol drinks need definite improvement . More selections such as premium alcohol. Ground keeping immaculate. Rooms very clean . Some a little outdated though . Definite would recommend this hotel

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Simply the best!

We absolutely enjoyed our 7 day stay at this amazing boutique! From our arrival to departure, we were impressed with the room, staff, food, private beach, pool, cabanas and water view!! Service by staff was always attentive and professional. We can’t wait to return ?

Bahia Principe Escape Samana: Simply the best!

We absolutely enjoyed our 7 day stay at this amazing boutique! From our arrival to departure, we were impressed with the room, staff, food, private beach, pool, cabanas and water view!! Service by staff was always attentive and professional. We can’t wait to return ?

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: 2nd time guest

A very comfortable resort with beautiful scenery on the drive from the airport. Clean, plenty of washrooms and bars throughout the resort… except no lobby bar. A very walkable resort, but a shuttle is available if needed. Greek and Italian a la carte restaurant meals were delicious and beautifully presented. Service at the beach buffet was good, but hit & miss at the main buffet. Beach is beautiful & has areas for good snorkelling. Long walks along the beautiful beaches. The entertainment staff  [... read more]work hard. A lovely zen pond for a quiet spot to relax. Overall, very pleased with this lovely resort.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Very good resort

We just got back from a week spending in Bahia Principe and we truly enjoyed our stay! The rooms are a bit out dated but the layout and energy were amazing, the resort is gorgeous, staff, service, food, facility, beaches were perfect! It was our second time there and we will definitely go back again, hoping next time the rooms will be renovated! Keep up the good work! Thank you dear Colleen for your professionalism and all your help for providing an amazing holiday experience!

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: Would not return

I gave a 3.5 stars to this resort just because of the beach. Would probably be a 2.5 or 3 stars. The room was ok. We were there 15 years ago and it had not changed. It is a rundown hotel. Need a lot of fixing. Lack of staff. Music is very loud at the pool or on the beach. Not even able to listen to my music with my headphones. If you don't smoke you will have to smell the cigarette everywhere. There is always someone smoking. people were dropping hash and cigarette butts on the pool deck. Unless [... read more] you got to the a la carte restaurant, the food was warm or cold at the buffet. A few people got food sick including my wife. Unless you get early, all the chairs were reserved before we got there. The staff was friendly. If you wanted some quiet time, there is a small pool with only a short number of chairs available or you had to walk on the beach away from the resort. There is a jacuzzi but it is pool temperature so no one uses it. Most of the people were 55 and over and young family no need for extra loud music or base.

Bahia Principe Explore El Portillo: 1st time at a Bahia and probably the last

Give this resort a 3 ? definitely not a 5 ?. Resort is old and is due for an upgrade. Facilities are well maintained but definitely a lot of wear and tear. Rooms are clean but felt like we were in the early 2000's. Mattress was rock hard and felt like you were sleeping on plywood. Beach is spectacular. Can walk for miles. Area for hotel is very condensed and a fight for chairs. Weakest point of the hotel is the food. Felt I was eating in a cafeteria and not a 5 star resort. Worst Caribbean f [... read more]ood experience outside of Cuba. Definitely will not return