TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Extremely INFLEXIBLE and lacking COMPASSION! My family of 6 is booked to travel to Grand Bahia Principe in May 2024. My Aunt is sharing a room with my 15 year old son. My Aunt received confirmation yesterday that she has Cancer and is required to start Chemotherapy next week. She is more than likely unable to travel. We do not want to cancel our trip as the 5 other family members are in dire need of a vacation under the circumstances. Our Travel Agent reached out to the hotel to determine if my Aunt's ticket could be transferred to another person and was advised that Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica has a NO TRANSFER Policy. That is unfortunate, but reasonable. If my Aunt is unable to fly, she is willing to forfeit the money paid for her vacation to ensure that everyone else in the family can still go. Therefore, the room that my Aunt and Son have reserved is fully paid for. However, Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica will not allow my son to check into the hotel as a minor without my Aunt. They also will not allow my son to transfer into our room because they have a No Transfer Policy. Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica has advised that the only solution is to cancel the room (for my son and aunt). This would mean that my son cannot travel and will lose out on the vacation. They advised we could rebook my son at the current cost, but he would need another adult on the booking. The cost of the trip is more than double what we paid, and the airline is full. He would need to travel on another day. The other option is that my husband and I cancel our room, and then rebook a room for the 3 of us - again at 2 times the cost, and the airline does not have availability. It is very unreasonable that the hotel is refusing to offer a solution to this horrible situation. Considering the room is paid, my son should be able to either stay in the room on his own, or have my husband or myself transfer into the room to stay with him. And a final solution could be that we forfeit the room all together, and my son is transferred into our room. None of these solutions would cost the hotel any money. The last scenario the hotel would benefit from a fully paid for room with no guests. To complicate things even further, my Sister-in-law and Nephew who are travelling with us, will more than likely have to continue with the vacation without any of us. This is not very hospitable, this is not solution based, this is not customer centered. I am so very disappointed. I have attempted to reach out to the hotel to speak with them directly and have been deferred back to my travel agent. My travel agent, her manager and even Westjet Vacations has agreed to work with us to find a reasonable solution however Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica is standing behind their No Transfer Policy and offering cancellation as the only option. I write this message here in the hopes that a reasonable solution can be reached so that my family is not in a position where they have to forfeit a much needed vacation.

The largest resort on the island. Lots of walking. Large pool could probably use more seating. We were a little disappointed that there was no poolside service and the bartender service seemed a little slow, but not a big deal. Rooms are older, or at least part of the resort is. One part of our group had issues with the a/c and they were moved to another room quickly and without incident. We arrived earlier on day 1.. around 1030am. Of course our room wasn't ready and that's fine, we have dealt with this before and felt we could use the amenities. Here you can, however, you cannot get a towel or access wifi until you get your room keys (almost 5 hours later). But we could eat lunch and use the pool if we wished. So if you are arriving early.. maybe bring a towel. Book any restaurant reservations early. The spots fill up very quick! Food here was amazing. Better than any other resort we have been to on various islands. Both at restaurants and the large buffets. A large variety, well prepared and very friendly, accommodating staff. Beach is so, so. Broken up between rock out croppings and smaller areas to sit. One larger portion at the far end seemed the better spot but we mostly stayed poolside. Pool has adult only areas for those who want a quiter spot, and that was nice. One end of pool was much busier with kids, families and trendy music, while the other was a lot more relaxed, so accommodated many types of traveller's. 5 in our group age 18 to 73 and all enjoyed the facilities.

Went grand Jamaica with 13 family and friends for my daughter’s birthday and it was a big disappointment. First of all I am privileged club member and what a waste of money . I became a member on another trip to Punta Cana and caution don’t waste your money to join that club. The extra perks they promote to be a member is nothing but a different color wrists band. Anyway let’s talk about the Grand Jamaica resort. My room and many other area including the elevator were stink with a sewer scent. The place has cockroaches and something bit my granddaughter her room and her hands were swollen and required urgent care The food was not too bad at the buffet but the hosts always try to turn you away when you have a large party and recommend the round island Buffett .instead. Not even my privilege wrist band was saving me from their rude reception. I did dinner at the knife and ordered a pork chop it was rock hard. Hit and miss on the menu. The chicken wings were good. The entertainment program was difficult to follow. The app wasn’t helpful and even the front desk customer service rep couldn’t explain the itinerary. I tried my best to find entertainment for the group but even when we stumble on something it put us to sleep. The magic show and the children with drums show were both very boring . Worst of all the sound system is terrible. One night we visited the village disco and the few people that found it were walking in and out. You guys need to invest in better sound systems and better Djs. Paid a lot for massage and it felt like I was getting my body oil down. They were a few notable employees, Craig the lifeguard and Shaniqua a waiter at the Buffett. I would not return not worth it.

DO NOT GO. Customer service is awful, the staff is miserable, the only good thing is the food and the entertainment staff. TRUST for a family who travels a lot and to 5 star resorts do NOT go here- stay in Montego Bay or negril for the love of God and my husband is Jamaican we swear we will never attend another principe Bahia property as long as we live m. Overpriced, 3 stars at best- 5 % of the staff are great and that’s saying something…. Cockroaches but cleaned up well before most staff arrive to look, poor stray cats, you can tell the staff aren’t paid enough and not trained in customer service…. Manners go a long way to create a great atmosphere or a simple I’m sorry if things are messed up or what have you … you won’t get that here!

I wanted to celebrate a big birthday with friends. They had been to Jamaica before and I had not, so I thought I'd give it a try. I have never stayed at an AI resort this big before, and am honestly not sure I would again. It is humongous and even though everyone says it's big, it's even bigger than that! I have a bad knee so mobility is an issue for sure. The best beach is a long walk away at the far end of the property, and no-where near the rooms, so forget going back to your room if you needed something. The rest of the beaches are rocky and not what I pictured a Jamaican beach to be. The pools are nice but super busy and loud. Not my scene but a lot of people appeared to be enjoying themselves. I had reached out to management before arrival, and because it was my birthday, they offered that they would upgrade our Sea View room to one of the newly renovated Superior Jr. Suites located in Buildings 17 or 18. To hang with my other friends who were staying on the adult side and have the best of both worlds, I planned to purchase a luxury wristband for all 8 days of our stay. They confirmed everything would be arranged and I could purchase these on the Grand side on arrival. Spoiler- this was not the case. Fast Forward. I used the app to speed up check-in, but did not choose a room as I figured the hotel would do that based off what was pre-arranged. Upon arrival they thanked us for pre-checking in, however, we were not given a room in B 17/18 and they were very confused why I expected this. In retrospect, I should have kept the room they first gave us in Building 21, as it would have been closer to my friends in B 27, instead of literally at the opposite end of a massive property. After dropping the name of the manager I had been dealing with, they magically found a room in B 18. We were given room 18317 which was beautiful with a lovely sliver of an ocean view. The sunsets especially were very pretty. Housekeeping was okay but for some reason they took our bath mat and face clothes and didn't return them for days until I left a note asking for some. Lots of people we talked to said the same thing so maybe they have a shortage or something, so maybe buy more. Our shower was slow to drain so you had to shut it off when shampooing/conditioning/shaving, or it would overflow. We finally reported it and it did get fixed. The air conditioning worked so well that we had to request extra blankets. My friend had arranged for some birthday surprises IE. Door banner, decorate room, etc. and when the big day came nothing was followed up with. Well my friend complained and 3 days later it showed up. Better late than never I guess. Definite communication issues here. Staff was hit or miss- mostly miss to be honest. We literally had the female bartender at the beach bar down by the watersports building roll her eyes at my friend for asking for water, (after being told they had no blender drinks and her only option was beer she couldn't drink.) We thought maybe the lady was just having a bad day, but she was always grumpy like that. Staff here just seemed unhappy over-all and not as polished as other resorts. Maybe because we were told by a local that this is not a good company to work for as they will keep staff up to the point they have to start paying them benefits, and then get rid of them. This was hard to hear, and also made sense of how inexperienced and unhappy they appear to be. We were able to get reservations at most of the restaurants. Food was fine- we did not go hungry but nothing was overly memorable. There were also staff issues like forgetting drink orders and bringing the wrong food out. Mikado was sweltering at the Teppanyaki tables to the point it was unbearable. I liked the Round Island restaurant as it was close by and the views were pretty sitting outside. The jerk hut is a hike but good if you're hanging out on that beach. Didn't make it to one show as we often had late dinner reservations. Some decent lobby bands including two young females- a singer and a musician. We went to the White Party Saturday night. The fire show was cool but the singer underwhelming. Even the bartenders were bored. I ended up stubbing and ultimately breaking a toe on one of the large raised drains on the bottom of the pool. The lifeguards were more concerned with not wanting to have to write up a report when I requested first aid. Over-all, my friends and I had a nice time but we go with the flow and make our own fun wherever we are. We already decided to head to the Western side of the island next time to experience the better beaches Jamaica is known for. Until then.