TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I stayed at Bahia Principe Punta Cana Feb 19-26, travelling with my sister. The resort is aesthetically pleasing, clean and our room was nice. Like many places, all chairs by the beach and pool are reserved by 7 am or earlier. You won't get one if you don't follow this ridiculous trend. I personally don't like having to do it because I feel terribly guilty if I'm not using the chair. I found the food very good, however the buffets are crowded and sometimes you have to wait for clean plates or cutlery to be brought out. Finding a table can be difficult depending on when you get to the buffet. If we went as soon as it opened we got a table. Other times we had to sit at a table that had dishes on it from the person who just left. Service at the buffet is inconsistent. Sometimes it's so busy they just don't get to you, and at times there were line ups to get into the buffet. If we got service we tipped, if not we didn't (obviously). We booked our three A La Carte dinners and received email confirmation of each reservation with a QR code for each. Every time we showed up for our reservation we were told we didn't have one. The first two times I pulled out my phone and showed them my confirmation after which they seated us. The third time I had left my phone in the room and when we were, once again, told we didn't have a reservation. I explained that we did and that this kept happening. The lady called Customer Service and handed me the phone so that another person on the end of the line could tell me that I didn't have reservation and she was "just telling [me] what is in the computer". Wow! great customer service problem solving. We had to take the train back to our room to get the phone and prove we had a reservation -- after which they sat us. There is a beach snack bar where you place your order electronically using a touch screen (like at McDonald's) and you can see the status of your order on a screen above the counter. This is a great system because you can sit and wait and go up when your order is ready. There is self-serve beer on tap at this snack bar as well as a self-serve soft ice cream machine. Overall, a pretty good place but the overcrowding detracted from the experience as a whole. I think I'm kind of done with all-inclusive resorts. Putting out a little more cash for a better experience ten fold is probably a better idea.

I am extremely disappointed with my stay at Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana. The service throughout the resort has been painfully slow, with excessively long lines for food and drinks at nearly every hour of the day. It often takes so long to get a drink that you feel discouraged from even trying. Meal times are chaotic and overcrowded — the buffets feel like a cattle yard, with guests packed tightly together just trying to access food. It’s stressful, disorganized, and far from relaxing. Although our room is near the beach, the lobby and main dining area feels like a 20-minute golf cart ride away. Getting meals requires traveling all the way down the strip, the food at the buffet is great though, the travel to get there is terrible and time consuming though. If you are trying to avoid having to travel all the way down the strip and stay closer to the beach to maximize the time you have in the sun, you are left with underwhelming food options — frozen-food options like fries, and sandwiches with a single slice of ham and cheese. Coffee during meals is nearly impossible to get. It’s obvious the staff are overworked and the resort is understaffed. The experience feels like profit is prioritized over quality and guest comfort. Which is fine when you know that that’s what you’re signing up for, I happened to book this trip last minute as a result of the political situations going on in Mexico at the current moment. To make matters worse, we were locked out of our room when the door battery died and had to wait hours for it to be fixed. Four hours without access to sunscreen or basic belongings while staying at a beach resort is unacceptable. Wasting perfectly good daylight and weather, which is what I came for, just to later be told that the pool closes at 6pm. Compared to all-inclusive experiences in Mexico, this has been a major disappointment. I would not recommend this property and will not be returning. I have been on several all inclusive resorts throughout my life, and this is definitely the worst experience I’ve ever had. I’m not really the type of person to be writing reviews, however, I genuinely feel as though this needed to be addressed. Significant operational changes are needed. Beach is beautiful.

We stayed here for my 60th birthday and it was such a disappointment . We booked an adults only thinking it would be quiet but no it was like an 18/30 for the older generation, pool parties loud DJ every afternoon, the hotel lobby which was lovely was the entertainment centre in the evening extremely loud aimed at the small younger crowd ignoring the majority which were all over 50 . The beach was rammed every day people getting up at 5am to secure the best sun beds round the pool and beach .. the staff were miserable and unhelpful, the drinks were cheap and nasty wine tastied like vinegar and what they class as Prosecco was 5% lambrini awful .. drinks from beach bar were watered down . The rooms were nice but the cleaners were in the hallways all day noisy and chatting you could never go back to your room for an afternoon nap . Clientele was mainly Canadians very loud but lovely . It wasn’t the quiet relaxing holiday we were sold and talking to many British guests they all felt the same .. food in all restaurants was disappointing and warm apart from the Mongolian which was lovely and had the nicest staff .. we had days with no hot water and when we complained they said they would send someone in 25 min no one showed .. you could escape the noise in the evening and doors banging in rooms in the evening honestly was happy to leave ..

Leaving tonight and honestly, I miss home. The service is quite bad The bad - not enough towels for daily towel change - no face towels in rooms - the employees keep sending you to other people for help - can’t join front desk through phone (the line cuts) - the app doesn’t work for luggage pick up - not enough coffee cups, juice glasses, plates or spatulas at the buffet - looooong lineups for main buffet - extremely crowded at the beach and main pool - all chairs reserved everywhere by 8 am - el olivo and tequila restaurants were subpar Pros : - cats - room is done everyday - two quieter pools - food is ok - live music in the lobbies - alternate quieter buffet in the evening - efficient in-resort transport Overall, you can get MUCH better elsewhere. We paid 1700 CAD for 5 nights

We were at the Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana from Feb 13 to 20, 3026 Check in: Horrible. We (group of 16) arrived late about 1:00 a.m. on Feb 14/26. Check in was slow and unorganized. Some people in the group did not arrive in their rooms until 3:00ish. Part of the problem was the staff would disappear and you had to join another line. This disappearances behavior was common as I saw and experienced it whenever I went to guest services. The guest services will likely be your greatest frustration during your stay. Property: Immaculate. Very well maintained. The public washrooms are clean. This property is HUGE. Not recommended for people with mobility issues. There are shuttle buses running back and forth, but the main lobby is about a 15-20 minute walk to the beach and 24-hour snack bar. Also, there are no elevators and most buildings have three floors. There are mosquitoes, sand flies/fleas, and other biting insects. Lots of them!!! I wore repellant and still got a few bites. I saw many people with bites covering their legs. We had to kill about five mosquitoes in our room the first night. Bring repellant and a mosquito coil if you plan to use your balcony. There are no quiet and shaded areas to sit and relax. But we did not walk the entire property, so it is possible you may find one. Seating is lacking. Beach: The Atlantic Ocean. The property is not along the Caribbean Sea. The water was a little rough, but still beautiful. You have to wake up about 7:00 to get a lounge chair at the beach and at the main pool (closest to the beach). Most chairs, while reserved, will sit empty for hours. There are signs stating you can not reserve seats but there is no enforcement by staff. Pools: There are two other large pools in the middle of property (close to the main lobby). You will have to get a chair before 8:00. Again, the reserved chairs sit empty for hours. There are four Cabanas for rent, costing $60 USD daily (each). This includes wine and fruits. Rooms: Horrible. The bathtubs are stained, the drains have mildew and the hinges are corroded. Plugs do not work. Most people in our group could not get into the safe. The television reception was poor...snowy images, some could only get one channel. A few days later we were given a new RENOVATED room at no additional cost. This is the standard of room we expected for the money paid. This was not a cheap vacation and we were expecting a modern room not a dated dirty room that we were initially assigned. (To put things in perspective, we have a 7 day Caribbean cruise with NCL which includes flight. The cruise is cheaper than this vacation. ) The hotel classify the renovated rooms and dated rooms (orange buildings) in separate categories. However they have the exact same layout, but one has been renovated/updated. No one should be assigned the dated rooms as the bathrooms are substandard. I had to wear flip flops for my shower. See pictures One member in the group had lots of issues but accepted them until the pipe in the bathroom bursted and caused a flood. Food: Pretty good overall. No major complaints except its mainly room temperature. However there is a microwave in the main buffet. There are many coffee/latte/cappuccino machines in buffet and lobbies. However, getting a mug will be a challenge. There are several buffets and restaurants. No major complaints from my group, except tough hard to chew beef and chicken, and often too salty. Otherwise the food was delicious and there was a wide variety available. A la carte restaurants: We had reservations at the Mexican, Mediterranean and Japanese. Would I recommend them? The group of 16 was split on this. I found the sauce way too salty at the Japanese restaurant. My husband loved the sushi. Most people loved the Mexican and we found the tenderloin at the Mediterranean delicious and tender (depending on the cut). The lamb was also good. Staff: Mainly friendly and willing to please. Most do not speak English so communication was difficult. We crossed path with a lot of friendly, happy and helpful staff. I did not find the staff very knowledgeable about location nor schedule of events. They could not answer simple question, but again it could be the language barrier. Jorge at guest services gave us the wrong location of the El Olivio restaurant. He said it was near the beach and we would not get lost. We could ask someone near the beach, he said. I explained how important it was to get the exact location as we had elderly people in the group. ANYWAY, the restaurant is NOTA close to the beach. Luckily we got a shuttle to take us there. Entertainment: Overall pretty good. We enjoyed the shows. The scheduling of activities was confusing. Most of the activities are at the pool near the beach. WiFi: Available throughout the resort. A little spotty in some places but overall very good. Only one person in our group had issues while outside his room. We had issues by the pool closest to the Italian restaurant. Air Transat Rep: Ernesto (Besto). Awesome. He was instrumental in getting three of our rooms switched. He is very knowledgeable and supportive of all Air Transat guests. The housekeeping staff returned our charger that was left in the first room. Two days later that room was still vacant even though they were trying to get us to check out at 11:00 to move us to a new room at 4:00ish. I refused to check out. As a paid guest I did not want to be without a room for the afternoon. Will I go back? No. Not to this resort. It's okay to be big but the resort should have enough staff, resources and coffee mugs to handle the number of guests. They were constantly running out of plates and mugs. We witnessed staff hand washing plates (at the buffet).