TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

My family just returned from a week at the Bahia Principe explore Turquesa. We are a 40+ year-old couple with a teenage daughter. We have travelled to the Dominican four times as well as Mexico, Jamaica and Cuba. Overall, I would give the vacation a good eight out of 10. It might not be whatever everyone else prefers, but I liked the fact that the Turquesa is tucked away at the back of the resort complex. The pool was mostly just occupied by people from the Turquesa. And that meant that it wasn’t overcrowded, and there was always a lounger and shade to be found. We were in building 50 and although that was a little bit of a walk away from the pool, buffet and lobby that was perfectly OK. Do not rely on The internal transportation around the Turquesa because it was practically nonexistent. The room was dated. We were on the second floor, and the lock did not work to the balcony. If we were on the first floor, I would’ve been calling immediately. There was almost nothing to watch on television, but that was OK. I would recommend taking a bar of soap. For some reason there isn’t any soap for your hands at the sink in the bathroom. And it’s sort of weird to have to climb over the tub to get to the shower gel. The room was cleaned very well. They need to replace the mattresses at least in my building. It felt like I was sleeping on the boxspring. When the rollaway is more comfortable than the bed, that’s a problem. lol. We did take the transportation down to the beach twice. I have to say that the transportation from the Turquesa down to the beach was quite reliable and pretty swift. During the day you take the L2 and after 7 PM, you take the L5. The sargassum was horrific The second time we went. It’s not the resort‘s fault. There had been two storms that passed through mostly at night and it made for messy conditions. We did not stay in the ocean long that time because it was kind of just icky with all of the Sargassum/seaweed. The pool by the beach at the Punta Cana is pretty dirty. I found cups and there was sand and other remnants. It just made it a little icky. Also around the beach and around the Punta Cana pool like every third lounger was broken. They are doing a large amount of renovations to the Punta Cana. When it’s done, I’m sure things will be really nice. They are aspects of things that are really nice over at the Punta Cana like the Las Olas Beach House, and the food truck area. The lobby of the Punta Cana is beautiful. It’s big. I think they misuse some of the space though. There’s kind of big empty spaces where they could have tables and chairs. I don’t think I could handle staying at the Punta Cana because it is so vast you can’t walk from one end of it to the other unless you were in really good shape. As for the food, the buffet at the Turquesa is pretty basic. The best meal is breakfast. The lunches and dinner dinners tend to be kind of repetitive. We could always find something to eat. I have to say, though that the desserts were top-notch. The cakes, the ice cream I actually couldn’t believe it. Usually at all inclusive the cakes are tasteless. But here they were fantastic. We did go to the las Corales pool restaurant once and we very much enjoyed our meal. The hamburgers and the hotdog dogs tasted like you were back home. This is different than most places I’ve been to for an all-inclusive. Usually the hamburger and hot dogs taste completely different and not good. It wasn’t that well used. Probably because you needed to be dry and clothed to attend. We went to the Brazilian, the Greek and nomad for the à la carts. Nomad far exceeded our expectations. The welcome drink was amazing. We loved the starter. And making your own concoction and having them make it was awesome. Their desserts weren’t so awesome. Other than that, it was so good. The Brazilian was OK and the Greek was OK. Something I think Canadians and Americans will have a difficult time with is the amount of Spanish speakers that come to the resort. We ran into very few English speakers and every time we did, they were like oh great someone who speaks English. When we played the games, everybody was speaking Spanish back-and-forth that we sort of felt a bit left out. I know some Spanish words and numbers that I’ve picked up over the years so sometimes I sort of understood what they were talking about. They did try to say what the games were in English. And when we played bingo, they will say the numbers in Spanish and English. If you’re looking for nightlife, this probably wouldn’t be the place. They do usually have some live music or something in the lobby. You’re right by the the village and they usually have live music there as well. But traditional theatre stuff just wasn’t available. We usually love going to the theatre to watch the shows. It might partially be because the Tropicana Theatre at the Punta Cana is currently closed for renovations. Overall, I had a great time. I would definitely recommend the resort. Just keep in mind a few things that I have said. I was a bit dismayed with the lack of tipping. I would look around and we seem to be the only ones leaving tips at meals and with the bartenders. We left a tip every day for the cleaning lady, and for the person who stacked the mini bar. We did ask for specific things because we like our Coke zero. I don’t know if it’s a different sort of culture with mainly Spanish speakers coming to the resort because every other all inclusive we’ve been to, tipping was very common. These folks don’t make very much money. We are happy to tip a dollar a meal at a dollar a day for the cleaner. And 3 to 5 dollars for the à la card meals. If you can afford to come to an all inclusive, you can afford spending $30 - $40 on Tips for the staff. Also, don’t forget the QR code page for the Dominican E ticket for your return flight. They will be checking at the airport.

Punta Cana was amazing but I honestly expected more from this resort.. that may make me sound greedy Cuba would never let tourists go 12 hours without power even with a failing power grid they would never allow tourists to experience that as they have generators. 37 degrees with the humidity and having a AC barely working and a ceiling fan keeping us from melting through the bed to losing power completely I never slept at all those nights basically making the following day worse then it should have been. it might of been the resort but this Bahia Principe is part of the world of Hyatt its a brand name hotel across the world.. the food was amazing, the rooms were clean even had whirlpool bathtubs they don't have the same issues as Cuba lots more tourism and in USD they bring in more than their pesos are worth the staff lack the warmth and emotion Cuba has.. nobody smiled it was like they didn't want to be there.. I know it's a Spanish country but other Carribean countries speak English even if broken English.. mind you some did but some didn't even attempt to try.. I had a amazing experience with my finance but it just made me miss Cuba more in the end. snack bar also was on complex not on resort after 11pm the bar closed so if you wanted water even you had to travel across complex and the trains stopped at 3am and don't run without power on the complex was denied water even by front desk Dune Buggy excursion was the highlight of the entire trip for me.. was exactly what I was expecting and then some..

Our second trip to the resort and we will go back for sure! we love the place the people location and everything

Food was great, service excellent in all areas of the resort. Mosquitoes were bad in the room(40108) and outside. Our checkout was 3:45am and they had no coffee or snacks. I would suggest that if you are going to have such early checkouts you should have something for your guests that are leaving.

The good is food is great. Beach is nice and weather was good. The resort is large. You can walk to beach in 12 min or take trolly. Need to get chais by six in morning. We did have so issue with room as we needed 2 beds. The couch is not a bed. We did get changed on third day. Overall stay was good but just two large for me. One of the shows required reservation and a fee