TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This was the by far the most horrible experience I had in any resort do not go here if you want your well being me and my family just came back yesterday my daughter and my niece both fell sick due to dusty and dirty rooms the food was below average the service was horrible and the bathrooms leaked on us and no one cared to fix it they ruined our family vacation

OVERVIEW Overall, the property was good and I would recommend it. The price was good and you could always find something to eat. The staff is decent, but the property was amazing. The beach was nice and well kept. I have stayed at a dozen or so properties and the benchmark resort is Sandals. Everything is included…absolutely everything. This resort had many offerings that came with an additional fee, even the food. There were no blended drinks on the property. They did offer mixed drinks, but anything with a banana, milk, or such did not exist. Many of the drinks I love paired fruit with liquor so that was disappointing. Make sure you bring a white (or at least light) outfit for the white party. All drinks are served in eight-ounce cups. If you want something larger, you would have to bring your own. Bring sunscreen and bug spray. Make your a la carte reservations well in advance. Bring plenty of fives and ones for tips. We always had hot water and air conditioning in our rooms. We had no issues at all with check in or check out. This is a good property to visit. AIRPORT TRANSPORTATION Airport transportation is rarely included. (Sandals does shuttle their guests to and from the airport). I chose a company called Dominican Quest. There were fantastic and about half the cost of their competitors. I paid 60 USD for a round trip transfer for three of us. My flight was delayed by a day. I called the number in my email and they said “No Problem”. I had a new itinerary in my email within minutes. There was a guy standing with a sign that had my name on it at the airport. The driver showed up less than ten minutes later. The drive was about a half hour. I would highly recommend this company for airport transfers. THE RESORT The Bahia Principe is broken up into six separate resorts, all connecting: The Turquesa, the Aquamarine, the Ambar, the Esmerelda, the Fantasia, and Punta Cana. Punta Cana is the main resort that ties all the others together. At one end is a large pool and the beach. On one side, both Aquamarine and Ambar reside. These two are adults only. As a resident of Turquesa, you may NOT use any of the amenities at these two properties. They are geared to the quieter crowd who wants to get away from the partying and screaming kids. As we walked through, it was very beautiful, but quiet. On the other side of Punta Cana lie Fantasia and Esmerelda. These are definitely resorts created for families with younger children. The buildings look like circus tents and the center pool is a water park. There were tons of young families enjoying the amenities. As a resident of Turquesa, we were not allowed access to these areas either. Punta Cana is the “Everyone’s Welcome” spot. The pool by the ocean is where you would go if you came for fun. There is always music and always a crowd. The Turquesa is located at the opposite end of Punta Cana from the beach. It is a good ten-minute walk from Turquesa to the beach. However, Turquesa was my favorite of the six resorts. It was a good mix of the “Fun Crowd” without it being overrun by young ones. There was always a chair and music played most of the day. If I were to go back, Turquesa would be where I would choose. THE FOOD There is a main buffet in each of the six resorts. You are NOT allowed in any of the other buffets except for the one you reside. The one at Turquesa is called Las Dalias. The food was good and some nights excellent. There were always plenty of choices so there was always something we liked. There was a “Food Truck” called La Isla by the beach which served food like hamburgers, fries, chicken wings, and other finger foods. This was our least favorite. It’s only redeeming quality is that there was an ice cream machine. I love floats so I could get a cup of ice cream and a cup of Pepsi and enjoy. There was also a “Snack Restaurant inside of Turquesa that served very similar food as La Isla called Los Corales. Honestly, I was so disappointed with La Isla that I did not try Los Corales. My boys did say it was a bit better, but decided on the buffet for all our meals. You are allotted one “A La Carte” restaurant for every three nights of stay. We chose the steakhouse, Flame, and the Japanese Restaurant Maiko. Flame was the biggest let down. There was one type of steak on the menu, the New York Strip. The other options were BBQ Chicken, Grilled Salmon, BBQ Pork Ribs, or the Beef Brisket. My son got the salmon, my other son got the steak, and I opted for the brisket. The steak was one tough piece of beef. My brisket was so fatty that literally 2/3rds of it had to be tossed. The best of the three seemed to be the salmon, but I do not like seafood. There were other steaks available…for a price. Lobster was 85 USD, a T-bone was 42 USD, a Porterhouse was 55 USD, and a Tomahawk was an additional 85 USD. This was one night we wished that we chose to eat at the buffet. Maiko was a bit better. We chose Teppanyaki rather than a la carte. I have been to these shows at other resorts and it is neat to see them juggle knives and spatulas. This was nothing like that. The chefs merely fry the meat in front of you. There is absolutely zero entertainment value in choosing Teppanyaki rather than a la carte. The food was good, but wow did it take a long time. Hindsight, I would have chosen the a la carte or the buffet. I was not able to try the other restaurants as I only booked eight days. THE NIGHTLIFE There were nightly shows to watch. Our favorite was the “White Party”. Plan accordingly. It is a party that usually starts at 9pm and lasts for several hours. This one happened only to be two hours, at best. There is a lot of dancing and drinking. It is so much fun, but seemed too short. Right when everyone was on the dance floor, having a good time, the music stopped and lights came on. The rest of the shows were good, but not great. There is one show called “The Dominican Show” that was an extra 12 USD per person. There was no other show but this one on that particular night. The attendance was low and hardly anyone stayed to the end. The best place to gather was a spot called “The Terrace” in the Punta Cana resort near the lobby area. Music and dancing every night. The second spot would be the sports bar in the Village. Most nights this was dead, but two of the nights it had a good crowd of people. There is a Bachata dance club right next door to the pub that starts at 11:30 pm. It has loud music and depending on the group of travelers at the resort, may be a good spot to dance. We found that dancing was good on only one of the nights of our stay, but again, it depends on the crowd. The LED party was music with staff members dancing with LED lights attached to them. No one else danced. The circus was okay. Many nights, there were singers and saxophone players in the lobbies. Most of the people who attend these places are those who want to be entertained but not participate. I love to dance and would migrate to the place that had the best dancing. THE POOL Grand Turquesa has a great pool with hardly any visitors. The most I ever saw in the pool was maybe 25 people at one time. I absolutely loved it. There was always a chair available and there were plenty of grass umbrellas you could escape the sun. The two pools at Punta Cana was always busier with a more active crowd. However, the pool at the beach housed those who wanted it loud and exciting. There was always something going on at this pool. I visited this pool a few times, but always went back to Turquesa just because it got too busy for me. The pools did close at 6pm with no night swimming. There was a jacuzzi pool at the Turquesa that I never saw any person use. It is not heated, just a Jacuzzi. THE ACTIVITIES Bahia Principe had many things to do, but most had an additional charge. There was a surf “Wave Rider” that would have been fun if it weren’t for the extra charge. The Miniature Golf course was made of cement so it was darn near impossible to get the ball in the hole. There were tennis courts available to reserve for either tennis or Pickleball. The gym in Punta Cana was way too small. You could fit maybe thirty-five people in that small building for thousands of guests. The Luxury properties of Ambar and Aquamarine had their own gym which looked much, much nicer. There was a “Game Room” at the Turquesa, but it was simply a field cleared of vegetation with 50 gallon drums and other random objects. I have no idea what that was about. Another disappointment is there was one beach volleyball court for MANY people. It was always full. They really need no less than four for a resort of that size. THE BARS There was no shortage of bars. You could find one at just about anywhere on the resort. The alcohol was watered down, of course. I don’t drink alcohol at all back home, but I could somehow put down seven mixed drinks without feeling any effects. The one thing that I did not like is they had no mixed drinks. I love Bahama Mamas and other tropical blended drinks, but the bars did not have fruit and most did not have blenders at all. There were a couple of drinks they did well and so they were pushed a lot: the Mojito, the Pina Colada, and the Blue Hawaiian. There were actually very tasty, but again had little effect. Tip if you want the drinks to continue to flow, but there is no expectancy to tip. THE SHOPS There is no shortage of shops at the Turquesa. It sits right next door to a seventh section of the resort called “The Village”. This houses the Sports Bar, the Bachata nightclub, an outdoor theater, and MANY souvenir shops. Most of these shops have the exact same thing with similar prices. It is good to look around and compare, but if it is to be found in Bahia Principe, it will be in one of these shops. I will say that the PUJ airport is seriously lacking in the souvenir area so make sure you pick something up while you are at Turquesa. There are also MANY employees trying to sell the “Premier Package” along with excursions. I was there with my two boys so I was not interested in the Premier Package. Besides, if I wanted to spend extra for the Privilege Package and the upgraded food and activities, I would have just booked Sandals. THE BEACH Bahia Principe has the best beach of the area. I walked the beach from point to point and there was not a better stretch of beach to be found. Both the beach and water were clear. There were little waves, enough to body surf but not enough that you could not swim. The best part was there was little to no seaweed in this area. If you were to walk two resorts down in either direction, the seaweed is so back that you could not swim and the beaches had it stacked almost a foot high. I was amazed at how terrible there beach was and in such a close proximity to Bahia. For some reason, we were not plagues with seaweed. However, I will warn you that there is something on that beach which cause me to break out in a terrible rash that lasted for over a week. It put giant, red rash patches on my lower legs. I walked the beach, but did not go in the water. I asked a local and they said it was the “Gegen” (/he-hen/). She looked it up on her phone and showed me a picture. I could not find “Gegen” on Google, but the picture she showed me was that of a Sand Fly. Two of us were bitten, but I must have been allergic because I was the only one who swelled up that bad. Night time was miserable. Make sure you take bug spray with you. I cannot emphasize that enough. Also, take Benadryl Gel in case one does get through.

Need more attention on things to fix first and assure to give room to customers. Not satisfied in food options provided in buffet.

We have been staying in this hotel many times. Excellent service, quick response from staff. Especially, would like to commend Albania from Bahía loyalty desk. She is polite, responsive and always helpful. Thank you!

We stayed in the Junior Suite Superior and found the room charming but very outdated. There were no convenient places to charge devices, the TV had no working channels, and the Wi-Fi barely worked in the room. Only one key card worked, and the room door needed real force to open. The room is comfortable enough but doesn’t match 5-star expectations — more like 3-star. In contrast, the Junior Suite Premium rooms looked significantly more modern and closer to 4-star quality. The pool areas were a highlight of the entire stay. The main pool near the beach had a fun, high-energy vibe, was impeccably clean, and looked freshly updated. The local pool near our building was quieter, warm, very clean, and had tons of shaded seating. The swim-up bar service was excellent — fast, friendly, and happy to fill large tumblers. Food was fine but not impressive. There was variety, but the quality felt average. Breakfast service was inconsistent; we were seated multiple times before we actually received attention. The truck restaurant had potential, but the ordering system was chaotic. Numbers weren’t picked up, some were skipped, and the flow fell apart. Still, the self-serve beer and wine was a definite plus. The standout meal was at Rodizio Las Olas, the Brazilian steakhouse. Excellent cuts of meat, attentive service, and a beautiful beachfront location. We didn’t spend time on the beach but it looked clean and well kept. The Circus Show was surprisingly great and worth making time for. The spa was very clean, and our couples massage was relaxing and a good value. The resort provides golf carts for transport, though we never figured out the schedule. Walking was easy and enjoyable, but some guests may want clearer transportation info. Check-out was smooth, and even without a late checkout, the staff let us continue using the facilities — including offering a shower before heading to the airport. Principe Village has several convenient shops. Most carry the same items, but occasionally you’ll find a different size or version by checking another shop. Overall, we had a good trip. The pools, entertainment, and dining experiences made it enjoyable, and most guests looked like they were having a great time. Our expectations were just set too high for what is advertised as a 5-star resort, particularly when it comes to the Junior Suite Superior rooms.