TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I’ve lost count of how many times my wife, our friends, and I have visited this wonderful resort. Sometimes we come twice a year; other times, a couple of years pass between visits. What we absolutely love about this place is the magnificent beach stretching two miles in either direction, the pristine cleanliness, the buffet, the sports café, and the casual restaurants. We have stayed in various room types over the years and learned that saving on a room means losing out on the full experience; upgrading is truly worth it. Most of all, we love the wonderful people who are dedicated to turning a vacation into a true celebration. During our recent trip in June and July, the weather was superb. The ocean was calm and warm, with sunlight shimmering on the sandy bottom. The resort offers nice snorkeling opportunities that, while modest, are always interesting for enthusiasts. Kayaks are readily available, and those with the skills can even take out a catamaran. We had a wonderful time and are deeply grateful to the entire resort staff. We would like to give a special mention to Ceneida and Nathy at the buffet, Alba at the café, and Esmerlin, who introduced us to the resort's amazingly rich vegetation. We will certainly be back!

We have just returned June 24th for a 1 week stay. First our plane arrived later at destination, customs, everything went well. The location of the hotel is about 45 minutes from the airport. Our Air Canada agent informed us that because it was a late arrival our hotel would keep the buffet open so we could eat, we were very impressed by this. They told us to go eat and check in after, which was very quick but we were not a large group. Benjamin drove us to our room, brought the luggage up, very nice and funny guy! We took a junior suite, which was worth the extra, very clean, very functional, mattress was ok. The only issue we had during the week, the air conditioning went out for about half a day because it was so hot and the chillers couldn't keep up but the room remained very comfortable. Normally beach for us is very important and being used to very small resorts we had a bit of a shock the next morning, the beach was packed so was the main pool. We found a smaller, more isolated pool on the site, close to our room which was amazing, quiet, so we spent the week there and very happy. There was a bit of algae at the beach but still spots to enjoy it. The sand was very nice, it's just the crowd was not for us. There is a bar at each pool location. We had breakfast and supper at the buffet, we didn't try any restaurants a la carte. The food was great, even for fussy eaters, you cannot not find something and service was amazing and there are vegetarian and gluten free options. Lunch was at the beach snack bar, also buffet, very good although service there was a bit lacking. We did not attend any shows, it was really a week for rest and relaxation. Cats and ducks are protected for animal lovers! Here are the amazing people we met: Reception: Maria Liz, Esmeralda, Elizabeth, Marcos Buffet: Yohania, Lewin, Gerry Cart driver: Benjamin Apologies for the people that are not mentioned but overall everyone was super friendly. The whole place has a very good atmosphere altogether and all the site was super clean, because of the number of vacationers, this was very impressive! We were a bit skeptical to try Dominican Republic, but we were told Samana is very different and we truly aim to return.

I am staying at the Bahia principe explore El portillo and I want to warn you not come here. I came in June 25 and unfortunately I am stuck here until July 1. I wanted to leave day one and go to Punta cana due to the horrible conditions here. The only reason I am still here is because I came with a friend who chose this hotel to celebrate his birthday and he doesn't want to leave. Let me start by saying that I had high expectations because this resort is now under the Hyatt brand but don't be fool, this place is not even close to the Hyatt standards. This place is in urgent need of renovations in every department. The place is dirty, the food at the buffet is disgusting and unappealing. I was only allowed to make reservations for 2 restaurants on a 6 nights stay. This unacceptable. How can you force customers to eat the disgusting food in the buffet. The food is the buffet is disgusting and there isn't enough variety. It is like eating at the golden corral buffet which I will never eat.The drinks are horrible and if you want a better quality liquor, you have to pay extra. The customer service is nonexistent. The general manager is nowhere to be found, so you cannot file a complaint. There is no room service. The beds are hard and the furniture in the guest bedrooms are falling apart. The water in the resort is hard and salty. This is a 0 star resort that it is not worth the money I paid. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT COME TO THIS RESORT. I f you want to come to Las Terrenas go somewhere else or rent a villa. I should be given a partial refund since I was overcharged. Management if you care and want to keep this resort open, please close down and do the renovation. You need to treat your customers with respect and give them the service they pay for. I am not getting the quality of service I pay for and it is a shame that the Hyatt brand is associated with this resort under this conditions.

A lovely place El Portillo great beach, the people feel like family after all these years of our family going there, Very Sad to say this time was not as pleasant, besides all the people at the buffet shoving to get in line and grabbing food like they were starving ?? we overlook some things, But this time we were very Uncomfortable , changed rooms 2 times because of hard beds and smelly AC. Also they decided to open All the doors at the buffet, including the Greek restaurant which is a shared space for our meals. We don’t understand Why? they were always closed in the past! The buffet AC is not very strong, so this just let in more Heat Humidity And Flies, they were harder to ignore ??!! around us and landing on the food was certainly not pleasant. Hopefully they look into this ??.

We recently stayed at this resort and, while there were some positives, we ultimately felt it was overpriced for the experience provided. The biggest highlight is undoubtedly the beach. It is absolutely stunning—clean, beautiful, and one of the nicest beaches we've visited. The staff were also consistently friendly and hardworking. While many spoke limited English, they always did their best to help and were pleasant to interact with. Unfortunately, several aspects of the resort detracted from our overall experience. The resort feels extremely crowded, particularly during peak meal times. Lunch can be difficult to navigate due to the sheer number of guests, and the property would greatly benefit from a second buffet or lunch restaurant to help spread people out. Securing a beach or pool chair was also frustrating. Guests were reserving chairs very early in the morning, and we found ourselves needing to wake up around 5:30 a.m. just to have a chance at getting a spot. There were also quite a few entitled guests, which further impacted the atmosphere. The entertainment itself was decent, but it was located a considerable walk away from the main pool and lobby area, making it less convenient and reducing our motivation to attend evening activities. Other disappointments included no alcohol being served before 10 a.m., coffee being dispensed from machines rather than prepared fresh, and certain alcohol brands requiring an additional charge despite the all-inclusive pricing. From speaking with other returning guests, many of these concerns appear to have developed or worsened since Hyatt took over management. Overall, while the beach is outstanding and the staff are lovely, those positives alone do not make this an exceptional resort. Given the price point, we expected a much better overall experience. Unfortunately, we do not feel the resort offers good value for money and will not be returning.