TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I absolutely loved this hotel. Truly the best vacation I've ever had and everything I was looking for. Beautiful property, beach (which is small but it's a boutique hotel so it was never crowded at all) staff, food, drinks, entertainment, and cleanliness was exceptional. If you're looking for quiet rejuvenation, this is the spot. If you want to party and be in a more lively area you may not enjoy as much. I can not wait to return. It was perfection. Thank you to all of the wonderful staff who made my stay so enjoyable. I was there over Christmas and the feast was exceptional and the decorations beautiful. As it's a small property you can't go for long beach walks but a small price to pay for everything else being so great.

I have stayed at Bahia Principe Luxury in Dominican Republic for 2 weeks. My husband has already written a comprehensive review and I don’t want to repeat the same ideas. Basically the resort is nice if a bit smaller, the staff is very pleasant and helpful, the rooms are clean, large enough and with spectacular view. The food is excellent. However, I would like to stress one aspect of our stay which really disappointed me. During my stay I had an allergy (probably a sun allergy). Since the resort is quite far from any towns I chose to see the doctor on site to give me a cream to quiet down the rush and the itch. To my surprise the first question the doctor asked me was if I have insurance. The reason became clear after I saw the bill. The amount was about 3 times what a doctor in Canada would charge and 5 times what a doctor in Santo Domingo would charge – for a similar 10 minutes consultation. (I have looked up all this info on line.) I have a chronic condition (more than a million people in Nord America have it) of which the doctor had never heard. He wrote an unnecessary lengthy report specifying among other things that my eyes and limbs were symmetrical, that my ear pavilions were well implanted etc… (!?!, mind you, I went there for an allergic reaction), that I have no allergy (when I expressly told him that I am prone for allergies) and many other either completely unnecessary or incorrect facts. I expect higher ethical and professional standards from someone in the medical profession.

Some people will find this place amazing, others not so much - depending what they are looking for. Here is my personal opinion divided in pros in cons. Pros: 1) The staff are friendly and ready to help you in every way they can. Ronaldo and Jennifer from the entertainers, the yoga/tai-chi fellow Leandro, the ever-smiling "el capitan" Carlos of the restaurant crew, the cleaning staff, the smiling, funny and friendly people at reception (especially the ladies), Franz the multilingual problem-solver. - and everybody else. 2) the rooms are large, clean, comfortable, noiseless air conditioning, with a beautiful view. 3) Excellent evening entertainment. We loved the Quiz-show (maybe they could do it more often than just twice a week), the circus acrobats (wow!) and the dancers did a great job (why nobody gave them tips ? they deserved them), the karaoke night etc... 4) Some nice activities: hat-making, yoga, bean-bag toss etc... 4) the buffet food was excellent and varied. The restaurants were also very good. 5) the beach was private 6) excellent and reasonably priced laundry service 7) being a small resort the atmosphere was intimate, got to know many of the other guests, made many friends, practiced my foreign languages knowledge. CON: 1) the SMOKERS. They can smoke everywhere outside - that includes the beach, the pool area, the balconies/verandas/terraces. Being a small resort, if just 10% of guests smoke, they cover the entire outside area and a non-smoker has to either put up with second hand smoke or ... stay in his room, I guess. I am not sure if employees should be subjected to second hand smoke. I have the choice of not returning to this resort but the employees have to feed their families. 2) The resort is very small and nowhere to go for a stroll. It opens into a heavy circulated road with no sidewalks. I did not feel like walking out of the compound with pick-up trucks and motorcycles whizzing by. The beautiful aerial photo (resort surrounded by lush vegetation) is misleading - you have to stay in the tiny resort or book an organized trip to somewhere else. 3) It would have been nice to have there a ping-pong table or some squash court - but the resort is too small for that, I guess. 3) Beach is also tiny and sometimes covered with seaweed. 4) Trips offered are of mediocre quality at best. The "las Terenas trip" was actually a visit to a cigar store, a beach besides a pretty run down bodega and a closed hotel, a "mall" with overpriced t-shirts and overpriced sun-screen. The Cayo Levantado beach was a disappointment: crowded beach, people trying to sell you stuff, jelly-fish, no change cabins, toilets rather dirty and far away from the beach. 5) The on-site doctor charges super-expensive rates (for a simple 5-10 min consultation) - way more than doctors charge in Canada. Hope we'll get some money back from insurance.

This is my 4th time to Samana and I was hoping this to be the best, but I was disappointed. The good: fantastic views from the room, restaurants food quality is good (when you can get a reservation), and the people are always friendly. The medium: one small buffet with limited variety, but quality is ok. The rooms are comfortable but a little dated, I'd like to have a screen for the door to keep out bugs even though there are very few. The resort is fairly isolated, to me this is a positive, however it backs on to the main road. If you're a light sleeper the road noise at night could be a issue. Lucky our room was ok. The not so good / bad: They only opened one of three feature restaurants! and these were always booked. The online reservation app only allowed you to view two days in advance. When I pushed the staff why? they admitted they were slow and didn't want to staff all of them. Not what was advertised or what I paid for! The buffet was small, lacking variety, ok food quality., but in need of additional ventilation... Very warm and smoke filled from the grill. If you love the beach like me, it was demolished by the September 2022 hurricane. I can only fault my booking company, trip central, for not letting me know beforehand. I recommend checking the status in 2023 of its condition. Overall, this should not be rated a five star luxury resort.

Beautiful resort but missing all the main features! Not 5 star! The main stairs to beach are missing! Existing are steep and dangerous when wet! Room maids are Great but meal staff are very inattentive! Often too many at one time and often their bosses be meaning them in front of patrons! Had no cold water of all things one morning! They were watering the plants!