After reading some of the reviews on here I was a little worried about going here but as soon as we arrived I knew it would be a great holiday.

The place is huge which it needs to be as there is nothing else around. The grounds and gardens are lovely and looked after everyday by a team of people.

On arrival we were checked in very quickly and given a drink, which was very welcome after the journey from the airport. Porters then take your cases to your rooms for you.

The rooms are basic but adequate and clean. Who goes on holiday to spend all their time in their room anyway. The pool areas are great and sun loungers were always available. Staff are excellent at daytime activities but don't feel pressured to join in if you don't want to a polite no thanks will suffice.

I thought the beach was great. You will not get the clear white sands and green seas here as you are on the Atlantic side but it is a nice clean private beach with plenty of loungers and things to do. You can relax under the palm trees, join in the organised activities or take part in the included watersports i.e. pedalos, wind surfing etc.

Food was faultless. There is a great choice at the buffet. The old favourites like chips and burgers are there every night along side a fresh pasta bar but there is also plenty of meat, vegetables etc. and the desserts are to die for. Also good for a quick snack at lunch is the bar on the beach. Everyone must try the chicken soup.

The restaurants were all amazing. The mediteranean was delicious. Really nice surroundings and excellent food. Mexican also good and make sure you take your camera for the "sombrero" photographs. Italian also good (nice pizza!)

Drinks are faultless as everything including lots of cocktails are all part of the all inclusive. Cannot understand people complaining about the strength of drinks as no measures are used. Think it just depends on who serves you.

Trips we did were Dominican flavours, Ocean World and the caribbean wonders trip to Saona Island. All were really well organised and would recommend.

Night times can become a little repetitive with the shows but these people are not professional entertainers and do a great job with what they do. Once the shows have finished in the hotel the strip outside opens and the night carries on. Again this is all part of the all inclusive programme.

I was a little ill for a few days but just grab some medicine from the shop or take something with you for upset stomachs and within a few days you will be fine.

All in all a fantastic stay and would definitely go again.

Resort Name: Bahia Principe (Golden Club)

Tour Company: Air Transit

Location of Resort: San Juan, Dominican Republic

Date: July 11-18 2008

Name: Andrea and Kevin

Where are you from? Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Pictures: http://travel.webshots.com/album/564211093IKREZM?vhost=travel

Travel and Arrival:
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Bahia Principe from July 11-18. Our flight was a mourning flight scheduled to depart at 6:20am. The flight was a bit late leaving but we arrived in Puerto Plata at the scheduled time of 10:20. Customs and Immigrations went smoothly and retrieving our luggage was quick. Once out of the terminal we went to find our Air Transit Rep to see what bus we were on. The transfer to the Bahia is an hour long or more depending on traffic and road conditions. While you are on the bus to the resort they do the check in and give you your bracelets already. Once you get to the resort you are told to go to the reception to see if your room is ready as well as your welcome package. Since we had booked the Golden Club we had a separate reception area at the Golden Club House and were told to go there. The transfer for us took an hour and we arrived at the resort around 12:15pm.

Check in:
When we arrived we were greeted with a welcome drink while we waited for the luggage to be unloaded. Once the luggage was unloaded we went to the Golden Club House to see if the room was done. With 30 other people checking to see if their room was ready the boyfriend and I decided to go have lunch and check back in an hour once everyone was gone. We returned around 2:00pm and were told our room was ready (2215). Upon arriving at the room we found that it had two beds instead of one king so we went back to the Golden Club House to see if we could get another room. They were happy to accommodate us with a new room but it would be another half hour while they got it ready. Once again we disappeared into the Bahia enjoying having a few drinks and checking everything out. Before we knew it was 4:00pm and we quickly went back to the Golden Club House to get our room. Our new room would be 2254 and they quickly sent a bellboy to take our luggage from the old room to the new one.

Room:
Our room was the last unit on the second floor with a partial view of the ocean and beach from the balcony. It was a nice room but nothing fancy. One problem we had with it was that it didn’t have anything in it that the brochure said.

Gold Club Guest is to receive in their room

• Beach towels, bathrobes and slippers in room
• Mini-bar restocked daily (water, soft drinks and beer)
• Coffee-maker in room
• VIP room amenities (soaps and lotions)
• One bottle of rum in room

None of these things were in the room. We phoned immediately to inform them of the problem and were told everything would be brought shortly. It took them quite awhile to get everything for the room and we still didn’t have the mini bar stocked with at least water and pop that night.
We found out later that week that everything is done separately when setting up the rooms. There is the maid who only does the room. There is a mini bar guy who brings all the water, beer, and soft drinks so if you want more you have to tip him not the maid. And there is a staff member from the Golden Club who takes care of all the extras the room gets. This could explain why we had so much trouble with the room the first day.

Grounds:
The Bahia is a massive resort (941 rooms) with a Tran that runs through the resort regularly so you do not have to walk. Its walkways are lined with tropical flowers and the grounds are landscaped with mature tropical foliage everywhere. It is well kept and is breathe taking.

Beach:
The beach is quite nice though it is not the sandy white beach you find in Punta Cana. It is kept well cleaned by the resort and there are plenty of palm huts to laze under along it. The beach located on the diamond side is much nicer then the Golden side but there are more people always there. As for the sand fleas everyone is commenting on we did not have any problems on the beach and we stayed at the beach every day.

Pool:
We didn’t use any of the pools because we prefer the beach. They all appeared to be well kept and clean.

Bars:
While we were there only 5 of the bars were in operation (pool, lobby, piano, lounge, and wet bar in the pool). These bars open at different times so it was always easy to get a drink. We mainly got our drinks from the pool bar at the quiet pool through the day. Antonio was our bartender for the week there and he did a great job keeping our cups full. Watch out for that 151.

Drinks:
After staying at 33 resorts over the past 18 years throughout the Caribbean, I have to say that the Bahia had the worst frozen drinks I ever had. It did not matter if you got a Pina Colada, Coco Loco, Bahama Mama the mix they used was the same at all the bars and were horrible. We settled on drinking their drink the Bahia Principe for the week which was rum, amaretto, and orange juice. It was quite tasty.

Restaurants:
We didn’t do any of the a la carte and settle on the main buffet La Brisa and the beach grill (Casita Blanca) at lunch. The main buffet was very good with plenty of variety for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each night had a different theme night which they displayed at the entrance of the buffet in the mourning. If you didn’t like the theme you always had time to book a la carte. When you entered the buffet the host would ask you for your room number and then would ask you to use the hand sanitizer which they offer you to use before entering the buffet. As for the beach grill everything was good but there was not too much variety. You choices were a hamburger, hot dog or chicken with fries or pre-made sandwiches. One day they did have pizza.

Staff:
I have been to many resorts in the Caribbean and the staff at the Bahia had to be the best I have ever had to spend my holiday with. They made our week at the Bahia exceptional.

Conclusion:
For us we always think of the Bahia as a paradise in the middle of nowhere. Quiet, relaxing and fun. Would we go back? Yup!

I stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks in oct 2006, When we first pulled up at the hotel i thought it was really lovely, nice lobby friendly staff if you tip them enough. There was a big queue for the reception so we queued like everyone else and when it got to us we was told there was no more double rooms and we would have to take a triple at extra cost, we argued for 20 minutes until we got our own way and was given our room key and was told to find it ourselves in a hotel with 940 rooms, this then took us an extra 15 minutes to find as the rooms are in apartment blocks. The Room was another story we walked into the bathroom to find a long line of ants crawling in the bath and up the wall we called reception to be told someone would come over the next day to sort it out. We was woken up by loud banging on the door at 7am thinking it was someone coming to get rid of the ants it was the maid coming to clean the room we told her to come back later she came back 4 times in the space of 20 minutes in the end we left so she could clean then went back to bed.

After being at the beach all day (if you can call it that) we returned to our room to find more ants and noone had come to sort it out! we went straight to reception and complained they brushed us off with a 'it will be sorted right away' it was still the same for 3 more days. On the 6th day as i was walking through the restaurant i slipped on oil and badly sprained my ankle the waiter helped me up and to my room and then told me that the manager would be there soon (he never turned up) i was then told that i couldn't have meals sent to my room and that i would have to suck it up and deal with it!!!!! My whole holiday was ruined because of the sheer rudeness of the staff/manager i would never go back!!!!

After reading mixed reviews on this site I was pleased that I had chosen this hotel. Firstly I would like to say that I must have been staying at a different hotel to a lot of other people who had nothing but bad things to say about it. To say that ambulances were always taking people to hospital is rubbish, yes people had problems but the hotel has notices up telling you that as you are in a different country and a warmer climate you have to expect that your stomach may be affected, I am not disputing that some people were affected worse than others but if you consider how many people stay at the hotel maybe thats to be expected. The hotel was spotless and I never saw any flies in the restaurants, food was good and plenty to choose from, staff very helpfull and attentive always refilling your drinks, night time entertainment a bit boring after a while but they do their best to entertain you. Did not use any of the pools as prefer the beach which is really nice and child friendly. Did a few trips which were great, Paradise Island, Ocean World and Laguna jeep safari. I would advise that you take out a safety deposit box for your own peace of mind, one review states that staff were always in and out of their room, this did not happen to us the only people were the maid the guy who fills the mini bar and once the guy to check air conditioning and he was accompanied by a security guard. Overall a great holiday