We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Bahia Principe and I feel compelled to write!!

The flight is very long and dull and First Choice airways make you pay an additional £5 each to watch the best films and play the best games but you do get others if you don't upgrade. You do need to pay for drinks as well.

The hotel is very nice and very clean. Our room was fine, the air con worked, the TV worked and has an English film channel which was useful for the couple of days that we had rain all day!! We did tip the mini-bar guy but didn't get any extra stuff in the fridge but it is re-stocked every day with water, 2 beers and a couple of soft drinks. To be honest we didn't really just want to sit in the room drinking so the low volume of alcohol didn't matter as all the outside bars are very well stocked!

The main restaurant, La Brisa is buffet style and has a good selection of food. They do have different themed nights but as others have said it does start to get a bit repetetive. The A la carte restaurants do get booked up very early so get your weekly allowance booked ASAP. I didn't think much of the Mexican but the Mediterranean and the Seafood were fantastic. In actual fact we did not have bookings for either of the last two but if you go early or late then there is usually some space and if you ask niceley or pretend you were on the list then they let you in!! It seemed that alot more peole had arrived and the buffet had begun to get a bit of a nightmare with people queue jumping as if the food was going to run out!!!

The main pool with the swim up bar is very liveley and the entertainment staff (who must run on duracell batteries!) have water polo, aqua aerobics and other games going on. You are given cards for towels which you give in to get the towel and get back when you return it, a lost towel will cost you 20 dollars. We spent most of our time at the quieter pool where it is easier and quicker to get a drink, Antonio the barman and Raul the pool boy are both lovely people. The bars all open at 10am and close at 11pm once the entertainment has finished (I will come back to the entertainment). The third pool is a small square watersports pool. The beach restaurant is open all day and serves pizza, hot dogs and burgers so if you are hungry between mealtimes you can go there. There is a guy who comes round the pools and along the beach with either an Iguana or parrot (Romeo and Juliette) he takes your photo with the animal and you can buy them in the shop up the strip. The beach is not white sand but is clean and nice, I never saw any sand fleas but I did get a couple of bites. They have submerged huge bags of sand to protect the beach when the waves are big and people climb on them but they can be a bit slippy so take care! The snorkelling round these both inside and outside is good. They have a new guy managing the watersports centre called Neil (he is Engligh) and they have all brand new equipment. You can take out pedallo's, small catermarans or windsurfers and that is included in your holiday. They also have banana rides I think that is 15 dollars for 15 minutes and they have full SCUBA kit. We took our own diving kit with us and booked a package of 6 dives which I think was 260 dollars. The diving is OK and there is plenty of fish life to look at and nice natural swim throughs.

We took two trips out which we booked through the tour operator although lots of people said if you turn right on the beach and book with the guys outside the hotel they are just as good (sometimes they do more that the 'authentic' toors) and half the price. Your rep will tell you that they are not to be trusted but you make your own choice! We did the Outback Safari which is a good trip as you get to see alot of the place and do lots of different things like boogie boarding, boat ride, swim in a river, see a typical dominican house etc. Our tour gide was called Jessie and had us all in stitches the whole day. The company sponsors local schools too so it is a good way of helping the community. We also did the Paradise Island trip and if you like to snokel then it is very good BUT it is a really long day spent mostly travelling. You leave at 6.30 am and spend 2.5 hours on the bus then another 30 mins on a speedboat. You get about 2 hours on the island and then about 30 mins back on the boat stopping very briefly in the mangroves. After lunch it is back on the bus for the 3 hour journey back to the hotel!! The island is a tiny pale yellow sand dot in the ocean with 5 shacks on it to leave clothes, get snorkelling stuff and get drinks, it is surrounded by coral and people feed the fish to get them to come close. When we were there people landed in a helicopter which completely covered everyone and everything in sand!!

August is the hottest month in Dominican and with the humidity at around 95% it feels very very hot!! Take plenty of sunscreen as the hotel shop sells it but it is expensive. Also the cigarettes in the hotel are about £20 - £28 for 200 so probably better value before you arrive there. However fags at the airport coming home are about the same price for 400!

There is a shop in reception and also there are gift shops etc down the strip. The strip consists of shops, a casino (you have to pay for drinks in there), a kareoke bar (the machine never seems to work and they have a singer that looks llike lionel ritchie) and a nightclub. The bars and club open after the main entertainment has finished at 11pm and only the shops are open in the daytime. The strip is still in the hotel complex even though it is on the road it is the road near to the reception.

The entertainment staff work their socks off all day and all night and never seem to have a day off!! They start the evening at about 8.30 when they have kids up to dance on stage and they play the same songs for them and do the same routine EVERY night. Then they have some kids games and at about 9.45 they start with adults games and then the show. The show is usually dance routines and is not really my kind of thing and got a bit boring. Behind the stage is another bar where they have a piano player. All this stops at 11pm and everyone goes to the strip which stays open until around 2 - 3 am.

All in all it is a very pleasant hotel with friendly staff (mostly). It's not 5 star so don't expect to get the things that make the difference in the rating and you won't be dissapointed!! We had a lovely time and met some very nice people. If there is anything I have not covered please feel free to contact me and I will help if I can!!

This place is fantastic! We got out quite a bit and done lots of excursions. the island is breathtaking. Callaton beach a must see! The lobster there is delicious! I even got a couple of tours of the local towns from some of the locals. I had the time of my life.
The people are amazing and the happiest you could ever meet. We stayed for two weeks from the 29th June for my Dads 50th Birthday and we had an excellent time. They even made a cake at half hours notice and brought it out singing happy birthday in spanish. The staff didn't leave me or my daughter alone. She had the time of her life. A special thank you to Navil, who runs the childrens club and babysat for me till the early hours after working 13 hours! you made both our holidays and the care she gave to Erin was treasured. All the staff in this complex will do anything to see you smile! Thankyou.
I must say first choice were not great when my mum was taken ill with suspected DVT. But i loved it so much i'd booked my return holiday in 10 days and me and my daughter fly back in 3 weeks! what else can i say, Bahia Pricipe Rio San Juan needs to be on your must list! What a magic place!

I stayed at the Bahia Principe recently with my partner. We were a little concerned prior to going here due to reading some negative reviews but decided that we should make our own minds up and put any bad reviews to the back of our minds.

Initially the resort appeared to be fabulous, the bar staff, animation team, and food were all excellent. The animation team work so hard to try to keep guests entertained and we couldnt fault the hotel at all at first.

Unfortunately during our second week, our room was entered with no visible sign of forced entry (therefore it appears to have been a member of staff) and our safe was entered despite us having the key on us at all times, and our money, bank card and some identification was taken. The hotel staff and our represnetative were completely rude when we explained what had happened and suggested we were lying.

Some reviews I have read have suggested tht from what they witnessed they thought security and management dealt with these situations well but I have to say that this is completely untrue and I feel that until you are in such a situation you cant truely understand how we were treated when reporting our complaints. 6 other rooms were broken into during our stay and all the staff treated us all appallingly, refusing to accept any responsibility or to call the police, security and management laughing during our complaints, speaking over us and stating that our situation wasnt possible. I know we are not the only guests to complain about the unprofessional and unhelpful way the staff dealt with us and I am very unhappy with the standard of service we received which is extremelly disappointing as up till this happened and ruined the final week of our holiday we had been having a great time.

If you are going here I do hope you have good time but do be very careful of leaving valuables in your room and your safe as nowhere seems to be safe and secure and you certainly won't get help if you do experience problems.

My b/f and I returned from Dom Rep on 14th July having spent the MOST FANTASTIC two weeks at the Bahia Principe. I cannot praise the hotel staff enough for their "genuine" friendliness and dedication to the jobs they do. A special thanks goes to Eddy, he was always there with his jugs of coffee+milk at breakfast. The only problem we had was on arrival, there was no safe in the room, we told the staff at reception and a brand new safe was installed almost immediately. We left a $10 tip for the maid on the first day and for the two weeks the room was always clean+tidy and we always had "towel art", even the sheets and my nightwear were folded decoratively ! The minibar was stocked daily. The hotel hygiene was A1. We had no problems with things going missing from the room, there were always security guards about in the evenings and at night. We had no sickness, just make sure you drink plenty of water, all the bottled water is purified and safe to drink but don't drink the tap water (don't even brush teeth with it).

WILDLIFE: go to the righthand end of the beach at night to see the frogs, they are huge ! the smaller ones sit by the lights in front of the room blocks too. Look out for hummingbirds. The woodpeckers were leaving their nests while we were there in july, they make one hell of a noise and are entertaining chasing each other round the trees. If you want to see the crabs on the beach try and get there about 9am as they come up from the water and proceed to dig out little holes to spend the day in, they are very funny to watch. There were a few little fishes and we did see a small snake in the water once !
With regards to the mosquito's: we would spray ourselves and the bed before we went out in the evening and managed to avoid any bites.
With regards to the sand fleas - we never saw them !

TRIPS:
Ocean World - Excellent ! As they say it's a once in a lifetime experience, it is an expensive day but well worth the money. Photo's $12each and DVD $45. They even have a pool you can snorkel in (they provide the snorkel) and the fish are lovely. Make sure you see the Dolphin Show - it's great. Go and feed the Lovebirds that's fun too.

Outback Safari - Excellent ! our guide was Ruddy, his English was excellent and he gave a lot of interesting and informative information throughout the day. The trip ended with a visit to Cabarette Beach to Boogie Board, this was great fun and enjoyed by all, if you don't want to do this just sit next to the guy with the coolbox on the beach and drink !

Freestyle Catamaran - busy+noisey on the front, quieter and more laid-back on the back. Prepare to get wet on the front ! Just be aware: they stop to snorkel then you all get back on the Cat for lunch and the booze comes out, then they sail for 10 minutes then moor the Cat again so you can get off for another swim/snorkel, so don't eat and drink too much before the second swim !

Paradise Island - WOW, FANTASTIC ! you must do this trip, the speedboat is great and the snorkeling and fish are amazing. This is truly the most beautiful little stretch of sand, the water is so clear and warm.