Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo – All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8506 reviews

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  So So

  Our experience started with disappointment. After a 5-hour flight and a 1-hour drive to the hotel, we had to wait over an hour in line to check in. When we finally arrived at our room (11307), we discovered that the floor of the washroom was covered in water and unusable. Two maintenance staff came to look at it, but when we returned after dinner, the washroom had not been cleaned—it was still dirty and unusable. The next morning, I attempted to use the washroom again, but it was still flooded. I went to the reception at 6:00 AM to report the issue, but no action was taken. Later, around 9:00 AM, I returned with my family to raise the concern again. It was very upsetting, especially as the following day was my birthday. In general, communication was difficult, as many of the staff did not speak English well, which made it hard to order in the restaurants. The resort app showed that restaurants were fully booked, yet we noticed many empty tables. Additionally, we were surprised to find that not all restaurants were open every day. On a positive note, the beach, pool, bar service, and entertainment were all amazing, and we truly appreciated those aspects of our stay. However, due to the issues we experienced, we are unsure whether we would choose to return or recommend this resort to our friends.

  Mar 28, 2025
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  Excellent Hotel!

  Excellent hotel! There was an abundance of delicious food and lots of choice. The grounds are so well maintained and lots of staff around to get good service. The layout of the resort is so well designed, that the dining, pool and beach are all in close proximity of each other. Only drawback would be the well used sheets and pillows and the abundance of smokers.

  Mar 26, 2025
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  Good vacation

  Excellent vacation at the Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo Resort during the 2nd week of March. Beautiful beach, well maintained resort, new pool and buffet, since we were here last many years ago. The food was good, the pastries the best I tasted from any resort. The only item I missed was the chocolate fountain they used to have. The A la Carte restaurants were difficult to reserve since mostly all booked on first day of arrival except some openings on last 3 days of our stay. So book early. We preferred Brasilian one best. They serve different meats or fish on a sword they bring at each table. Entertainment was often a different singer in the evening. Finding room at the beach was never a problem. The water warm with no waves at the beach because of the corals. Bring your snorkel and mask to see beautiful fish. No fins required since beach has soft sand and you do not want to go fast near corals that are 20 ft from beach edge at places. WI-FI good, even possible at beach near buffet building. The service from personnel was very good. Hope to go back again.

  Mar 23, 2025
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  Beautiful, relaxing, comfortable.

  It was our fifth time at Bahia Principe resort and first time at Bahia Principe El Portilo and it was the best by far. The beach is comparable to anything in Maldives or Bora Bora and the clarity of water is incredible. Food was excellent and varied although they can improve on the quality in specialty restaurants. What makes this Bahia special though is the people who work there; the servers, entertainers and bar staff simply magnificent. Geraldo, Diomedes, Santa, Rosa, Omer and Elianna-Stephanie were the ones that made this trip so memorable and pleasant. We're already planning our next trip back. See you soon.

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Solid middle of the road

  This resort is a solid B-. There were times it had hints of a strong B. But overall, it hovered around a 6.5-7/10. Firstly: I will highlight the GREAT things: 1. Cleanliness: Pristine, pristine! The restaurants, the pools, the common areas. And what's more: you literally never felt overwhelmed by cleaners so how did they manage to be so stealthy and yet so precise with their cleanliness. I would rate this an 11/10! WELL DONE! 2. Pools: Excellent. Really nice design, never overwhelming, never crowded even with a full resort of people. Great amenities for the pool. Swim up bar fabulous. There is also a smaller kidney shaped pool near the dormitories of 11 section. Very nice and calm and relaxing. Another 11/10. 3. Location: Samaná is the better place to go, in my opinion, over Punta Cana. The airport is smaller and processes tourists quickly (down side is they have 1 restaurant and only duty free but truly first world problems). The beach is basically private and no one ever bothers you. It is white sand and warm, blue/green waters with shallow parts to snorkel and see the most amazing fish! If you want to get into the "town" which is 15,000 (main city), it takes about 40 minutes but the scenery travelling throughout with canyons and caves is stunning. This scores a strong 10/10. 4. The size: the resort is not large but it is sprawling. It is easy to navigate end to end in 7 minutes. You cannot get lost. It has cool inlets and a village that comes alive at night with shops and vendors (apart from the main lobby which is airy and cool). If you feel lazy, they will take you to wherever by a cart. This is a 10/10 for me. 5. No kids: this is a bonus, if you aren't so into kids, but also a hinderance if you do have kids, like me (11 and 15) and they were looking for comeraderie. They won't find it. The majority of the guests are over 65 and from Quebec (which, for me, was very pleasant and enjoyable) but if you are looking for a more animated place, this isn't it. So for me, that is an 8/10 but if you ask my kids, a 2/10. 6. Flora and fauna: I felt like I was at Jurassic Park. Between the muscovy ducks that roam free, the geckos on trees, these cool black chickens, ALL the cats, the plants, the flowers, the smells...very much a paradise. My son, an aficionado of this type of stuff said it saved the trip for him. I loved every thing I saw (and the grounds are immaculate too). Strong 9/10. The staff are lovely but not enough of them. They never bother you or ask you if you'd like a drink when you are lying at the pool. For me, this is a plus, but it might not be for everyone. Things take longer like check in (2/10) and restaurant attentiveness (4/10), and very few people speak English- only Spanish- which, for me, a sometime Spanish speaker, I am great with but it is very hard to communicate if you don't speak. The staff are very lovely and quite genuine. No one feels like they are expecting to be tipped all the time. Standouts for me include Erickson at the front desk, Eddie with braces at the buffet and Luis Estaban in the buffet. Also Carolina at the Sports bar. The gentleman at the pool doing the entertaining animation was fun too and speaks 4 languages. Overall, nice people but not enough attentive staff. The Air Canada Vacations person was unfortunately not great at communications. This goes for the hotel too. There should be notices sent to your room when you have reservations, a tour, anything. Very poor lack of communication (I almost missed a trip because I was told a different time by the concierge vs the time I was suppose to be at the lobby waiting). The rooms are from 1992. While they are clean, and large and not moldy (big plus) they are worse for wear and very, very outdated. It didn't really matter, but the resort should note this as they did a big pool renovation and it shows but the rest of the places are tired and rundown. Only the Italian restaurant was good, but it didn't matter because no one asked you what you thought anyway and were pretty terse with the service when you'd order. Buffet was nice, and not too crowded even when crowded. You could always get a table (and often cats would dine with you- which I LOVED). The choices of food were meh, if that, but there were things that were edible. Do not eat ice cream. The bolognese was a standout. Too much ham at the salad bar. Not enough veg options. One big plus is the there is no caste system. In that, everyone is on par. No President's club to get you into special areas...the equanimity was refreshing. If this is your thing, this place is not for you. You only get 4/7 nights to eat in 5/7 restaurants. Nice idea. But it would be nice to have a bit more option. Much as I love Teppanyaki (which most resorts have and do not do well), it was refreshing to see different types of restaurants incl. Greek, and Brazilian!!!! Again, for us, a plus, but for others could be seen as a minus. This resort is quite easy to manage and feel relaxed at. The weather was 14/10. The drinks (me only non-alcoholic except for Bloody Caesars) were cold, plentiful and quick to receive. The nightlife and the shows....not great (though the Dominican show was quite good). Everyone tried hard, though. They should get credit for having a lot of heart. comparatively though, they scored low vs any other resort I've been to. Overall, this was a wonderfully relaxing, sun-kissed, happy and easy place to go. I would consider it once they renovate properly. For our March break, though, it was a perfect spot.

  Mar 21, 2025