A Review of Bahia Principe in Punta Cana

By Sharon Harrison

I just returned from a wonderful seven day trip to the Dominican Republic with my husband and another couple. This was my second trip to this resort and my husband's first time. We stayed in the Punta Cana area, which is at the far eastern end of the island. We stayed at the Bahia Principe Grand Aquamarine.

Entrance to Bahia Principe

The Bahia Principe brand of resorts offers a huge complex with seven joined resorts:

Bahia Principe Ambar (luxury), Bahia Principe Aquamarine, Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana, Bahia Principe Fantasia, Bahia Principe Grand Turquesa, Bahia Principe Esmeralda and Bahia Principe Grand Bavaro. If you stay in one, you have access to some of the others, depending on which one you stay in.

The Bahia Principe wording at the entrance to the resort

I preplanned the airport transfers using Amstar. They were waiting for us at the airport and led us to the van. You have the option of doing shared or private transportation. I have now done both. The private one you don't have to drop others off at their resorts, you are just driven straight to your resort. But, the shared transportation, you might have to make other stops before being delivered to your hotel.

It was about an hour drive from the airport to Bahia Principe. It was a comfortable ride and didn't feel too long. Once we got to the resort, we were dropped at the main lobby for Ambar and Aquamarine. Check in was very fast. We requested building 82 as it is right by the pool. The first time we had a pool view and this time, we had a view of the workers coming and going and trucks coming and going. It was a little noisy, so try to get the pool side. The room itself was nicely decorated with a large four poster king sized bed. It had a sitting area and a desk. The refrigerator was restocked every day with beer, soft drinks, and water and it was very cold. The bathroom was large with a shower and jacuzzi tub, and two sinks. The closet had plenty of space to hang and/or fold items, and the dresser below the tv had drawers for more storage. There was a safe inside the closet. Everything was always very clean! We always had plenty of towels.

We came to the room to find this beautiful towel swan

A short walk down the stairs and out the door brought us right to the pool. We were on the quieter side of the pool and were able to use the cabanas a time or two. The towel attendants go around and pick up towels to try to keep people from saving chairs all day without using them. Just know that if you leave your stuff, you may have to go collect them at the towel station. The other end of the pool area has a swim up bar with music and activities, and foam parties.

The quiet end of the Aquamarine pool

Most of the time, we went to eat at the buffet. Every resort has a buffet, but you are only allowed to eat in the buffet of the resort you booked in. You are allowed to eat with reservations at the specialty restaurants throughout the whole complex, and there is a snack bar by the beach that serves hot dogs, hamburgers, empanadas, french fries, onion rings, ice cream and other snacks. There was also a wave pool by the beach. The beach was really busy this time, and not as busy when I was there in October.

The beautiful beach at Bahia Principe

The wave pool

If you are interested in eating at any of the specialty restaurants, you should make those reservations as soon as possible when you get there as they book up pretty fast. The only one we were really interested in was the Maiko Japanese Restaurant where they chef cooks the meal right at your table. We reserved that one for the last night of our stay. It was really wonderful! There are two of them though, so make sure you go to the right one!

Raul cooked for us at the Maiko Japanese Restaurant

Raul lit it on fire!

Staff from the spa circulate around the pool offering deals for massages and other treatments. My husband and I went on one the second full day of our stay. Make sure you go one hour early so you can enjoy the hydro spa, which was included with the price of the massage!!! In there, you can take a cold dip, go into warm pools, go into a dry sauna and a wet sauna, walk on warm rocks to massage your feet, lay in water massage beds in a warm pool, and lay on water bed loungers. It is very relaxing. Then, you are taken in for your massage, which was wonderful!!!

Every evening, the second lobby area has live music followed by some type of entertainment and then more live music. We watched a circus show, a fire show, a retro show (70's and 80's music), and lots of live music. The staff was very good about getting people up to dance and interacting with the crowd. You can also roam around to the other Bahia resorts and watch their entertainment.

Circus performers performed for us one evening

Mid-week we left the resort on a planned excursion. We went on a catamaran down the shore, went to a big platform out in the water. We got to hold a stingray, drive little speed boats, snorkel and swim. They served us a lunch and then we went back to the resort. It was about three hours. We booked this from a Canada Air tour representative in the second lobby.

To clarify what I mean by first and second lobby: the first lobby is for check in and check out. The second lobby handles all other requests, has a bar, and a patio area where the entertainment is. The second lobby is where you can make all your reservations. You can also use their app to make reservations.

I highly recommend this resort. If you want a quiet experience, you can hang by the pool or at the beach, which was also very nice. But, if you are the kind of person that likes to keep busy, there are lots of activities to do all around the complex. There are so many positives about this resort and only a few things I can think of as negatives. The first thing is the language barrier: some of the staff know English pretty well, others only know a few basic things. It is hard to communicate for those who don't speak Spanish. The second thing is the towel collection: if you are person who likes to get up early, go save your seats by the pool, go eat breakfast and come back to lounge in your chair, you might be disappointed. You might come back to someone else sitting in your chair. But, that is a positive too because haven't we all gone to the pool and found all the chairs to be saved with no one sitting in them?

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