No regrets.

My friend and I had a great time. The food was excellent. Entertainment was great. Service was excellent. Weather was beautiful. Room was good. Price was amazing. Paid 750$ for 7 nights, airfare, and food. Few tips: although my friend and I did not have bed bugs a few people we met did. Don't let this deter you from going. All you need to do is check your bed in between the creases. If you see some then request another room. Try to book al acarte before you get there to ensure there are openi [... lire plus]ngs. You should be able to do this on there website or app. The Japanese and Mediterranean were excellent! Kayaking is free for one hour each day. Goat cheese with omelette is amazing for breakfast! Wanting to go again in April! Enjoy!

Loved the staff the most

The staff was the best part of this resort for sure. They were all so incredible. The resort itself was average and the beach was disappointing. My family and I are the type that like waves and unfortunately this beach did not cut it. And the beach itself wasn't very nice.

Excellent place to rest.

The weather was variable but enjoyable in general. However, a little too much harassment from local vendors of handcraft items nearby the hotel beach limits. In the buffet service, some times not enough staff to cook omelet for example. The replacement of food dishes takes too long. Room service is very good. Carts shuttle to and from the main lobby is annoying for residents who prefer walking. Too much cars smoke entering the lobby area due to buses and cars parked right at upw [... lire plus]ind location of the lobby. Smoking area is located near the swimming pool and right next to the walkway to the buffet. Very uncomfortable for non smokers.

The resort was good

This hotel was too far from Samana airport, two hours bus ride to the hotel. We arrived very late and the snack bar was very limited they only had grilled cheese, nachos, fries, hotdogs and hamburgers. The room is average the bed and pillow was not comfortable only if you like hard beds. The buffet is the same menu every day, the vita dolce is the best restaurant to dined in. The front desk try to accommodate your request but cannot resolve anything the manager authorization, so you will have [... lire plus] a waiting period before anything get resolved. The beach is not that nice and i got bitten by a lot of sand flies at the beach. The nights shows are amazing. Overall this is a very average resort it not like the other bahia principe that i have stayed at. I don't think this resort was worth the price that i paid for. After all it bests getting away from the cold and to enjoy the sunshine.

Trip review

This resort is big and clean but the staff look very missarable not friendly don't want to help and they don't think your request is important. The rooms are not cleaned properly and you have to ask for towels. When you ask the front desk for anything you are told come back tomorrow again and again very frustrating. The food was terrible need more variations instead of the same thing every day too much seafood signs are not placed in the right place so you don't know what you're eating people ha [... lire plus]ve allergies which could cause the resort a lot of problems. Immigration was a bunch of bullies and think they have a lot of power very rude I would never go back to this resort or Dominican Republic again.

Great resort for value

The service and the food is very good. The restaurants were a must to go. The beach is nice and long. Hotel would need some maintenance but the important (service, food, cleanliness) is excellent. I recommend this resort.

Wonderful experience

The grounds and the sea was great. The room was very near to the lobby which was good.The room itself had problems..the plumbing and later the roof leaking on the washroom was disgusting. I can recommend people to go provided the alterations are made. Food was good ..shows were okay too.But the ticks in the sand were giving grief to all of us ..it continues still after 3days of returning.. Overall a good experience.

A little tired...but clean

the grounds are kept lovely, and the resort is clean, but it is in dire need of an overhaul/reno. A fresh coat of paint and roofing replaced would go a long way to achieving this. The palms on the beach are lovely, and provide ample shade for when you've had enough sun. The breakwater lumps in the water, while effective at reducing the surf and resulting dangerous undertow, are unsightly and spoil the beauty. Since they turn a light green color with the algae, maybe instead of black, a light gr [... lire plus]een color or an aqua color might've helped them 'blend' into the scenery a little better. Service was overall very good, and the food was, well....the food. Not any better or any worse than most other resorts in the Caribbean, but certainly nothing to rave about. The Dolce Vito and the Takana ala cartes were decent, but the Orquidea ala carte was above average. Since we travelled with Air Canada, we were allowed 4 ala cartes, so we chose to go to Orquidea twice. Insect bites. Now here's a real minus. After a couple of days we noticed we were both getting small red welts all over, and were they itchy! At first, my wife thought they might be bed bugs, but after close inspection we determined this was not the case. We didn't feel anything biting us, and didn't see anything either. We were puzzled for a day or two, but we noticed others with the same red welts on their legs and arms. Then we saw them. Right around 5pm, when the sun was getting lower in the sky, tiny, almost microscopic winged bugs. Sandfleas we suspect. We coated ourselves with bug repellent as well as sunscreen for the remainder of the week, but the itching sort of spoiled the vacation. We have been to other resorts in the past where they fog the beach and pool areas with insecticides at dusk when everyone is away from those areas. The nightly entertainment was ghastly, although the Michael Jackson show and the circus show were quite good. All in all a good time, but a few things need addressing at this resort.

Jim and Tanya's 2 week stay at Grand Bahia Rio San Juan Nov 23rd - Dec 7th 2018

The most important asset that completely made our stay great was - The Staff. All staff were courteous and friendly, here are some of the highlights. Emmanuel - front desk, wealth of knowledge, follows up all requests, always a smile warm and friendly Maria - Lobby and La Brisa entrance cleaning. WE LOVE HER. Maria remembered us from our previous trip April 2017 Gleny (very pregnant) and Aneida - daqueri bar - Met all expectations, friendly and warming, helped us in our endeavors to le [... lire plus]arn and improve our Spanish Rosanna - far pool bar - fun loving, great service, treated customers as special friends. We really enjoyed her company. Her English is very good Zunlinda/Noelia/Veronique/....leo - La casito blanco - A great dance environment, daily fun with all staff, joking dancing answering questions. Always greeted with smiles, attentive to all patrons needs. BBQ chefs a blast, pictures and grilling. Fabulous paella lesson. Jose - dance animations - WOW amazing energy, talkative, friendly, fluent english, spanish lessons, great overall entertainer dance party dj / afternoon games / sushi making - oooooh my goodness - great involvement, great entertainer Angel - waiter japanese a la carte - excellent service, conversation, interest in people, friendly La Brisa - Rafael (Birdman) - lots of fun, great service, friendly, hell of a good husky call. We went out of our way to be seated in his section in the mornings Facilities - lobby - spacious and clean, beautifully decorated pool bar - yesbeth - very personable, accommodating, great smile, friendly. excellent service overall grounds - very clean, well maintained and manicured food - overall - plenty of food, high quality, excellent head chef and organization, great variety a la cartes - japanese top choice room - row D has a smell of sewage, not top choice, poor view from patio with plants blocking view fridge service - poor cleaning staff - good job drivers - fast, polite, courteous, helpful Suggestions - - music at small pool bar - mini put/tenis/basketball - need refreshments (beer, pop, water simple cooler with ice), ground soft and soggy, look for a broken or leaking pipe, drain has water running constantly after 8 completely dry days ?!? music would be great. - disco requires more variety to meet crowd demands, seems like dj only plays music that he likes. we have several pictures to share, please forward an e-mail address to send to

Beautiful resort

The grounds were beautiful it was very clean and everything was emaculate ,they were very quick to help in every request . The entertainment during the day could have been a little more upbeat and a little more interaction with the guests . The nightly entertainment was a little to repetitive always the same music for the kids show and the adult shows could have been more elaborate and entertaining the beach party was cancelled and then had an audience interaction show that wasn't very good . Al [... lire plus]l staff was always there to help with anything you asked except to be able to have hot water for showers we had cold showers all week long . The pools needed more attention to the cleaning procedures ,often seen very dirty looking so went to the ocean . All in all was a great holiday just didn't enjoy the long bus ride to the resort .

Bahia principe rio san juan

The resort was excellent.Food was probably the best we have ever had.The only things was the air conditioners in the rooms are near your head therefore making it hard to sleep, usually they are located away from the bed on another wall.The distance to the resort is a drag but you get to see the rest of the island so it's exceptable. We were taken by surprise because when we got to the airport we discovered we had to fill out the tourist card and the claim form, which we thought the air Canada r [... lire plus]ep should have given them to us at the resort. The beach is much like beaches in Canada not white sand but brown sand with shells, but that being said we had lots and lots of loungers to choose from anytime of day.Service at the resort is top notch with many cheery staff to help you.Air Canada had some delay issues both going down and coming back. Question:Why when you pay extra money for seats in emergency exits on all airlines they give these seats up when the doors shut.We have paid a lot of extra money for these and they are given so easily to others, who should be made to stay in the seats they booked or have been assigned to.I understand if they overbook then they need a seat but if there is enough seats then they should not be moved to a seat I paid extra money for.This has happened numerous times.

Great Resort

The hotel was well spaced out and a good amount of shuttles to take you back to your rooms. Lots of activities to get involved in daily. Food was good, lots of variety at the buffet and single nightly restaurants. Staff looked like they really enjoyed working there

Beautiful resort

beautiful room 2020 wonderful shower excellent pool amazing beach food was great and the people very nice at night time walkways were well life up. yes we would come here again. on our last two days we found a wonderful spot right between the beach pool and bar we stayed there for the two days. thank you very much

Pretty Decent

People were SUPER nice. More for an older crowd. Not much night life other than the kareoke bar which nobody really sings at, and the “club” which is never really full. Beach is decent, pool is decent. Drinks were amazing. Rooms are constantly being cleaned and food and drinks in the refrigerator are constantly being refilled which is amazing. Food was actually pretty good, nothing to complain about.Overall, I would recommend this place to someone who just wants a place to relax and not part [... lire plus]y much.

Nice Resort for Reasonable Cost

We stayed at the Grand Bahia San Juan from April 12th to April 22nd. Resort is kept clean, staff are friendly, food is good and pools are very nice. Beach area was ok, darker sand and very very hot on the feet, It is a public beach so there are many vendors waiting to sell you everything from excursions to braided hair and knick knacks. We booked all excursions through our rep and did not have any problem. Jeep Safari tour (8 hour) ($75 usd per person) was excellent as well as the Puerto Plata t [... lire plus]our (9 hours) ($80 usd per person). We also did the dune buggy's and four wheelers which was fun but definitely not worth the money they charge (3 hours) ($130 usd per person). We had a couple of issues when we first arrived. Mini fridges in both rooms we booked were not working. We called it in and they were both fixed within in 24 hours. We flew down with WestJet and could not have asked for a better rep down there. His name was Lewis, and he was always available to answer all our questions and concerns. Spa is lovely and the ladies are very friendly. Animation team were always around encouraging people to get involved in the daily activities at the pool and on the beach. Only thing that would have been nice would have been a 24 hour bar/snack shop because the bars don't open till 10am.

Beautiful resort

The resort is very lovely and the staff are accommodating and friendly. Our room was perfectly located close to the small pool, which was excellent and steps away from the buffet. Our room was kept clean and well stocked daily. The food was great with an amazing array of choices. The buffet staff, although run off their feet at times, tried their best to keep our water full. It appeared at times they had run out of clean cutlery though. Check in was a little confusing as staff didnt send u [... lire plus]s to the West jet check in right away - signs would have been helpful. Our biggest problem for the week was finding rum cream to drink (our new favorite) as they were constantly running out. Over all, a great place, certainly worth what we paid.

Nice Resort

Staff very friendly, but upon arrival it was a bit chaotic in registering, and filling out forms, then had to get back in line after filling out forms to get wrist bands. Some people would fill out forms, then get back in front of the line. Needs to be organized by the staff. Also no one told us that we had to bring back our beach towels to the front desk or to take the to the towel exchange. These beach towels were already in our suite upon arrival and there was nothing in the room stating we [... lire plus] had to return them anywhere, so we left them in the room. Upon checking out we were told we had to return them or be charged $10 per towel. I had to run back to the suite and get the towels and pass into the front desk. Cleaning was not bad, but sometimes my bathroom mirror was not cleaned and I did not get clean glass in washroom for brushing my teeth (we only put out our cleaning sign every second day) but when we put out our sign, we wanted everything cleaned! Buffet food was fabulous and plenty of selection. A la cartes were nice, but were booked so fast. We tried to book upon arrival, but times were limited or they were booked already. But when we did arrive at the a la cart, they were mostly empty. Lobby store was so overpriced, it was ridiculous. Selling small bags of chips US$3 and large US$7. Who pays that!! Plus didn't like being followed around by the clerk when we were looking at items. Free WiFi in the lobby was great, but it should be in our rooms as well, plus it was very difficult to get it sorted out. Bar staff great. Entertainment, was great one night only. Vendors at the shops on the resort were not friendly at all, and barely spoke English. Beach was great, but need more beach chairs and covers. Main pool was closed three times due to someone throwing up in it and crapping in it. I attended the water aerobics class - not very good, not organized. The instructor had us running on the pool deck. I stopped as I almost slipped. She also got us to make up exercises.!! She should have something already set up. The gym was very very small, no room to move around. Had basic equipment which was fine. It had a sign saying it had A/C but the staff had the door propped open, so that was useless and it was hot as hell in there. One visit was enough for me. Gym did not provide water either. The grounds were very nice, the suites were great. Fridge wasn't that cold, a/c in one room didn't work, but we had a ceiling fan which helped alot.

This resort was amazing

The grounds were beautiful staff were amazing rooms very clean food was plenty a big variety only thing i dident like was the beach not what i expected the shows at night were great very entertaining

The best resort ever

The resort was amazing. There was always activities to participate in and the staff were friendly and super nice. The food was amazing and there was always a lot of variety. This is one of my fav resorts to go to!

Great Resort, Great Staff

This was our first time in Dominican Republic and in this resort. At the beginning we were not really sure, but when we arrived we realized that we made the right decision. The place is beautiful, the food was great, the staff were very polite and helpful. very clean and organized. We had a blast with shows, entertainment and karaoke. I specially thank Carlin the manager at the front desk and Waldy at the guest desk (specially for the beautiful gift). You guys were awesome. We will definitely go [... lire plus] back.