Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro Reviews

The pools were nice enough, but even though we upgraded, so we were able to use a pool that not everyone was able to use, there were never enough chairs for everyone. The rules said not to put your towel on the chairs to save them, but everyone did, because if they didn't they probably would not get one later. This lead people to put a towel on a chair for the entire day, but might not start to use it until mid-afternoon. Also, at this pool there was no restroom. We also found that every toilet in the resort had a large size toilet, but a small toilet seat. None of the toilet seats were the right ones for the toilets. They didn't have the selection of blender drinks that we are used to when we go to resorts in Mexico. The food had a lot to be desired. There wasn't much variety at the a la carte restaurants, and thebuffets basically had the same food everyday. For the size of the resort they need to have more restuarant choices. The only one that had good food was Maiko the Japanese restaurant. We had ordered the lobster casserole at one place and got a gravy type soup with the whole lobster clumped into it, shell and all. This was probably the worst meal we had there. The only entertainment they had was late at night. They needed an area like a Plazza that you could gather early in the evening to have pre-dinner cocktails with mini-entertainment, as some places in Mexico do. The bartenders gave the best service. One day we did not get our room cleaned, or bed made, because they came about 5:30, just when we were getting ready for the evening. I don't think that this resort was any worse than any other in the area, as we talked to several people when we did outings or at the airport and they said they were staying at supposedly 4 to 5 star resorts too and they weren't impressed either. I would probably not recommend to anyone to go to the Dominican Republic, not just this resort. When you went out on excursions you could not use the restrooms, as they were primative and filthy.

The Beaches and Pools at this resort were beautiful!!! Just so you know if you book through cheap caribbean you get a different color bracelet than everyone else because they "Paid More". That's what we were told when we got different colors than our friends who booked through Apple but we paid the exact same price. No one speaks English. We only got dinner reservations one night, had to eat at the buffett the rest of the time. We did to try to make reservations as soon as we got there and still didn't get any. The staff was rude and didn't seem to care about anything. Our room was ok....needs to be updated a bit but not a problem for us since we are hardly in the room but the room had bugs everywhere. My husband got mosquito bites all over his face. None of our friends who were on the 2nd and 3rd floor had this problem just us and my sister in law on the ground level. Nice resort just needs a little help in the Customer Service Department.

Check In- check in was a breeze, we stayed at the hacienda club ( which is a must) so we had a private check in. Hotel- We knew the hotel is large, but the map on-line is deceiving. The properties are much closer to each than they look which made the pools and beach more crowded. We stayed in building 27 room 206 which faced the courtyard and was centrally located to the beach and pool areas. The grounds of the hotel were beautiful and very well maintained. Beach- Beach is a little rocky and small. There are a lot of chairs, but most are under trees or huts. It feels really crowded because there isn't much area to put chairs into the sun. Water is very blue and they do a pretty good job cleaning up the morning seaweed. We didn't spend much time at the beach because you had to get there early to get a chair in the sun. Pools- There are 2 general pools for everyone and 3 that are specific to certain bracelets or certain guest. We stayed at the Hacienda Club which gave us access to one of the pools that was centrally located and not crowded at all. The other pools were very busy and had a lot of activites going on with lots of kids. My girlfriend and I were looking to have a more relaxing time,which we got from the Hacienda Club pool. Food- With the Hacienda Club we were able to eat at the Italian restaurant for breakfast and lunch everyday, which is right across from the Hacienda Club pool. It has the same stuff as the main buffet, but with not as much assortment. We chose to eat at the main buffet for both breakfast and lunch because if had more to choose from. Dinner buffet was average, but we could always find something we liked. We went to four a la carte - japenese- really good. Italian-average, steak-really good,Mexican -average. All of the restaurants only serve pop,beer and wine. Entertainment- Michael Jackson show is a must as well as the rest of the shows at the hotel. The entertainment is one of the highlights. They have two main shows a night one at 9:15 and another at 10:15 and there is a bar at the theatre. The lobby bar also has a singer or piano player most of the nights. Overall- Overall we had a good experience, but for us we would have preferred a resort a little smaller with a better beach.

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro From June 4th till June 18th. We have stayed at other all inclusives and I must say that this is the best we have stayed at. There were just a few problems, but none that ruined our vacation., and we accepted them and went on to have a great time! Overall this is a large resort, but you actually have no problem getting around as there are trams to take you everywhere. The resort is beautifully landscaped. You always see them working on the grounds. The maids do an awesome job at cleaning and restocking your room on a daily basis. Food: the Al a carte restaurants were excellent we enjoyed each that we went to, you actually feel like a king and queen of the day in these area. The buffet was also very good, if you could not find something that you liked it was your own fault, wide selection of food. I was amazed to see them actually taking the temperature of foods and disposing of foods that did not meet the criteria, changing the ice that food was sitting on. Pool The pools are very large and clean we only had one problem and that was the service at LasOlas bar as the bartender did not like to serve certain ethic groups, and it showed. Our overall expereince was a very good one. we highly recommend this resort.!!!

We had great service and as soon as we told them at the resort that we were on our honeymoon, and also our second time back to the same resort, they gave us a few special things. All of the workers were so nice and the majority spoke alot of English! I would definatley recommend this resort!

I would recommend this property. It was an excellent vacation. Facilities are very nice, grounds are very well kept. Food was amazing. People were always very happy to serve you. I will definitely go back again.

We were very pleased by how beautiful the beaches were here. There were plenty of beach chairs to go around. The food was good and no one got sick from it, unlike the Mexico trip we took last year. The service was good, drinks plentiful and tasty. The only possible complaint could be how heavy the surf was on this beach, but for me it was a draw. It made it more beautiful. I would go back. This ranked as one of our favorite destinations to date.

Overall this is a nice place and BIG! It's so big that half way through our stay we found more of the resort past the front lobby!!! It was nice because we felt like we didnt need to leave, there was always something to see or do and it went along with our "No Plan Vacation Plan." It was very easy to get around even for someone like me who is direction illiterate! There are little trams that go from one end to the other end of the resort to pick you up which was nice but we found the walking was better and didnt take long at all. The resort itself as a whole was bueatiful! The room was very spacious and was decorated every day with flowers! (Nice touch) The beach had soft sand and was very clean (there were employees walking around picking up after people). Most people found it hard to get a spot at the beach but we didnt. We'd grab something to eat around 12 and then head to the beach after and always found a place to sit (we never went to the pool). The food was below average at the snack bar/buffet area, it wasnt bad just VERY plain and their idea of a salad is very different. We dined at the Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean resturants. The Japanese was great be sure to book it with the show. A chef will cook in front of you and it's fun. The Italian was a let down, But the Mediterranean was to die for!! SO YUMMY!!! The staff was not unfriendly, they just werent as friendly as they should be. I think it has to do with the language barrier. Most groundkeepers, maids and others will not say anything to you while walking by. On the other hand, we had 2 maintenance issues and as soon as we told someone, they would come right away to fix it!! We had upgraded our package to include a private check in and check out, a private pool, a private breakfest and lunch and a room closer to the beach. I would recommend doing so. If you end up in a room closer to the beach without the upgrade, you'll have to go to the other end of the resort for breakfest every morning. Not a big deal but having the extras was worth the small amount to upgrade. I was nervous about having pan handlers or timeshare people bother us but it NEVER happend and having the wifi in the lobbies was great to contact people back home! As for our rep from Olympus Tours, I cant say enough! Nelson was GREAT!! Always there for questions and sugestions and always wanted to know if there were any issues with our stay so he could get them fixed for us! He really seemed to care how our trip was unfolding! Thanks for making it very relaxing!!