What We Love
- Indulge yourself in a variety of fabulous spa treatments, including the popular coconut spa therapies.
- Take your ocean adventures up on a notch with paddle surfing, kayaks, catamarans and snorkeling.
- Enjoy the best that the resort has to offer with 24-7 room service service throughout your stay.
Things to Know
- The drive from Samana International Airport to the resort is approximately one hour.
- Onsite activities are perfectly suited to adults and families alike.
- Maximize your vacay hours by checking pick-up times on scheduled transfers.
Exclusive Amenities for Club Golden Guests:
- All the services of the all-inclusive package
- Private reception
- Welcome cocktail
- 4 dinners in specialty restaurants per week
- Private club house
- Free Internet access in the club house.
Location
Samana - BeachProperty Information
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Resort Details
Dining
Amenities
Activities
Hotel Advisories
General Policies & Fine Print
Check-in Policy:
Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy:
Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy:
This hotel cannot guarantee a spring-break-free environment.
Transfer Policy:
A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information:
Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price.
Minimum night stay restrictions may apply.
Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
7429 reviews
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Mar 29, 20205 Star vacation
A fantastic stay. Check in was smooth, the room was nice, the beds were comfortable, the AC was cold, the grounds were very well maintained, the beach was gorgeous, the entertainment crew was amazing and the food was FANTASTIC! Would definitely come back. We came home 2 days before the no travel warnings were put out due to Covid19.
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Mar 25, 2020
A March break to remember
My family stayed at Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo just before the travel restrictions for Covid-19 were put in place. I cannot day enough about how much we loved this resort. From the water park to the pool to the beach and everywhere in between this resort was impeccably maintained. The staff was amazing. We never once needed to complain about anything. The food was fantastic, and in fact, all 6 of us were always able to enjoy our meals. The wait staff was always smiling and incredibly helpful. Francis in particular made us all laugh everyday. The entertainment crew was spectacular! Angel, Kendri, Victor, and the rest went out of their way to get us laughing, dancing, and playing every single day. My son (7) also made friends with the bell boy crew, and was always eager to get us a ride to our villa. It broke our hearts to watch as the resort was packed up and staff sent home as our trip came to an end. Despite the fear and stress, the staff was professional, helpful, and amazingly kind the whole week. I will definitely recommend this resort to anyone once the global crisis has resolved.
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Mar 11, 2020Small Resort in a Lovely, Private Setting
Transfer Service – 5 out of 5 If you book directly through the hotel, you get free transfers from Santo Domingo (SDQ) or Samana (AZS) airports. As promised in our confirmation, there was a rep waiting for us when we exited immigration/customs. They took us directly to the van and we left immediately. The drive was about 2.5+ hours from SDQ (the driver was slow) – smooth, easy, beautiful views. This was an excellent value-added service. Location/Layout & Facilities – 5 out of 5 The location is perfect – just out of Las Terrenas but close enough for a quick jaunt into town. Samana is definitely the premier destination in the DR. The layout is also perfect – small, sensible, beautiful landscaping and everything very clean and well maintained. There is no such thing as ocean view here but the surrounding vegetation makes it very intimate and peaceful. They had a cute little area with a few swings up near the entrance. The pools were small but clean and nice. It was easy to get around and everything was close. We stayed in Villa 7, which was a very ideal location. The beach was plenty nice and very big. More than enough space for everybody to spread out. The water was calm and pretty. Beautiful views up and down the beach, no neighbors to speak of, just lots of palm trees and natural beauty. Service – 3.5 out of 5 Check-in was more of a hassle than it should have been but it wasn’t a big deal. We are the relaxed, self-catering type so don’t need/expect much in the way of service but it still fell short. Breakfast was probably where it was most noticeable. They did not provide water at the table nor was it available for self-serve and it was very difficult to get a drink. Guests shouldn’t have to fight or beg for a simple glass of water. The amount of staff was not sufficient for the amount of people. It also falls short in the beach restaurant for the same reason. We were told we couldn’t sit on the beach deck at 2:50pm because they needed to get it ready for dinner at 6pm. This is total bs, we all know it doesn’t take 3 hours to put tablecloths on the tables. Anyway, the only water available was up on this deck and we couldn’t access it since we couldn’t eat there. I had to “complain” several times and they finally moved it down to the main floor. There was also eventually a server that started coming around but this whole situation was ridiculous. The service at the bars was fine. Augustine in the lobby bar was FANTASTIC. And he made theee best fresh strawberry daiquiris. The service at the Rodizio restaurant was also very good. Food – 3.5 out of 5 (2.5 for buffets and 4.5 for Rodizio) It’s a buffet, we don’t expect the best of food, but it was definitely lacking. We stayed at a luxury GBP for our last vacay and, boy, it really shows. I honestly didn’t think the food would be of poorer quality and selection due to this factor. Maybe it’s just dependent on each individual resort but we were quite disappointed…so bland, repetitive, and poorly cooked. We couldn’t wait to leave the resort so we could eat some good local food and make our own meals. We went to the Rodizio one night for dinner and that was a pleasant experience. Good service and the food was better than expected. They were a bit disorganized but nothing that was too problematic. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a fun and unique experience. The best dish we had was the seafood pasta paella that was cooked fresh poolside. It really was noteworthy and the warm, soft rolls were a great accompaniment. Rooms – 3 out of 5 We had a huge corner room on the third floor. It was nice enough and the beds and pillows were actually very, very comfortable. Hands down, the best “rollaway” bed of anywhere we’ve ever been - I would purchase it for my house as a regular bed. However, the floors were super dirty. My mom went barefoot when we got there and her feet were filthy within 10 minutes. The floor was swept but it was either not mopped in a long time or cleaned with a dirty mop. The air conditioning was NOT GOOD at all. It barely kept the room cool (more like lukewarm) at the lowest setting, running all day and with the ceiling fan. I would absolutely not be comfortable here in the summer, it was barely good enough at the end of November. (The buffet area was also way too warm. The best option is to eat in the outside area, at least you can get some air movement.) The A/C is a big enough issue to warn people who cannot sleep in warm air at night and to consider not returning. **GBP TAKE NOTICE** and remedy this situation** Wifi – 5 out of 5 We had a strong and reliable connection everywhere we went in the resort. I can’t speak for speed for things like streaming videos but it worked seamlessly for social media and general web browsing. We had it on all of our devices, free of charge, and never once had to reconnect. No complaints whatsoever. OVERALL – 3.75 out of 5 This would easily be a 4+ out of 5 with some corrections, like the a/c in the rooms and the availability of water and beverages at the buffets. I don’t know what capacity they were at but it was low season and less people than normal...what I consider to be the perfect amount. I think the public facilities, main buffet restaurants and pools would be too small and crowded for comfort in peak season. Also, the Privilege Club people are sooo annoying, you either have to be rude and/or run away or use a different route and avoid the lobby. We got a great rate, so it was an excellent value for the money, that’s why I boosted to a 4 on TripAdvisor. (We also stayed at GBP Cayacoa during this visit, for some perspective.)
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Mar 11, 2020
Amazing place!
This was my first time at this resort. I'd been to another Bahia in Samana and loved it. I traveled with 5 girlfriends as a girls trip. The rooms were great, we were on the top floor and had these beautiful high ceilings. They were very clean and had everything you would need. I roomed with my friend, we had a huge king bed and it worked perfectly for us. The beach is great! It was very easy to walk up and down the beach if you want to. The water was wonderful, no rocks or anything. The one thing I will say is if you go off the resort and walk up the beach there are wild dogs. Most of the them were nice. But one day when we were walking up the beach, one of the dogs got very aggressive with us. We hadn’t interacted with the dog. We walked in the water to try to get away from the dog and it worked, but it was scary to be honest. The pool was great, we didn't spend a ton of time there, we spent more time at the beach. But there was always lots going on at the pool during the day. The food was good, I've definitely had better but it was okay. There was lot to choose from at the buffet everyday. We went to the Italian al a carte and it was amazing, I highly recommend this. The entertainment was always really well done. We really enjoyed the shows they put on at night. There was always something happening whether it was during the day or nighttime. All the staff were always very friendly. The bartenders were awesome. Give them a small tip and they usually take very good care of you all night. We did a boat excursion through the hotel. It was awesome and only cost about $60 Canadian. It was a full day on the boat, snorkeling and lunch. I would 100% recommend this excursion, it was amazing! Overall we all had a great time, this was a perfect location. I will say the hotel is pretty small, which we loved. Would for sure come back here, beautiful place!
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Mar 08, 2020
Good vacation
The room and grounds are immaculate! Super clean. Food was good, did not find all staff very friendly and there is definitely a language barrier (most can barely understand English or French). The waiters are friendly. Be prepared to loose a half day if you agree to the free gift session, they are pushy and want a lot of personal information prior to any type of sale of membership, I did not appreciate the questioning! The coral reefs are dead...however, there is still none the less some snorkeling to do and some small fish. I had requested at the time of booking to be in the same building as my travel companions as I was travelling solo and upon arrival, had to pay extra to make that happen because of shortage of regular rooms. All in all, a good vacation but would not rate this any higher than a 3 to 4.