Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo

Overall enjoyable
Had a fair bit of rain
Loved the sports bar and staff
French and Brazilian restaurants was fabulous [Details]

It was great, staff wonderful, beach amazing. They did not enforce the no saving of loungers which was annoying. Food was great. Bathroom in suite needed updatng [Details]

It was the first time that we did not enjoy ourselves in the Dominican Republic. Our experiences at Punta Cana were fun. Not so much in Samana. The staff should be trained to not ignore guests. Food can be improved greatly. The resort and room were great, but we will not be returning. [Details]

If you like walking on the beach, this resort is for you. This was my second trip to this hotel because I've yet to find a great beach with no other resorts and yet very safe for women to walk by themselves.

The food is good and the restaurants' are very good. The room was well appointed but the bed was hard. VERY clean! [Details]

We just returned from our trip from Samaná and we truly enjoyed our time there! We've stayed at Bahia principe Grand and the service was amazing as always! Danny at the reception was extremely kind, professional and accommodating. We will definitely be going back again hopefully soon!
Thank you Danny for your warm hospitality, we were very satisfied with everything at Bahia!
Please keep up the good work!
Regards
Nadi Jahedan [Details]

Totally satisfied with everting at the hotel. Great beach, excellent food,, clean hotel, very polite and helpful staff. [Details]

POSITIVES:
-Beach = Amazing
-Entertainment Staff = Fantastic

NEGATIVES:
Rooms:
-Air Conditioning is not that great. Some of our family member's rooms their air conditioning did not work at all.
-We had a leak in our bathroom ceiling. They said they fixed it but nope! We had towels down on the floor for 3 days. Towels were drenched with water.
Service:
-Slow and line up at the bars were about half hour or longer wait. ALL THE TIME!!!
-There was never the feeling of "how can I make your vacation great". The staff had an I don't care attitude. Not like other resorts I have been where staff always went out of their way to make sure you were happy. Even if it was just to say hello as you walked pass staff. Rarely did you get a staff that said hello first as you walked past them.
-To get mediocre service at best - BE PREPARED TO TIP!!!!!!

All Inclusive Hotel....NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-You get a choice of 5 rail spirit drinks and one type of red and white wine. Everything else was an extra cost. And let me make a note...all the extra cost (not included) spirits were what you would expect as low-quality alcohol at any other hotel. Basically, the alcohol they were charging you for was low-end basic stuff.
-Have you ever been to an all-inclusive vacation and you go to the a-la-cart restaurant and they say you get 1 appetizer, 1 main, and 1 dessert???? Well, expect that here. If you want a salad an appetizer the answer to that is NO....You can't have it. But this is supposed to be all-inclusive?????

Buffet:
-same food at lunch as they have a dinner and same food ALL 7 DAYS!!!!
-all food is overcooked!
-some food edible only.

On the weekends the locals get to come to the resort. This made for even busier bars and the buffet was a joke. People eating at the buffet line! Yes with their hands over the food. Eating as they stand in line. [Details]

Small resort, it is clean but have stayed to 4 different Bahia Principe Hotels this one was a real disappointment. Very crowded everywhere. Food not great Will not return. [Details]

We had an okay time at this resort. Our room was great and we liked the size of the resort.
Sadly, the swim up bar wasn't open and the main buffet was pure chaos. The staff here were not welcoming or very helpful. I have had much better experiences in Mexico and Cuba. [Details]

Check in and out as expected, arrive with large group wait with large group. Booked a la carte restaurants before we left so no disappointment getting reservations. Italian [Details]

We have been in this hotel before covid and loved it so much. We tried a few times to return, but it did not work due to the different reasons. Actually, it was our first place from others, we stayed for vacation, we wanted to come back.
Finally we succeed to come in December and were not disappointed, though there were some changes, slightly diminished our satisfaction. The coffee machine was not already available in the lobby for example, and vegetarian station was not existing anymore. It was mixed with other dishes. However, don't take me wrong, I still loved the place this time. It was a beautiful renovation of buffet area, which became more spacious, and life music at 7 pm was a great time to spend with others by dancing and playing games. The only restaurant we went was Brazilian, and it was the same high quality.
The service everywhere is excellent. Everyone is very welcoming and cheerful, in spite of the massive crowd they have to serve every day. The meals are delicious, and there is a big variety of veggies and fish.
The beach is amazing, long and quiet without waves and sea weeds. The staff cleans the sand of the beach every morning. the Entertaiment in overall was fair. We enjoyed the circus show. It was on a very high professional level and retro one was not bad. The entertainment team worked hard to make our stay even more pleasant.
Our room was small, but clean and cozy. Everything you need was there.
We appreciated the hard work from everyone, who made our stay refreshing and enjoyable. We will come again! Thank you El Portillo!!! [Details]

Had a good time with friends and family. [Details]

L'hôtel est magnifique, taille moyen, bien entretenu [Details]

This resort is doing a great job during difficult Covid times. Staff are all competent, hard working and friendly. Food and service are great [Details]

The hotel should respect their guess's booking requests . We were given a room completely different from our requests. The toilette was broken, we had to call services three times during our 1 week stay, finally they change the whole toilette bowl in the last day !
Overall, it's an excellent hotel if renovated and good maintenance .
5* beach, 5* food, polite employees . [Details]

Highly recommended. Our stay was from March 8-15. Clean, friendly, something to eat for everyone. Lots of activities and a beautiful beach with a reef. Great for walking. Someone mentioned the reef was dead but this is not the case. It's not full of colour but lots of life. Fish, sea cucumber, hermit crabs, anemone... caution swimming if the waves churn up the sand. It will be hard to see the coral and they are large.
We stayed in a family suite, block 27, and it was perfect. Our requests were addressed immediately. Extra blankets, patio light... daily toiletries stocked up.
The resort is not large so it's an easy walk anywhere. There are carts that drive around to take you to diff locations.
We ate 2x at the Italian (we liked it that much) and once at the Mediterranean. We are not meat eaters so opted out of the Brazilian, and could not get into the French.
We also appreciated the extra diligence towards hygiene during our stay (Covid-19) with antibac offered entering the restaurants, washrooms always being clean and stocked.
We would absolutely return to this resort without hesitation. You will not be disappointed.
The Dominican culture and people are amazing.
Enjoy!!! [Details]

Beautiful hotel with great service for 4.5 stars. The food is great, rooms are comfortable, room service is acceptable. Beach is OK, no snorkeling but longshore to walk. [Details]

We enjoyed a wonderful week at the Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo. The grounds are lush and beautiful. The beach was great and we have been to some beautiful beaches in Cuba. The water was clear and the reefs kept it calm during our stay. It isn't as wide and white sand like Cuba but did not disappoint. Food was good and plentiful. We had to wait sometimes for drinks at meals...just take one in with you if you need to have one right away. Entertainment staff are wonderful. Would definitely return and recommend. [Details]

Room air conditioning terrible , this is second year here and is still terrible. Husband diabetic , we requested light soda seven times over 4 days never got it. Service in Buffet was not so good young girl pregnant spent most of her time talking to other waiters, didn't care we were waiting( this happened more then once). Their memories in the Buffet seem to be very short ask for a drink they never come back. No entertainment like there was last year for the kids. We will not be back really for the number one reason AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!. [Details]

Our room was located on third floor, it was clean, with enough space and nice view

Food was awesome in all restaurants, buffet was great

My daugther enjoyed the kids club and mini disco every day. Kids has a waterpark specially for them

This place has the best beaches by far, clean, crystal clear, no waves, literaly a blue lagoon, the best for snorkeling. We walked early every morning and enjoyed a wonderful sunrise

The hotel has activities all day long every day, and night live entertainments till 11pm

the staff at this hotel works very hard, and in our case they were always helpful, in our case no communications problems since we are also spanish/english speakers [Details]

We enjoyed our stay, the service was great, a few little things with the room but it was not enough for us to change rooms.
The food was good except one of the restaurant (a la carte).
We met very nice people [Details]

Exellent resort! Would and will go back for sure ! From the ride from airport to the whole experience at the resort ! All was awsome ! 5/5 [Details]

The people are the true treasure of the DR and the hotel. A beautiful resort and beaches for miles. Staff are amazing. Grounds are clean and safe. We traveled with 9 total, adults and children we all enjoyed our choices and time. The tours offered off site were also amazing. [Details]

The El Portillo property is lovely and kept pristine by multiple staff always. Our king suite was pretty much the furthest room from the main lobby so glad we enjoy exercise. (5 min walk & 2 flights of stairs) We had mixed weather including some tropical bursts of rain that came on quickly. There are covered areas to run to when that happens. Food in buffet restaurants was yummy with a great variety. Our two a la cartel restaurant experiences were also excellent (Brazilian & Italian) although getting reservations for these was frustrating. Our travel rep had to call for us and the booking system was slow. [Details]

Price was reasonable. Food was great. Staff are friendly. Snorkeling is great when the weather is good. [Details]

2nd time going there, liked it better the first time. Food was amazing. Was not impressed with beach this time around [Details]

My husband and I went to this resort from Jan 29 to Feb 12 2017, for 2 weeks.

We enjoyed our trip but thought that we had over paid for what we got.

The resort was the right size for us. Everything was at a good walking distance. It was very clean, little candles burning in all the bathrooms. The cleaning staff were constantly cleaning EVERYTHING around the lobby and everywhere else. The staff was efficient and friendly. We had a problem with our air conditioning leaking; they came to fix it immediately. Our room was cleaned every day before noon which was great, great bed and pillows. We were in building 1, right in front of the buffet and beach. We really loved that but I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who goes to sleep before 10 pm as there is live music at the lobby and you can hear it loudly in the room. The thing we loved the best is the lunch buffet on the beach. It was such a beautiful view! I also loved that they let the cats roam around, they really were not a problem and it was nice to give them a little something to eat.

Beach:
The beach is beautiful, water nice and clear. Bring your snorkelling equipment; the fish are beautiful to see. The resort was overbooked unfortunately which led to not enough chairs. Though I have to say that too many couples were taking 4 chairs!! People, you AREN'T the only ones that want chairs! So selfish! They would put 2 under an umbrella and 2 in the sun and would go back and forth. Seriously??? Not right.

Pool:
Wayyyyyyyyy to small. We usually enjoy our mornings at the beach and after lunch at the pool. Unfortunately we hardly did that because the pool is too small and lots of people in it. Also, forget getting a chair after lunch, we had to sit on the side of the pool and enjoy our afternoon drink our feet dangling. They make great mojitos and they also have clamato juice for Bloody Ceasars, no celery salt on the rim though but no big deal.

Food was good at the buffet, the restaurants were very good.

Lots of mosquitoes! Bring your bug repellent and after bite!

What we disliked the most is having the bar at the lobby close at 11 pm. Way too early for people who like to socialize with a drink. We are not disco people so that was not a good option for us. They should consider keeping it opened until 1 am. The music at the lobby after supper was good, people had space to dance. It was nice to listen to and to watch for those who do not dance.

All in all a good trip but next time I'll make sure I get a damn good price for it. [Details]

Clean, beautiful, relaxing. But not a lot for bigger kids to do. Kids watermark is for little kids [Details]

This resort was perfect. The travel to the resort was breathtaking and the resort was well maintained. Food was always good with lots of variety. Pools and beach always had chairs available. [Details]

third time back. great place. [Details]