Bahia Principe Luxury Runaway Bay

Staff Amazing - what a welcome!

Felt like we were at a Castle - just amazing first few minutes ' Overwhelming actually!

We were guided to our room by a staff member explaining all the details of the property along the way.

Pool was Amazing and made for a relaxing day at the water. The staff was so attentive to us in every way, (Drinks, Snacks, Cleaning up, Fresh towels, etc.)

The restaurants were so unique each from the other, where we found more attentive staff and amazing variety of food and drinks. The ones with the buffets were always exciting & new. Again the staff ALWAYS made it so good!

The room was terrific, (and very comfy and comfy & roomy). The bathrooms were impeccable!

All round we would NOT hesitate to go again - and can't wait to do so!!! [Details]

If you're looking to sit by the pool and listen to loud music from 10 AM to 6 PM this is your place. If you're looking for a place to go and be able to sit and read and have quiet this is not for you. [Details]

For us, the Bahia checked all the boxes of what we expected for our first time at an all-inclusive resort. We stayed on the Luxury side and enjoyed that we had access to both resort sides. We took in entertainment shows, with the Mo-Town Review and Jamaicana Show being highlights. Staff were friendly without being overboard. Although people may like the view of a top floor, we really enjoyed ground floor as it was close to everything. Plus, you can just walk to the top floors and take pictures (like I did). Overall, great and relaxing trip. Would return again! [Details]

We had a great experience at this resort. We found the rooms clean and well stocked. Comfy beds and wonderful views from our patio. The food was outstanding as well as the staff. The grounds are impeccable on the luxury side. The pools are cleaned daily. Disappointed that the hot tubs were not hot tubs just gets of cold water from the pool [Details]

We travelled to meet friends and escape the Ontario xmas weather, We had sun 30 weather for 6 of 7 days.
Hotel was clean, tidy and very well presented.it was very festive for the time of year.
The food selection in buffet was very good and well presented. The restraunts we visited were very good, The Knife, Don Pablous and the Japanese restraunt.
The Drinks selections very good and staff extremely friendly, proffesional and prompt.
We were in Adult side pools beach were very clean and well staffed and groomed.
We had a fantastically festive vacation in the sun and the staff from Bell boys to cleaners were very good professional and extremely friendly.
Shout out to the managment for keeping a friendly work environment for staff to enjoy work. [Details]

BAHIA PRINCIPE LUXURY RUNAWAY BAY [Details]

((*the photo on this page is of the Grand Bahia and not Luxury Adult))
Had a great holiday. Every bldg had an ocean view. No bad rooms. They called the room daily to check if we needed anything, and came to the door in the evening as well... the staff were super friendly and welcoming. The beach in front of Luxury is narrow and water is shallow and rocky...but quiet and peaceful .We mostly went to the beach at the end of the Grand side..has a bar, washroom and chicken/pork bbq for lunch (sauces on the side (not ever day) .smoother ocean floor and snorkeling was good... its nice to be able to go on the Grand side as well, lots more entertainment there... [Details]

I was very disappointed with check-in service. We opted for and paid for a room with 2 double beds garden view but was told that they were none available and we have to pay $98.00 extra for same room different view. The nearest elevator to our room was not in service for the entire week, the next closest was out of service for hours, daily. All of the a la carte restaurants were not available on a daily basis. No AC in Jazmin buffet restaurant. [Details]

It was a terrible experience. Before I go into a rant about the bad stuff, the one good thing about this resort was the wait staff and the maids. They were very helpful and were always willing to help. The main issue was with the butlers and the front desk/administration. Issue one is that the administration was not willing to cooperate with us in fixing various things within the room, such as the AC, the leaking jet tub, etc. Number two is that the butlers were putting in charge of services WHICH WE DID NOT ASK FOR NOR RECEIVED, and then refusing to admit it was their mistake. The reception/administration staff don't tell you about anything beforehand and they jump the charge on you when you try to check out. And if you refuse to pay, they "supposedly" call their manager to get them to remove the charge. Almost 30 minutes passed by after they called their manager and no response. They wouldn't hand us our checkout slip and essentially held us hostage. We weren't allowed on the bus without the checkout slip. We missed our initial bus to the airport because of their careless mistakes and stubbornness to deny their fault. After an excruciating amount of yelling, a manager finally showed up and removed the charge and to make up for their mistake, got us a private taxi. However, after the mental harassment and stubbornness, we are disappointed by this kind of mannerism from the administrative staff of a 5-star resort. Another main issue was the food. The majority of the food was not fresh and made us very gassy. Also suspecting they used very low-quality cooking oil and kept reusing the oil used for one dish to cook another dish. Overall, not a pleasant experience and would not recommend this resort to anyone. [Details]

The resort is huge - takes about 25 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

The staff are all hard-working and so so so friendly and nice. The food is delicious and the grounds are so well maintained. [Details]

Had an amazing experience at Bahia Principe Luxury. Stayed 6th floor building 26, close to elevator, great views. Good food,happy people, great weather, terrific room [Details]

The staff from groundskeepers to the front desk were extremely friendly and helpful! Always bright smiles! The grounds are beautiful and easy to access all the areas of the resort. The entertainment on the patio in the evenings was a beautiful way to end the day at the beach! [Details]

Everything about the hotel was great! Stayed on the Luxury side and the rooms were large and beautiful, Oceanview rooms had a nice view of both the pool and ocean. Grounds well landscaped and beautiful. Plentiful amount of bathrooms and bars to grab drinks while around the pools or beach. A LA carte food was amazing, we enjoyed every meal. Only thing that would make this hotel better, would be the beautiful beach on the Grand stretched all the way to the Luxury, but still not a problem. [Details]

My review for the Bahia Principe Luxury Resort in Runaway Bay Jamaica is based on the value and overall experience we had at the resort and is not a comparison to any other resorts in Jamaica (although we have stayed at Beaches Resort in Ocho Rios in past). I will outline our experience in order of what we enjoyed most and then discuss some of the things that we felt were shortcomings of the resort as well.

1.)The staff: I have NEVER been to a resort where ALL of the staff were as friendly and warm as this resort. From the front end staff, to the butlers, to the entertainment team and even the timeshare staff, all were outgoing, willing to help and friendly.

Special mentions:

Voshon, our butler. This guy took the time to give us a warm welcome, made himself accessible to answer our questions, followed up with our requests and made the time to usher us to our special anniversary dinner on the beach. Voshon was just one week into this butler position at the resort and handled us like a seasoned employee. Great work Voshon!!!

Rushane “the Jamaican Tom Cruise” Edwards. This man is an entertainment machine. I met Rushane at Beaches Ocho Rios where he kept the party alive and kept all entertained. In his position here at Bahia Principe, little has changed. Still the warm, friendly, human being I knew, with the professionalism and talent still evident in his daily and nightly sessions poolside and on the stage. To hear that distinct whistle of his again and spend time with him and his team was a very nice way to spend my long-awaited return vacation to Jamaica. If I owned a resort I would steal him away immediately.

Deyron “Tuuthpic” the bartender. What a great dude. Mixes a great drink, has great banter and is just a pleasure to chat with. Usually by time we reached his bar, we were starting to wind down, opting to drink water, leading to him calling us “wata squad” lol. He would call out to us during the day when he would see us and just make us feel at home.

Vincent, the “towel guy”. Who would have thought that the guy at a towel hut would have such an impact on a vacation? But daily, as we went to get towels, there would be Vincent, so positive, warm, friendly, with something nice to say. He recognized us daily, would call out, say hi. On our last day he came out from his hut to take pics with us…great guy.

Spicy D, butler. This guy popped by poolside to inquire about our stay and if there was anything that we needed. A friend of ours mentioned that his bed was broken. Spicy took notes and the issue was later resolved.

Lifeguards: all lifeguards around the pool were friendly and caring. I witnessed them cleaning up cups and letting guests know if they were getting too crispy (sunburnt lol).

Gerrick, bartender - great guy at the beach bar next to the nude beach. Funny, charismatic and mixes a mean drink (Game Changer/Money Maker). Made our daily walks to the end of the beach a pleasure

Shereka Morris at the gym. Great fitness instructor and yet another friendly, warm individual.

2. Food/Restaurants- Special mentions to Michael, our waiter for the special romantic beach dinner. Super professional and friendly, Michael made our special occasion perfect. Also, shout out to Yanik who made our meal at Don Pablo amazing, with her special “banana flambé dessert made table side (and nobody lost any eyelashes lol)

The food, at all restaurants, was good to very good. Los Olas buffet was our breakfast and lunch choice. The omelet guy (most mornings)was phenomenal at his job, so fresh omelettes were my daily go-to (I cannot remember his name but whenever he would flip the omelettes we would proclaim “moment of truth” lol). All servers were great at their jobs and friendly. We successfully booked all a la carte restaurants with the exception of the sushi restaurant which we opted to skip. We frequently saw complaints on Facebook about the booking system for the restaurants but we managed to figure it out (the app could use some simplification, and would be nice to be able to access earlier to see all that the resort offers). All restaurants were good to great, each one had something exceptional. My only complaint would be with the hash browns and scrambled eggs at the Jasmine buffet, which always seemed to be cold/stale for some reason.

3. Entertainment: good shows at night, in the Luxury lobby, and in the Chill Out Hut. The steel pan band was exceptional at the beginning of our stay. Either way, Rushane Edwards (Tom Cruise) kept things flowing. He did a great job with the white night beach party as well

4. Beach/Resort grounds: once we had an understanding of the layout of this massive resort we enjoyed all of it, from the interesting shops inside, to the jungle/woods area by the grand side beach. Bird watching and crab searching were enjoyed during our morning walks. Grounds are in good shape, walkways/pool decks are power washed regularly. Yeah, the buildings are due for a scrape and paint in some areas and there was some open/questionable electrical items on the grounds but, most things were well maintained, with the exception of one thing…the carpets in the hallways on the ground floor of the Luxury side. These carpets are disgusting and look like something out of a large crime scene photo. While we were there, some of the top guys who oversee the Bahia resorts were there (apparently to do reviews of and berate the staff, something I witnessed firsthand) and I don't know how they could overlook something so appalling. This is an oversight that makes me question the legitimacy and credibility of those in charge in upper management.
5. We didn't book any excursions through the resort but opted to use Christopher Linton of Chris Jamaica Tours ( https://www.chrisjamaicatours.com ) to take in an excursion and experience some great aspects of “real” Jamaica. Highly recommend and security staff were great when dealing with private tour guides coming and going
6. We managed to use the gym (Luxury side) and, while it was small, it was equipped well enough to cover what I needed to do and it was clean with equipment in very good shape. My wife attended classes led by Shereka Morris who oversaw the gym throughout the day and said that she really enjoyed them and Sherekas instruction. A squat rack would be a nice addition, maybe cable machines.

So, what would I change, or what are my complaints?

The answer is complicated…

First of all, the staff is friendly, seem to work hard and are talented in their areas.
There is a need for better management/organization to optimize the workflow of staff and make their jobs streamlined. There needs to be people who are competent, organized and respected (not feared) in these positions. This would also lead to improved reviews and an overall better image for the resort.

Upper management (I'm assuming the guys with numbered shirts are upper management) need to focus more on the obvious problems with the resort (ie the crime scene carpeting in main floor halls) and be a bit more professional about how they address staff in front of guests…I was not impressed by this at all as I witnessed “number 3” giving staff a hard time in the front lobby next to where we were sitting. It was to the point where I felt compelled to step in and say something.

My biggest complaint, however, comes not from the resort but some of the overly entitled guests who could be heard complaining about trivial things and taking their frustrations out on staff with their first world problems. This may, in part, be due to the name designation of the “Luxury” section we were staying in. The term “Luxury” is misleading, as there was very little that was luxurious. Personally, based on the low price point, I was not anticipating a luxurious experience and, as a graphic designer in a past life, I understand the way that businesses can miss the target when marketing. I would simply rename the resort: “Bahia Principe Family” and “Bahia Principe Adults Only”. Drop the luxury nonsense and refer to “butlers” as “resort guides and assistants”. People need to realize this is not a top tier resort, but a resort where they can stay in clean, safe accommodations, eat good food, drink, enjoy the company of great staff and be entertained.

So, to simplify this review:

Pros:
* exceptional staff throughout the entire resort including Rushane “TomCruise” Edwards, Deyron “Tuutpic”, Voshon the butler, Vincent the towel man, Spicy D the butler, Yanik (server Don Pablo), Michael (private beach dinner server), Shereka Morris (gym instructor)
* Good food (some great food)
* Good drinks
* Good entertainment
* Nice grounds and beach
* Good security

Cons:
* “crime scene” hall carpeting
* Sloping wood panel bathroom ceiling that seemed to be suspended in mid air
* Upper management unprofessional handling of staff in front of guests
* Some guests inappropriate treatment of staff
* Facebook page is not actually run by the resort but has a private tour driver as an administrator. Resort should force them to call this page “Friends of Bahia Principe…” to avoid any direct relation to the resort and avoid association with a private tour operator
* Naming the adult side “Luxury” is misleading and leads to expectations that cannot be met

Would we return again?
Definitely to see the great staff and be in good company, and enjoy the good food. However, there is lots to see and do in Jamaica, so we would probably opt to return later after exploring more of this big-little island. [Details]

Love Jamaica. 3rd time at a Bahia, 1st time in Jamaica. Group of 12 ladies. The ride to and from airport to resort can make you car sick as they drove really fast and it's has alot of curves. Resort is huge but we did not fill crowded at all. I am a supper picky fussy eater and never went hungry - always had a lot to choose from. Only complaint from group were the mattresses' and pillows - need to be replaced/updated. [Details]

The whole experience was exceptional. Every need was met. Those who work there were polite and welcoming. They made this resort perfect. [Details]

Over all we had an excellent stay at the Bahia Luxury the food was great, the resort is very clean and our rooms were very good. Staff were always more than happy to help in any way always very friendly. Our only complaint would be booking the A la carte restaurants they are very difficult to book and even trying the five days before on the app everything came up as being booked. However, when we did get in some of the restaraunts they were very good. Also to note the pools and beaches are very good. [Details]

We stayed for 9 days. In this time we had 3 rooms, each with a different issue. The 1st was smack in front of the entertainment and we couldn't hear ourselves think. The 2nd was fine, but the 4th night, the ceiling over the tub started leaking water. We called maintenance, they said they fixed the leak but would fix the warped ceiling the next day. They never came the next day. And the ceiling leaked again, so they did not in fact fix it. We called again, and were told that we would get another room, to be ready in 20 minutes. We packed quickly, and waited almost 90 minutes until we got to our 3rd room. This one had AC issues; it never really cooled down, so we used the ceiling fan to sleep. They asked if we wanted to change again, but we declined since we only had 1 more night there.
As for the food, again 3 star at best. Mostly bland, and we always had to ask for coffee, even at breakfast. The ingredients were good, but the preparation lacked experience. As for the A al Carte restaurants, most were closed, or open only 1 or 2 days per week. We spent a lot of time trying to get into the few a la carte that were sporadically open. The advertising on this is misleading.
The front desk almost NEVER picks up the phone when we called, and if you need something, make sure you tell 2 or 3 people, or chances are you will not be served. We were warned of this at our information session.
The beach in the Luxury is man made and full of rocks, and not pretty. The only nice bit of beach is in the Grand part of the resort, which is the family area. So it may be noisy - or not. There was a baby who cried incessantly (not her fault, but we paid extra for Luxury adults only so we wouldn't have to hear this).
The linens (bed sheets and towels) sometimes had stains (looked like lipstick or food) that were leftover from washing, which was a turn-off.
We paid a lot for luxury and adults only, we had expected more. Needless to say we will not be going back there, nor will we recommend this place to any of our entourage. We are very disappointed with our experience. [Details]

Nice resort, with friendly workers but I wouldn't say it's 5 stars! I would give 3 for the property! Very old carpet with lots of stain, , broken tiles and walls and doors all scratched.
We started for 4 nights and was able to booking the restaurants just for one day because was everything booked already! We let's and we still don't know where's the snack bar! I don't think they have one because we look everywhere! If you want to sleep at night, do never stay near to the swimming pool, everything shakes with the lounge sound outside. Thanks we could change the room for quite area. The beach is very small, I could say it's 50m long. The rest was fine [Details]

Everything was good, food , drinks and the people there.
Rooms clean and the pool was nice. [Details]

It was a great vacation. The property is very well maintained and the staff are very friendly. We got a nice room with great view. I would comfortably recommend this resort for anyone looking for a great place for vacation or for any events. I would like give credit to few staff members whose contribution made our stay more comfortable and enjoyable.
Ashdaine - A cheerful young man who decorated our bed for our 30th Wedding Anniversay. He left a very kind hand-written note, wishing us on our anniversary.
Dushaine - helped us setup Wi-Fi, helped us book dinner reservations, gave a short tour and helped us get familiar with the property. Always willing to offer help.
Sam the Man - Would greet us every single time and always asked if there's anything he could do for us.
Jodon Bowen - Luxury Lobby Manager - He went out of his way to help us with our special request for meals. He introduced us to Chef Clark at the Jazmin buffet, to help us with our special food requests.
Both Chef Clark at the Jazmin Buffet and Chef Christopher Ryan at Picasso restaurant took extra efforts to cook vegetarian food for us, every day. Every meal they served us was delicious, nutritious and satisfying.
Shadale who works at the bar would greet us every morning with a big smile and start our day with delicious, flavourful Latte. She maintained the same taste and consistency every single day. We miss the Latte.
Sandrieka - I believe she works as Supervisor in the Entertainment department. She greeted us every time we met her, made sure we stayed hydrated.
Owen - We attended his 'stretching' session one day. We left the class with full of energy and knowledge about exercising and staying healthy. A very caring person and an excellent personal trainer.
Besides the above mentioned people, there were several staff members who made our stay very special. Our room was kept clean, bed nicely made, supplies replenished. Overall, it was a great experience.

Weak Points:
We are vegetarians. Though there was abundant choice of food, we noticed there was not much choice for vegetarians. There were steamed vegetables, salads etc. We were concerned about possible cross contamination and the ingredients used.
Suggestion: Having a restaurant for vegetarians, or providing a menu for guests like us, with vegetarian options to choose. Though the Chefs would prepare something for us every day, we didn't have a menu to pick something that may like and sometimes the wait was long.
Since we don't consume alcoholic beverages and don't eat meat, we felt that we didn't get our money's worth. We are looking forward to travel more and would prefer to stay at Bahia, based on our experience at Runaway Bay. [Details]

Beautiful resort; beautiful people. Food is incredibly delicious; Room service after 11pm not so great. Very very clean, comfortable beds and lots if activities. Loved it!!!! [Details]

We had a lovely time at this hotel. 6 of us came for a 50 th birthday party. There was a great selection of food at the buffet. The staff at the Jasmin restaurant were fabulous. I was disappointed that most of the elevators were out of order and we were on the 7 th floor. That is something that can not afford to be broken. Also there wasn't any bar service, washrooms or beach cafes near a big stretch of the beach where we sat. The one in Mexico had beach service and washrooms near the beach. We heard from someone who was there the week prior that if you didn't tip every time at the pool bar, they were rude and would ignore you. That should never happen regardless of tips. People pay a lot of money to be there. All in all it's a really nice resort with great food but there are a few Big things they need to get on top of. [Details]

We are from Canada and came here for our honeymoon. We had an amazing time! We had an ocean view room with a great view of the pool and the mountains/ocean. Night time made for some beautiful colors. The room had tons of space and housekeeping came by 3 times a day to make sure it was clean (which it always was). There was a really great sized balcony as well where we had several drinks watching the sun go down.
Food was really great as well. We ate at all a la carte restaurants and all had something different to offer. Our favorites were Rodizzio (if you like to EAT), The Knife, Mikado and Dolce Vida (unreal view of the ocean). Late night room service wasnt very appetizing I must say. Breakfast and lunch buffets were really good both in quality and number of choices. However, they need to have more hot sauce available (small detail i know).
All the staff are super friendly and accommodating. They really love Canadians! From concierge, to housekeeping, to pool staff, to food/beverage, etc...they all want to make sure you have a memorable stay. The resort itself was beautiful and really breathtaking to look at day in and day out. We were on the Luxury side but spent most of our time on the Grand side (kids allowed) because most restaurants were over there and the beaches were much better (view, sand, size, water). Entertainment was also very good. we enjoyed the shows on the beach and at the village. However, we werent the biggest fan of the venue on the Luxury side as it was just a medium-large size tent. The village had a large stage with plenty of outdoor seating and a bar right next to it so it was much better. we are not pool people we are beach people so we spent all 10 days at the beach and therefore cannot comment on the quality of the pool. However, from what we say people did seem to enjoy it and the entertainment looked like fun.

All in all we had a great time for sure and would definitely come back! It was definitely a memorable honeymoon. [Details]

GOOD HOTEL NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS OTHER LUXURY BAHIA BEEN TO [Details]

The hotel was magnificent on a whole. The staff was remarkable, and did their best to cater to any needs that arose. Grounds were well kept, and the rooms were clean. We were upgraded the luxury side, but was disappointed. We were there for rest, due to health reasons, and ended up fighting mosquitoes for our first 3 days, and there was a lingering odour of sewer. Our room was sprayed several times, but the amount of mosquitoes that stayed alive was numerous. My husband and I came home covered in bites. By the 3rd night our room was changed to a higher floor and we had no further issues. We loved the grounds but were disappointed to only have 2 good days for the price that we paid. If you visit this location, just be aware that the lower levels have a mosquito issue. [Details]

Very good service,Clean Environment,Good Spicy food.

Need to improve Internet access and Wi-Fi service, Very poor signal strength. [Details]

Luxary / Grand Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Jamaica - 0 Stars - DO NOT STAY HERE EVER

so as much as I had a fun time on my vacation there were several things that happened in which I would never recommend this property to anyone. Here are some of the things we encountered.

1. 4 different rooms in 4 days - first 4 days we had to switch a room each day due to a/c being broken to leaks from the roof going through out light fixture in our bathroom. We had a slip and almost fall incident in that one.

2. Beach closes at 5pm , pool at 6pm and whole resort at 12pm. - Who closes a pool and beach so early ? and the main bar at midnight ??? which by the way they stop serving at 11:50 pm as the lights literally turn off at midnight. The only positive things was the bar staff at the resort as they were awesome.

3. Not handicap accessible. - they claim to be but when I see a woman who is physically challenged, struggle to open and close a door at dinner to where I got up to help her out they most certainly are not handicap friendly at all.

4. Room service - their 24 hour room service was horrible. 45 minutes anytime to get a cold meal that more than likely was not what you ordered in the first place. How hard is it to understand "no tomatoes". Most of our meals came cold and with service from a pissed off worker that was more than likely napping when we placed the order.

5. Tiles in hotel / pool / room - if it rains you cannot walk. We saw over 10 people slip and fall all around the property. We even witnessed a elderly who was walking up a ramp with a walker slip and crack her head wide open just outside the main bar. If it wasn't for a friend of mine who was a Dr she would of been in worse shape. This place is not safe when it rains .

6. Health and safety - If you severely hurt yourself the staff has no clue what to do. As I mentioned above when that happened the tourist were more help than the staff. Their concern was asking for insurance papers and standing around doing nothing while my friend was assessing the situation and taking care of her with help from others. The staff were slow and basically didn't care what was going on. An ambulance was on the property by the Club (a 5 min walk) took 30 mins to arrive with a pissed off nurse who was on call and had no training what so ever. It was a complete shit show and this here is the main reason why I would never return. The lady ended up with several stitches in the back of her head when it was all over with.

7. We get compensation for a spa package in which we use the second last day on the resort and were told by the spa that the voucher has to be redeemed at the main desk. Meanwhile when we check out the main desk says we have to go to the spa to give in the voucher. The communication between the employees was pathetic and the run around we faced on a daily basis for things was unprofessional. Even to the point that on our shuttle back to the airport we are sitting on we get called off because they think we owe money for the spa treatment but we then showed them basic math and it was figured out 20 mins later.

8. A la Cart - The hotel cancelled 1 of our reservations due to the restaurant being closed for an emergency (or something). They give us a letter in our hotel room which states that we can select any place we want to go eat at a specific time. We make our way down to the one we chose and there is no reservation on the books. We explain the situation and of course we cannot go eat until I decide to flip out at the server and manager as I had enough.

These are just off the top of my head and don't include the countless times staff woke us up with random phone calls at 3am or 8am asking us dumb questions and not respecting privacy. Along with the do not disturb sign that is left on the door which apparently means to yes knock and wake us up.

overall I do not recommend this place to anyone ever. With the main reason that their staff has no clue what to do if you hurt yourself in a serious way. [Details]

Beautiful resort, great weather, friendly staff and good food. [Details]

This was our 3rd visit to the GB resort area, 1st time to the adults only Luxury side. Accommodations did not disappoint, nor did the staff, service, amenities etc. Very large rooms, beautiful bathrooms, great views. Food was above excellent in the buffet, only tried one restaurant.

We have been to this resort before so knew what to expect from the beach and the man made beach area, which is an awesome place to snorkel in shallow water right from shore, behind a protected break wall.
We enjoyed the 2 new pool areas for the adults only, lovely shade cabanas, lots of chairs and umbrellas, pool side waiter service, and the best part, no reserving chairs before 9 am unless your butt is parked in the chair.. So if you jumped out of bed at 630 to save your fav. spot then went back to bed, guess what , your stuff if sitting over by the towel shack and your chairs are gone, and it is enforced, so it's great. After 9:00 am, no problem, you can come down, grab your chair then off to a wonderful breakfast. If you come down earlier, you must stay in your chair...no problem for us earlier risers that like to sit and read a book while nice and quiet with a large cup of coffee from your room.

Only problem we had was the air conditioner. We had a room on the top floor, and unfortunately the sun beats down on the roof too much there and the room was always hot. We had maintenance up every day, they tried adjusting the sensor in the patio door, then they disconnected it, then they found a broken coil. Eventually gave up and they brought us a huge fan. They offered to give us a new room, but the ones on the same floor were not any cooler and it was already more than 1/2 way thru our holiday, so we just used the big fan we had. Helped but not cool like our friends who were on a lower floor and they had to turn their AC off at night as it was too cool. The staff tried hard to fix it, the Guest Services Manager assisted , even the Assistant Hotel Manager, but no go. I must admit they tried hard and certainly did not ignore our daily complaints of "no ac yet". So don't ask for a room on the top floor, they need to put stronger AC units on that level...

Only other area, that I did not personally like is the LACK of a usable beach in front of the Luxury section. They have made a tiny little sandy beach area behind the break wall, but unfortunately the water in this area only gets to about waist high if you are short.. not a walking beach either. I was disappointed as I had been told that they made a beach out front for the adults.. they did, but not really. However, if you want a bigger private beach, just walk over to the left about 10mins to the beach of the Gran Bahia and voila. Or you can ride the free golf cart train that takes the luxury adults around.

But despite the AC issue, we certainly enjoyed our holiday and would go back to this resort in a heartbeat.
Front desk staff and management were great. Cleaning staff were good, always left little chocolates on our bed at night, We even had a wonderful Butler Simone, who popped in every day with ice and to see if we needed anything.
Wifi, free in this section and available everywhere, but a bit of a pain, you had to log in every 24hrs..

Highly recommend to others, and FYI.. I am a travel agent, so yes I have sent lots of my clients here and will continue to send them here. [Details]