Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo

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]

The hotel is clean, has all amenities and we would definitely return. The staff were friendly, helpful and always smiling - they truly seem to enjoy their jobs and their beautiful country. [Details]

I enjoyed the feel of a smaller resort. Easy to get around, well kept beautiful grounds and attractive hotel. Hotel located very near to the beach so very little walking distance from the lobby and our room. The beach was beautiful and the restaurant and bars are located on or near the beach. [Details]

The hotel was a beautiful spot on the coast with miles of beach to walk along. Everything was kept neat and tidy around the grounds and all workers in every area were friendly and helpful.
The food was delicious, and we enjoyed some different fruits and vegetables during our stay. The wait staff were quick to bring your drinks and any other items that were ordered.
This is a wonderful family resort. [Details]

Brief Summary:

Beach Great
Ocean Weeds/Rock and sand
Grounds Immaculate
Food Average
Service Average
Rooms Jr. suite okacceptable
Drinks Average

Who Travelled?
We were two couples aged 59-65
Air Canada Vacations

Our Review
We travelled the last week of February in March 2016

Flew down on the mid afternoon flight and didn't get into Samana until around 5:00pm. A 45 minute drive to the hotel from the airport. While on the bus filled out prebooking info which sped up booking in process. For some unknown reason the couple with us didn't receive their prebooking (supposed to as part of Air Canada Vacations). Took them an hour to get booked in at front desk. Into room 7:15pm

We were initially located in a set of rooms opposite the kids pool…no idea why because later spoke with another couple who had kids and they had been assigned a room by adult only pool. Got changed without too much hassle.

Finally into the room, a jr. suite superior. Nice large room with a seating area. Unfortunately the air conditioning unit didn't work. Called to the “concierge”. She send would send someone. Two hours later still no someone (now 11pm). Called again. Told again “someone” would be right there. An hour later still no one came. The people above us had a jaccuzi bath which overflowed or whatever and water leaked down into our bathroom (through the potlights) I called again to report this. Finally at 1230 a maintanence person arrived, reset the connections on the sliding door and air condition came on…low fan speed only….not acceptable. He was then showed the water dripping in the bathroom. He pushed on ceiling and water poured out flooding the floor. He used out towels to wipe up and left (now no towels)

Next morning went down to Reception, explained the situation re the water and air conditioning. Told initially they would fix but agreed to move us after I complained.

No further problems re room…(okay tv didn't work, but who really needs tv while on vacation?) Very happy with room location and view off patio.

The beach was great. Nice soft sand, lots of chairs and lots of choices as to locations…i.e. sun or shade. Staff kept any seaweed cleaned up constantly. Able to walk both directions off the property along the beach. Felt safe doing so.

The ocean was a combination of sand, weed and rock but there was enough sand area for swim/play

The main pool was large, but while we were there most people were on the beach. Very little activity in the pool. No swim up bar.

The adult pool was well back in the complex. Had its' own bar. Just an average normal pool. Nothing special.

The grounds were immaculate. Staff were constantly grooming and cleaning. Very beautiful.

There were 6 restaurants. I would describe the food at all of them as average…Nothing special, nothing that you would rave about.
The main buffet which did breakfast, lunch and dinner was always busy. Seating available inside or outside in a covered but open tent. Lots of choices at all 3 meals that should suit most tastes.
There was a “snack” buffet restaurant down by the ocean that was open for breakfast and lunch. Same food as main buffet, but nice view of ocean. Great service
There are 4 “specialty al la cart” restaurants. All require reservations. We arrived on a Tuesday, not able to get into the specialty restaurants until Friday as they were all booked….unless we were willing to eat at 10pm.
Our favorite was “Rodizio” which was based on a Brazilian grilled meat theme. If you enjoy meat this is the restaurant! The meat came out on skewers and was cut off the onto your plate…A constant flow of chicken, beef, pork, sausage along with rice and vegetables.
“Portofino” was standard Italian food. Only notable thing was a well stocked anti pasta bar. Certainly nothing special when it came to pasta or other dishes.
Orquida Gourmet Restaurant is French themed. Again nothing special. Service was very slow…there seemed to be a shortage of staff as even the Maitre‘d was cleaning tables.
El Pescador is seafood based. Why we ever went there I don't know. None of us like fish! Made do with a chicken dish. Might as well have gone to the buffet and gotten the same chicken we were served.

As a side to the food, both of the women in our group had food intolerance to gluten. They attempted to speak with staff about the food but none understood. Eventually we were directed to customer services and were given a letter in Spanish to produce to staff. This made no difference as they kept being told could eat dishes because they contained egg, or dairy…seemed to equate gluten intolerance to celiac. But that aside, it was my fault for not having checked this out before booking the hotel.

The alcohol drinks at the pool, beach are all made with house bar liquor. Their idea of a pina colada was using a slushy mixture and pouring 1oz of rum over the slush. This went for all drinks. They had premade slushy for each of the major drinks and would then pour 1oz of alcohol over it. Not even stirred. The beer was El President draft only.

The lobby of this resort is the main gathering point. Everyone comes here for their free 1 hour of internet. Packages available to buy time, staff also seem to have their own side businesses renting you a MIFI for the week. The lobby is large and leads to the night bar as well as 3 sitting areas off the bar. Filled at night with people. One of our favorite parts of this resort as we would sit in the lobby and play cards until the lights went out at 11pm.

The nightly entertainment is what one would expect….We went for several nights, stayed 15 minutes and left…….

Overall and nice resort if your purpose is beach and sun. Definitely several steps up from Cuba Resorts, but several steps down from Luxury resorts. Middle of the road, acceptable. I would rate it a 6/10, wife a 7-8/10 [Details]

Loved everything about EL PORTILLO: Excellent customer service, great team spirit amongst animators and servers which spills over to create a fun and happy atmosphere at this very special resort. [Details]

Just came back from the Grand Bahia Principe El Portillo. We really enjoyed our stay at this resort. We've stayed at eight other Caribbean resorts in the past five years in Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. This was our third stay at a Grand Bahia Principe property. This review is based on a comparison of the El Portillo to these other resorts. Keep in mind that the price paid, the time of year, the weather, and other intangible qualities can all factor into the overall appraisal of a resort experience and that this review is based on only a one week snapshot – a one week window – reflecting the time we stayed here and may not be generalizable to experiences at this resort during other times of the year. While I concede that the previous line sounds very much like it came from a legal document, I Just thought that I'd include it as a way to at least partly address why some reviews of the same resort can appear remarkably discrepant across multiple reviewers. Also, keep in mind that the features we find most appealing at a resort may differ from what others consider most important. If in your perusal of this review you find your wants, needs, desires, and expectations of the resort experience to be similar to ours – you may find this review more useful and beneficial than others might. So let's begin…..

First impressions? Of course no resort is perfect, but here are some factors that really impressed us during our visit to the El Portillo and the Samana region in general. The first is that the airport (El Catey, Juan Bosch) was virtually empty when we arrived. Getting through customs was quick and efficient. There were no line-ups. I get the sense that there aren't many weekly flights to the Samana area and that appears to be a good thing. Our departure was similarly painless. The airport was once again virtually empty. Nice. Very nice. So if the lack of congestion at this airport is a common occurrence – we have definitely taken notice. In addition, we were given our resort wrist bands and our room number and other information on the bus leaving the airport. Yes, on the bus. This is the single best solution to long line-ups-at-lobby-front-desks all around the Caribbean that we've seen. What a thoroughly excellent idea. The 45 minute ride to the El Portillo resort also consisted of some of the best scenery we've experienced on a ride to any resort so far. The roadway meanders and climbs up over 220m into the mountains overlooking the ocean and remote countryside throughout much of the trip, offering really impressive views of the surrounding land and ocean from above. We've had our share of two hour bus rides from airports to resorts so we highly value the reasonable bus transfer time to the El Portillo. If you are getting the notion that our first impressions were very favourable so far – you'd be absolutely correct. Once we arrived at the resort we just needed to pick up our room key cards and that was it. Once again – very nice. However, we did have some problems finding our room. When we approached resort staff on a path, they were also unclear where our room was located based on our room number. Eventually, they asked other staff members and with the proper clarification, we were led to our room. It would have been useful if the lobby staff issuing our keys quickly showed us where our room was located (e.g., which block) on a map before we left the lobby. Still, this was a minor issue.

Accommodations? Our room was very similar in style and décor to other Grand Bahia properties we've visited. We find them very cozy, modern, attractive, and clean. There were some signs of wear and tear here and there – but generally compared to other resorts we've visited in the same price range, the impression was very favourable. Imagine a four year old Lexus compared to a four year old Kia. Both would show some wear and tear, but one would be much more conspicuous in terms of quality and attention to detail. Our impression of the El Portillo is one of a resort that is showing some wear and tear, but still exudes high quality underneath.

The beach? One stand out feature of this resort is the beach. This is probably the best beach we've been to overall in the Caribbean. Why? Because the sand is of a high quality, the water is mostly crystal clear and reasonably calm and swimmable even on windier days, and there is excellent snorkeling within 20m of the shoreline. Granted – if you are just swimming and not snorkeling, you need to pay attention so you don't inadvertently bump into any coral. We've been to beaches with better sand. We've been to beaches with clearer water. And we've been to beaches with better snorkeling. However, we have simply never been to a resort beach that combined them all into one like this one does. Bravo El Portillo. We also had no issue finding a chair (blue polyester variety) on the beach at any time of day. That is important for us too.

Pools? We never spent any time at the large main pool at this resort. Why? Because the beach was so spectacular and as a couple we prefer to either spend time at the beach or at a quiet pool away from the noise and bustling activities. With that said – the main pool looked very clean and not overly crowded – and friends we made on the resort spent virtually every day there and raved about it. We enjoyed a few days at the quiet pool (adults only) located some ways from the beach and lobby. It generally lived up to its moniker – being very quiet and peaceful. It even has its own bar with restrooms attached conveniently on either side. We loved relaxing here. This small area made us feel like we were at an “adults only” resort. Nice touch El Portillo. While the selection of chairs is more limited in this section – we found that if we arrived before 10AM we had no problems securing two.

Food? Consistent with other Grand Bahia Principe properties, we found the buffet to be excellent. There was just so much variety of high quality, delectable and exquisitely presented food items. My better-half can be picky about food and she felt that this was at the top of any buffet we had experienced up to this point. Our only reservation was the quality of the red and white wines. We felt that they could have been a little better at the buffet and across the resort in general. We sampled all four a la cartes - the Italian, Gourmet, Brazilian, and Mediterranean (we received an extra al a carte due to this being our third stay at a Grand Bahia Principe property). We've read elsewhere that the a la cartes at this resort could be inconsistent in their ability to deliver excellent food from one evening to the next. Yet – even armed with this expectation and a desire to be discerning and critical – we were both exceptionally pleased with our experiences at all of them. If we could only pick three however, we would probably choose the Italian, Gourmet, and the Mediterranean, as we found the extended length of the meal experience at the Brazilian to be less to our liking even though we recognize that this is more due to the nature and culture of this dining experience and likely little to do with the quality of service at this a la carte.

Other observations? This is a relatively small property. We were told by our airline rep that the resort was full during our stay. However, at no time did it ever appear crowded. We found this very appealing. In addition, the average age for visitors to this resort appeared to hover around the 35-50 yrs (we are in our 40s) of age range. So this resort seemed to cater best to older adults and families. It was very quiet in the evenings too, as the bars shut down at 11PM and those interested in celebrating further had the option of visiting the disco in the small pueblo (shopping centre area) further away from the rooms and nearer to the main entrance gate of the resort. This kept things quiet in the evenings. We were never woken in the middle of the night by drunken revelers at any time like we have experienced at some other resorts.

Issues? If we could offer a few suggestions for improvements, one would be to improve the speed of service in the lobby bar (Daiquiri section with the piano and saxophone players) after dinner. The servers appeared to be busy and dedicated, but we often had to wait more than 15 minutes to have a drink order taken, or to receive our drink once ordered. Perhaps more staff in this area in the evening would be beneficial. We have also read that many resort staff could speak very little or no English at all. We found this to be our experience as well. However, we have both been formally learning Spanish over the past year and so we actually embraced the opportunity to practice and we had very few difficulties. For us – this was a good experience. With that said – we could see how others might find it a struggle to communicate their needs occasionally on this resort and how this might slightly tarnish their overall experience. I also paid for a high-speed Internet connection in our room. The connection was reliable and fast, but we felt that $69 (U.S.) was a very steep price for only 7 days of access. Also, on one day a huge deluge of rain fell on the resort continuously overnight and our roof dripped a bit in one area. We reported it to reception in the morning and they had someone stop by to investigate it within the hour. It really wasn't much of an inconvenience for us, though apparently other visitors experienced bigger issues associated with the heavy rains. However, without asking, the resort was very apologetic and compensated us with a small bottle of rum – a gesture that we thought was fair and considerate. Also, for some reason we didn't have any beer in our room fridge for the first three days, only bottled water and various bottled soft drinks. We just assumed that this resort was unique and did not supply “fridge beer”. However, on the fourth day beer suddenly appeared in our fridge like ambrosia from the Gods and was replenished for the remainder of our stay. Aside from these minor issues – none of which really adversely affected our enjoyment of the resort during our stay in any way - we were very content. This resort is an excellent value.

Overall? This resort may be a little more expensive (though not the most expensive we've been to) than some other resorts we've frequented over the past few years. And part of what we most enjoy about traveling is visiting new areas and new resorts each time we venture away from the frozen wasteland that is Thunder Bay in the middle of winter. Yet – after visiting this resort, we both looked at each other and agreed that we could probably be happy if we just kept coming back to this resort. And we have never returned to the same resort twice. Why the sudden change of heart? The combination of a beautiful beach, with clear, calm water, that offers good snorkeling, and very few vendors (who were among the most respectful we've encountered), the small, intimate property that never felt crowded, the short distances (even though we love walking) across the resort, the simply outstanding food in both the buffet and a la cartes, the nice accommodations, the mostly excellent service and attention to detail of resort staff, the excellent peace and quiet of the adult pool and resort grounds in general, and close access to some really interesting and captivating excursions (we went humpback whale watching and visited some caves at Las Haitises National Park). All that mixed with an acceptable bus ride duration to the resort from the airport, and the quietest and most uncrowded airport experience we've seen, coupled with the most efficient check-in set up (on the bus!) we've encountered – this resort really checks off on a lot of our most cherished boxes. On paper, and in reality – this resort just seems to do most everything right for us. With that said – if anyone knows of a Caribbean resort that checks off more boxes that this one for the price (or for slightly more money) I'd really be interested. And I mean that. I'm not being facetious here and that isn't a rhetorical question. I would want to know. We met a young Canadian couple in their 20s who had just arrived at this resort earlier in the day for their first Caribbean experience and asked us how this resort compared to others in the same price range we've visited. My response (unlike this review) was quick and to the point. I stated that they had picked a great first resort and to “be prepared for possible disappointment” if they expected to find anything better than this resort at or near this price in the Caribbean based on our experiences. They both stated that this was exactly what their friend from back home said when he recommended this resort to them. [Details]

I would highly recommend this resort, we loved it and are planning on returning. Buffet was really good, ala cartes were the best we have had. The snack bar on the beach was awesome. [Details]

Some good some bad. Good food in the buffet , and sometimes in the other restaurants, but the A La Carte ones can't produce consistently good food two nights in a row. Rooms are dated and dimly lit.

Valentin Liriano checked us in, he was rude and didn't tell us how to get to our room.

We didn't like the transport and front end staff collusion of the time share presentation, they wouldn't tell us our pick up time for the departure unless we attend the time share presentation with German.

The food in the Orquídea Gourmet Restaurant was very good on the first visit and horribly over cooked the second night. There was a lack of consistency in the restaurant in terms of the food and the first night we never received the cheese tray offering.

When dining at Las Olas - Rodizio Restaurant ribs were being sliced of the skewer and was thrown toward me and stained my shirt with oil.

When we arrived we weren't welcomed with the music and dance presentation other visitors received.

Staff at the Scubaquatic water sport and dive center kept telling us to come back tomorrow for the pool dive lesson and saying that the person wasn't in and on one occasion the person who was going to meet me the next day asked when we checked out and then didn't show up on the day of the meeting and we were told by other staff that this is his day off! The staff don't help with the equipment and it was actually the security guard who helped us move the paddle boards from the beach to the water. [Details]