Bahia Principe Grand Samana — Hotel in Samana

Luxury Bahia Principe is small and a complex resort. It has a beautiful location and the value (room, food, drink) for the price is good. The service is an acquired taste and once the staff warms up, they get friendlier, but often lack attention to their guests.

Upon arrival around 4pm, after a welcome juice cocktail, Franz, front desk manager suggested a snack at the Las Olas snack bar before dinner… turning out to be the anchor that kicked off our dining experience with a “caesar salad” that tasted like salad drenched “soup” with no ingredients representing lettuce, followed by frozen pizzas, and an “empanada” that was more like a fried cheese hand luckily served with fries. I asked for white wine and realized there were three types of wine offered on the resort package - white, pink, and red.

We stayed in 3108 a Junior Suite with a little couch and two chairs and a small balcony with two more chairs and a small table. The phone in our room did not work so we could not call for room service or when the toilet would not flush because the water stopped running. While there are elevators for luggage near the rooms, the hotel has many stairs throughout and did not appear to be wheelchair accessible. With a tip, the fridge was stocked daily with water, soda water, coke zero, sprite, peanuts, and a couple of small bottles of whiskey and spiced rum.

On our first morning we rocked up to breakfast and sat around for 10 minutes without any waiters offering food until we had to ask if there was a menu or a buffet. The wait staff never offered mimosas, Bloody Marys, or carpaccio or refills - so we always had to ask.

We were frustrated when we went to get pool towels since no one told us towel cards were required - limited one for each person - so bring your gold card for towels.

For five days both of our room key cards would stop working. So, I had to venture up to the front desk, but the desk staff kept activating the same two cards claiming it was because of holding them too close to our phones. Finally after pleading they gave us two new cards that worked. Eventually Rafael Albierto, the building manager told us to write up our complaints in Trip Advisor versus solving the problem. Not a good service failure recovery process.

The single pool is small but most guests walk the 2-3 flights of stairs to the beach with a small bar and extremely limited chair-side cocktail service. Wendy and Fausto were friendly, fun and good bartenders. Go early to get a shaded palapa. The sand is smooth without any rocks or shells. The waves can get a bit challenging but it’s very swimmable most days. Enjoy the friendly local beach dogs. The junior suite rooms are close to the beach for bio breaks.

The Bahia Principe app is required for restaurant and spa reservations. It shows time and location of the daily activities that last about 10-30 minutes. App is needed for any room service - especially because the phone didn’t work, but was so slow and frustrating so we gave up.

Go to lunch early at the Las Olas grill because they run out of grilled meats really early and if you want to eat outside in the shade because there are few tables.

The best treasure is the Sunset bar at the far west end of property hosting sunset cocktails and friendly service by Jesus and Kenny David. Note: the best cocktails are served at the lobby bar near the beautiful veranda. The veranda is great so plan on spending time enjoying the view and breeze.

Number one restaurant was the Brazilian style chiaroscuro Rodizio. Best restaurant hostess is lovely Tania – always welcoming with a big smile. Best waiter is the Candido - aka “bandito” who was attentive, cheery, entertaining, and professional.

Last, Bahia tries to provide entertainment and activities most days and nights. The chief entertainment officer Jennifer was a bundle of energy and made guest feel special.

Enjoy the views - especially when the whales pass by. The resort was not too crowded and Samaná is still developing so something special in this...

I just came back from a 1 week vacation here and it was amazing. This is going to be a long review so buckle up.

Upon arrival we noticed the resort is a bit of a drive from the city but for about 200 DOP (4 USD) you can get to the city via uber, they will pick you up right from the hotel.

When we arrived we were greeted by Antony at the front desk, he helped us with our reservations and was extremely friendly and warm. He answered all of our questions and helped us make reservations at the dinner restaurants they have. One thing to mention is all of the staff here greet you with a smile and it really adds to the ambiance.

After Antony got us settled we headed up to our room, Miguel was a great help, he helped us with our bags, we got to our room which was an oceanview and it was a great view with a balcony. The rooms were cleaned daily by the housekeeper who was extremely friendly. We even slept in once and didn’t expect our room to be cleaned as we had missed her but when we left and put up the sign at the door we came back to a nice clean room which was a pleasant surprise.

The waiters and waitresses here are extremely friendly and you will be on a first name basis with them very quickly. Carlos, Jose, Willianny, Margarita, Susan, Victor etc. are super hardworking and are always willing to help and answer questions.

Yrineo is the chef who works breakfast and lunch and this man knows what he is doing on the grill. He knew exactly what I wanted by just me walking in. The resort has a real winner on their hands. He was efficient and friendly with all of the guests he definitely takes pride in the food he puts out, and that’s one thing this resort has an upper hand over others; the food was not repetitive at all and there was always a good variety of food as well as different food themes (one night was asian, one night was dominican etc.)

The beach at this hotel is a good size, there are plenty of loungers for everyone around the resort. We didn’t have to wake up at ungodly hours of the morning to “reserve” our loungers which was amazing because who in their right mind wants to do that while on vacation.

Daniel and Fernando work the beach bar. Daniel speaks English really well and they are both super friendly. Myself and other guests shared some laughs with them. It was nice to see someone who cares about the beach as much as them, when other guests would forget to clean up after themselves they would take the initiative to ensure that the beach/loungers were clean for other guests to enjoy.

At 5pm the lobby bar would open and Esteban was our guy. He mixes drinks really well and was great at interacting with the guests. If you’re not sure what you want just ask him and let him know your tastes and he’ll whip something up for you. It was outstanding.

We also got a massage while we were there and Yasaira did an amazing job. She caught us at the beach and ensured us we would enjoy it, so we bit. And we are glad we did, I’ve had a massage here in Toronto and this one was way better. It was a tad expensive at $200 USD for a couple but hell, I’d pay it again.

We had Bermarily and Rosa check us out at the front when our time came to an end. They were professional and always willing to help. I had to bother them a few times throughout our stay as I kept stupidly putting my hotel key to the room in my cell phone case and it would wipe the card. Also I had some bigger DOP bills that needed exchanging into smaller quantities that they were always happy to help with. The gift shop at the hotel was nice too.

All in all if I were to come back to Samana I would stay here again in...

I have stayed here multiple times, I am so sad by the downhill trajectory from this hotel and it's management team. After our group's original reservation at their sister hotel was canceled bc they were closed for remodeling. Our reservation was move to the Grand Samana. Having stayed before, we asked if it would be okay since from experience it was an over 18 resort. After a phoen conversation with the group reservations dept, I was told unequivocally yes due to the other hotel being closed. I asked and received this in writing from both the group reservation manager and sales manager. This was in February, our trip was May 4th. All that time they had the names and ages of all 18 guests (13 rooms). Upon arrival at the hotel, we were told that the 12 yr old was unable to stay (they said everyone else including the boy's mother could stay). At first they seemed like they would make it right. But to them, making it right was to cancel the reservation for the room (to date no refund has been received). After we asked where they could go. they offer another hotel in their chain 2 hrs from us in a different direction that we would have to drive them to at night...again not reasonable. Then I was told by the reception manager that "they weren't her guests and so wasn't her problem". We weren't there on vacation we were there to volunteer for a group that spays/neuters dogs & cats- not that it makes a difference as we showed we had the okay from multiple managers in emails but still they said no. The would not even allow them to come for team meetings at dinner, though we've had outsiders come for those in the past. Eventually they admitted it was their mistake and that they knew he was coming for months but no one made any effort to say we would be denied. If they said no this won't work, we would have made other arrangements or not had him come but over and over again being told it was not a problem and they led us very specifically through emails saying "yes I understand you have some that is 12yr old and yes we will make that exception" I don't have any other way to interpret that emails. They believe they offered a compromise by offering another resort on the otherside of the peninsula also only for that 1 room and not the entire group. The second compromise was even more ridiculous that the mom could come for dinner but her son would not be allowed in, they seemed to think it is okay to leave a 12 yr old alone in a country he had never been for a couple hours. In addition, our rooms were wrong it took 2 days and multiple phone calls to fix. The GM would only speak to me via phone call not on person, I had a hole in my wall to the outside about the size of a fist that let in mosquitoes, the roof leaked in multiple areas. The ventilation system leaked over the food which can lead to food poisoning. Fruit had Flys on it. Generally wasn't kept up as it had been in past visits. I will say that the staff (non-management) were amazing. Many knew us from our past stays and apologized for management but couldn't do anything. They are great and I'd give them 5 stars if it was a separate review. Won't be back until management changes and we get a...