Just returned from this resort, travelled Feb 4th to 11th, 2012. This really is an island paradise, we styed in Villa 1 which was close to everything, the main buffet, the beach, the spa, the pools. I will start with the spa, my wife and I had the couples VIP treatment which included exfoilation and 1 hour massage. Very relaxing and very professional, nice surroundings. The pools were great, you had a choice of a big pool and the quieter pool by the beach. Alcohol available at both locations. Food was very good, at the main buffet you will meet Milton and will soon find out his coffee is good LOL. Milton was very friendly and provided excellent service over and beyond. At the beach you will meet Migeul who has a very big family as everyone on the beach is his family. He will make sure you don't go thirsty. I have never Scuba dived before if you want to try that visit Juan and Manual at the scuba shack at the end of the beach. I an awesome experience scuba diving and we also went whale watching. The high light of our vacation was Walk the Plank zip line tour in Samana, it was very safe and a simply awesome experince. You will meet Bart and he is very knowledge about the area. The views around the resort are second to none, you may find a better beach in Punta Cana, but you cannot beat the the views and the service at this resort. This was my 7th trip to the Dominican and I will come back to this resort.

Cayo Levantado Feb 3-10
Fairly recent (past 10 winters) Caribbean visitors with trips to Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Bermuda, Samana, Cuba and Tulum. We had been to three Bahia resorts previously, the Bavaro, El Portillo and Cayacoa. We love the Samana area and have wanted to try Cayo Levantado for the past 3-4 years. We saw a decent price in early January and booked.

Fly down with Thomas Cook/Sunquest, easy flight down, just over 3.5 hours with a 7 AM departure. No bags picked to be opened when leaving El Catey and arrived at the bus. The rep had cards with names on them and after not matching any names of those present with any of the cards over a period of approximately 10 minutes, he finally gave up and told all the Cayacoa, Levantado and Grand Paradise people just to get on the bus. We arrived at the Levantado dock about 75 minutes later after a first drop-off at Cayacoa. Interesting drive from the airport for us since the last two times we arrived late at night. Sit on the right for the water views from the airport going to the resort.

After filling out the guest information paperwork at the arrival centre, we’re onto the boat for the trip to the resort. Quick trip (~ 10 minutes?) on the water. A cruise ship was in port and it was interesting to motor by it. We’re always awed by the size of them. We met as a group in the lobby at Levantado and were given our keys. Then we were sent onto the buffet which we were told had remained open for our arrival which I guess was about 2:30 PM (DR time, one hour ahead, so about 6.5 hours from takeoff to arrival at the hotel.

First impressions of the hotel were great, just like all the pictures we had seen (and would take). Water colour was beautiful shades of blue and green. We ate lunch outside on the terrace. Except for the a la cartes, we ate every meal outside for the next seven days, something we always look forward to on trips. We were disappointed there was no place to eat outside at Cayacoa two years ago at the buffet.

We booked a Superior room. We sent an e-mail stating we were frequent past Bahia guests and asked if possible for an ocean view room and also two a la carte bookings for the first two nights. We were lucky enough to get these requests. In reading other info, I had thought we would be on the fifth floor with a superior room and we were given room 508. We took the elevator to the 4th floor because for some reason that’s as high as the elevator goes. Not a big deal, just odd. Opened the door to 508 and saw a huge balcony overlooking the terrace with ocean view, just what we had hoped for. In pictures of the resort, if facing the terrace, 508 is the last room on the right at the top, with the only large balcony. Huge room with vaulted ceilings, the four poster bed, small couch and chair, large washroom with jetted tub, separate shower and toilet, one sink only, again not a big deal. We enjoyed the room. I agree that the large window between the main room and the bathroom is not for everyone. Shutters would be an easy alternative. Used the tub several days before dinner, had drinks on the balcony every evening. Maid service was good, room made up before noon each day with towel art provided most days. We left a couple of dollars plus several dollar store gifts for the maid each day. We had turndown service most nights with the usual poems left on the bed. Yes they are “different” and we had a few laughs reading some of them. In room fridge filled daily with the usual assortment of pop, Presidente and new for us at resorts, airline size liquor bottles. It was a real treat to have the Presidente, tho in cans not bottles. I’m not a fan of the Brama (sp?) that has been in the room fridge at several other DR resorts we have been to.

The grounds as I am sure you have read or seen in pictures are beautiful. Lush, extremely well manicured, somewhat hilly. We walked around the entire resort several days including the public beach and it’s a decent hike for the out of shape 50’s people we are. Took maybe 25-30 minutes to do the entire island, walking at a good pace. Might be longer when including the public beach, never really timed it. It also took longer several of the first days because we stopped frequently to take pictures because everything had a lot of wow factor.

We spent most of our days at the windy beach. That beach did become too windy sometimes in the afternoon which caused us to move to the other beach or the pools in the later afternoon. The calm beach was always quite busy with chairs harder to come by. We occasionally went swimming at the calm beach but the windy side is good for wave jumping and swimming past the wave breaking point. We never used water shoes. I snorkelled at the calm beach and didn’t see many fish but it was windy that day and the water was quite cloudy with sand in the late afternoon. Both beaches had waiter service but the pool bar isn’t far from any point.

We spent time at both pools, the beach pool and the upper quiet pool. Both had their good points and good bar service but neither had the view of the ocean and the sound of the waves and that in part is what we go south for. The pools were clean and it was nice to have cushions on the lounge chairs. We didn’t use the Jacuzzi pool area but it seemed very quiet and restful in the middle of the resort. Regarding the pools, it would be nice to have people when leaving the pools for the day take their towels away with them to free up the spot for others instead of making it a guessing game as to what lounges are available.

The resort has I think 195-200 rooms. It is a great size in that it rarely gets too crowded and no lineups for food or drink usually. Good mix of nationalities, quite a few kids even at this time of year.

We ate at all the a la cartes, twice at Don Pablo, once each at the other two. All meals were presented well and service was impeccable. We found the beef and lamb fairly tough, the lobster was very good. My wife loved the lobster cannelloni, an appetiser at Don Pablo both nights. We both thought the Gala night at the buffet (Sunday) was the best evening meal we had for the week. The lobster was excellent, great side dishes and a very good beef rib roast being carved that night. They had a different type of roast each night we were at the buffet.
We ate lunch every day at the beach/lower pool restaurant. Good selection of cold and hot food, paella a few days, great service.

We loved the breakfasts. Great waffles, bacon that was actually cooked (which at several resorts didn’t really happen often), great omelet maker, tons of fresh fruit, the usual assortment but all very good. They didn’t seem to have fresh mangos which was odd because we were told on the bus ride in that it had been a great mango growing season.

Service was excellent at every place we ate. Pleasant, fun and quick made for a good combination. Yunior, Williams, Virginia at the terrace patio were some of the names I remember. Many staff remembered your drink or egg order and had it ready for you before you asked. We like good red wine and the house wine they served was mediocre. They have wine available to buy but we stuck with the red house which we got more used to as the week progressed. My wife liked the white house wine she had every day at lunch. We noticed several people having champagne, at all meals including breakfast for mimosas.

We can’t really comment on the animation team. We never spent any time at the daily activities which were centered around the calm beach. We also didn’t see any of the shows because we find that most are similar to other resorts. We did try to see the magic show because it’s the one show we haven’t seen at any of the resorts but it rained the night of the show and magician never made it from the mainland. We tended to have a drink after dinner in the lobby bar and listen to the piano player or other entertainment provided in there some nights.

Wireless was available with good signal strength at many places including your room, the terrace, the lower pool, etc. I didn’t try to use it at the upper pool. It was great to stay in touch with home via Blackberry Messenger rather than pay for the hour on the slow lobby computers that most resorts seem to have. They did have computers in the lobby here as well for guests, I think at no charge.

All in all a great trip. Weather was quite good. We had rain four mornings but it always cleared by late morning. We have never returned to a resort for a second trip because we like to try new places. This one was excellent and we will likely return for a second visit when we find a good price at the right time. We highly recommend this place for quiet relaxation, beautiful surroundings and great service. That’s what we came for and what we got.

We have just returned from a 7 day holiday (January 30 Feb 5, 2012) at the fabulous Grand Bahai Principe Cayo Levantado resort. This is the ultimate destination if you are looking for rest and relaxation. We were greeted with cocktails and handed our room keys immediately upon arriving in the lobby of the hotel. The accommodations (we were in villa 12), staff, food and resort were absolutely fabulous! There are two large private beaches and several pools, Spa, tennis court, very small fitness facility although walking around the resort can keep you in shape if you choose to walk instead of taking advantage on the shuttles. We would highly recommend this destination!! Would also recommend that you bring your laptop or I pad device should you wish to stay in touch with family or friends as wireless is available in every room. Only two computers (no charge) were available in the lobby area. Not much night life. Shows ended at 10 pm although the resort offered recorded music and free drinks at the bar which is located on the huge public beach (which becomes private at around 7 pm) until 2 am.

The optional excursion to the national park was average and probably not worth the $90 US/person price tag. Went whale watching with an independent operator (Canadian Biologist Julia) for a very reasonable $50 US. (book via internet). We were able to witness the majesty of these amazing mammals in their element. The tour operator was exceptional and very respectful of these lovely mammals. A number of people from our group also went zip lining and thoroughly enjoyed their experience.

We spent 1 week at Cayo Levantado from Jan 29-Feb 5 and it did not disappoint. We have been to Punta Cana twice and this is certainly a step above.

We were in room 210 in the main building and had a huge deck overlooking the entertainment/buffet area. We loved being so close to everything and did not find the room noisy, after 11 pm everyone seemed to be in bed. The maid, mini-bar, and turn service were always reliable and efficient. If we put our tag on the door to clean the room it was always done when we came back. The bathroom was a little dark for getting ready (shaving, applying makeup, etc) but we managed.

The food at the buffet is the best we have ever had, we particularly enjoyed Gala night (Sunday) and Oriental night (Thursday). We also loved being able to sit outside and enjoy our meal, it is a more relaxed atmosphere and nicely shaded. We also ate at 2 of the a la cartes, Don Pablo and Mediterraneo. We had reservations at Portifino that we cancelled so we could go back to Mediterraneo to have the lobster again. We enjoyed it better than Don Pablo.

The service is a step above the rest. As soon as you sit down at the buffet they are bringing you drinks and are taking care of you. Around the pool and beach they are always coming around asking if you would like anything to drink. Everyone says “ola” as you pass them by and seem very happy.

The nightly entertainment is enjoyable. After 11pm all the resort bars close and they open the one at the public beach for hotel guests as a “disco,” the one night we went to check it out there were only 2 other people there. Not a lot of night life at this hotel, great for relaxing and kicking back. During the day there are a few activities that they do down on the beach, we learned on the last day that if you play bingo you can win coffee or rum, if only we had known sooner!

The beach is heavenly with lots of shaded areas if you so chose. To clarify, we thought there we 3 beaches from reading reviews but there are only 2, the private and the public. The private beach has 2 sides one that is rough and one that is calm. We spent most of our time at the lower pool we liked the loungers there the best they were cushioned. We liked having the option though of the quiet upper pool or the beach area. I did notice this place is missing a swim up bar, which is convenient but we did not miss it.

The best place for drinks is the lobby bar, Luis mixes them up perfect! Yrineo at the buffet made us delicious eggs/omelettes for breakfast every morning. Virginia always took care of our drinks in the lobby every evening and Daniel from the animation team always stopped by to say hello. Miguel (#1) at the buffet provided great service and so did Sony. These are just a few of the people who made our stay wonderful. We hope to return soon!