We recently returned from Gran Bahia Prinicipe Cayacoa (Jan 21-28). Like most of the reviewers, we found the resort to be wonderful. It was clean, well maintained, had delicious food and excellent staff. We couldn't have asked for a better resort. I don't want to repeat what so many others have stated, so I will just touch on a few things that we thought may be of help to other travellers.

For reference, we are a couple in our mid 50's, travelling with our son and his girlfriend who are in their mid 20's.

We travelled with Westjet Vacations, and had booked standard rooms, as opposed to the Jr. Suites. Westjet has us fill out paperwork on the bus, but we still needed to go to reception to receive our room keys, wrist bands and towel cards, which was done very quickly. Our rooms were located on the 5th floor, above the lobby, with a lovely view of the town of Santa Barbara de Samana and the boats in the harbour. The room was located above the loading dock for restaurant, so it could get noisy with trucks making deliveries and staff talking. You could also hear music from the disco and the terrace in the evenings. It wasn't much of an issue for us, but if you prefer a quieter room, I would suggest requesting a room overlooking the bay. The bathroom was quite compact, but it was manageable. We found the beds and the pillows to be very hard and a little uncomfortable, but that is just personal preference.

Although we have never been to this location, we are repeat Bahia Principe guests. I had sent an e-mail to the resort to see if this could possibly entitle us to a complimentary safe rental, and they confirmed immediately that it was indeed possible, and that we would also be entitled to an extra ala carte meal. On arrival, we found a bottle of rum, a fruit plate, and t-shirts in our room. They certainly made sure we felt welcome.

The buffet had a great variety of food. Even very picky eaters should be able to find something to please them. As for the ala cartes, the food was delicious and well presented. We tried all three (and the Italian twice). As I am not a fish or seafood eater, I was a little worried that the Seafood restaurant would not have anything that I would be able to eat. Surprisingly, they had more non-seafood options than the Gourmet and Italian locations! The servers were able to alter the salad on the appetizer list so it would not have any fish on it. I was very happy that they made every effort to accommodate me. At the other two ala cartes, out of 4 items on the menu, including the appetizers, usually 3 had fish of some sort. Or lamb, which is another less than favorite of mine. That being said, what I did order was absolutely delicious. At the Italian restaurant, I totally recommend the Saltimbocca, along with the Caprese salad. Yum! Chicken parmesan consisted of deep fried breaded chicken strips with gravy! Not what we were expecting, to say the least!

Most evenings there was music of some sort on the patio near the lobby bar, and this is where we spend most of our time after dinner. Due to the rave reviews on TA, we tried to see the Michael Jackson show, but the disco where the shows are held is way too small, and there were no seats available. The theatre is no where near large enough for the size of the resort.

One morning we walked into town to shop for rum at supermarket. After comparing the prices at the duty free on departure, we feel it really wasn't worth it to buy in town. We lost more money obtaining pesos than we saved on the rum. Once converted, the price difference of rum in town compared to rum at duty free was less than $1. While in town we were approached by several vendors trying to get us into their shops, or take us on a tours. A simple "no gracias" was all it took for them to leave us alone. This is a very refreshing change from other locations we have visited in the past.

We booked a whale watching trip with Raymond and Gregory, who are located under the bridge at the side of the resort. We had checked out their website before we left, and the price quoted was $49 each, which included pop, water, cuba libre and a stop at Cayo Levantado for lunch. When we went to book the excursion, we were told the price was $60. We showed them the print out from the web site, and were told the price had gone up, but they would do it for us for $55 each. Strangely enough, I checked when we got back, but the price was still listed as $49. We were guaranteed that we would be accompanied by one or the other of them at all times, and that there would indeed be Cuba Libre on the boat. The morning of our excursion, we were shuttled to the dock, put on a speed boat with another tour group, and told we would be met at the dock on Cayo Levantado. Staff on the boat only spoke Spanish. They went at warp speed to the whale watching area. The water was very rough, with huge waves, and the boat seemed airborne at times. There were several people getting sick. Although they tried to serve pop and water, the ride was too fast and rough for them to pour beverages into a cup. When we saw signs of whales, they would take off and speed towards them. Chasing the whales made me feel very uncomfortable. It was like a farce. Point to the left, "there's one", speed off that way, then to the right, then to the left, speeding around like crazy people going in circles. That being said, we did see about 6 or 7 whales. (Or one whale, 6 or 7 times! lol!!) After about an hour we headed to Cayo Levantado, again at breakneck speed. Raymond met us on the dock and showed us to the lunch area, where we were encouraged to buy a cocoloco or pina colada made in real coconut or pineapple for $5 US. We were then told to return there in one hour for lunch. The beach was not crowded, but we could not use chairs unless we paid for them. Lunch was salad, pasta, rice with beans, dry chicken, and fish. You could purchase beer. At no time were we offered a cuba libre as promised on the website. After lunch we had another hour and a half at the beach. While it was a beautiful beach, we've been to nice beaches before, and in hindsight, we should have just returned to the resort after our excursion. It was a long afternoon with no chairs to sit on, and vendors trying to rent us snorkels and sell us trinkets. I truely felt we should have gone with our first instincts and booked with Kim at whalesamana.com. From what I understand her tours are much more professionally done.

To sum up, we had a great holiday, wonderful weather, met some nice people, and had a relaxing time. Exactly what we had planned on doing. I would not hesitate to recommend this resort to anyone. If you have any questions, feel free to message me.

Just returned from a 2 week stay at this wonderful hotel. Hilltop location overlooking Samana Bay, spectacular views. We were in room 418 and had wonderful views of the mainpool area and the bay near the quiet pool. The staff in the reception area were very friendly and welcoming, the bar staff were also very friendly and nothing is too much trouble, the staff in the restaurants were also very welcoming and friendly. The food in the main buffet restaurant was very good, freshpasta dishes cooked while you wait, carvery roast most evening, good selection of salads, vegetables, deli meats and cheeses, wonderful home cooked breads and pastries. There are 3 speciality restaurants, the Italian was very good, the gourmet was ok but not a lot on the plate, the mediteranean was also very good, wonderful presentation. The animation team are all very friendly and work very hard, big thanks to Fernando, Danny, Lenny and Gustavo for providing some good fun and entertainment around the pool. All the staff are very hard working. The hotel is exceptionally clean, everywhere you look staff are cleaning. The bedrooms are spacious, plenty of wardrobe space, the bathroom was quite small and the whirlpool bath was quite frightening, ended up being a whirlpool bathroom, shower was not very powerful. We booked through Thomson, we flew into Peuto Plata airport and had a 31/2hr bus ride to Samana, the bus they provided was not suitable, it broke down an hour into the journey in the middle of nowhere, the fan belt broke and although the driver had a bagful of belts, none fitted, we had a 1hr wait for another bus which just so happened to be passing after dropping off at another hotel and he picked us up. This needs sorting out by Thomson, they need to provide adequate vehicles for such a long journey. The ride was ok as there is plenty to see along the way as long as you travel through the day, wouldn't like to do the journey at night. I would not reccomend booking any trips through Thomson, they were very expensive and not very well organised. Went on the Whale Watching trip $88 for half day trip, it was a nightmare, the water was very rough and no warnings were given to us, as we got on the boat we were offered sickness tablets and all given a life jacket, perhaps we should have known that something was afoot, there were children and a baby on board, quite a few people were very sick and when we asked to turn back after a couple of hours they didn't respond, the guide Leo said that it would be good to see the whales but not so, even if the whales came out of the water you couldn't really see them becasue of the size of the waves. 2 couples booked the trip again with Kim and they said it was $50 dollars and the guide was very informative and they had loads of sightings, we saw 2 whales. The safari trip was good, although we went up into the hills and the roads were very poor and very uncomfortable, but the guide was very informative and good fun, Luis (paparrazzi) video'd the day and he was very funny. Also went on the Los Haittees trip which was not worth the money. Madina was our rep in the hotel and he was very friendly and informative about the area, but obviously oversold the trips. Went into Samana town which was okay, if you don't like bartering then don't bother going into the shops, as soon as we got off the hotel trolley bus they were waiting for us and ushering us into their shop, also lots of children begging for money. People seemed to be living in very poor accommodation in the town itself, but once you get outside of the town the housing appeared to be better. All in all we had a wonderful holiday, this is the 3rd time to the Dominican Republic in 3 different resorts and we have enjoyed it everytime.

Jan.29th-Feb.5th, We were three couples booked through Air Canada Vacations.
We have vacationed in Mexico, Cuba, St.Martin, Bahamas, and throughout the Dominican Republic, but this was our first visit to Samana. Our arrival went very smooth, from landing to on the bus was no more than 25mins. The ride to the hotel was exactly 45 mins. Hotel Check In very smooth.

ROOM: (408) We had booked a seaview room and the view was fabulous. It was quite large, well appointed and super clean. The balconey was a great size, with a table and two chairs where we would sit and have coffee every morning. Amenities in the room were quite sufficient (coffee maker, toiletries, pillows, blankets, hair dryer)
and I guess we lucked out as we found the beds to be quite comfortable. The closets are huge with 5 hangers each side. The dresser has only 4 small drawers. Made do with placing our clothes on the top shelf of each closet. Housekeeping does a great job!

FOOD: The buffet restaraunt has a good selection at all meals, the food was quite good, though a little repetitive. The Beach Bar very limited we ate lunch at the buffet each day.
The Italian Restaraunt was very good. We had the salmon and it was delicious.
The Seafood Restaraunt was a little disappointing. Very little seafood, we had the lobster and beef, although the seafood soup was great.
The Shining Star is the Gourmet Restaraunt. Absolutely fabulous. Location overlooking the Bay, decor beautiful and the food selection, presentation, all worth 5 stars. We had Sea Bass wrapped in Calamari with a Vodka sauce, Service top of the line. With AC you are entitled to 4 a la cartes, had we known about the Gourmet, we would of skipped the Seafood Restaraunt and booked the Gourmet and Italian twice.

DRINKS: Limited International Drinks, TIP: If you want a certain brand other than Dominican
you have to pay for it.

BEACH: Small but fine, lots of lounge chairs and shade.

POOL: Lovely, with lounge chairs and umbrellas. Great location, jutting out overlooking the Bay.

What we loved about this resort: Beautiful,(lush natural vegetation) kept immaculate, (the cleanest we have been to and we have stayed at many 5 stars, this one really shines!) Fantastic Service! As others have stated, this is not a party palace, I would guess the average age to be around 30 and up. Just a fine place for a great vacation!

We were a group of 8 of various ages (from 23 to 60) who stayed at the hotel from January 26 to February 2. We had mostly positive feelings about the resort but overall enjoyed our stay. I feel that we got an awesome deal for $920 per person including tax (on red tag); other days were considerably more expensive around this time. I’m writing a detailed review as I know this will help future travelers.

Flight: We booked with Transat vacations and flew with Canjet airlines. Both flights were timely and no delays. The airplane was a Boeing 787-800. Not much leg room but the flight was not too long (about 3.5 hours going there and 4 hours going back). You do get a free breakfast or lunch depending on the flight time as well as wine / coffee / water with your meal. They do show movies during the flight, but bring your own headset as they charge $3 for theirs.

Transfer: Airport security was fast and efficient and we got to our bus very quickly and were on our way. On the way back there is a good duty free store with a big selection of excellent priced liquor, tobacco, coffee and chocolates. Also, what we really liked is that we were assigned to our rooms on the bus on our way to the resort; this saves a lot of time at the resort. The bus ride itself was actually quite scary. Samana has a lot of hills / valleys / steep turns and the drivers speed through them very fast; but the views are spectacular (it also takes about 45 minutes to get to the resort). It's true what they say; beware of the ride to and from the airport and not the plane itself! We also found out that during that week a bus carrying 52 people flipped over somewhere on the way to Santo Domingo (you can Google the full story) and there were fatalities. But what can you do, there are no rules for driving in Dominican.

Weather: It was not hot as in the summer months but the temperature was consistently in the mid to high 20’s every day; which was comfortable. It only rained once during the day on our stay for a long time. The rest of the time there is rain maybe once every hour or so for 5 minutes. Isolated clouds all the time, but the sun does shine through; we did get a tan!

Resort / Rooms: Very beautiful and scenic. It does have a LOT of stairs which we found a way to burn off some calories after drinking a lot of beers. I don't think this is a reason for the elderly or someone with mobility issues to stay away from the hotel as you can get around in a very efficient shuttle (running every 5-10 minutes) or elevators (in the MAIN building only and down to the beach); just DON'T book in the royal golden section as this is where most of the staircases are and you should be fine. As already mentioned we stayed at the royal golden section and you get a bigger room, a small bottle of rum, 4 a la carte reservations instead of 3, a very tiny small swimming pool with its own bar / snack bar; beach towels in room upon arrival, robe, turn down service (which was some chocolates and the maid making up your room for the second time), 15 minutes free internet (which actually worked) per day and that’s all I can remember… The room itself was very well quite large (a suite in the golden section) and well maintained. Bathroom is marble and has a separate shower area, washroom area and bath area (whirlpool). Mini bar restocked daily with 2 cans of beer, 2 bottles of water and some pop (pepsi, sprite, orange crush). Air conditioning worked fine. The room has no funny smells in it or any uninvited insects. We also had a king size bed; the pillows were kind of hard.

Beach: Very small yet cozy. All reviews were accurate in terms of we never had to look for loungers (remember we are a group of 8) no matter what time we arrived to the beach; first time in 7 trips to all inclusive has this happened. The beach has its own bar and washroom as well as an aqua center with typical water activities. The sand is not white, but the walk into the ocean is good as there are very few rocks. Did not see any jelly fish as some others have mentioned. Also please note that the beaches in the Dominican are public and the locals do share the beach with the tourists; especially on the weekends. We didn’t get bothered by this as they are very friendly; there is also security at the beach with guns to keep them under control. If you walk to the other end of the beach (where the volleyball nets are) you’ll be hassled by local vendors who will try to sell liquor, tobacco and paintings to you; remember to bargain, bargain and bargain some more. Whatever price they tell you at first is usually double what you can get for the item (also remember that you'll get very good prices at the duty free shop when leaving the country).

Food / A la Cartes: Let’s just say that for me, this was my 7th all inclusive vacation (I’m 29 years old) with 3rd to Dominican (other 4 were to Cuba) and the FIRST time where I did not experience travelers diarrhea. As a matter of fact, not a single person in our group of 8 had any problems! Hence, we were very happy with the QUALITY of the food. On the other hand, the food itself was basic with a lot of repetition. Breakfast; egg station, yogurts, fruits, breads and some reheated stuff from the night before which we didn’t touch. Lunch; pasta station, pizza station, chicken / beef / fish station, and then some heated stuff such as fries, burgers, hot dogs, also veggies were good, deserts, etc. Similar for dinner, although they do have theme nights; our favorite was the last night when they did Japanese imitation, was ok. We went to all 3 a la cartes and our favorite was the Italian, the Mediterranean and then the Gourmet. The food quality and quantity there was good.

Excursions: We did the zip line (what a rush and awesome experience, it was our first time, and even my 60 year old mother went and enjoyed it); it costs $95 per person from the hotel but we went into town (free shuttle every hour) and bargained to go for $50 per person. Also felt very safe in town (did go during daytime though). Some of us also went whale watching as it is popular at this time; it also costs around $100 per person from the hotel but we bargained to go for $40 per person from the guy on the side of the beach (forgot his name already); the only difference is going in a small motor boat (which we did) and bouncing up and down on 3m waves or the hotel has a bigger boat where a lot of people got sea sick on those waves! Other excursions which they offer is horse back riding in the village to the waterfalls, atv tours, speed boat tours and snorkeling. Whatever the price the hotel quotes you can get the SAME thing for half price if you go into town (don’t worry about looking for some one, they will approach you once you get there to offer the tours to you). We felt confident booking outside the hotel (just pay them AFTER the excursion).

Pool: The one beside the main building has a swim up bar and washroom. The water was FREEZING; not many people swimming there (ocean water temperature was much warmer). There is also another tiny pool as already mentioned if you book with the royal golden section; that was mostly a chilling place for people who drank beer all day; all pools (and beach) close at 6 pm.

Entertainment: Typical for any all inclusive resort. You have the daily activities program for both the beach and the pool with things such as volleyball, archery, horseshoes, bocha ball, ping pong, pool (yes they have one pool table and also one football table in the main lobby). If you win you’ll get a small bottle of rum or coffee at night at the shows. Nightly shows were ok; our favorite was the magic show as the guy chooses people from the audience to participate, the international dancing show was also good as well as the ideal couple night show (very funny). Disco starts right after the show usually around 11 pm (shows start around 9:30 pm). Between 6 and 9:30 we showered and then went to the main lobby bar to meet new friends and drink (for the ladies, try the chocolate monkey or the banana mama, for the guys try the mamahuana which will keep you partying late hours in the night).

Overall we enjoyed our stay and were happy with the resort. I could have rated this resort a one or two out of five because of the following reasons (did not bother us as we were on vacation, hope these wont bother you as well);

1) Our room was not ready when we arrived at 1 pm (check in is much later) but was ready 15 minutes later.
2) We did not get a bottle of rum in our room (golden section) upon arrival as promised in the package; was given to us later upon request.
3) Our power did not work upon arrival and we had to wait about 30 minutes for some one to come and restore it (dead fuse).
4) Too many locals on the beach and some openly drink and make remarks to girls; our girls took this as a compliment!
5) On several days there were no clean towels to exchange.
6) The staff speaks very poor English as it is not the #1 language!
7) Why are you still reading my review, just book the resort and you wont be disappointed!