Bahia Principe Explore Esmeralda

Honest Family Review – Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda (Punta Cana) We are a family of five (three adults and two pre-teen children, staying across two rooms) travelling from the UK, and we spent two weeks at Bahia Principe Luxury Esmeralda. This was our third trip to the Dominican Republic and our fifth stay within the Bahia Principe chain, so we arrived with a clear idea of what to expect. This is an honest review based entirely on our experience, and it may be particularly helpful for other British travellers. We booked with TUI, including a private transfer and a Saona Island excursion, and as always, the experience with TUI was excellent. Everything was well organised and ran smoothly without any issues. Check-in at the hotel was quick and welcoming, and we appreciated the cold towel and drink on arrival. However, despite indicating a mobility issue during online check-in, we were allocated a top-floor room. If stairs are a concern, I would strongly recommend raising this again on arrival to avoid any inconvenience. We stayed in two rooms initially, one in Villa 95, which was very central, and the other in Villa 91. Both rooms were spacious, comfortable, and clean on arrival, with firm beds. However, we did find housekeeping and minibar service to be inconsistent during our stay. Although we were tipping our housekeeper daily, the room was not fully cleaned, as beds were made and towels changed, but it did not feel like a thorough clean. The minibar was also not restocked consistently, and items such as coffee, sugar, juice, and chocolate milk were often missing. These are standard provisions, not extras, and we found ourselves contacting reception on a daily basis to have them replenished. We also noticed differences in welcome amenities. From what we saw, some guests received macaroons and a bottle of rum, even for shorter stays, whereas we only received macaroons, and the second room did not receive anything at all. While this is a small detail, it did give the impression of inconsistency. After a week, we were upgraded free of charge to two swim-up rooms in Villa 96 (rooms 96001 and 96003) thanks to the Privilege team, which we appreciated. The swim-up rooms were excellent, with sun throughout the day and a very relaxing setting, and we spent most of our remaining time there rather than at the main pools. The only downside was that the swim-up pool was cleaned only once during the week, so we did end up removing debris ourselves. On a positive note, service in the upgraded rooms was noticeably better, and everything was replenished as expected. In terms of Privilege benefits, these felt fairly limited overall and mainly included the use of carts and access to additional restaurants and buffets. I would also like to mention an incident at the splash park, as it may be helpful for other families. My daughter cut her toe while climbing the stairs and later fainted while being attended to by the lifeguard. It was a distressing experience, and unfortunately the two of us had to miss our Saona Island trip the following day as a precaution. We ate out at the à la carte restaurants most evenings, and the experience varied: Yurta and Nomad were very enjoyable, with both good food and service. MEAT, the adults-only restaurant, was also very good. Limbo offered great food, but service was slow, and we received the wrong cocktail after a long wait. The Gourmet restaurant at Fantasia was a great option for children, and we also enjoyed the Fish Market, although this is again adults-only. The main buffet at Esmeralda was only open for breakfast and dinner, and we were surprised by the limited options for children. We also found that the meat was often overcooked and quite dry, so we mainly chose seafood. Service here was mixed. Some staff were welcoming, while others appeared less engaged, and it was not always easy to get any drinks. One morning we were seated in the conservatory area, which I would recommend avoiding, as there is no air conditioning. It was extremely hot, and there were no waiters attending the area at all, so guests had to go inside to request water or drinks. The beach lunchtime buffet had some good options, particularly fresh burgers, but the selection was repetitive, and again the meat was often dry. It also became very busy around 1pm, and we frequently had to queue for a table suitable for five. Service here was challenging. We often had to ask several times just to receive water, and drinks did not always arrive. On one occasion, we ordered an Aperol Spritz and waited around ten minutes before being told it was not available. We then ordered white wine instead, which never arrived at all. After a few days, we decided to use the Punta Cana buffet for lunch instead, which, although busier, offered better food choice and more efficient service. The sports bar was quite underwhelming compared to Bahia resorts we have visited in Mexico. It was small and lacked atmosphere, and service was non-existent to the point where it felt easier to collect drinks ourselves. One situation we witnessed stood out, where a staff member repeatedly called out “hola” to guests to collect their drinks instead of serving them at the table. One guest went over, returned his empty glasses at the same time, and still tipped! It was shocking, and simply felt out of place for a hotel marketed as luxury. At the quiet pool during our first week, service was very poor. Although staff were present, we were never approached and were not asked once if we would like drinks. Evening entertainment was fairly low-key, with mostly singers and limited variety. Compared to other Bahia locations we have visited, it felt less lively, and there was less on offer for families. Overall, the resort itself is very well maintained, with beautiful grounds and lovely buildings, and the swim-up rooms were a highlight of the holiday. However, the level of service was not always consistent, and this did impact our experience. Having stayed at other Bahia Principe resorts, particularly in Mexico and at Ambar, our expectations were naturally shaped by those experiences. We still managed to have a relaxing holiday and enjoy our time, but based on this stay, we would not choose to return to Esmeralda ever again.

Our fourth time to this resort

After staying in January at the amber we bought the children in may to the esmeralda .What a huge disappointment , I had money stole out of our room and myself , son and husband all have been severely poorly a week after landing back home to England . I got ill the last day with severe flu like symptoms and after the hotel insisted we move rooms after there was no electric ( on the last night ) and a fault clearly somewhere -something was not right but won’t admit or investigate this . Tui don’t care and even after seeing my dr whom suspects bacteria( from air con or shower) nobody will admit anything. The rooms were ok but dated , amenities were good locations, beach is amazing but the staff are ignorant at the restaurant and bars ,they don’t even smile or seem like don’t want to be there . Food was ok , could only get 2 of the restaurants as fully booked . I would not recommend this hotel at all , management need to train the staff on customer care although saying this the reception staff were fine and helpful.

Been going to Dominican Republic for over 2O years, this was the worst experience we have had in an 4/5 star hotel ???, No !!! 3 star at best. We travelled as a family of 6 , from 3 years old to 66. At breakfast by 8.00am most days they ran out of crockery and cutlery, we were continually asking staff for spoons, plates, bowls. After 8.30 it was worse . Went to some of the a La carte restaurants overall very good. Tried the Brazilian in the Punta Cana, meat was overcooked and dry, service was not much better !! The dinner buffet was ok not a great choice and sometimes not very hot. We complained to the Tui representative as there seemed to be a shortage of drinking glasses, I was served wine in a plastic beaker!!! They ran out of glasses almost every night. We complained about the waiting service, some staff preferred talking to other staff members rather than ask if we wanted a drink ! The lobby bar was closed, for maintenance, we were told. Although we never saw anyone “maintaining “ it. In the evening we had the choice of the pool bar, service was good. Or the sports bar. Some of the staff were quite ignorant and came across they either did not like the job or the customers ! One evening the sports bar ran out of vodka , along with the drinking glasses.! We kept our glasses most of the evening and just got them refilled. In my opinion the resort is far too big,and they just don’t seem to have the capacity to cope. There were other issues we were not happy with, bottles glasses plates around the pool areas which had been left from the day before . The good points , rooms very spacious and clean although need updating. Evening entertainment was good. Mongolian and Nan restaurants were so good . Needless to say overall we were not impressed and would not go back to this hotel group.

Came here for my son’s wedding. Place was massive and sat on a complex with 4 other hotels in the Bahia group. Needed to get about via buggy’s as place so large. Rooms were fantastic and the hotel itself was beautiful with 2 large pools, a beach and plenty of sunbeds, although not shade for everyone, so many beds were reserved early. There were plenty of restaurants which you needed to book via the app, (not that user friendly though) so plenty of choice. The only downside was the buffet restaurants, many foods not labelled, so didn’t know what your eating and a lot of the food was cold by the time we sat down. Even when the beach buffet opened for breakfast, a lot of food was already cold, so we stuck to having the fresh cooked omelettes. The other downside was the service, slow bringing or offering drinks, even after asking for anything it took an age. This was throughout the complex. My son’s wedding however was wonderful and it was a day to remember, along with 40 guests, we had a sit down dinner in the beach and danced into the night. Just little hick ups, mainly down to service again. We booked our taxi to and from airport through booking.com in advance as a lot cheaper than what the hotel charge. Overall a good holiday, but we found complex too big and since we were last here 18 years ago, things have definitely changed and not for the better - too much tourism now compared to what it was. For instance boat trip back then, you were the only sailing the water in a lovely peaceful area, swimming and snorkeling. This time there were about 20 other ‘party’ boats all clustered together. Even though we enjoyed the holiday and my sons wedding, it won’t be a place we plan to visit again. We will stick to the smaller complex’s from now on.