Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo

“Wedding Experience in DR”

The hotel and wedding planner “GG” did a fantastic job welcoming and providing its services to all the invitees to the wedding. The services were amazing, from the food, to the music, and even the performances by the entertainment group. One of my best experiences ever.

“Such a great spot!”

We stayed from April 13-20, 2024 as a group of 22 (including 3 children). We all booked the Jr Suite Superior rooms. We all had a really, really great time at this resort. ROOMS: They were clean with plenty of space. *The showers sometimes took a few min (5 ish) to warm up, but the water was n... more

We stayed from April 13-20, 2024 as a group of 22 (including 3 children). We all booked the Jr Suite Superior rooms. We all had a really, really great time at this resort. ROOMS: They were clean with plenty of space. *The showers sometimes took a few min (5 ish) to warm up, but the water was never freezing and after being in the hot sun all day, a "cool" shower was actually welcomed. We used the shampoo, conditioner and body wash provided by the hotel; they had a nice honey & citrus scent. *The bed was pretty firm, but I didn't mind it. The pillows weren't what we'd prefer but we made do. *A/C - Ours was great, we actually needed the blanket at night. *Our mini fridge was restocked daily. They give you tiny cans of either Presidente or Presidente light. Pop in the fridge was Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Orange I believe. *there are no elevators in the room blocks, they’re 3 stories high so if you have mobility issues request a ground floor room. *One or two had safe battery issues which were resolved fairly quickly. One had an issue with door locks (or lack thereof (no chain or dead bolt)) and after two promises to fix and nothing being resolved during our first day, one of the ladies at the front desk put on her best bad a*$ boss lady hat and got things fixed immediately the next day (even going with the guest to her room to make sure it got done). I wish we'd gotten her name to properly give her a shout out. I think there were a few in our group who had Wi-Fi issues in their rooms. We didn't experience that though. BEACH/POOL: *the pool was so nice. It was HOT the week we were there, and we found the beach area to be cooler than the pool area. We made a point to end our last day at the pool after some beach time, just because we liked it so much. *the swim up bar wasn't jam packed, I actually thought the pool seemed quite empty the whole time we were there. They also had 3 tables in the water in front of the pool bar with bar seating around them. We used them to play beer pong! *two of the pool/swim up bar bartenders were taught how to make a great drink named "sunny mango" - so good, ask them to make it! *the beach is beautiful, it was very clean, and the seaweed was minimal when we were there, and what was washing up ashore was being cleaned up daily around 8am. The beach always had a nice breeze. *the ocean was clear and refreshing. Water shoes weren't necessary, but bring snorkel gear if you have it, plenty of reef and lots of fish to see! *No issues getting chairs, but we were down there by 7 am usually. *kids waterpark - the kids loved this spot, and they even had a foam party for them one day! SPORTS BAR: *Best place to get drinks! Margaritas, Pina coladas, Mai Tai, Vodka Lemonades (the slushy ones), were the favourite drinks of the trip. Canadians! They have clamato juice and while no rimmer, they're tasty. *there is a great outdoor seating area here between the lobby and pool, and at night they set up a 2nd bar near the buffet and have some tunes and entertainment happening in this spot before the evening shows. GROUNDS: *The hotel is very walkable and there are no scheduled trolleys to take you from end to end. The hotel property is just the right size. Everything is kept nice and clean. *The hotel property actually flooded one night we were there. Someone said it was the most rain they'd had at one time in 17 years. We'll be telling everyone our adventures back to rooms after dinner in knee high at times "puddles" for years to come. It rained...we didn't let it stop us! They were quick to pump the excess water away and after 2 days you wouldn't have even known. Unfortunately, some of the guests did have to be shipped to the sister Bahia 2 hours away due to their rooms being flooded. FOOD: *Breakfast: We ate at the main buffet or at the Brazilian restaurant location. That spot is on the beach overlooking the ocean and during the morning/daytime it is a smaller buffet for breakfast and lunch. *Lunch: we always ate at the main buffet, but many in our group did eat at the grill on the beach for lunch when it was open (they served hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken). Lots of choices for lunch, again get creative! They have all the fixings usually to make fajitas. *Dinner: We always found lots of great eats for dinner at the buffet! *note we did witness staff checking food with thermometers. *I realize people hate on the buffets, no they're not usually the hottest - they aren't in North America either, chaffing dishes aren't great at keeping food warm. There is always something you can eat, get creative! *A-la-cartes: Since we were a large group, I tried to get the hotel to help me out with pre-booking dinners so we could all eat at the ones we wanted and as a group. They were responsive but ultimately this didn't get done for us. They were able to accommodate all 22 of us at the Brazilian. We ended up having to split up and do our own things for the remaining meals. *Brazilian - all of the meat options were really tasty, they were served table side. The rest of the meal is served buffet style and was really just food you could get at the main buffet. Not a favourite amongst us solely for that reason. *Italian - The food was ok, most really enjoyed their meals. *French - OMG get the steak, it was the best. The shrimp and the egg app were a hit, the dessert was all very tasty as well. *Greek - While I didn't personally get to try this restaurant, I was told the entertainment was the best part of the meal. The pork and beef kebabs were good, but they were there for just under 2 hrs and hadn't had dessert yet so didn't wait around for that. OVERALL: We loved this spot, we all said we'd return. The staff were all very friendly, smiley and helpful, and true some don't speak the best English, but they try. This is a great hotel, nothing is ever going to be 100% perfect, not anywhere. You're here to vacation, have a great time, enjoy the sun and RELAX, it's all a part of the adventure, the weird quirks of resort life just add to the story and the laughs. Sometimes patience is key. Resort life and the things that pop up are all part of the adventure. I have videos/highlights and posts on my insta: beaches.n.things if you want to learn more. Thank you, Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo, for being a great place to spend the week.

less

“Great Spring get away”

My take on this resort. The beach is outstanding a paradise for snorkelers. Its on a reef so no big waves. Very busy. We always found a chair but not always in the shade. No other big hotels around only big cottages/mansions and you can walk far in either direction. Nice pools but busy too. ... more

My take on this resort. The beach is outstanding a paradise for snorkelers. Its on a reef so no big waves. Very busy. We always found a chair but not always in the shade. No other big hotels around only big cottages/mansions and you can walk far in either direction. Nice pools but busy too. The food was really good at both buffets so much to choose from. Maybe not as hot as you may like but they are preparing for the masses. Drinks were good. The house wine is not great. The ala cartes were okay. There was a great beach grill where they made burgers hot dogs and a different seafood dish like paella or a seafood pasta each day. Room was huge we stayed in junior suite. Absolutely loved this resort!

less