We travelled to the DR from Nov 1 - Nov 16, 2012.
We had read the reviews, and we try to take the reviews lightly, as we sometimes feel that some people's expectations can be a bit too high, but upon reading the reviews of this resort, we feel that there are some really common comments about this resort, and we experienced the same issues. We loved the beach at this resort, the rooms were nice and very clean. We had an issue with drainage in the shower, but were able to resolved this ourselves most days.
The food at the Ambar is average at best, the A la Carte restaraunts serve food that can be cooked at home with better results. The appetizer part of the A la Carte restaraunts is the same as the buffet, so the entre is where you expect a decent plate, but we were dissapointed at each of the three A la Carte restaurants we visited. Both of us suffered from travellers diarrhea and spoke to several other people that had the same problem. The staff ranges from nice to down-right rude. It simply depends upon who serves you that day and the mood of that server each day. Overall, we found the service to be average at best. Our room safe broke down on day 10 of our stay, and it took 3 requests and 2 1/2 days to get this fixed. Needless to say, the room safe is vital and we had to take our valuables with us everywhere for the days that the room safe was not fixed. The biggest reason for writing this review is our experience with an on-site shop, I had gone in to the main shop at the Ambar to buy gatorade for my husband who was sick. The bottle was clearly marked as $2 US, and when I took the bottle to the till, I was charged $3 US. I pointed out to the staff that there was an error in the till price, and I was told that the $2 was a promotional price and that they were in fact $3. I paid the $3 and suggested to them to change their pricing. Later the same day, I went back to purchase more gatorade, and they had not changed the price. I then asked them again to make sure they change their pricing. The day before we left, my husband and I decided that we needed to express our opinion to a customer service rep. as we wanted to be honest with the hotel so that they can improve their service. We told them about the pricing in the shop (and the other issues we had). He immediatley phoned the supervisor of the shops, and we were told that the pricing would be changed... it was not. While the rep. had no problem listening to and recording our complaints, we feel that none of them will be addressed in the future.

I am going to keep this brief. The resort itself is amazing. It's beautiful and has so much to offer.
The staff are very accommodating, friendly and work very hard. The beach is the best I have experienced. It truly is a 5 star.
Just one thing...Be careful of their free gift offer. Once they have convinced you to take a tour of the Esmeralda and have you escorted into a reception area of the main lobby you are taken into a "boiler room" behind closed doors for their sales pitch into buying into their travel club. They'll use intimation by bringing in back up with a huge muscular man trying to convince you to give up your hard earned money to them for travel benefits. If your into this sort of thing then all the best to you but my money is better in my pocket where I have control over it. We got up and walked out.
For this reason only we are very hesitant in going back to this resort. Just left a bad overall impression of the place. Just remember with free gift offers- there not always free!!

I'm coming from Russia. It's about -3 there now. So Dominican Republic feels very hot and i just cant imagine coming back home.
Ambar really feels like heaven: beautiful, full of flowers, standing right by the shore. It's absolutely calm here, cuz u are not allowed to come with children, so, u can have a sit at the lobby with ur cocktail (try the "chocolate monkey" or any other, barmen Murfy is a really Jack of all trades) and relax, without all this screams and shouts of the kids. A really nice thing is, that people here try to speak ur native language with u. All of them a really nice and helpful, always smilling, always glad to see you. You should meet Kelvin, the barmen from the beach, who's very very kind and has a good sense of humor, he's always glad to have a chat with you, discuss a new song or film-whatever. Meet all of them:Marelene, Fernando, Felix, Abraham (but be carefull with Mamma Juana he will offer u to try) and all the others, cuz meeting all these people, who will do their best to make your vacation luxury and magic, -is one more reason to come here.
So, if you decide to come to Dominican Republic, there's no better choice, then Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar. Come here and see by yourself. Viva Ambar!

Me and my husband visited Amber october 2012 for 2 weeks to celebrate our 1st year wedding anniversary! The experiences here was great!

Originally my husband sent an email to request a beach front villa, when we got there this was not fulfilled, instead we got villa 60215.. Too be honest we made friends with people who did stay in 'beach front' villa and apparently the noise was disturbing and the palm trees are huge so you cant really see anything anyway so stick to any villa the rooms are all the same!

The room was kept clean by our maid daily, the jacuzzi was a little dirty however after a request to clean it was good, best to stay clear of that anyway! The soap and shower gell gave me a rash so avoid that if you have sensitve skin!

The pool area was so enjoyable! There are daily activites! be sure to join in on Bingo and Zumba dance class it was such great fun and i actually lost alot of weight~!



The beach is clean however too crowdy for my own liking, there are far too many old topless women its not a pretty site! the seaweed can get too much in the afternoon but its usually kept clean.. walk towards hardrock cafe on the beach it will take you to the dip of MAR SEA! clear blue waters perfect for seeing fish in the ocean and quiet romantic location! overall the view is amazing! the sun is at its peak in this location! i am asian and i came back looking dominican!

The food is not spectacular unless your eating in a la carte restaurants we enjoyed Don Pablo and The portofino the most! Maiko Japanese restaurant was great too, when booking as them to book you a table so you view the food being made its great fun!

The resort overall was clean and there was always a great atmosphere!

The drinks are okay- The local beer was tasty so my husband says! i really liked the pina colado but dont have to many has they will give you the runs! the shots are HUGEEE so if you want to get merry all you need is 2!

The staff are very friendly and polite- restaurant staff are welcoming. The male staff are a lot more happier than the females who were pretty much full with attitude and miserable.

Visit the other resorts- bavaro and punta cana for theater (Micheal Jackson show is amazing) NOT TO BE MISSED!

And if you want a dance visit club haitacha its very cheesy full of crazy Russians but if you have a few drinks before hand its great fun!

Overall the experience was great! We made many friends from around the worlds, defo a great place for couples! and its perfect as the other resorts can not come in :)