Sorry for the late review,but here goes. Stayed here mid-september for what was supposed to be an amazing 2 week holiday and it ended up being a total borefest. It was so boring we checked out after 5 days and relocated to the Iberostar Bavaro,what a great decision. Nothing wrong with the food.rooms.or service we recieved.just the lack of any entertainment gives the impression that this hotel lacks heart & soul.

When you pay several thousand dollars for a vacation, you expect to relax, unwind and enjoy yourself -- you don't expect to get the sales pitch every few seconds.

Be warned! If you go to this resort, you will be HOUNDED by salesmen trying to get you to attend their PRIVILEGE CLUB timeshare/private resort sales meetings. Me and my partner attended the meeting, after being promised a free helicopter ride for attending a 'one hour seminar' on the "Privilege Club". We attended, primarily to shut them up but also because we were told that we didn't have to sign up, and it would be 'low pressure' and there was 'no obligation to buy'.

Our room was then deluged with phone calls, confirming that we would be showing up, confirmations of our appointment times left on our beds, and other materials left in our room.

When we showed up, we were given the rockstar treatment, doors held open for us, a little flag with our country on it, and were plied with booze. What was described as a seminar was actually a one-on-one sales pitch with a very nice woman who used every Dominican sales/pressure/guilt trip in the book to plunk down, at that very moment, $21,000 to this company. When asked to see a copy of the contract or some time to research, we were told this was a 'limited time offer' and we could not have any time. When we said "no thank you," the nice saleswoman was replaced with a large, intimidating bald man with tattooed hands and gold glasses asking why we were wasting their time. When we demanded to leave, a third man (who was obviously American or Canadian) came over to once again convince us to give him $21,000 for this 'wonderful deal'. When we said no the third time we were ushered out (no one holding the door for us, the door slammed in my partner's face), we were given a bottle of rum, some honey and a cigar, and then ignored as we trudged up the stairs, no helicopter ride was in our future.

Even though we endured the 'seminar', the salesman kept hounding us every time we passed through the lobby, it got so bad that we ended up avoiding going anywhere near the lobby for the remainder of our trip.

The staff were very friendly, our room was well stocked with towels and cleaned, but others in our party hardly got service and had to borrow towels from us. The buffet restaurants were good, but the a la carte restaurants sucked with pretentious food and bad service. The grounds were beautifully kept, and the pool and beach were great. The concierge was helpful, and the shuttle buses were on time and never had an issue. One of the members of our party was wheelchair bound, and she seemed to get great service (the resort was also accessible for the most part, except for some issues with the pool)

The Privilege Club stuff was ridiculous, and is why I would never return to another Bahia Principe resort. Having the option to buy into their private property stuff is fine, but making a high pressure and intimidating sales pitch as part of the resort experience is low rent, cheap and not worth my money.

This was my first time at an all-inclusive resort and I have to say I was very impressed. The hotel was very close to the airport (about a 20-25 minute drive). The rooms were extremely clean, the staff was excellent, and the options for activities/dining really exceeded my expectations. I can absolutely see why this was rated the #1 hotel in the Punta Cana area, which was the main reason why I booked it. This is a resort I would absolutely go back to, you have a choice of 6 different hotels in the complex and are given the flexibility to use all of the facilities on each as well as a private beach. However, I think the Esmeralda given its location and proximity to the beach was the best choice. It is a little more secluded than the other hotels which are either at the front or middle of the complex and although it is not the “adults-only” hotel there the families that were there were extremely well behaved. The service was fast and efficient no matter if I was at the concierge, front desk, one of the restaurants or on the beach. The staff really pays attention to its guests and makes sure the experience there is one that you will not forget. I would recommend booking the Esmeralda whenever in the Dominican Republic, it was a great value for everything you receive!

This is my 7th trip to the Caribbean in recent years and my 2nd to this resort. This is the only resort that I have visited twice because it is the best so far. My wife and I took my parents and they say it was their best vacation ever. I have also referred a few friends to this resort and they have thanked me and described it as their favorite holiday.

G:
Beyond good are the beaches of Punta Cana - truly amazing. If you haven't been there, you must go to believe. The added benefit of the view of the ship wrecked Russian ship is the icing for this resort.
The service - the resort was much busier this visit and the service was only "amazing" as opposed to "unbelieveable" like it was in the first visit.
The room was my second favorite that I have stayed in in the Caribbean (first being Cuba - Cayo Ensenachos). The Esmeralda suites were beautiful and brand new and very close to the beach. If you are booking though, do request an upper floor as I am betting the view of the ocean would be amazing. We were on the main floor and had no complaints as we had a a view of the pool and the beautiful gardens.
The beauty and upkeep of this resort is easily the best I have visited. In spite of all of the expansion and renovations going on, we were never disturbed as they are very careful to not impact the guests.
The food was excellent in both the a la cartes and the buffets. I especially enjoyed building mixed salads out of all of the fresh vegetables available.

B:
I have a few very minor complaints / suggestions. First, the resort needs more kayaks as there are always people waiting. Even implementing a simple booking list would help in this regard. Being told to hang around and check back every hour is not conducive to enjoying a relaxing vacation. My wife and I love to do the 2 person Kayak but were never able as there was only one of these available. We did do the 1 person kayaks after hanging around and waiting and thoroughly enjoyed.
The shuttle service is not as good as it was the first visit. With the resort being so large and busy, the service was not regular enough and the shuttles would often be full leaving you to wait another 10 or 15 minutes. By adding a few more, it would make the people flow much better.

U:
Nothing - this resort is spectacular. The Dominican people are amazing. Will likely return a third time in next couple of years.

My ranking of places I have visited:
Punta Cana (Gran Bahia) 10/10 first visit - 9.5/10 this visit
Mayan (Grand Palladium) 9/10
Cuba (Cayo Ensenachos) 8.5/10
Puerto Plata (Riu) 8.0/10
Mayan (Gran Bahia) 6.0/10
Barbados (Almond Casuarina) 2.0/10

Things we did in Punta Cana this time:
Extreme Dune Buggy - was awesome
Deep Sea fishing - not great
Horseback riding rancho Dominicano - was awesome
Outback Adventures - was very good

Hope you find this review helpful and truly hope you are able to visit this amazing place. Feel free to msg me with any questions.