We just arrived back this morning from The Luxury Bahia Principe Esmeralda. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. My husband, daughter and I travelled with Air Canada Vacations on Air Canada direct from Ottawa. There were delays both ways, due to weather, but Air Canada provded us with excellent service.

We wanted to thank a number of people who made our trip so special at this resort. Fior, at the reception desk was gracious and kind to us and went out of her way to make sure that our room request was honored. Jose, at the beach restaurant always showed us his best service and made sure that our glass was never empty and plates were taken away promptly. We attended the Christmas Eve Gala which had excellent food and service which we received from Wilson, our waiter.

We would also like to thank the bartenders: Rafael at the swim up bar and Franciso, our dancing bartender at the beach bar, for their attentiveness. Overall, what makes this resort different from the others are their front line employees and good vacation value.

We stayed at this resort for 13 days in Dec. and attended a nieces wedding while there. We arrived at the Punta Cana lobby at approx. 4 P.M. We told the bell boy we were registered in the Esmeralda. Within minutes we were booked in and escorted to our room along with our luggage. The wedding a few days later was beautiful!!
We found the resort grounds to be absolutely beautiful and kept immaculately clean. The room was very nice and spacious, plenty of towels, nice large bathroom and I really liked the fact that there were 2 sinks! Shower was great. (No face cloths but I always bring my own.) As per our request we were in building 92 on the main floor. We tried to pick up the internet signal from the lobby in our room but were unable to. Walked a few steps to the lobby to use the internet connection and in the basement there was a room with 2 computers for use of the guests. These computers were quite a bit faster.
We found the food to be the best AI food that we have had. We ate in 9 of the a la cartes and found that the Don Pablo Gourmet was our favourite followed by the Japanese. The buffet was also very good, especially the seafood gala on Thursday evening. Most days we had lunch in the Esmeralda or Punta Cana snack bar. We also found that we were able to eat in the Punta Cana buffet. We ate there for lunch one day and also had an early morning breakfast there prior to a trip to Santo Dominico when the Esmeralda buffet was not yet open. Service was very good in all eating areas.
The pools were nice and very well maintained. All had a swim up bar. The beach was also very nice. We never had a problem getting loungers at the Esmeralda pool or beach no matter what time of day we went. However, we were a bit before high season. We also spent a couple of days at the main Punta Cana pool. Not difficult to find a lounger when we arrived prior to 10 AM.
We booked one session at the spa. We booked the monthly special which was an exfoliation and 60 minute massage. We enjoyed this very much.
We found the front desk and guest service personnel to be very efficient and friendly. We did not find that there was a language barrier at all as most staff we dealt with had adequate English (especially compared to our very inadequate Spanish!) We just laugh off the occasional glitch due to language.
We had no concern with the the time share sales people at all nor did we notice them bothering others. They only said hello a few times and we had the usual note in our room.
There were a couple of reasons that I did not rate this resort 5 stars.
In the evenings we usually like to the attend the show. The shows that we saw, with the exception of the circus show, were awful. I was really looking forward to the Michael Jackson show but....
On more than one occasion the ladies washroom in the Punta Cana resort was out of toilet paper. I realize that this is not part of the Esmeralda but most evenings we along with many others were in the main area.
Rules inconsistently followed. The only a la cartes where men are required to wear long pants are the gourmets. This is clearly indicated on the voucher as well as there is a sign on the door. In LeGourmet there were a few men in shorts. On the catamaran trip booked through the Esmeralda there were signs indicating no smoking - however, there were many smokers on this trip and this was not enforced. Cigarette butts were tossed into the ocean. It is not a big deal to me if men wear shorts or if people smoke but either enforce the rules that are in place or change them.
All in all we enjoyed this trip.

Just got back from a week stay at the Esmeralda. While the hotel as many have stated is very nice I seem to agree with most of the reviews.
If you notice, those from Spain and other spanish speaking countries seem to have had a great time and those from the US complain about the language barrier.
The problem with the language barrier can be so bad that it can ruin your vacation. The problem (as I learned first hand) is that while many lower level employees may understand virtually little English, the most disappointing aspects is that the higher levels of mangament have a certain disdain for people who are not competant in Spanish.
I went to a restaurent during lunch and ordered something on the menu. After waiting 45 minutes for the dish, the waiter finally returned messing up 4 of the seven orders and not even bringing my order. The reason was that the waiter did not understand what i had ordered and just decided not to bring anything.
As this was the third language problem we had already (only our second day there) out of frustration I decided to complain to mangement. Unfortunately, I was told point bank that this is a Spanish speaking country and that I had a certain responsibilty to know a reasonable amount of Spanish in order to properly converse with the employees.
So the bottom line is that while this resort is very nice and the grounds are well kept, I will be going to resorts that "cater" to people who speak English and let the Spanish speaking toursts go to the Esmeralda

We’ve got an all-inclusive vacation in Bahia Principe Esmeralda Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for a week of Dec.1-8, 2012. It was our second trip to the same place. For the first trip we went there in November 5-12, 2011. For people who were there before and are considering going there again I would say that Esmeralda resort got twice as big: one more pool, pavilion, new villa, shack bar place on the beach have been added. A new Asian restaurant will be open in December. The construction is still going on but did not bother us much.
The lunch buffet choices were not as good as in the last year. Also I am not a vegetarian but this year non-meat dishes were less interesting. I also agree that it is a huge negative that there is a time (a day time!) when all restaurants are closed and you cannot get food. We were trapped twice in this situation when we got to the Resort after an exhausting flight and when we were going to leave for the airport (before an exhausting flight ). It made our check in and check-out slightly unhappy. During the week we were there, we saw people like as, who just got in looking for the place to eat, some of them with children. Bahia Principe Esmeralda must do something about it.
Also I like that Esmeralda is quiet. I like the convenience that with just a few steps in the right direction I could get all noise I desire, but this time in reality the Main pool had no entertainment either. That was a disappointment.

Expedia vs. Vacations to go: We’ve got a vacation tour in Bahia Principe Resort in Dominican Republic for the week of Dec.1-8, 2012 and we bought it through Expedia. It was our second trip to the same place. First time we went through “vacations to go” in November 2011. Prices were comparable, but services - not so much. First of all the confirmation phone call required with the transportation company had the name of the property wrong – they had “Ambar” instead of “Esmeralda”. We corrected it, but when we arrived – they still had it wrong. Once we landed and got to Expedia kiosk we were told “You must be tomorrow at Bahia Principe Bavarro Main Hall at 9 am to confirm your flight back. Your shuttle will be scheduled. Otherwise you will miss your flight!” I remember that last year all we had to do was a simple phone call from our room two days before the flight and received the time and place of the pickup. Why our physical presence was needed for a simple confirmation remains a mystery. We did not argue, last year it was vacationstogo, this year is Expedia. Different company – different rules. Got it. Next day my husband was there at 9am sharp, please keep in mind that “there” included a two-mile hike and spent 30 minutes looking for a representative, who, as it turned out, had a permanent office, slightly away from the main hall, a fact they neglected to mention when giving out instructions, and was told to come back again on Friday morning. On Friday morning we were told to call after 3pm and confirm our airport shuttle for the third time. Why was it so screwed up?? Why is it that “vacationstogo” a single phone call was enough and for expedia we had to personally contact them in triplicates?
I also want to mention that this year we had one suitcase between the two of us and certainly did not expect to be hit with the $25 baggage fee by US Airways. Twenty five bucks on an international flight for one lousy piece of luggage.. Yes, we should’ve learned the rules before flight, but honestly, it is an international flight and Delta did not charged us last year on the same trip for anything. Of course we paid $25 more on the way back for the same luggage. What really surprised me that during the flight US Airways served drink and no snacks not even a bag with a few pretzels or cookies or customary peanuts. Come on US Airways, don’t be so cheap or you will lose whatever few customers you have left! The plains did not have a TV in front of each seat and even the fight was not too long (about 4 hours), but comparing to Delta both way trip was much better and comfortable with movies and snacks then US Airway.