We visted Ambar last year and returned to the Bavaro this year. This year our party was nine with the youngest 19.

We had a tremendous memorable experience. An outstanding family vacation.

ACCOMODATIONS: We were in 3 different buildings (30, 71 and 72). All in close proximity. All were spacious, maintained, clean and well serviced. Our son/daughter felt their room was a little warm but nothing they saw fit to complain to anyone about. Notwithstanding my brother's experience, our pillows were great LOL. Our coffee maker was broken upon arrival but our housekeeper replaced it immediately.

GROUNDS: This resort is meticulously maintained. It was very impressive last year when we attended the resort for the first time and nothing has changed that opinion with this visit. They work hard at maintaining this property and it shows. Any comments to the contrary on this site in my view are not warranted.

FOOD: This is not Ruth's Chris or Canoe. If that is the experience you are looking for you are in the wrong place.

- The main buffet restaurant was on balance very good. Mornings were always excellent with the eggs and omlettes to order and if you brought over the potatoes - home fries. Pancakes, sausage, pasteries, assorted juices were my preference ....we all enjoyed the breakfast. Dinners were for the most part very good. As buffet service you do not have the luxury of your meat cooked to order - you get what you get. At one sitting our table had some of the best beef tenderloin we have ever had - I went up to find it and it was not quite to the same standard the second time around. Notwithstanding the beef tenderloin experience, our meals were always very acceptable and no one was unsatisified by the end of the dining experience.

- Italian ala carte - food was ok - not particularly memorable - it is pasta after all LOL.

- Japanese ala carte - if you get a tepenaki table, it will be an excellent experience. Food is plentiful - Salmon was very good but otherwise the balance was nothing special (note earlier comments on Ruths' Chris). If you do not get a tepenaki table (we did not year 1 even though we were in the Ambar section) - go elsewhere as menu service was subpar. Deep Fried ice cream is a must ....do not be shy to ask for seconds. A BIG shout out to the serving and cook staff. We found all staff to be outstanding during both of our stays, but this group was over the top!!! Best experience of the week.

- French ala carte - very strict on dress code - extra platters of food were delivered to the table so food was very plentiful. The house wine is different in this ala carte from all others and we did not like it. There were lots of other liquid options available so it was not an issue for us. Deserts were very good. Service was outstanding - again.

- Steakhouse ala carte - this was booked for Xmas eve so we did not get the typical menu. I believe this resort does a set menu for all facilities on this evening. This year's menu was a much better experience than that of the previous year. This year the first two courses were seafood. They were very good, but if you do not like seafood you could still be a little hungry at the end of the evening. I am pleased to report that the dinner was a very good experience. Service was good but not spectacular.

- beach lunch and beverage bars - no complaints - I have had fries, pizza, nachos, chicken that I can remember but use common sense - if it looks like food has been sitting - try something else. I ordered drinks from a number of different bars - friendly, efficient service - no complaints.

In case you missed it, we were the "vino tinto" table - the house red table wine was very good and plentiful. Served at all locations except the French ala carte. We did not care for the white wine.

BEACH: We had two days of rather unsettled weather but with the exception of one day, were on the beach every day. Two days of posted red flags ("do not swim") and two days of posted yellow flags ("not safe"). When we were there, the beaches were very busy and lifeguards were on duty. I believe these flags were geared to younger children and non swimmers. Our gang was older and had some swimming ability. For us and most others: Yellow flags meant big waves; Red flags meant huge waves. The beach is oustanding. The waves were awesome and by the end of four days of heavy waves the volleyball court was gone - washed away and I never would have expected that. WARNING - if you are going to swim or frolic in these conditions - pay attention to your surroundings and those waves. Please note that the pool is the sensible option for non swimmers and children.

SERVICE: When we travel we do try to communicate with the local staff - I know zero Spanish. All staff that interact with guests are excellent and we find that if you can make that connection, they can make your stay that much more memorable. The young lady assigned to 72211 for our stay was outstanding and she made sure our room was immaculate and WELL stocked. Whether it was table service, buffet cooks and servers, bar service, lobby bar service, beach bar (that's a lot of bars), all of the staff were helpful and enhanced the vacation experience.

After dinner each evening we would wind up in the lobby bar. As a group of 9 we got creative in carving out our space each evening. The staff were very supportive and always made sure we were looked after - wherever we happened to be - special thank you to Angel and Yudelki.

Remember, you are in the Dominican Republic. You are visiting their country. "Go with the flow" and you will have a tremendous experience and a great vacation.

We just came back from a week vacation at Bavaro. All in all it was a pleasant experience, but Apple is not only unhelpful, they have added unnecessary stress on the trip.

Apple:
We have never seen Apple representative when we were there. Even when we checked in, he designated a customer service rep to give us the welcome package. There is a travel office in the main lobby. There are always people there from other agencies, except Apple's chair is always empty. We are supposed to look at the book ourselves and find the time that the bus will pick us up to the airport. On the day we leave, we waited more than an hour for bus. Everyone was panicking because we don't know if we have missed the bus already or if the bus would ever come. We don't know what the bus look like. Everyone(from different hotels but all Apple customers) on the bus said the same thing that they were so worried and they have waited more than an hour. We were late to the airport and almost missed the fly. So think twice when book with Apple.

Resort:
1) staffs are very friendly. Considered how stressful it must be to take care of that many people, I think they do a fine job.
2) our housekeeper is wonderful. She always leaves fresh flower in the bathroom and on the bed. Room is very clean. We spent very little time at the room, and we did not watch TV there.
3) the resort is very well maintained and there is always some kind entertainment going on at the resort.
4) make sure to bring your own medicines and first aid. A few bandages can cost you $15.
5) beach is too crowded, not very relaxing.
6) food is average.
7) avoid privilege club people and free prize offer. They will waste your time.

Stayed Dec. 12-19, 2012. Room 28106. Like most people, I read every review before travelling.
The resort's grounds are spotless, well maintained. The beach is amazing.

Staff was mostly friendly but did just the minimum.

The room was poor overall. The fridge did not work and 2 bulbs were blown out so the lighting was poor. A call to the front desk did not solve any of these. The AC was too noisy so we kept it off most of the time when in the room. Because we were on the ground level, the noise from the shuttle buses kept us up.
The buffet is average to good depending on your taste.
It was after dinner at the French a la carte restaurant that my wife became severely sick. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and weakness to the extent that she was taken by ambulance the hospiten bavaro and was hospitalized for 2 nights. It would have been a longer stay was it not for our flight out. It took some convincing the doctor to discharge her as she was still on drips after the second night but feeling better. US$2600, thanks for travel insurance.

Thanks to Carrie from West jet for her help during this time. Incidentally, no one from Gran Bahia resort offered to help or made a call to see how we were doing!

We were part of a group of nine that stayed at the Bahia Principe - Bavaro. Most stayed a week but a couple of us managed to spend two weeks. My brother had previously stayed at Bahia Principe – Ambar. For a little extra money the Esmeralda and Ambar are worth the upgrade at the Bahia Principe property but I wouldn’t pay more than $15 per person, per night. We had a great time and will return to Bahia Principe Bavaro but we would look to move closer to the beach area of the resort.

Here are some comments about the property, a couple suggestions that might make your holiday better and some suggestions for management (things that could be improved). I won’t get into excursions given these are personal preference and age dependant. We did the Bavaro Splash and it was great.

First, suggestions to management:

1. Breakfast Availability: It would be appreciated if there were more than one spot to have breakfast besides making the trip to the main dining room. My brother was a returning guest hence he was given VIP options that were more convienent.

2. Late Morning Brunch: You need some decent food service available between 1030AM and noon. Some of us like to wake up late or even work out (or jog) in the morning. I am a late morning brunch person and I noticed there were a lot of us left very unimpressed with the minimal sandwich options you provide. Some eggs and bacon would have been great. This was by far the biggest disappointment and inconvenient.

3. Petty Charges. Your resort feels very safe but I find it unacceptable to pay to use a safe to secure my valuables. This is very petty and cheapens the overall experience you provide. So what’s next? Am I going to pay for a pillow and bed sheets. I am sorry but having a place to secure valuables is something I expect a hotel to provide not charge me $6 a day.

4. Pillows. You really need to replace some of the pillows. We had five pillows which seemed like they were filled with cotton balls (Room 71212).

Second, some overall comments:

General: The resort is very large with lots of people of differing age ranges. The facility is very nicely broken into 5 different hotels. Lots of variety to keep you busy. There are many pools and places to eat. The resort location is a short trip from the airport and the resort’s beach is away from the chaos of the large excursion operators which I suspect have a negative impact in the Los Corales/Bavaro area.

Entertainment: The “Animation” team does a great job. The nightly shows feature lots of choreographed dancing and lip syncing. The aerial/gymnastics show was by far the best. Overall the entertainment is not as good as what you find on a cruise ship BUT it is likely as good as you will find at any resort.

Beach: Spectacular. It is a short trolley ride away from the room and the beach can be very busy. Makes finding a lounger on the beach a challenge. The water is not ideal for small kids because it can get some large waves (which was a big positive for my older late teens) and this churns up the sand a bit.

Room: Great size, very, very clean and well maintained. Each room has a great jacuzzi tub; however, it can be a little tricky getting in (and out of) if you are older (60+). No issues with water pressure or temperature. The air conditioning is adequate but not great. The TV's in the rooms are very small and outdated. The cable/satellite channel options are EXCEPTIONAL and available in multiple languages.

Food: We found the food of good quality and consistent. There is some variety and a large selection in the main buffet. The pasta meat sauce was a little watery, especially compared to the Italian ala carte but lots of chicken options.

Safety: Exceptional. Clearly this is something they take serious. They have Life Guards on the beach who are very attentive, there are other attendants who try to keep things in order and the beach clean; the resort grounds are also very well lite and appear to be patrolled, especially after hours.

Staff: A huge positive that make a great difference. Regardless of where we were the staff that were there to provide support as part of the “all-inclusive” experience were always attentive, friendly and helpful. In the lobby bar Angel is spectacular. He has exceptional English and can make you any kind of drink you can think of. Jose on the Customer Service Desk was great at finding openings in the restaurants and providing excursion suggestions. Look for Yudelki Matos in the lobby bar. She is an exceptional server. Now, the people who are not part of the “all inclusive” service can be a pain, ESPECIALY the time share solicitors in the main lobby. It is sad that the Bahia Principe finds it necessary to allow this activity and have people lose a day of their vacation to a high pressure sales pitch.

Finally, here’s a couple of suggestions that you might not think of. Bring a large (591ml) thermos cup. You can pick them up at Walmart for about $5. The cups are environmentally friendly and keep your drink cool. This also allows you to spend time on the beach as opposed to lined up for a drink. Resorts use small 5 ounce plastic cups. Bring bug spray and plenty of sunscreen otherwise you will be gouged. Bugs are not bad but I dig get a few late night bites from something.