Good swimming pools, nice animation.
Very large hotel. Good transport service
Excellent restaurants
Nice service and staff, but do not forget to give some tips

But, you have queues for everything, even for meals (incl. breakfast)
It is hard to get a free place near the pools. At 8:00 you have towels marking all places.

I suggest this hotel, but you should be patient or you should choose one of the private areas of the hotel, that allows you to choose private pools and restaurant areas.

Arrival: June 20-27
After touching down at the Punta Cana International airport and collecting our luggage, we approached a representative of our tour operator (Sunwing) who quickly and efficiently directed us to the coach bus destined for the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. After a 20 min or so bus ride we were dropped off at the lobby of the resort. Unlike other all inclusive resorts I have been to, check in was conducted on the bus (rooms assigned, bracelets provided, etc…) and I feel the process was quite efficient. After departing the bus, a representative of the resort greeted us and directed us to a porter who shuttled us our room via one of the many luggage transports on the resort.

Rooms:
The room was beautiful with all amenities one would expect from a 5 star resort. The television had all major US channels and the minibar was always stocked with soft drinks and more importantly…beer. Before departing Toronto I had read reviews indicating that travelers would leave a couple American dollars for the maid each day along with any additional requests they may have had. We (myself and girlfriend) followed this advice and left a couple bucks daily along with requests for additional towels, and extra beer for the minibar. Our Spanish isn’t great but we did our best. We left the maid a nice size tip our last day as gratitude for all her hard work. The one negative I would offer about our room was the balcony view it offered. We stayed in a room that bordered the northern tip of the Bavaro property and the view was that of a swamp. My girlfriend and I think of ourselves as low maintenance individuals and neither of us really cared enough about the view to cause a stink. We did have a great location though. We were very close to the pool and close to the main lobby as well, which was a lot more important to us than the view. Overall the room great!

Restaurants and Bars:
Included in our 7 day stay was the choice of 3 a la carte restaurants. We selected the Japanese, Gourmet and Garden Grill. All three were excellent with wait staff that is extremely attentive and hard working.
The buffet restaurant had a wide variety of food (from “American food” such as hot dogs and hamburgers, to Mexican, Dominican, and Chinese specialties). Each night had a different theme; including the previously mentioned nationalities.

Beach/Pool/Grounds:
Both the beach and pool areas were fantastic. We spent the majority of our time on the beach (white sand and an amazing view…sunken ship!) enjoying not only the shade of one of the many huts but also walking hand in hand along the beach. There were a couple bars stationed easily accessible from the beach, perfect to top up your beer or to get one of my favourites…margaritas!
The days we did go to the pool were quite enjoyable as well. It had the peace and quiet were looking for, but also allowed us to participate in various activities poolside (i.e.: surfboard pillow fight)
The bottom line is that wherever you live….you probably have access to a pool. Why not get to the beach and enjoy it? To each their own though…
2 other points about the beach/pool…
1) This isn’t really a resort issue but more of a helpful tip. Make sure you place your towel over the mini table available under some huts on the beach. Be aware that these tables are in high demand but short supply. We had left our towels on our beach chairs one morning before going for breakfast and when we came back we were shocked to see that someone had stolen our table. After this incident we would place our towels over the table as well and did not have any further incidents.
2) Upon first arriving at the resort we thought we only had access to one pool and the beach. Therefore we had to decide early in the morning whether we wanted to set up at one or the other. There is however a pool adjacent to the beach that looks to be included in the Ambar section of resort. Initially we had thought that this pool was exclusive to Ambar guests but after seeing others with same coloured bracelets enter the pool we decided to give it a try. Needless to say, this was very convenient. We would set up under a hut on the beach in the morning and every time we wanted to go for a dip in the pool we would take the 10 second walk and hop in. Made a world of difference.

Activities:
There were a number of activities available both on and off-site for you to enjoy.
On-site:
We rented a double kayak (Rental - $0) one afternoon and took it out the sunken ship. Also, we rented snorkel gear (Rental - $0) and took a ride on the banana boat ($10 per person). My girlfriend participated in one of the many beach aerobic workouts provided by the resort. She had a blast! We also attended a few of the many shows the resort stages weekly (The Michael Jackson show was our favourite – Performed on Mondays).
Off-site: We met with our tour operator rep (Sunwing – Modesto) who provided us with some information regarding the many off-site excursions available. I also did some research prior to our departure so I knew exactly what I wanted to do and approximately how much it would cost. We ended up settling on the “Happy Hour” excursion offered by a company called “Tropical Storm”. This was by far one of the highlights of our trip. The crew was great, the snorkeling fantastic, and the mamajuana was delicious (a DR must!).

Other:
Although this is an all-inclusive resort be prepared and come with approximately $75 in $1 bills. Not only did we feel gratified in assisting those who may be less fortunate than us, but it also helped in making our stay as comfortable as possible.
We would highly recommend this resort!

I went with my boyfriend from june 25th-9th july and its the best holiday ive ever had. We were staying in the punta cana side. The hotel was beautiful and very very clean, the rooms were big, we only had to ask once for our drinks to be re-stocked (towards the end of the holiday) and they done that before we got back to the room.
All staff we dealt with were friendly and not rude at all, even the maids/gardeners would all say hi! The food was really good, we done 6 al a cartes in the 2 weeks, french and japanese were my favourites, but all were good. Alcohol choice was huge, the biggest list ive known in a all inclusive hotel.
We went on 2 trips, one to animal adventura to swim with dolphins - which was really worth doing and a lot cheaper than going up to the north (where you have to fly to) and the tropical storm (we were on davids boat) and had a brilliant afternoon on that! The staff were really entertaining and its worth while booking!!
We might be returning next year with a group of friends, i just dont want to wait a year!

While reading the bad reviews on this hotel I find myself with my mouth wide open! Really whoever did not enjoy this resort with everything that comes with it (Food, alcohol, entertainment etc) does not like anything. The staff is friendly and make you feel as you should while on vacation. The rooms are more than clean and beautiful. The grounds are beautifully maintained and manicured daily. The food is wonderful, the drinks are not watered down as some reviews say and if you feel that way just ask the bartender fpr more alcohol they will more than happily give you more! The animation team is wonderful as well making your trip fun and memorable, you wont want to go. Just got back and wish I could go again next week!!!! AMAZING!