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afgangle
Winnipeg, Canada

LOVED this hotel

5.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed Jul 16, 2018
5 stars definitely! Stayed here end of January. First time in Jamaica and fell in love! We are also Grand Bahia Members, so I can not stress how amazing our service was at this hotel. We have stayed at the Grand Bahia in Mexico and I can honestly say we enjoyed this one a lot more! Friendly staff everywhere, very helpful! One of our friends we where with lost her wallet and us as a member asked one of the staff we became accountancies with to help us find it and he got on the phone and called the driver we just left with and within 15 mins her wallet was returned, I believe his name was Ariel. All staff members in the Privilege Lounge where amazing! My husband and I really took a liking to Christopher, Shikia, and Monika I believe her name was. We will definitely be back! Thank you for the great stay! What a beautiful hotel!
Date of stay: January 2018
Room Tip: If going adults only stay luxury side
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
5.0 of 5 bubblesValue
5.0 of 5 bubblesService
5.0 of 5 bubblesSleep Quality
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this review
Responded Jul 17, 2018
Dear Guest:

On behalf of all the Management and team members at the Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica we would like to thank you for taking the time to share your comments.

It is indeed a great pleasure to learn that you have enjoyed your stay at our resort; your kind words have been shared with the team, they were happy to know they continue to create memorable experiences with our valued guests.

May I use this opportunity to thank you again for choosing Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica to be your holiday destination in the Caribbean.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you back for another enjoyable retreat to our sunny island.

Kind Regards,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator
Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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Reviewed July 16, 2018 via mobile

After anxiously awaiting our long overdue vacation, I am disappointed that I even have to write a review like this. I rarely give negative reviews but this one I feel will hopefully help other families when spending their hard earned money in planning their next vacation. Please do your research and strongly consider staying somewhere else.

Let’s start with check in. Upon arriving, we waited in line at the front desk to only be sent to a separate table in another conference type room to begin check in. A greeter or some sort would’ve been nice to direct us from the beginning on where to check in. After completing paperwork in that room, we were sent back to the front desk. This agent then sent us to another desk across the property because we were “upgraded” to the adults only side while the rest of my family was on the “basic” side - as what it felt like. If I had known the trouble this would cause throughout our stay, I never would’ve accepted this “upgrade.” I say “upgrade” because the rooms are exactly the same, service is still lacking, and attention to detail on cleanliness still seemed to be missing. The only thing this caused us was constantly being questioned on what side we belonged on when we tried to visit with our family throughout our stay. Anyways, back to check in. After visiting the 3rd desk, we were escorted to our room which isn’t really a short walk only to realize that we never received our wristbands. Back to the desk we go considering without those bands you literally can’t do anything.

Let’s touch on food quality next. If you are a foodie, this should be enough to make you forget about booking at this resort. After our long day of traveling and the whole checking in circus, we decided to just stay in and order room service for dinner which by the way is only offered on the adults only side which is odd considering the only options are microwave quality burgers and what seemed to be Tyson frozen chicken nuggets. The Caesar salad was equally awful. Staying at a resort in Jamaica you’d think room service would offer some sort of Jamaican dish but unfortunately, jerk chicken was not something we were able to enjoy our first night. The buffet on the family side was terrible. Food constantly running out, super dry and offered the same terrible selections every night throughout our week long stay. We felt bad leaving our family so that we could enjoy the slightest bit more quality on the “luxury” side but the guilt of leaving them behind as second class citizens didn’t make it any easier.

The majority with the exception of only a handful of the host/wait staff at these restaurants made me feel as if I was on a prank tv show. I’ve worked in hospitality for the past 10 years and can’t even begin to imagine treating guests the way we were treated at some moments. Empty restaurants are still a hassle to be seated if you’re with a large party. Tables at the buffet are never set with silverware and asking for a fork seemed to be a huge sacrifice to the staff that are literally wandering around at turtle speed setting tables with zero sense of urgency. One morning, I asked for spinach in my omelette and was told there was no more. The omelette station next to the one I was at literally 5 feet away was stocked with spinach but it wasn’t even worth arguing. The laziness we experienced was frustrating and unbearable. At the poolside bar at 11am we were told we couldn’t have what we ordered (dirty monkey, a frozen drink) because they didn’t have bananas. We asked if they were out for the whole day and they said yes. This was just laughable at this point. Low and behold, they eventually got bananas that day. What!! Going above and beyond for the customer just doesn’t exist here. We were apparently late to dinner for the Italian restaurant Dolce Vita. The concierge/guest service rep (also in a miserable mood) failed to mention our party was split into two different dinner reservations 30 minutes apart again in a COMPLETELY EMPTY restaurant. They cancelled our reservation and still had the audacity to argue with us about not being on time instead of just politely seating us at one of the dozens of empty tables. Mind you, it was 9:30 at night. That was apparently the earliest they could’ve accommodated us even though we were the only guests dining there. Then again, at this point I sort of started to expect this kind of treatment when they can’t even take the time to straighten the art work on the walls at this restaurant. However, our waiter really did a great job trying to turn our experience around after hearing about how awful management was. Service was just a complete hit or miss.

Growing up, I always judged the cleanliness of resorts by how they kept the carpets. Well let me tell you, the carpets were atrocious. We would see the same mess spilled on the floor for days until someone eventually cleaned it up. The stains were gross. On the topic of maintenance, I’ll also mention our room and balcony had some gross brown splatter on the walls, a leaky sink and lights not working. But this was our upgrade after all, remember? We asked a housekeeper outside our room for hand soap because we’ve been washing our hands with shower gel. We were told they don’t have soap. Housekeeping doesn’t have soap!! At this point all you can do is laugh. Oh, they also barged in our room during our nap when a do not disturb sign was on the door. That was pleasant.

Other misc cons: Pools close at 6, there aren’t any sort of wait staff around the pool taking pool orders so if you’re hungry, you have to get out of the pool, get dressed, and walk miles to the newest buffet. The “disco” smells like vomit and the evening shows are mediocre at best. The only enjoyable nightlife we experienced was the beach party on the last night. Being in Jamaica I was really looking forward to some poolside steel drums but that only happened one day for only a couple hours. Lastly, the people on the beach trying to sell you weed was starting to be bothersome. At first it was funny but after 7 days it takes a lot to just not tell them off. We started calling them weed gophers because all of a sudden you just see their heads pop up from the bushes while they’re on the prowl to sell to you. Also, almost the entire resort is open so if you’re sensitive to heat then you’ll probably pass out here. Luckily we are from Florida and used to the climate.

If this is the only vacation you can afford to take and spend months looking forward to, please take these points into consideration. We had the most fun outside of the resort at a variety of excursions. The luminous lagoon was fun, blue hole was the best with Romaine as our guide, calypso tubing also a blast and our day trip to Negril was amazing. We literally took every opportunity to leave this resort. However, do not book these activities through the resort unless you want to pay double or triple price. Find a local cab or tour company to take you to the locations.

Date of stay: July 2018
Trip type: Traveled with family
4  Thank cfoster1103
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2018

Dear Guest:

Receive cordial greeting from the Management and staff at the Bahia Principe Jamaica Resort.
It is with regret that we have learnt about your experiences and comments and on behalf of our General Manager and all Team Members; we would like to extend our sincerest apologies for all the inconveniences that you have mentioned.

Concerning the situation, kindly note that your comments have been forwarded to the corresponding department to personally assist in this regard.

All your views are important to us as they allow us to identify our weaknesses and hence new action plans will be created to avoid re-occurrence of such situations.

We once more extend our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience which you may have experienced as a result of the situations brought to our attention and we also would like to thank you for vacationing with us at the Bahia Principe Jamaica Resort.

Yours faithfully,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator
Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed July 16, 2018 via mobile

We have just come back after a 2 week stay .First thoughts the hotel looked beautiful. We mainly went to the far beach next to the nudest beach it was our favourite place only spoilt by the older bar man with the glasses he would never reply to our good morning just treated us with disinterest he was extremely rude .Colin at the other bar was amazing ,friendly and helpful. I can see why his bar was busiest.
We would have to wait in line up yo half an hour to get in the buffet restaurant really not what you expect from a 5* hotel.Loved the al acart restaurants Don Pablo and garden grill where superb staff where fabulous.
Bar staff where mixed some fantastic others just couldnt be bothered to serve never mind smile .
Room looked lovely but we couldn't use the bath for nine days as the plug was broken also the toilet flush broke 10 times .It really got on my nerves as the maintenance man would just temporarily fix it only for it to brake again on the first flush. The toilet would then run all night so we couldn't sleep . This is really poor management especially considering the price we paid for the holiday.
Pools where very nice our favourite was the one by the luxury pool. Bar staff where nice here .
Overall we made the best of this holiday we had a lovely time .

Date of stay: July 2018
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
1  Thank tinkerbel36
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2018

Dear Guest:

We really appreciate you taking the time to send your valuable comments about your stay with us as it helps to improve the quality service at our hotel.

I am happy to know that you chose us for your stay, while on vacation at our beautiful resort. However, it is a pity that we have not exceeded your expectations; please accept our sincere apologies, as it certainly does not reflect the commitment and the quality that we have exhibited for many years.

Please rest assured that your feedback has been forwarded to the head of the relevant departments, so they can take the necessary corrective and preventive actions. We appreciate the comments and suggestions of each and everyone of our guests, we see them as opportunities to continue working towards improving our product, quality and services.

We are looking forward to hosting you again in the near future to experience our new services.

Best Regards,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed July 16, 2018 via mobile

The complex itself is very large with well tended grounds and lovely shrubs.It was nice to have different pools to use,but the one draw back was the lack of steps at different positions leading into the pools. Another not so nice thing was the carpet adjacent to the bedrooms.It was full of old grounded in chewing gums,dirty stained marks and the dirt swept out from the bedrooms.Yak! Waiting to be seated for a meal you had to have the patience of a saint. The staff seem mixed some nice some not so nice . But overall the meals were nice. The weather was great we went to Ocho Rio's did the mystic mountain and the bluehole which in our opinion is better than Dunn's River. We got a deal from our private transportation service with Top Choice Jamaica Tours . They know how to treat thee customers well so you can pre book with them easy .Would i return again to this resort .It Depends on the price I will have to pay but will look at the luxury side next time around .

Date of stay: July 2018
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Thank LawrRennn
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2018

Dear Guest:

We really appreciate you taking the time to send your valuable comments about your stay with us as it helps to improve the quality service at our hotel.

I am happy to know that you chose us for your stay, while on vacation at our beautiful resort. However, it is a pity that we have not exceeded your expectations; please accept our sincere apologies, as it certainly does not reflect the commitment and the quality that we have exhibited for many years.

Please rest assured that your feedback has been forwarded to the head of the relevant departments, so they can take the necessary corrective and preventive actions. We appreciate the comments and suggestions of each and everyone of our guests, we see them as opportunities to continue working towards improving our product, quality and services.

We are looking forward to hosting you again in the near future to experience our new services.

Best Regards,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed July 15, 2018 via mobile

We stayed at the Bahia resort in Mexico last year and had a great time. So we were really looking forward to staying here but as we booked the Grand side and not the luxury side as last year the standard was not as high and this being a 5* hotel I would have expected ed it to be equal to Mexico’s resort.

There are only 7 restaurants to choose from including the buffet but the ones you have to book are really nice and worth the ext a effort.

The people are really friendly but our room seems to be located in a bad place as we have been wakened by porter’s trolleys on the tiles every night. The housekeeping is ok and keeps the beds made and towels renewed but doesn’t even put the water in the fridge and we keep finding hairs on the floor that are not ours.

We were going on a trip and I wanted to take an extra bottle of water but no staff seemed to know where I could get one from.

The entertainment crew around the main pool are great and did a good job throughout the day.

If we ever came back here we would book in the luxury side as it has a better standard and a better choice of restaurants too.

Date of stay: July 2018
Trip type: Traveled with family
3  Thank andyc9900
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2018

Dear Guest:

We really appreciate you taking the time to send your valuable comments about your stay with us as it helps to improve the quality service at our hotel.

I am happy to know that you chose us for your stay, while on vacation at our beautiful resort. However, it is a pity that we have not exceeded your expectations; please accept our sincere apologies, as it certainly does not reflect the commitment and the quality that we have exhibited for many years.

Please rest assured that your feedback has been forwarded to the head of the relevant departments, so they can take the necessary corrective and preventive actions. We appreciate the comments and suggestions of each and everyone of our guests, we see them as opportunities to continue working towards improving our product, quality and services.

We are looking forward to hosting you again in the near future to experience our new services.

Best Regards,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed July 15, 2018

We visited this resort in May 2016. Hopefully there has been some changes since then. My parents stayed on the Don Pablo side and had a much better experience. I would recommend booking for the Don Pablo instead. If you think you’ll be able to switch when you get there, you are wrong. We asked multiple times and people kept putting us off.

Food/Drink; Food is ok, we liked the buffet more than the restaurants. We were able to eat but it wouldn’t be considered good quality. Drinks were ok as well, not a great selection.

Beach; Beautiful beach ! We were able to snorkel on the resort, which was amazing ! We spent most of our time at this beach.

Pools; Pools are ok, we didn’t spend a lot of time in them as the beach was so nice.

Room; We stayed in the junior sweet, room was ok. Bed was not the most comfortable. We had a few issues with our safe but eventually got it all figured out. We also had a jet tub which was very dated, didn’t seem very clean. We had a good sized deck that overlooked the grounds, nice place to enjoy your morning coffee.

Grounds; Very nice resort, well taken care of. The staff work very hard to keep the place looking beautiful.

Animals; Lots of cats ! We love cats so we spent a lot of time feeding them, especially in the evenings. If you don’t like animals, you might not even notice them as they’re only interested in your food.

Staff; Very busy, didn’t seem to have much time to help with any concerns. Nobody was outright rude but didn’t offer service that felt above and beyond.

This resort was an ok trip for us. If we couldn’t snorkel and there wasn’t any cats we wouldn’t have enjoyed this trip nearly as much. I don’t think we would stay at a Bahia Principe again.

Date of stay: May 2018
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
3  Thank CassandraRussell
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BahiaPrincipeJamaica, Online Reputation Coordinator at Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, responded to this reviewResponded July 17, 2018

Dear Guest:

On behalf of all the Management and team members at the Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica we would like to thank you for taking the time to share your comments.

It is indeed a great pleasure to learn that you have enjoyed your stay at our resort; your kind words have been shared with the team, they were happy to know they continue to create memorable experiences with our valued guests.

May I use this opportunity to thank you again for choosing Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica to be your holiday destination in the Caribbean.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you back for another enjoyable retreat to our sunny island.


Kind Regards,

Stephan Ashley
Online Reputation Coordinator
Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica

Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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